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Alert

Big Water Coming

Sep 13, 2018 9:00AM PDT

Hurricane Florence is coming and someone's gonna get wet Shocked

Discussion is locked

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Believe it or not
Sep 13, 2018 10:53AM PDT

My wife and I had scheduled an oceanfront beach cottage rental in a place about 25 miles south of Myrtle Beach beginning this Saturday. The rent is paid in advance and there are no refunds for bad weather conditions. There was an option offered to buy vacation insurance which would cover this but I didn't take it. Oh, well. I'd rather have had the vacation than a refund anyway. We'll try again next year. Sad

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It wasn't deliberate weather, just seems that way.
Sep 13, 2018 3:27PM PDT
Sad
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I could blame the president
Sep 14, 2018 4:37AM PDT

as that's become a popular component of political mantra. The cottage we'd rented for many years was destroyed by Hugo and I think the elder Bush was president then. So, let's blame him in the way his son was blamed for Katrina. The mantra, today, includes that all natural disasters are either caused or aggravated by global warming. Thus, Florence falls squarely on Trump for his decision to discontinue the ban on coal production. Personally, if the air has gotten warmer, I could think his hot tempered critics are equally to blame. Happy

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I suggested that elsewhere.
Sep 14, 2018 5:44AM PDT

Needs a study to tie it to internet comments.

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This shows something big.
Sep 13, 2018 2:17PM PDT
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No disrespect, but
Sep 13, 2018 3:25PM PDT

the flag seems to be calling for help.

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There's less flag than when I first posted.
Sep 13, 2018 4:50PM PDT

Yikes. I heard it's not the sheer speed but how many hours or days this will keep going.

MORE CAMERAS at Link. Will add more from that link: https://imgur.com/gallery/8JhjWzR

"FOX VIEW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb3slZ_xWhQSalty's

Surf Shop Ocean Isle Beach Webcam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29jRHBB1DVI

Some Guys house
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT7GM9AY5jw

Some Guys car
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2HXwQNuiX0

Some Guy camping
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEiVrmkyzHk

Hurricane Florence Landfall at Cape Fear
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FoUvbMqX0g

Outdoor Mall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apudzoVvLyI

Downtown Wilmington
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkv2hPMEJi0

Greemsboro NC Street cam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJhczhfa7eo

HOLDEN BEACH WEBCAM
https://www.hobbsrealty.com/holden-beach-webcam

Oceanana Pier Rocked Big Waves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZM4E3x7UGM

Multi View Cams
http://www.witn.com/cams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niAmYQsV08E&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v60c6QSuqSY
https://www.earthcam.com/usa/southcarolina/myrtlebeach/?cam=myrtlebeach_hd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfbn74II2_0 "

SOME LINKS ARE ALREADY GONE!

Post was last edited on September 13, 2018 4:51 PM PDT

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"GONE". I guess you mean 'with the wind'.
Sep 13, 2018 8:19PM PDT

US Code says to destroy a flag when it's like that. Wind will do that, too.

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My oldest daughter lives....
Sep 13, 2018 10:32PM PDT

...in Jacksonville, NC and the eye is going there. She drove down yesterday with her dog to spend time here in north Florida with me till she's told to report back for duty at Camp Le Jeune. New Bern, 30 miles inland, is flooded from knee to waist deep from the Neuse river. Her place sits on a bluff with a gorge behind it for the water to run off into, so the big factor for her home would be possible wind damage. Wind currently in that area is 80 mph and just north of her place has recorded over 100 mph. It's now 1:32 am EST on Friday.

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Just now, Reuters says 'downgraded to Cat 1,
Sep 13, 2018 8:31PM PDT

90 mph winds'. Good news, since landfall should weaken it further. But the rains will still be a problem.

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My area
Sep 14, 2018 5:57AM PDT

I'm in the southwest corner of VA where it connects to Tenn, Ky, WVA, and NC.....in 1989 when Hugo hit a month or so before I bought this place, it kept traveling across the States below me in my direction. It also wasn't so much the wind as it was the constant rain for over a week as it traveled slowly NW. When I bought my place two months later, there were literally whole forests of land leveled with trees laying down like toothpicks everywhere because it is so mountainous here that few trees are on level land. As the ground was saturated over and over, the trees no longer had a root system that could hang on and just fell down. I suspect the same thing will be happening again with Florence. It took nearly 30 years for the trees here to come back, but now they are much younger than the 'parent' trees were during Hugo and their root systems are much more shallow....I don't think they'll be able to stay upright for long if the rains hang on like Hugo did.

