Results of Hurricane Helene

[swashington]

Hey all, hurricane Helene turned out to be a real wild ride. In my little town of Steinhatchee Fl, we got hit with almost 22ft of storm surge. Our town lost all four of our Marinas and both boat ramps. This is important as we are a fishing town and that is what our economy is based on. I am a fishing charter captain and will be out or work for months because of this. On top of that my wife worked at one of the marinas and will be out of work indefinitely. As will most of our town. Our one grocery store is out of commission, both gas stations, three restaurants completely gone. I would say about 60% of the jobs in our town will be gone for months at best. Most of the businesses just got back in operation from Idalia last year and Debbie in August. Funding to start rebuilding again is going to be hard to get.

We left for the storm and looking at your home and leaving it alone to face the danger by itself was heart wrenching. I felt like I was never going to see it again. So much of my life's work went into my little piece of heaven so tears were shed saying goodbye to it. All we could do is let God know we place it in his hands and drive away trusting that whatever happens it will be to our benefit and his plan. Coming back and seeing it intact with just battle wounds let a whole new flow of tears fall but this time in relief and thankfulness.

I am one of the lucky ones, I live on high ground and only sustained a little damage; however, we are balls deep in cutting down trees and clearing debris. Some of my friends and fellow charter captains lost their homes and now their businesses.

I am double lucky as I was in negotiation in purchasing a business and just closed the negotiation when we heard the storm was coming. God willing, I will close on the sale and be in business (away from this town) by the end of October.

Even though I sustained little damage it is still thousands in repairs. My house (barndaminium and cabins) is not complete yet and is not eligible for insurance. Which means all the repairs is out of pocket expenses. All around we were very lucky. The bad news is we have to cancel our trip to SA next year. Hopefully we will do our honeymoon the following year. What an amazing wife I have, I hope I can give her the adventure of a lifetime in SA without too much delay.

To all those who are believers we still ask for prayers for all those who are now homeless and in need. The linemen (real heroes in hardhats) are out there working their magic to get us powered up again and we are receiving great support from the state (God Bless Ron Desantis) and charities. It is a beautiful thing to see how a community can come together and help each other, just a shame conditions have to be so bad to make it happen.

 

[Flipper Dude]

Glad that you and your’s are safe. We lost a lot of trees in our last hurricane in Houston, but nothing like you guys went through.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

I live in coastal Georgia. Some of the city has power, a lot doesn't. My neighbors do, my family literally across the street do, I don't. Well that's not quite right; I have power but it's like a trickle that sometimes turns into a waterfall. Every now and then I'll get my lights back on and the AC going strong and then right back to the trickle. They say it'll be back fully by 2200 on 10/01/24. May the Omnissiah favor me with faster recovery.

Gas stations are either out of power or out of gas if they have power. I've got enough in the car to, I think, make it to work and back the next two days. Hopefully I can get more when I'm off again Wednesday and Thursday, if not sooner.

For a while we thought we were on a countywide water-boil advisory but it seems that only applies to people not on the City's water. I'm not one of them, so that's a plus.

And as for work? I'm an essential category employee so I get to go to work as normal. The night of the hurricane itself we'd lost power in the detention center for a couple hours earlier in the day. On my night watch we lost it for very brief periods (a few seconds) something like eight, nine times. The inmates are, or at least were, on lockdown since Thursday and they were getting very antsy by Saturday because they just cannot wrap their heads around the idea that "The entire county is in a state of emergency and we're suspending a majority of actions for the safety and security of the facility" and that we aren't punishing or picking on them. We were running on generator power for days, still might be.

More personally I was forced to stay at work far longer than I should have on my day off Saturday. My relief officer never showed up; apparently he up and quit and didn't come to work. My Watch Commander was trying for hours to get me relieved. Got to work early at 1800, signed in at 1911, got off at 1330 the next day. 18hr shift and I'm not supposed to work past 16. Not really looking forward to the next two shifts because I haven't had an adequately relaxing weekend off.

Amazing how much this hurricane has destroyed things here and it didn't actually HIT us.

 

[mdwest]

My buddy in western Virginia tells a similar story… 17” of rain in 24 hours… power down through most of the area… generators running out of fuel.. and gas stations have no power to pump fuel.. most roads were not navigable for the first 48 hours.. most now are trepidatious.. but are slowly getting cleared by citizens (not govt) with chainsaws and/or tractors..

