Has your area been hit by the recent hurricanes?? How bad was the damage?

Unfortunately we were not hit. I wanted the hurricane to come here REALLY bad, but, of course, it didn't. We got a lot of rain though. :)

Never heard that before; We just got 2 inches of rain. But, my local neighbor Danville got the blunt of both storms; the Dan River, which runs right through the city rose from 17 feet to 23 feet (5 feet above flood level), and they had 3 tornadoes to set down.

Unfortunately we were not hit. I wanted the hurricane to come here REALLY bad, but, of course, it didn't. We got a lot of rain though. :)

You're kidding, right?

Unfortunately we were not hit. I wanted the hurricane to come here REALLY bad, but, of course, it didn't. We got a lot of rain though. :)

No offence intended, but how old are you?

I know two people, one of them a long time family friend, whose homes have been nearly erased, to put it bluntly. And they were not mobile homes. One of those homes was in Arcadia and the friend of mine, Clara, she had a vacation home in Punta Gorda, and it's gone.

The eye of the hurricane was projected go directly across my neighborhood in Tampa, but of course it changed course. I had no idea it was going to get that big and was only expecting a Cat. 2, so I did little to protect my apartment. If it had come to Tampa and continued up the coast without making landfall anywhere else, then it would have been a Cat. 5, and as I stated in another forum, I believe it would have been the worst natural disaster in American history due to the high population, low lying residential communities, and the fact that the storm would have been ever more of a monster if it had more time to stengthen. My deepest condolences are with those in Charlotte County and Arcadia and others in the path of the storm, but I am truly grateful it did not hit us here in the Tampa/St. Pete area.

Unfortunately we were not hit. I wanted the hurricane to come here REALLY bad, but, of course, it didn't. We got a lot of rain though.

Are you kidding? Obviously you haven't seen the horrible effects left behind by Hurricane Charley. Thousands upon thousands have been left homeless because of this storm my friend. Never wish anything like this upon yourself or others.

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My opinion is that if you choose to live in a place that is prone to hurricanes or earthquakes be prepared and while I feel sorry for you, I really dont. You had to see it coming? Or maybe I am being ignorant all I know is Biloxi Gulfport New Orleans is very prone to flooding and hurricanes and when I lived there everyone knew it as did I , they would come and we knew so why want people to feel pity...

My opinion is that if you choose to live in a place that is prone to hurricanes or earthquakes be prepared and while I feel sorry for you, I really dont. You had to see it coming? Or maybe I am being ignorant all I know is Biloxi Gulfport New Orleans is very prone to flooding and hurricanes and when I lived there everyone knew it as did I , they would come and we knew so why want people to feel pity...

Give me a break dude! This storm went through Orlando as a catagory 2 hurricane. That's over 100 miles from the location it made landfall. Are you telling me anyone within 100 miles of any coastline should expect this type of disaster? There are thousands of people who lost their homes and their livelyhood. Certainly you can respect their loss and pray for them.

Give me a break dude! This storm went through Orlando as a catagory 2 hurricane. That's over 100 miles from the location it made landfall. Are you telling me anyone within 100 miles of any coastline should expect this type of disaster? There are thousands of people who lost their homes and their livelyhood. Certainly you can respect their loss and pray for them.

No sir, and I thought about my comment. No one deserves for any of this to happen,and I DO feel sympathy for them. But we know about florida and California that they are prone to horrible disaster. Florida and gulf states and some atlantic states that they have hurricanes and floods...that is the good with the bad that you accept by living there. Just like when 1994 happened in Los Angeles or the fires.....we lived there...we were sympathetic to peoples losses but expected it...where we live was prone to these disasters and we expected them to come sometime because that is the course of life, obviously no one deserves to die. I guess I am just used to the cries of people from Los Angeles how they lost their beautiful mansion on a faultline or built in some brush, I have no sympathy to them...ALSO c'mon we know trailors are not meant to be in florida...people just need to be more prepared and not so oblivious. I am trying not to be SO BLUNT and I do care that people are with nothing and hurt and even deceased, but let it be a future lesson...know because it happens every damn 5 to 10 years...someone in a trailor cries because they lost their florida home to a hurricane.

I totally understand what you're saying -- people who build massive houses along the beach, but cry when a storm takes them out. I agree, you should expect something bad could happen.

