Hurricane Helene -- Check In!

[hmaria1609]

WTOP Radio has a feature article about Maryland rescue teams who've deployed to affected areas:
https://wtop.com/local/2024/10/rescue-teams-from-maryland-search-through-devastation-in-north-carolina/
Rescue teams from VA and DC have gone too.

[hmaria1609]

Here's the view of the Shenandoah River in Harpers Ferry, WV:
https://wtop.com/local/2024/10/shenandoah-river-swells-over-banks-at-harpers-ferry-no-damage-expected/
Includes short video

[Myword]

I am in St Petersburg supposedly on vacation   Rough. Renting a condo mile from the Gulf and beach
Flooded with 5 inches of water. Rental car soaked and dead for a week before
I was able to get a new one. Fridge out of order power gone8  then internet and most places are closed.But now life is normalizing and people are back to usual
except for widespread devastation along the west gulf towns   total property trashed.
not much to read and sadly in no mood to write  much.  Vacation of hell. TB people are brave and take it in stride. I want to go home

[clean]

With  the new storm in the gulf with the current Cone of Death plotting the Tampa/St Pete area in the center, I hope that you can get out tomorrow.  After that, it will be harder to leave.

Did you have the rental car insurance?  What are they saying about the flooding damage?

[hmaria1609]

Here's what WTOP Radio is reporting about Hurricane Milton:
https://wtop.com/national/2024/10/florida-prepares-for-massive-evacuations-as-hurricane-milton-takes-aim-at-major-metro-areas/
Scroll past ad breaks to read full article.

[apl68]

I wonder where the evacuees are going, by and large?  Where can one evacuate to, when the storm is basically forecast to rake most of the peninsula?

[mythbuster]

My friends from Tampa area are headed either to Savannah or Miami. One has arranged an AirBnB for at least a month. Milton may be "the one" that Tampa Bay folks have dreaded for years. Current models I have seen are sending the eye directly up the bay. Shudder. Hope all Central and Gulf Florida forumites have found a safe harbor for this week.

[AmLitHist]

I'm right now teaching a live virtual lecture class (students are writing independently in Canvas for part of today's class). One of the students is in Sarasota, taking all her classes online here in StL this fall.  She's been in touch for a couple of days, apologizing for maybe missing some class sessions--yet here she is, logged in today. Her family is going to try to ride it out on the second floor of her dad's house, a bit back from the shore; she and her mom have left her mom's house closer to the beach.

I'm worried sick about her, as I've gotten to know her over the past couple of months and really like her. She's only 17 or 18, so it's not like she can or would just pick up and get out if her folks are staying, even though they've had a mandatory evacuation order since Monday. Any spare good thoughts or prayers on their behalf would be welcome, I'm sure.

[fleabite]

AmListHist,

I hope your student and her family come through the storm safely.

[spork]

Mods: should this thread be converted to a general hurricane thread?

[namazu]

Mods: should this thread be converted to a general hurricane thread?

Seconded!    (Or maybe severe weather/natural disasters in general?)

AmLitHist, I hope your student and family are OK.
MyWord, did you manage to get out?
Best wishes to all affected.

Sinenomine, apl68, RatGuy, et al., how are your family members and contacts in the path of Helene holding up? 

[apl68]

Haven't yet heard from a cousin who lives in the Tampa area.  Looks like Tampa Bay has once again dodged the worst.

[hmaria1609]

WTOP Radio reports that volunteers from the Red Cross National Capital and Greater Chesapeake Region chapter here in the DC area are heading to FL:
https://wtop.com/local/2024/10/as-milton-leaves-damage-in-its-wake-dc-area-volunteers-lend-a-hand/

[AmLitHist]

My student in Sarasota was back in class this morning. She and her family are safe; they have electricity, but the internet was down so she used her hotspot to log in. She said they rode it out in her dad's condo, on the second floor of a high rise with two units on each side, and they still felt the building shaking at the height of the storm when the sustained winds were 120 mph!

[apl68]

My student in Sarasota was back in class this morning. She and her family are safe; they have electricity, but the internet was down so she used her hotspot to log in. She said they rode it out in her dad's condo, on the second floor of a high rise with two units on each side, and they still felt the building shaking at the height of the storm when the sustained winds were 120 mph!

Thanks for the update, AmLitHist!  We have been concerned and praying for her safety.