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I thought you lived further north
Sep 15, 2018 2:31AM PDT

near Winchester, Front Royal, and near the Skyline Drive. I remember something about your collecting computer parts to make PCs for school kids and had even been brave enough to offer your address. That would be scary today. In any event, my wife noted that the entire parkway was currently being shutdown due to possible treacherous conditions from the heavy rain. Driving the "Skyline" and parkway was something my wife and I did early in our marriage. It was amazingly beautiful...especially in the Fall...but you had to be willing to understand that you'd be going nowhere fast. The area you mentioned as your current location might be one we were going to be traveling this week on our way back from SC. I had booked a motel in Wytheville but will need to cancel it now. That I-77/81 junction is a real mess these days anyway but with road construction north of Bluefield, we wanted to avoid the delay by starting early in the AM from Wytheville. We've made this trip to SC and back so many times I can almost do this in my sleep and we'd generally drive all the way back in one day. It's become more difficult to do that as we get older. I was looking forward to this but Flo has changed our plans until next Summer. Be careful out there....

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In 1972 I stayed at the
Sep 15, 2018 3:40AM PDT

Skyline Lodge in the area you mentioned and visited the Luray Caverns....that scenery at 5AM watching the fog lift from the Shenendoah Valley from my balcony was what made the decision to move to anywhere along the Blue Ridge Mountains in VA. 30 years ago I made the move to just south of Wytheville and have my own piece of that mountain ridge. The next time you're looking for a 'pit stop' on your trip to SC, get in touch...I'd love to have the chance to meet and invite you and your wife to my home for dinner or even over night. Whenever I go to Cleveland to see my daughters and sisters, I'm so happy to see the Bluefield/Bland tunnels on the way home because I know I'm almost back here. LOL

I've spent the last week getting this ready for Florence to enter my area....picking up everything lose in the yard and on the porch, moving things to the back of the new carport (enclosed on three sides) that holds the new backhoe/loader and all of the attachments for that tractor and many garden tools, bringing hanging plants and porch plant containers into the house, securing other outbuildings, protecting new trees recently planted, turning picnic tables upside down, and firing up the generator to make sure it's ready again and that all the gas cans are filled. I had just finished up digging out three new garden areas around the house and replanting....glad I held off reseeding some grass areas....and actually a month ago when he was here on leave had Derek build up the creek walls to keep the water from overflowing into the yard like it did a couple of times during a heavy rain because the culvert opening was too close to the wall/bank and went over the top of it. He announced, when he finished, that we now had a 'Trump Wall' and nothing would get where it wasn't supposed to be anymore. LOL

The rains are coming this morning, so last night I filled the tub, made a few pots of coffee ahead of time for pitchers, defrosted frozen lunch meats and a loaf of bread, brought out the electric hotplate and countertop grill, finished the dishwasher and laundry, emptied all the litter boxes (3 cats, 3 boxes lol), and made sure all flashlights, camping lanterns, etc are fully charged. I also have a few oil lamps handy. Because of the nutcase cats, I don't use candles anymore. I have a few wall lights in the kitchen and bathrooms that are rechargeable, too, so I don't have to use the flashlights to go from room to room and waste the batteries. When (it's never an 'if' here) the power goes out, the generator gets fired up and every two days the freezers get plugged in to keep 'topping them off', the fridge gets plugged in regularly so I can keep using it, and when I decide to cook something, the plug gets switched to the hotplate or grill then back to the fridge. Tons of books on hand and new afghans get made during blackouts....and if things get really bad, I have a root cellar built into the side of one of my mountains that me and the animals (Cody the chocolate lab and the cats) can head to (all three cats fit into a large dog carrier together).

Like I said, been down this road so many times over 30 years that it's all routine now....I worry about the old trees and saturated ground more than anything else. It's not supposed to be too bad here...7-12" of rain and maybe 40 MPH windows....I've been through Andrew and then 75 MPH winds a few years later, but my local weather is calling for local flash flooding in low lying areas near major creeks and the New River with winds around 15 MPH. But we could have an angel blow softly in your ear and lose power for a week here....We just got the phones back two days ago after being out for 8 days because of a 'cable failure' whatever that means in CenturyLink speak. So if I disappear again for a while, expect my return (that's for YOU, drp, since you seemed so happy to see my posts again).

