MR

So this hurricane... I worked with a company responsible for building the new pumps in the New Orleans area that will help lessen the affects of the storm surge. They were built for much larger events, of course. I guess it's better it is tested with a cat 1 than a cat 3 or 4.

Then there is the much needed rain and lift to the Mississippi River. If people are smart enough to stay out of the rough spots, I'd say this hurricane is going to do more good than harm.

Of course, this post could look silly a few days from now if something really negative happens. But I don't think that will happen.

Well so far no one has died & hope it stays that way.

Jim Cantore The Weather Channel 8 29 2012 Hurricane Isaac Tebow Comment 745am

http://youtu.be/ZuqfqboWBVA

All sympathy to LA & MS. Most of us have no idea what the coastal communities go through. But please keep the state of Arkansas in your prayers too. We usually get the remnants of most gulf storms as they move inland and dissipate. However, this hurricane hasn't weakened as quickly as others have by the time they get here. Sustained winds, and several inches of rain are taking toll. We've been in a hard drought all summer, and now all this at once is causing problems all over.

Not whining...just sayin'...


later~

Arkansas wrote:All sympathy to LA & MS. Most of us have no idea what the coastal communities go through. But please keep the state of Arkansas in your prayers too. We usually get the remnants of most gulf storms as they move inland and dissipate. However, this hurricane hasn't weakened as quickly as others have by the time they get here. Sustained winds, and several inches of rain are taking toll. We've been in a hard drought all summer, and now all this at once is causing problems all over.

Not whining...just sayin'...


later~

I can completely relate to what you mean about getting all that rain all at once. Here in Arizona we average right at 7" of rain annually. That makes for some very, very hard, packed earth which is more like concrete than any kind of dirt. So when we do get a deluge of rain all at once, like, say..... .75" Holy Mother of God! There's standing water up to the door handles of your car in the lowest areas. And the washes (natural stream beds which are completely dry 99.9% of the time for those unfamiliar with the term...) become raging mini rivers in the blink of an eye! Yup, rain can be a mother when there's no place for it to go and/or it can't be soaked-in.

This storm/tropical depression/hurricane (take your pick for this particular one...) has had very peculiar traits - mainly that it is not only very slow moving but as soon as it made landfall it stalled and because it's tailing edge was still off the coast, it continued to pick up moisture from the ocean/gulf and pummeling the area it happened to be hovering over. Not a lot of wind damage but major flooding for sure.
Take care and stay safe!

Side Note:
Shortly after moving to Arizona and buying my first house, the water line from the street to the house had to be replaced due to the contractor of my subdivision using sub-par, cheap polybutyline tubing rather than conduit in an effort to save a few $$. That backfired on him and a class action suit was filed against him and his company and he actually ended up doing time for it.
Anyway.....
The run from the street to the house was approx. 50'. Since I was the homeowner and the job didn't have to be approved, I decided the standard 24" depth for the water line was deeper than I was willing to trench. I rented a Ditch Witch to do the job and decided I'd go 18" or so and call it a day. Remember the concrete-like soil I mentioned above? As I started to trench, the arm if the Ditch Witch was just bouncing all over the place and within 2-3 mins, I had broken 2 splines!
I called a buddy and told him the situation. He advised me to soak the area with a hose at just a trickle moving the hose every hour or so round the clock for a couple of days to prep the area. And, sure as shit, that's what it took to get the Ditch Witch to work properly.

After that experience, I took notice of every construction job that would start up. And in every case, the first thing that took place was setting up a mobile sprinkler-type setup like you'd see watering crops. It would run continuously for a few days constantly moving back and forth over the area to be excavated - and we're talking about areas that were going to be attacked with heavy equipment!! I ended up dropping the line 12" down and made sure no-one and nothing ever dug in my front yard for the rest of the time I lived there!