Hurricane irma..

[Sarcasm the elf]

Irene did major damage in Vermont, however. Mostly due to flooding and several rivers running over their banks. Downtown Brattleboro was underwater.

I didn't see it firsthand but believe me I remember. The trail in MA had a rather impressive number of blowdown, but it was nothing compared to what happened in VT, which was effectively impassable according to the handful of sobo's I talked to that made it through or around. The weekend after Irene we also got something like 4-6 inches of additional rain in the area which I was told was the remnants of another tropical storm. My wife and I were on trail and ended up bailing, only to find Rte 7 in Great Barrington underwater in sections and to find our neighborhood on the southern Housatonic submerged with the fire department staging a "rescue" a few houses down from me when we returned.

[RuthN]

Why don't you join me in handing out food and clothing to people who lost everything in Harvey? Southern hospitality and all that.

[RuthN]

My comment was directed at OkeefenokeeJoe. ^

[TexasBob]

.... I said very early this past week that Irma would, most likely, make a westerly turn and head up the west coast of Florida and gradually dissipate as it traveled northward. Guess who was right?............

You didn't say it on Whiteblaze and my guess is you didn't say it at all until you saw it on TV while you were watching one of them dad blame, whipper snapper, wet behind the ears, infernal, no good, polecat, yankee weather men you dislike so much.

[Stone1984]

Looks like the rain is finally here made it to mountain crossing hostel yesterday. Not sure if trail will be hikeable today due to weather. Supposed to be bad winds today, not sure though

[JC13]

Looks like the rain is finally here made it to mountain crossing hostel yesterday. Not sure if trail will be hikeable today due to weather. Supposed to be bad winds today, not sure though

It was supposed to be really bad on Blood Mountain last night. I'm assuming you made it to Walasi-Yi yesterday?

[rafe]

As of Monday AM: 5.7 million without power in FL, 166,000 in Georgia. Irma now a tropical storm. Florida was spared, somewhat. Puerto Rico and other islands in the Caribbean were devastated.

[coach lou]

I'm starting to see pics of St. John....wish I had some ways and means to give some real help.

[soilman]

I may be a dumb Yankee but I postponed my NOBO thru hike of the BMT on Friday after seeing projections that Irma may track up thru GA and TN. I was supposed to leave Springer Mt tomorrow. I did not want to be walking thru pouring rain and wind. I do have some experience with hurricanes and the AT. Two score and 1 year ago in August I was on Bear Mt in CT when a guy came running up the trail and said a hurricane was coming and to get off the trail. While I was a young, naive Midwesterner I figured anyone who would come up a mountain to warn hikers must be taken seriously. We spent two days holed up in the basement of a church in Kent, CT while hurricane Belle dropped 7 inches of rain on the area. In 2010 near the end of my AT thru hike I stopped at White House landing for lunch. Bill and Linda advised us to seek shelter that night as a hurricane was supposed to drop 5 inches of rain. We stayed at Wadleigh Stream LT that night. When I went to sleep that night the stream was just an innocent riffle. When I awoke the next morning it was raging and considerably closer to the shelter. In addition before I left that morning a tree fell about 25 feet from the shelter. I walked the LT in 2013 and saw the damage from Irene. The GMC was still doing trail work to repair the damage. So based on my experience, weather forecasts, alerts from the GSMNP, ATC, and ATPO I painfully called my shuttle driver and rescheduled my shuttle for next week. Hoping for the best.

[middle to middle]

Hay goof luck. It looks good !

[egilbe]

Well the professional weather prognosticators and turd-casters on TV have managed to miss it again. They were hoping for mayhem and catastrophe and got nothing for their money. Right now, on the weather channel, they are scrambling to explain why the anticipated destruction is not occurring. One weatherman a few minutes ago still would not throw in the towel and was so bold to exclaim that "it (massive destruction) was right around the corner and could happen at any minute."

Lesson to remember ... when it comes to Atlantic coast hurricanes, listen to the old timers that have a few scores (that's 20 years for you millennials) of hurricane experience under their belt. I've been reading hurricanes since Helene and Alma, and Ella in 1958. Never was any reason (for me) to evacuate for a single one over the years (except maybe Dora in 1964). I said very early this past week that Irma would, most likely, make a westerly turn and head up the west coast of Florida and gradually dissipate as it traveled northward. Guess who was right? My yankee friends told me I was silly to stay and hastily evacuated the area. "Go ahead," I said. "I'll keep an eye on your property until you get back." I drove by the interstate a couple of days ago and I don't think there has been so many yankees fleeing since Bull Run, or maybe Vicksburg. Sad. All over media hyping an unfounded catastrophic event.

