[identity profile] draven3.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 10:35 am (UTC)(link)
That is amazing, chaotic beauty at its best, yet peace at its epicenter

[identity profile] arafel.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 10:59 am (UTC)(link)
I was remarking to my officemate - I'm pretty much an atheist, but it's in pictures of this that I can believe in the Divine.

[identity profile] draven3.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 11:04 am (UTC)(link)
I like that, very well put darling:)

[identity profile] tntoxfox.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 10:46 am (UTC)(link)
My mom and dad will get an up-close-and-personal view come Thursday whether they like it or not. :( And where I went to undergrad--god help that town.

Here's what it looked like when Floyd came through in '99. Yep, it's me standing on that patch of grass amidst the water...

[identity profile] arafel.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 10:59 am (UTC)(link)
Whoa. I hate to ask how tall that hassock of grass is that you're standing on.

[identity profile] tntoxfox.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 11:06 am (UTC)(link)
It was at the very edge of the water, where the water was only about 6 inches deep. We had to jump to get to it. The water behind me was about 4 to 5 feet deep. Around our science building, it was 12-15 feet deep.

So guess what the school does on that patch of land where the water was the deepest? Goes and builds a multi-million dollar science and technology building that they claim will be "flood-resistant". Ummmm...no logic in building that thing on a 100-year flood plain now, is there? If this storm comes close enough, I guess they'll get to test the building's resistance.

This may be a drier hurricane than Floyd was;if so, good.

[identity profile] arafel.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 11:17 am (UTC)(link)
I like that term: "Flood-resistant." Flood-resistant implies that at some point, the flood protection will fail and all that nice equipment will get up close and personal with the water. The only way to go is "flood-PROOF," like finding a higher place to build. Sheesh.

12-15 feet, yikes! What did you do - swim to work? I'd hate to be that poor asshole on the first floor whose data just got iced.

[identity profile] tntoxfox.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 11:48 am (UTC)(link)
School was closed for three weeks. The basement and up to the landing of the basement stairs connecting the first floor was flooded. The school ordered all students home when the power had been out for about 48 hours and the main substation's switch was about to go under.

Our science building was up on a little hill too, so I imagine 12 feet was a conservative estimate for one level and half of another to be wiped out.

[identity profile] arafel.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 06:50 pm (UTC)(link)
She is lovely, isn't she?

[identity profile] lordraziel.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 12:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, what a great picture! I've always loved storms. You hit it right, such terrible and awesome beauty. Is that Cuba in the picture?

[identity profile] arafel.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not sure - I think it's Hispaniola (the island with the Dominican Republic and Haiti?) and Puerto Rico in the picture. Can you make it out?

[identity profile] lordraziel.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, I think you are right. I thought Cuba was longer and narrower than that. That must be Hispaniola and Puerto Rico as you say. Though that may be the tip of Cuba on the western edge of the picture.

One of the guys I work with has family in NC. I'm on leave this week so I'm not sure if he has spoken to them lately but I did talk to others and they are going to make sure he gets a hold of them.

[identity profile] fireceremony.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 02:39 pm (UTC)(link)

Is the hurricane forecast to hit you badly ? I hope you will be ok.

[identity profile] arafel.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't think we'll get much more than wind and rain, thankfully, but people further south are pretty upset (and rightly so.) We still bought some water and a new flashlight.

Thanks for the kind thoughts!

[identity profile] zelamenomiko.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Yep, I'm scared. And even though we might get lucky and miss the hurricane (or not, the weatherfolks are all wishy-washy) we'll still get some big time gusts and tornado potential. Yay.

My biggest concern? She's gonna be right on top of my sister, my best friend's grandparents, and eventually my best friend.

[identity profile] arafel.livejournal.com 2003-09-17 08:55 am (UTC)(link)
I hope you guys will be okay! I sometimes wonder how anyone can risk living near the shore in NC or SC.

Isn't your best friend in Buffalo?

[identity profile] zelamenomiko.livejournal.com 2003-09-17 10:59 am (UTC)(link)
Nope, my best friend lives in Chatham, Va. Actually, she's more like a sister, I've known her so long.

My adopted Imoutou lives in Buffalo (Angii-chan).

What's scary about Isabel and any other hurricane that comes in this way (i.e. Hugo) is that I live a good five to six hours away from the coast. But I'm with you, I don't know how anyone could want coastal property.

[identity profile] ssilverfish.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Wowie...

*gapes*

[identity profile] caoin.livejournal.com 2003-09-16 09:17 pm (UTC)(link)
8-0

[identity profile] pipeandslippers.livejournal.com 2003-09-18 07:35 am (UTC)(link)
It's big, it's bad but it certainly ain't ugly. Seeing it I get the same kind of feeling I get when I accidentaly cut myself and watch it heal. I think, "Wow, I'm self-repairing!". I see a picture of the hurricane and think, "Wow, the earth can do that?"