But at the same time, you have to look at the Gulf Coast of Florida. This hurricane was headed directly for us here in Tampa up until about 2:30 p.m. on Friday. The last major hurricane to hit the Bay Area was back in the 1920s. There hasn't even been tropical weather in this area in 40 years. So it is somewhat unexpected. The atlantic side is more susceptable.

The other thing is that this storm was projected to hit 80 miles north. These folks weren't given the immediacy of evacuating like we were here in St. Pete and Tampa. Plus, this storm jumped from a cat 3 to cat 4, maybe even cat 5 when it made landfall. Flooding is one thing...but this sucker flattend everything because of 150 mph winds. No one expected that! Specially places like Arcadia, Lakeland and Orlando. Hell, everyone evacuated from here to go there.

It won't be a lesson for anyone. People will continue to flock to places with beaches, warm weather and sunshine. And in the case of Charlotte and Hardee counties, pretty cheap land. And, most likely, because of this hurricane, the land there will be even cheaper now, and others will come and grab up this inexpensive land. Maybe they'll build another mobile home or maybe a McMansion. Yes, many people may leave. They may go to other parts of the state or other parts of the country, away from the coastline. And when this happens someone else will take their place. Of course the cities of Punta Gorda, Boca Grande, and Port Charlotte will be scarred with this memory, it won't stop development in the future.

Just about every part of the country is prone to some natural disaster. Sure, some areas are more prone than others. But people will continue to overlook risks such as hurricanes or earthquakes, just like they do heavy traffic and long commutes or over-inflated real estate values, in pursuit of their version of the American dream.

I certainly don't think federal flood insurance should be made available to those living on barrier islands.

I also like the way Texas does it--all beaches in Texas are public. In other words, all land between the low tide line and the vegetation line is public property. When hurricanes hit, and the beach gets washed away, the vegetation line gets pushed back further, and those houses that were behind the vegetation are now in front of it and on public property. So the houses go--a great disincentive to build ocean front property.

I agree that the big problem with Charley was the fact that SW Florida hadn't seen a storm in a long time, and people didn't know what to expect. While the area that was hit was not the original landfall prediction, the area was still under a hurricane warning, and the people in trailers should have evacuated. In fact, I believe hurricane warning areas always advise people in lowlying areas and those in trailers to leave. I know in Louisiana, which has some sort of tropical weather every couple years, virtually everyone living in trailers leaves during a warning. I suspect it has to do with memories of Hurricane Audrey in SW LA in the fifties when 500 something people drowned and Hurricane Betsy in New Orleans in the sixties when 30 something drowned. And also, Hurricane Camille 60 miles away in MS when 100 something drowned.

I came for vacation in New Orleans during May '04 from the UK, and whilst we were there we spent two nights in Biloxi also, and met a lot of nice people, and had a great time...I just wanted to send my condolences to anyone who has been affected by this large-scale natural disaster. If anyone has any photos of Biloxi, I would be interested to see how it looks after the hurricane.

Watching Nightline (Australia) which is carrying an abc news report where they've interveiwed an expert on flood damage - it sounds absolutely terrible - the consequences of water up to your rooftop. They then spoke to a former mayor of New Orleans who said that in terms of a Worst Case Scenario - this is it.

Everyone in Australia is thinking of the people in that area.

As for the Numbnut above who wanted a hurricane in his city - honestly what can you expect from someone who rates Lindsay Lohan as attractive! Next thing you know he'll claim she can sing!

We got some rain showers and blustry winds in Charlotte....further west in the NC Mountians they got some minor flooding.

Are you kidding? Obviously you haven't seen the horrible effects left behind by Hurricane Charley. Thousands upon thousands have been left homeless because of this storm my friend. Never wish anything like this upon yourself or others.

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I'm in Tampa too, and we were also hoping it would come this way. We didn't want it to be as bad as it turned out to be...we were hoping it would come in as a Cat 1 here or something. There's always the next storm I guess!

Back in Henderson County (near Asheville), our front yard floods easy, since we have a stream that isn't far from the house. Flooding rains are never fun. Of course very few people in WNC can finish a basement in their home. Water is a constant problem in basements, even after applying a sealer. We have three coats of two different kinds of sealer and we still have reddish brown water stains on the basement walls. During last year's hurricane season, our road was washed away and had to be replaced at our expense. All of us along the street pitched-in to buy gravel and fix ruts from the fast moving water. I'm not sure if our street could ever be paved due to the flowing water and location of that stream? Of course people will point to historic photos and rainfall out here and say the Asheville area is prone to flooding. Last year Biltmore Village flooded out. We also have to be concerned over rockslides, which are a very real danger and can close major roads or highways in and out of the metro.