He reports that it’s tough out there.. he’s been delivering water from his spring to the elderly in the area that lost their water supply.. but he also reports that it’s inspiring watching his community come together and all help each other through the situation.. those that have power are moving those that don’t into their homes.. those that have fuel or water or food are sharing, etc… and the young guys are spending hours a day swinging chainsaws and hauling off trees..

He says oak and walnut prices should be dropping rapidly… they have enough stacked in Virginia to fuel the country’s needs for months …

 

[Altitude sickness]

Unfortunately, Two more potential Hurricanes on deck. One is in the Gulf already. And one mid Atlantic.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

Unfortunately, Two more potential Hurricanes on deck. One is in the Gulf already. And one mid Atlantic.

Thankfully Joyce is slated to decay into a remnant today. Depression 12 is graphed as staying in the middle of the Atlantic through the week, though it's supposed to become a big one while it does.

The one kinda-sorta off Nicaragua has a <40% chance of forming past a "disturbance" at the moment.

 

[AZDAVE]

prayers and best wishes sent to all affected.

 

[Hunt anything]

Glad your safe, tons of work ahead though! We have been through it many times keep your head up and a good attitude and everything will turn out fine.

Hopefully the low in the Caribbean doesn’t gain strength like the last one, our local people claim if it does develop and get in the Gulf it shouldn’t be as big. Not very comforting coming from people that bat about 50%.

 

[towserthemouser]

Hey all, hurricane Helene turned out to be a real wild ride. In my little town of Steinhatchee Fl, we got hit with almost 22ft of storm surge. Our town lost all four of our Marinas and both boat ramps. This is important as we are a fishing town and that is what our economy is based on. I am a fishing charter captain and will be out or work for months because of this. On top of that my wife worked at one of the marinas and will be out of work indefinitely. As will most of our town. Our one grocery store is out of commission, both gas stations, three restaurants completely gone. I would say about 60% of the jobs in our town will be gone for months at best. Most of the businesses just got back in operation from Idalia last year and Debbie in August. Funding to start rebuilding again is going to be hard to get.

We left for the storm and looking at your home and leaving it alone to face the danger by itself was heart wrenching. I felt like I was never going to see it again. So much of my life's work went into my little piece of heaven so tears were shed saying goodbye to it. All we could do is let God know we place it in his hands and drive away trusting that whatever happens it will be to our benefit and his plan. Coming back and seeing it intact with just battle wounds let a whole new flow of tears fall but this time in relief and thankfulness.

I am one of the lucky ones, I live on high ground and only sustained a little damage; however, we are balls deep in cutting down trees and clearing debris. Some of my friends and fellow charter captains lost their homes and now their businesses.

I am double lucky as I was in negotiation in purchasing a business and just closed the negotiation when we heard the storm was coming. God willing, I will close on the sale and be in business (away from this town) by the end of October.

Even though I sustained little damage it is still thousands in repairs. My house (barndaminium and cabins) is not complete yet and is not eligible for insurance. Which means all the repairs is out of pocket expenses. All around we were very lucky. The bad news is we have to cancel our trip to SA next year. Hopefully we will do our honeymoon the following year. What an amazing wife I have, I hope I can give her the adventure of a lifetime in SA without too much delay.

To all those who are believers we still ask for prayers for all those who are now homeless and in need. The linemen (real heroes in hardhats) are out there working their magic to get us powered up again and we are receiving great support from the state (God Bless Ron Desantis) and charities. It is a beautiful thing to see how a community can come together and help each other, just a shame conditions have to be so bad to make it happen.

I live near you in Panama City, FL. We got hit hard by Hurricane Michael in 2018, so I have a sense of what you're dealing with, and pray for you and your community.

There was a curfew after the hurricane but I was considered an essential worker and had a special pass to show the police showing why I was ok to be out on the roads. I was coming home from a long exhausting day at work, the day after the storm. I had literally not seen another car out on the roads. There was devastation everywhere, trees and power lines down, debris and destroyed buildings. It was actually jarring to navigate because all the familiar landmarks were gone.....

I will never forget coming over the top of the Hathaway Bridge and seeing a miles-long line of power trucks, emergency vehicles, and Cajun Navy (God bless them), red and blue and yellow lights flashing, inbound to the bridge from the West. At that moment I truly understood the meaning of the phrase, "Seeing the Cavalry coming over the hill."

Here's to the heroes in hardhats!

 

[PARA45]

Prayers for all those affected by this. I know the feeling, lived through Hurricane Andrew.

