Hurricane Michael

[westen44]

Years ago, I had a summer job in Panama City, but stayed in a cottage in Mexico Beach, Florida.  Now it's gone.  Mexico Beach is where Michael made landfall.  This is the kind of thing that happens with the third most intense landfall in U.S. history.  CNN reporter Brooke Baldwin is obviously stunned viewing Mexico Beach's devastation by helicopter. 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gone-mexico-beach-fla-left-ruins-hurricane-michael-153300455.html

[Dave W]

That looks like the central Texas coast after Hurricane Carla in 1961.

[westen44]

That looks like the central Texas coast after Hurricane Carla in 1961.

I've just finished reading an article which I won't post here which is saying Michael wasn't really all that bad.  That the media have hyped all this just to get more viewers.  I guess it's easy to make statements like that if you weren't affected by Michael.  All I know is the Mexico Beach I used to know doesn't seem to exist anymore if that CNN video footage is any indication.  My sister and a friend visited me there for a few days and both said it was one of the most beautiful places they had ever seen.  I'm also wondering what this has done to Panama City beach which I've always considered very nice. 

[Dave W]

There's no doubt that the media loves to hype any potential weather disaster to get viewers, but that doesn't make damage any less real when it actually happens. I heard that Michael would have been a Cat 5 if the winds had been 2 mph higher at landfall. That's really severe by any standard. Whatever is or isn't rebuilt, I'll bet there will be permanent changes along the coastline and nearby inland areas.

[Rob]

I've just finished reading an article which I won't post here which is saying Michael wasn't really all that bad.  That the media have hyped all this just to get more viewers.  I guess it's easy to make statements like that if you weren't affected by Michael.  All I know is the Mexico Beach I used to know doesn't seem to exist anymore if that CNN video footage is any indication.  My sister and a friend visited me there for a few days and both said it was one of the most beautiful places they had ever seen.  I'm also wondering what this has done to Panama City beach which I've always considered very nice.

Hurricanes are not what you expect until you experience one.
If you can find the edge they are like tornadoes ...damage can be isolated.
But at 155 miles per hour you know it hit the fan blades.

[Pilgrim]

There's no doubt that the media loves to hype any potential weather disaster to get viewers, but that doesn't make damage any less real when it actually happens. I heard that Michael would have been a Cat 5 if the winds had been 2 mph higher at landfall. That's really severe by any standard. Whatever is or isn't rebuilt, I'll bet there will be permanent changes along the coastline and nearby inland areas.

More evidence that we need to change how and where we build, isn't it?

[westen44]

I think maybe people in the Panama City area and various other areas along the Gulf Coast may have become lulled into a false sense of security through the years.  The last time that area had experienced a hurricane that intense evidently was in 1851.  Pass Christian, Mississippi, on the other hand, where Camille made landfall--the people have a different attitude.  Even years after Camille they were still talking about it in a fearful way when I was there.  As for Panama City, there always seemed to be a certain allure to that place.  I'm not sure how it will affect people wanting to live and build there, though. 

In my earlier post, I mentioned an article in which someone was saying Hurricane Michael was hyped.  What a lunatic.  He is saying it was a fake Category 4 hurricane, that the numbers on it aren't real and that climate change isn't real, either.  I wouldn't be surprised if he believes  in a flat earth, too.  I agree that sometimes the media can exaggerate, but people like this are beyond absurd. 

Note:

I just now ran across these NBC News videos on Mexico Beach & Panama City.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/officials-worry-hurricane-michael-death-toll-could-rise-crews-struggle-n918936

[Basvarken]

More evidence that we need to change how and where we build, isn't it?

Fourteen years ago I was in Florida. Hurricane Katrina had just hit Florida. Lots of damage.
It puzzled me to see people were rebuilding their houses with chipwood and staples. 
Why not build proper brick houses when you live in a hurricane area?

[westen44]

One of the best articles on the hurricane I've seen so far. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2018/10/11/michael-made-history-one-top-four-strongest-hurricanes-strike-united-states/?utm_term=.1b3f89ce67ab

[Dave W]

More evidence that we need to change how and where we build, isn't it?

So true. An article I read about Hurricane Florence last month said that something like 4x as many people lived in the most flood-prone areas than the last time a hurricane had brought that much rain. If people are going to continue to build in those areas, they ought to have to take the risks on their own.

Fourteen years ago I was in Florida. Hurricane Katrina had just hit Florida. Lots of damage.
It puzzled me to see people were rebuilding their houses with chipwood and staples. 
Why not build proper brick houses when you live in a hurricane area?

Even brick houses can suffer heavy damage from a storm like Michael. I saw commercial brick and concrete buildings destroyed by Hurricane Carla, which was a Cat 5. Some were spared, but others were smashed by the winds and the storm surge.

[westen44]

^^^
I have a brick house.  But after being around tornadoes and hurricanes so much in my life, I'm not sure what I'd feel completely safe in anymore.  Maybe a fallout shelter. 

Florida building code is tough, but Michael was tougher----

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article219862625.html

[dadagoboi]

I lived in Florida from 1956-1976, lots of hurricanes, even one in '53 on Long Island, NY.  California from '76-'89.  I'll take hurricanes vs earthquakes anytime. Since I moved back to Florida there have been three near misses in 4 years...just call me Lucky.

Actually flew very close to this one on the Redeye from Los Angeles Tuesday night, got to S.Fla and was stranded for a day, no bus service above Orlando.  Finally got home Thursday night after literally walking the last mile home dragging my luggage down a dirt road.  Trailer in one piece and my'birds safe in mini storage. Life is good.

[westen44]

^^^
It's good to see a positive story in a time when the news is mostly doom and gloom. 

[dadagoboi]

^^^
It's good to see a positive story in a time when the news is mostly doom and gloom. 

[westen44]

I prefer happy endings.  Stay positive and all that.  That's why it baffles me when women want to see chick flicks that make them cry.  I've just never been able to totally grasp that.