I'm at college in the northeast Georgia area right now and this area had tornadoes from this year's hurricanes. Atlanta's metro flooded with a previous hurricane and the most recent hurricane produced tornadoes in Helen and along the Alabama-Georgia state line near Atlanta's exurbs. The power was out in this area. Before the hurricane hit, they said Atlanta was 11 inches above normal rainfall for the year, due to hurricane flooding. I'm not sure what the numbers are now with the most recent hurricane? Damage from these things can happen a long ways from where the eye lands on shore. My Sister back in Arden said Asheville-Hendersonville-Greenville was under a tornado watch or warning as the strom passed over North Carolina.

Huntsville had about 15,000 without power yesterday, and there were trees down everywhere. Traffic signals were also down, and one caused major gridlock on Memorial Parkway. Fortunately, we were lucky to not have much structural damage, even with 50-60mph winds. Katrina's impact on Huntsville was a minor drop in the bucket compared to the damage that was made to our south.

The pipelines supplying Charlotte with gasoline have been severed and so now people are going CRAZY filling up their cars with gas since they say that after this Saturday Charlotte will be out of gasoline for a couple days. There are gas stations with lines of 30 cars waiting to fill up. I have never in the 29 years I have lived here seen that.

I've honestly never been in such shock as I am in right now......dead bodies floating about, thousands trapped and dying in their homes, gasoline shooting up to 3-4 dollars a gallon, and there is no quick fix......New Orleans, a vibrant city that was hoping to bounce back to near normal in weeks will be unlivable for many months....apr. 80,000 people are living in shelters, and disease will soon be a devastating problem....I feel worthless just sitting here in Southwest VA, with no damage, sun shinning, and everything as normal as usual....I hope to start up some type of benifit for New Orleans in town; not much, but anything and everything helps, I suppose.....

I live north of Miami, in Broward County, and we had some minor damages, and power outages, when Katrina hit South Fla, it was a category one, and it just dumped 20 inches of rain in south Miami. I used to live in Miami when hurricane Andrew hit. 2 weeks with no power, no water, no gas, it was miserable. My prayers are with all the people that have suffered devastation by the storm.

I was here in B'ham for Ivan and Katrina and thought that Katrina was worse despite the eye missing us by 100+ miles to the west (Ivan came right over us). Ivan was bad but this storm just felt worse. Apparently, Alabama Power felt so too: this storm did more physical damage to the Birmingham power grid than Ivan, despite (again) being far to the west. A life changing moment in history, the news story of the year, the worst thing to ever happen to SE LA, I could go on and on. This is awful. I'm so pissed at how inadequate and slow the response has been, and so pissed at all those FUCKING looters for ripping my favorite American city apart.

New Orleans as we know and love it
August 25, 1718 - August 29, 2005

And to all of you brainless retard assholes who were disappointed you got missed by this hurricane, shame on you.

People's lives are over, literally and figuratively. A major American city is being emptied for the first time since the Civil War, and is destroyed for all intents and purposes. Our oil distribution system is now being taxed to the tipping point which could have serious ramifications for our on-time distribution based economy most people haven't begun to consider.

I'm sorry that you had to miss a little excitement in the form of wind, rain, and some lightning- and all that holds for life- courtesy of Mother Nature. Yeah, a little Cat 2 action would have been bitchin! Aw man, you probably had to go to work/school because there wasn't any inclimate weather to put on a show for you, didn't you! But seriously though, I'll be sure and pass on your sentiments to my friends who are staying with me for the next week because their house has water downstairs. Fuckers.

so far ive been thru Ivan, Dennis, and Katrina. Ivan being the most destructive for my area.

No i was not hit at all. A few sprinkles from Katrina is all we got. BUT this summer i got enough damage from afternoon thunderstorms to equal up to a small hurricane, including downed trees, hail the size of quarters, roof of my Greenhouse ripped up and flooding.

