Isaac gave Florida a pass and is heading on to landfall in the northern Gulf. Our area got heavy rain and some wind but no real storm impact. When Al and I had our first experience with a hurricane, we learned what "sustained wind" meant. In all the violent rain storms we had experienced in other areas of the country, wind speed went up and down, up and down. In a hurricane wind speed goes up and stays there. Gusts are
on top of that already high wind speed. Isaac's sustained winds for were in the 25-30 mph range when bands of the storm went over us. Saying it another way, Isaac was no big deal as tropical storms go. A real storm would have sustained winds much, much higher that what Isaac dealt us. And it is why we feel such sympathy and concern for those on the northern Gulf coast who are being battered by Isaac as it literally stands still, pounding them hour after hour after hour with true hurricane force winds.
On a brighter note, after several days of being trapped in the house, Al and I were really delighted to get out and burn some energy on a nice bike ride this morning. At an hour past dawn the temperature was 81 degrees with a dewpoint of 75 degrees (hot and sticky), but there was a good size wind from the south and lots of cloud cover. Our route split the difference between riding with a headwind and with a tailwind. We did the headwind portion first, then enjoyed the tailwind home. (Sweet.)
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| Even our back yard turtles seemed happy this morning. |
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| We passed four of these signs along the route of our ride. Overall, though, flooding was limited to very low-lying parts of the residential areas. |
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| Ponds and creeks were greatly expanded in size. |
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| Ditches were still brimming with water. |
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| I'm happy to be outside! |
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| Al is happy, too. (I just call him "Mr. Sunshine." He's not a real morning person...) |