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We may have driven close by your place
Sep 15, 2018 4:59AM PDT

3 years ago, and about this time, my wife and I rented a cabin near Boone, NC for our 40th anniversary. We picked up Rt 21 in Wytheville and headed south. My wife had been to Boone during an educational study trip about the building of the Blue Ridge Parkway...to which Skyline Drive connects. Don't ask me why anyone would do this as it's too long a story. In any event, she really liked the guitar playing of Doc Watson who, earlier in his life, spent lots of time in Boone. Doc was blind and something of a street busker as a youth. We'd driven the Skyline (also stayed at the Skyland Lodge and met both the morning fog and presence of bears who'd turned over the outside garbage cans!) and we wanted to see more of the parkway. As you mentioned, plenty of fog. We do hope to go back and travel more of it. My wife wants to visit Ashville, NC for some reason. We've both become interested in the migration that took place in earlier times as it relates to the music and culture of those who did this. Part of the reason is that my grandfather's heritage (on my mother's side) is likely from those people...many of whom were what's known as "Ulster Scots". Not to turn this political (because you don't seem to care much for him) but John McCain appears to have similar heritage. These folks were said to have been fiercely independent and not ones to mess with.

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If you traveled US21
Sep 15, 2018 6:51AM PDT

south, you went right past my main turnoff road as you entered Elk Creek....my town is the last one before you cross the border into NC and head to Sparta....Boone is just south of it. If your wife wants to go to Asheville, you absolutely have to visit the Biltmore Castle there. It's outstanding and open to the public for viewing, even though there are still people living in it in separate quarters. Talk about majestic.....

It's amazing to me that you're from my old stomping grounds and yet you enter my new home area so frequently.....A little history of Elk Creek and its most famous resident who was stolen by the Indians... https://www.bing.com/search?q=caty+sage+elk+creek+va&form=EDGNTT&qs=PF&cvid=abdb2bb6630c4a25a8e2f0d07e614253&cc=US&setlang=en-US&elv=AXK1c4IvZoNqPoPnS%21QRLOPMVkf82e5xoX7vsadKhdogryYVLJ5UICDkHgB22pImcXbv2dK*J4DfdEAVD4MMLU5EjUg7yjDU3cv254e0UQdg&PC=HCTS

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The Biltmore is on her list
Sep 15, 2018 7:13AM PDT

We'd also visited the Moses Cone (sp) mansion south of Boone. She likes those old places. I think Moses was a competitor of Biltmore's for being among the most wealthy of the area. We didn't drive through Sparta but headed toward Boone via 221. We went through Deep Gap which was the home of Doc Watson. My wife was in heaven to be that close to his stomping grounds! On the way back from Boone, we took the parkway as far as Fancy Gap before heading to 77. We stopped at a placed called the Blue Ridge Music Center on the Virginia side of the parkway which supposedly has live local Appalachian music. I know it's goofy but our bucket list includes a return to this place. IMO, there's no better atmosphere than to be around of plain and simple folks having a good time playing their music together. The world would be better off with more of that happening.

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(NT) It will be.
Sep 15, 2018 1:27PM PDT
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Well...if you don't play an instrument
Sep 16, 2018 4:08AM PDT

you'd better learn one so as to not wind up, like me, just a spectator. Happy

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(NT) We'll be able to learn anything.
Sep 16, 2018 4:03PM PDT
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Blue Ridge Parkway has been closed
Sep 15, 2018 2:02PM PDT

due to Florence.

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link
Sep 16, 2018 9:33AM PDT
https://www.nps.gov/blri/learn/news/florence-closure.htm

Date: September 14, 2018
Contact: Leesa Brandon, (828)348-3420
Contact: Caitlin Worth, (828)348-3406

On Friday September 14, 2018, the entire 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway and all associated facilities, with the exception of the Pisgah Inn and Peaks of Otter Lodge, will be closed at 8:00 p.m. in anticipation of high winds and heavy rains due to the remnants of Hurricane Florence. Saturated soils in combination with high winds in these areas increase the risk of rock slide and falling trees and debris. This closure will remain in effect until further notice.