I was in the hardest hit area of Miami (cutler ridge) for Katrina, but we're lucky cuz all the houses on my street are slightly above the street, on small mounds. But alot of the houses on the blocks adjacent to mine have been flooded, and some people in Miami still don't have power.

the worse thing to happen to me (luckily) is the fact that we still don't have DSL cuz of a network outage, so I'm on dial-up right now. Back to the basics I guess.

I'm in mountanious southwest virginia, and we had 3 tornadoes to set down, as well as many inches of rain.....so I can just imagine how difficult it must be in LA.

My opinion is that if you choose to live in a place that is prone to hurricanes or earthquakes be prepared and while I feel sorry for you, I really dont. You had to see it coming? Or maybe I am being ignorant all I know is Biloxi Gulfport New Orleans is very prone to flooding and hurricanes and when I lived there everyone knew it as did I , they would come and we knew so why want people to feel pity...

I don't feel nearly as bad about the beach houses as I do about the urban neighborhoods. Think about it... there are elderly people in New Orleans who have scraped by in a poor 'hood for their entire lives, working their fingers to the bone and living hand to mouth just to make ends meet. After all these years, one storm comes along and BOOM... no house, no car, no money, no food, no assets, in some cases no family, no NOTHING. These people are literally living on flooded streets now because they have nowhere to go and no way to get there. 90 year old men being dropped off at the local shelter with one tank of oxygen and no meds. It's hard to even relate to that kind of personal devastation.

yes. just got my cable back on after Katrina. it was out 48 hours. power was off 15 hours, starting monday night at 6:30 p.m.

as of this morning, about 70,000 in the Birmingham area were still without power.

i lost about $15 in groceries, compared to about $50 from Ivan.

but i'm not bitching, only stating facts.

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I'm in mountanious southwest virginia, and we had 3 tornadoes to set down, as well as many inches of rain.....so I can just imagine how difficult it must be in LA.

reminds me last year when Ivan hit the Tennessee/North Carolina border.

i'm sure the Asheville forumers can discuss this more and better than i can;

BUT THE AREA GOT FUCKED!!! HARD!!!

Asheville got severe flooding. the interstate between the two states got washed out.

and this is in the mountains, several hundred miles from the coast.

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In regards to the Asheville floods, I can honestly say that I've never lived through anything quite so bad, and considering that it's not a tenth as bad as what New Orleans is going through, I really don't know how I'd react to a disaster of such magnitude.

The remnants of two hurricanes stalled over the area, and I seem to recall that over the course of a week we received about two feet of rain. It was the first time I'd ever witnessed mudslides. Around here they were pretty mild, but in the Peeks Creek Community, an entire mountainside came down and demolished a small community of houses. Several people died.

In Asheville, the water system failed because the pipeline leading from the North Fork Reservoir washed out. The Swannanoa River rose and flooded the Biltmore Village historic district under about six or so feet of water. Meanwhile, the French Broad flooded and put the River District, an historic industrial district, underwater as well. Downtown, high on its hill stayed safe and sound, thankfully, although trees fell there as they did all over town.

Down in Chimney Rock, the new riverwalk was washed away, as was all the soil that had collected on boulders in the Rocky Broad River -- enough to support large trees in many cases, and so the trees were swept away too. The river still looks scoured. The town of Canton flooded, and up in I believe it was Yancey County, some houses slid down a mountain, like they're always doing on televised news reports from California.

All in all, it was hell on earth for a few days -- trees and signs broken and shattered, flood waters in two historic districts, houses slid off their foundations, hillsides folded over on themselves, trees and houses and bridges swept away, and of course in Peeks Creek, houses and people crushed under a mountain that had suddenly moved.

At my house, the basement flooded, and I opened the basement door only to be greeted wth what appeared to be a pair of copperheads swimming rather gracefully around the water heater. I was still distraught for a while, and just can't imagine what it could be like to be a New Orleanian right now. I'd probably have had a breakdown by now. It's trite, but I'm praying for them.

I think it's perfectly natural to get excited about your city getting hit by a hurricane. Hugo stands out as one of the most poignant weeks in my memory. I don't think being disappointed that you didn't get to witness one of life's most intense experiences makes you a "brainless retard asshole". It doesn't imply that you don't sympathize with the horror, but that you appreciate the rare experience amidst the war. Look at the goodwill that inevitably arises in the aftermath. It's okay to be an excited kid no matter how old you are. It's natural to feel excited and horrified at once.