Back Again

We arrived home Monday evening to a house that had just received electrical power. It seems there was a broken pole on the line that fed our street and the boys from Entergy worked all day to replace it. But now power is restored and it is consistent. No other damage to speak of.

The first order of business was to throw out everything in 2 refrigerators. It was a little smelly but not as bad as after Katrina. The yard clean up can wait until the weekend.

Isaac Story

As we were driving to a restaurant last night, my mother-in-law expressed a desire for gumbo. I informed her that one cannot get a decent gumbo in Alabama - they just don't know how to make it and I know this from living there for several months for construction projects. She, however, is of stubborn Sicilian ancestry and ordered gumbo anyway. As she was eating it, I looked over to see her adding ketchup to her bowl of gumbo. "What are you doing", I asked. "Trying to make it taste better.", she said. Well, it was an "I told you so" moment and even though it gave her great pain to say it, she agreed that I was right about the gumbo in Alabama.

Later we were going to watch the RNC Convention. I told grandson that it would be on any network and to tune in the one with the best reception. Mom-in-law said, "Are you sure about that?"

"I'm as sure about that as I am about not eating gumbo in Alabama."

Isaac Summary

We lost power at about 7:00 PM Tuesday night. Things started getting wild abut midnight but had backed off by 6:00 AM. I made a little walkabout around the 'hood and found lots of small tree branches and other minor damage. Everyones roof looked good. In order to make coffee, we went to mother-in-law's house a few blocks over to boil water on her gas stove and pour it over coffee grounds. Then we sat on the back patio and watched the wind blow.

By 3:00 PM Wednesday, the parish ordered a mandatory evacuation of everyone south of the new, partially complete levee and flood gate as Barataria Bay was threatening to overtop the back levee. Our son and grandchildren are in that zone so they left to go to the Redneck Riviera. We followed them as it was clear that it would be several days before power was restored. (bucket trucks can't work in winds over 30 mph and Isaac was so huge and moving so slow that it was going to be Friday before crews could get to work.)

It was interesting to learn that it was not until the evening on Wednesday that Isaac finally got to a point that put it due west of NOLa. But the storm had tropical storm force winds extending out 160 miles from the center.

The drive west was interesting. Traffic was light but driving in tropical storm force winds is an experience that you should try to avoid, if possible. You know it's blowing when brown pelicans are sheltering in the lee of the concrete barricade on the bridge to Slidell. There was a constant stream of bucket trucks and 18 wheelers carrying portable lighting heading west.

FYI....my aircraft controller niece informed me that the weather station at Alvin Callender JRB is placed close to the tree line and therefore tends to give false readings. So my wind speeds on earlier posts may be off on the low side. Bear that in mind if you are trying to land your C-130 there.

We are now in the Redneck Riviera waiting for Entergy to do their thing. My ace in the hole is that my neighbor works for them. I hope he pulls some strings to get his house back on line.

I see that 2016 is playing at the theater near here. That will be on the agenda.

Isaac minus 7 hours

Wind is picking up and becoming more constant. It's raining but not heavily. Callender Field reports winds from the NNE at 22 mph.

Isaac minus 11 hours

NHC just upgraded Isaac to a Cat 1 with 75 mph winds (1 mph over the lower limit). Most of the models now show it tracking west of the Mississippi River. The centerline of  the track may be about 50 miles from the casa. Weather here is now overcast with light rain. Even though I'm supposed to be in tropical storm force winds, they are still intermittent. Looking at the satellite, the storm is lopsided. It seems to be sucking in dry air on the west side.

Here's a comparison of Isaac and a real hurricane.

Issac minus 16 hours

Tuesday morning. Isaac is still a tropical storm. Track is a skosh more to the west but the cone of uncertainty is still big. No real gain in intensitylast night. Weather here is breezy but clear. Partly cloudy. Humidity feels low. According to the NOAA graphics, I should be feeling tropical storm force winds but the wind is intermittent. Neighborhood is quiet. Guy next door works for Entergy and had to go to Jackson, Miss. to stage for repairs. Everyone else is staying inside even though the weather is really nice. Local TV is nothing but hurricane coverage. They even dropped prime time programming last night to cover it, but how many times can you interview people who are boarding up windows? Most of what they do is fill air time with BS man on the street interviews. I'd be happier if they would spend some time describing the pros and cons of the various hurricane models. Instead, I had to miss Chef Ramsey's shows.

Isaac

Going to "shelter in place" for Isaac. Still predicted to be a Category 1. Back yard is picked up but don't see a need to put up plywood. Track centerline seems to be trending west. I'll blog events as best I can.