Access to Pisgah Inn will be via US-276 only. No access via the Parkway from the north will be available.
Access to Peaks of Otter Lodge will be via VA-43 only. No access to Peaks of Otter Lodge via the Parkway from the north will be available.

During this closure, all scheduled ranger programs and special events and uses are cancelled. This includes concerts at Humpback Rocks, Roanoke Mountain and Mabry Mill as well as the Overmountain Victory Celebration at the Museum of NC Minerals.

During the closure these sections of Parkway are closed to ALL use, including cyclists and pedestrians. Attempts to route around gates and barriers is prohibited. The public’s cooperation with these closures is important to the safety of our visitors and emergency responders, as well as the protection of Parkway resources.

Updates and information regarding the status of park facilities, including the road itself, will be available on multiple platforms, including the Parkway’s Real Time Road Map, the Parkway’s website, and its Twitter and Facebook pages. Park visitors and neighbors are encouraged to check these sites regularly for information and before heading out to the Parkway.
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"Scotch-Irish" is another term, as you know.
Sep 16, 2018 4:01PM PDT

Big part of "melting pot" America ... as it was called. Sad Shared a language at one time, back home.
Look up Durham England, just below the border with Scotland. In 1066 the Bishop of Durham had his own army, and William postponed his plans to subjugate. Grin
Fascinating, story-filled part of the world, both islands.

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In fact ...
Sep 16, 2018 4:15PM PDT
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Too bad it tries to blend with today's politics
Sep 17, 2018 2:30AM PDT

It so happens that the grandfather I mentioned claimed to be of Scotch-Irish descent. He, himself, was a Presbyterian minister and from a long line of them since the family entered this country. I'd mentioned our interest in the music and culture of these (and other) people as I feel that oral history tells much more about the pulse of common folks than can any history book. Song is also part of oral history. I'll offer one of these plus and interpretation by a Scottish band that no long exists.

http://www.rampantscotland.com/songs/blsongs_parish.htm



Enjoy if you can bear it.

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Thanks. Very entertainin', laddie.
Sep 17, 2018 11:58AM PDT

I've come across some of the language before. Lookit for looked, and such ... sic.

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Wow Toni !
Sep 16, 2018 6:42AM PDT

You make me wonder if it's riskier to live in VA than Chicago LOL

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It's Chicago...Believe me
Sep 16, 2018 8:44AM PDT

We just got back from visits to Mt. Prospect and McHenry and had to travel tollways. At least, in Virginia, the weather hazards are only occasional ones. The "white knuckle" experience of being on the express and tollways in Chicago will take years off your life whether you wreck or not. I think cars and trucks have two speeds...On and Off while turn signals don't exist at all. I suspect the local hero is Mad Max. Happy

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Chicago Express way
Sep 16, 2018 9:54AM PDT

When Derek had his graduation ceremony from Great Lakes Naval Station in 2002, I drove there to see it...everything was fine until I hit that expressway and it went from a four lane into literally a 12 lane with four more coming in on both the left and the right all merging at the same spot at 65 MPH....you had it right....it was 'white knuckle' time and hoping by staying in the center four lanes that you were still going to be where you needed to be and not have to exit on a ramp that meant merging over into some other 8 lane crap. How people survive driving there is probably as treacherous as having drive-by or gang shootings happening on a daily basis is beyond me. I would NEVER go through Chicago again for ANYTHING....even my son. lol

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On the toll portion
Sep 16, 2018 12:45PM PDT

such as 294, if you're an out-of-towner and don't have an EZ Pass transponder you need to make sure to find yourself in the "Cash" lane. These are on the far right and it's almost like an exit to go through them. They are very easy to miss. We just stay in the right lane the entire way until our exit comes up. It's slower but far safer than competing with the Talladega pack. We've been traveling there at least once a year since the '70s and it gets worse every year. Often we've come up through a southern route since we're going to the suburbs and not the city. It's about 2 hours longer and adds about 50 miles to our trip but there's less chance of death or injury. BTW, my father was at Great Lakes in the late 40s training as a medical officer. He was transferred to Port Columbus Naval Air Station in the '50s and that's how I got here. That naval air station is now John Glenn International Airport. Why we had Navy presence so far from the briny is a puzzle to me.

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BBC link, includes a neat VR video
Sep 15, 2018 1:26PM PDT