Nicky and Stephen, Met June 8, 1998, Married June 8, 2000

Tiny bubbles.

» http://www.macroday.com

 

Katrina is now a very dangerous hurricane. She has 175 mph winds with gusts of over 200 mph and is expected to make landfall early Monday morning between New Orleans, LA and Mobile, AL.

If there were a category higher than 5 it would be called the "Check your shorts" category. Katrina qualifies.

 

We have power!! 50 hours later. For a category 1 hurricane Katrina packed quite a punch. After our power went out we easily received winds in excess of 60 mph. 92 mph was recorded not far from here. Miami-Dade got the brunt of it with upwards of 20 inches of rain. Even the Keys weren't spared. Key West had almost a foot of rain.

A nearby mobile home park had a few roofs ripped off. There were trees and tree limbs down everywhere you looked.

Katrina is a category 3 hurricane right now. She is forecast to be a category 4 before making landfall. Possibly even a 5. New Orleans... you're boned. Best of luck to you!

 

45 hours without electricity and counting. Our phone service was out for 24 hours. We are running our battery backups on fumes at this point. Mostly trying to keep the fish alive let alone allow us to get online. We hear it may not be until Tuesday or Wednesday before power is restored.

We found a Taco Bell open. It wasn't as good as the meal we grilled outside yesterday. All those days camping with the family as a kid didn't go to waste I suppose. At least I can make fire and can use Sterno.

The cats seem to be doing ok. The indoor temperature is hanging around 87 degrees. Thank goodness we have a nice cross-breeze going through the house. It cools off when it rains.

 

Blue diamonds.

» http://www.pxite.com

 

Some images from around the neighborhood.

 

Daylight is finally upon us. We ventured outside to have a look around. There are tree limbs down everywhere. Leaves and other debris has blown up against our house. Later on we will go out further to get some pictures.

We are still without electricity. It went out at around 7:15 p.m. yesterday. It is 7:21 a.m. Irene left us in the dark for 29 hours. I have the DSL modem and the laptop plugged into one of our APC backups so we can still get online.

 

We have lost power. It is starting to get dark outside. The winds are still going strong.

The radio is turned on so we can hear the news. I guess it's time to hunker down.

 

The winds have really picked up. There is a street sign and some large tree limbs have fallen down the street. The power is flickering more frequently. We can hear the sounds of transformers blowing. A familiar sound from Irene.

Our barometer is at 993 mb. The center of Katrina is going to pass south of us. That makes us in the path of the "bad part" of the storm.

I think I will get the laptop ready in case we lose power completely.

 

The center of Katrina is very close to our location. We are currently in a "rain-free zone", as they call it on TV. The winds have picked up quite a bit. Our hand-held anemometer measured a wind of 27 a few moments ago.

The power is still on here. There were a couple small flickers a little while ago. We expect to lose power once the backside of Katrina comes ashore.

 

It's official. Say hello to Hurricane Katrina.

 

It looks like Katrina is developing a new, larger eyewall. We are feeling stronger winds. The rains are still moderate and steady. Not really the deluge that Irene was. However, Katrina has a huge trail of rain behind her.

We put up a second webcam facing towards the east to compliment the existing one on our weather page.

 

We are definitely under the gun with Katrina. Her sights are set on Fort Lauderdale. Katrina keeps trying to form an eyewall but it keeps faltering. There is dry air being sucked into the core keeping her in check. That won't last much longer. The National Hurricane Center has recorded hurricane force winds but have held back in upgrading. Probably with the 2:00 or 5:00 advisories we may have Hurricane Katrina, albeit a minimal hurricane.

The rains have been non-stop for a few hours. The winds have been gusty but not damaging. There are long lines at gas stations with some stations already out of gas. There is some price gouging occuring apparently. Regular gas reportedly has been up to $3.00 a gallon.


Katrina gave us a wonderful sunset yesterday.

 

Altocumulus undulatus.

» http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html

 

Here we go again. South Florida was placed under a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning as of 11:00 this morning. We are anticipating more of a rain event than a wind event. Katrina can be compared with Irene from 1999. Irene dumped 21" of rain. They're expecting up to 6 to 12" with Katrina, with possible localized rainfall amounts up to 20".

Schools in both Miami-Dade and Broward are closed for Thursday and Friday. Government offices in Broward will be closed as well.

The shutters have not gone up yet. We are waiting for the storm to intensify to hurricane status. The shutters may go up tomorrow. It was this same time last year that our hurricane shutters went up and did not come down again for about five weeks. It was like living in a cave. The poor cats were stir crazy with no windows to look out and see the world.

Today is the thirteenth anniversary of one of the most destructive and costliest hurricanes in U.S. history. Hurricane Andrew, a category 5 storm, slammed into South Florida with wind gusts up to 200 mph and sustained winds of 165 mph.

 

Centered Daisy.

» http://moodymonday.org

 

These are Thumper's favorite midnight playthings.

» http://www.macroday.com

 

A sunset in Key West.

» http://www.lensday.com

 

A dead, squishy ... thing.

» http://www.godamonginsects.com/tuesday/index.php

 

One Inch Nails

» http://www.macroday.com

 

Peanut's eyes.

» http://www.pxite.com

 

Violet flowers found at Butterfly World.

» http://www.photofriday.com

 

Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

» http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html

 

To our room at the Royal Pacific in Universal Studios.

» http://www.godamonginsects.com/tuesday/index.php

 

Some wood found in Muir Woods.

» http://www.macroday.com

 

After we win the lottery, of course. The house was featured in the Miami Vice storyline that filmed in the 80's. The criminal element could always be found here. It is located on the Intracoastal Waterway of Fort Lauderdale.