 

[jpr9954]

Asheville, NC and much of western NC is a disaster area. Not just a disaster but a catastrophic one. Flood levels were higher than the 1916 flood which had been the record breaker. So far the death toll in Buncombe County stands at 40 but I imagine it will go up as more bodies are found especially in the Swannanoa and Black Mountain areas.

We had a heavy 2-day rain on Tuesday and Wednesday of 6-8" and then we got Helene on top of that. Hendersonville which is just south of Asheville had just short of 22" of rain.

Power, cell, internet, and city water are out in most areas. Roads are destroyed and Interstate 40 is closed in both directions. We were out of town so we will need to take a roundabout way home. Fortunately for us, I don't think we have any damage other than the food lost in the refrigerator.

A friend in Clyde - 20 miles west of Asheville - has a store in a 120 year old building selling military surplus. It had never flooded until this time when he got 3' of water in the store from the Pigeon River.

 

[MTA]

May the Omnissiah favor me with faster recovery.

I got that reference

 

[thi9elsp]

I'm in Hernando Beach, Florida about an hour north of Tampa. My take is Ft. Myers to Crystal River had about as bad a surge as one can have without having a direct hit. We had 8 - 9 feet here. We're on stilts, but still had two rooms finished (by the previous owners) on the lower level. I'm close to getting all the wet drywall out. I feel fortunate. Our neighbor's house is a one story. Everything wet.

Then, I saw what happened up north. We stayed at a KOA in Swannanoa last year and I understand it no longer exists.

Everybody be careful while cleaning up and come back strong.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

I got that reference

The Omnissiah has not favored me with fast power recovery... In fact my power meter seems to have blown...

But I was able to fill up my car on the way to work earlier this evening. I just have to get through tonight and I can go try and rest at my family's or maybe even my own place. And face tomorrow in its time. And if I'm lucky when I get off work on Wednesday I can go home and chill where I WANT to rather than lug my xbox over to my sister's so I can play Space Marine 2 with my friends...

 

[Red Leg]

My sister-in-law and family live in Mayo. Last year the carport vanished and the house survived. This year, exactly the same result. Just not fair being targeted twice in consecutive years.

 

[3chunter]

We just got our power back an hour ago.

 

[Brent in Az]

I saw the mayhem and damage on the news. Hope all you east coast people are o.k!

 

[Redfishga1]

I do t

I live in coastal Georgia. Some of the city has power, a lot doesn't. My neighbors do, my family literally across the street do, I don't. Well that's not quite right; I have power but it's like a trickle that sometimes turns into a waterfall. Every now and then I'll get my lights back on and the AC going strong and then right back to the trickle. They say it'll be back fully by 2200 on 10/01/24. May the Omnissiah favor me with faster recovery.

Gas stations are either out of power or out of gas if they have power. I've got enough in the car to, I think, make it to work and back the next two days. Hopefully I can get more when I'm off again Wednesday and Thursday, if not sooner.

For a while we thought we were on a countywide water-boil advisory but it seems that only applies to people not on the City's water. I'm not one of them, so that's a plus.

And as for work? I'm an essential category employee so I get to go to work as normal. The night of the hurricane itself we'd lost power in the detention center for a couple hours earlier in the day. On my night watch we lost it for very brief periods (a few seconds) something like eight, nine times. The inmates are, or at least were, on lockdown since Thursday and they were getting very antsy by Saturday because they just cannot wrap their heads around the idea that "The entire county is in a state of emergency and we're suspending a majority of actions for the safety and security of the facility" and that we aren't punishing or picking on them. We were running on generator power for days, still might be.

More personally I was forced to stay at work far longer than I should have on my day off Saturday. My relief officer never showed up; apparently he up and quit and didn't come to work. My Watch Commander was trying for hours to get me relieved. Got to work early at 1800, signed in at 1911, got off at 1330 the next day. 18hr shift and I'm not supposed to work past 16. Not really looking forward to the next two shifts because I haven't had an adequately relaxing weekend off.

Amazing how much this hurricane has destroyed things here and it didn't actually HIT us.

If you are in Sav I do t think we ar getting power my side. Too many poles missing and I have not seen the first truck with a pole.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

I do t

If you are in Sav I do t think we ar getting power my side. Too many poles missing and I have not seen the first truck with a pole.

I am. But I believe the issue lies with my power meter and not the lines.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

According to GA Power, they now say "We expect your power to be restored by Oct 2 8PM." Well perhaps. We'll find out.