The media hypes these hurricanes to get people to evacuate and move out. They want footage of empty grocery store shelves, backed up interstates, lines at gas stations, babies crying, congested evacuation shelters, and Coopers Hawks in taxis. That, my friends, means $$$ to the networks. Sad, but true.

So, here I am again, out on the coastal marshes by myself, on the hallowed grounds of the deep South. It's really kind of quiet and nice to be alone like this; however, short-lived. By next Tuesday the transplants will, once again, start returning and talking loudly about how they barely escaped death. I'll just nod my head and turn a deaf ear.

Haven't heard from you in awhile. Is everything OK after that little blow?

I may be a dumb Yankee, but I seem to remember who won that disagreement between the Union and the criminal confederacy. I can also drive in the snow.

[Traveler]

Odd what opinions pass as facts to some people.

[KCNC]

Southeastern NC has been getting HEAVY rain all morning. Not going to be a good day on the southern part of the trail today as the remnants of Irma move off to the northwest. Roads here are flooded and rains aren't expected to abate until mid-afternoon.

[saltysack]

Well that turned out to be a pretty rough storm for NE Fl but mainly due to surge which the weather forecasters got wrong.....my folks live on the St.Johns river which flooded to heights not seen in many years...actually had boat float over their dock and end up in the neighbors yard...about a $250,000 ouch!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gpburdelljr]

Well the professional weather prognosticators and turd-casters on TV have managed to miss it again. They were hoping for mayhem and catastrophe and got nothing for their money. Right now, on the weather channel, they are scrambling to explain why the anticipated destruction is not occurring. One weatherman a few minutes ago still would not throw in the towel and was so bold to exclaim that "it (massive destruction) was right around the corner and could happen at any minute."

Lesson to remember ... when it comes to Atlantic coast hurricanes, listen to the old timers that have a few scores (that's 20 years for you millennials) of hurricane experience under their belt. I've been reading hurricanes since Helene and Alma, and Ella in 1958. Never was any reason (for me) to evacuate for a single one over the years (except maybe Dora in 1964). I said very early this past week that Irma would, most likely, make a westerly turn and head up the west coast of Florida and gradually dissipate as it traveled northward. Guess who was right? My yankee friends told me I was silly to stay and hastily evacuated the area. "Go ahead," I said. "I'll keep an eye on your property until you get back." I drove by the interstate a couple of days ago and I don't think there has been so many yankees fleeing since Bull Run, or maybe Vicksburg. Sad. All over media hyping an unfounded catastrophic event.

The media hypes these hurricanes to get people to evacuate and move out. They want footage of empty grocery store shelves, backed up interstates, lines at gas stations, babies crying, congested evacuation shelters, and Coopers Hawks in taxis. That, my friends, means $$$ to the networks. Sad, but true.

So, here I am again, out on the coastal marshes by myself, on the hallowed grounds of the deep South. It's really kind of quiet and nice to be alone like this; however, short-lived. By next Tuesday the transplants will, once again, start returning and talking loudly about how they barely escaped death. I'll just nod my head and turn a deaf ear.

You've rolled the dice on hurricanes and survived by luck, not skill. Some people do the same thing wrong for years, and call it experience.

[One Half]

Perhaps not as much issue with the MA section?

In terms of the more "populated" areas where damage was more severe, it seemed to be areas in the NY Catskills/Schoharie Valley and then the Adirondacks, plus areas in VT like Wilmington, which is not far from the trail - don't remember hearing much about areas in MA (but that could just be the news stations covering the worst spots, since there were several of those)?

I don't know if it was just as bad in MA as in other sections but there were HUGE trees on the ground and you could see where they had been cut through for the trail. It really was quite impressive when I went through there to see how much damage had been done and how much had been done to maintain the trail.

[Lauriep]

(9/1​2/2017) TROPICAL STORM IRMA UPDATE
Tropical Storm Irma passed by the southern parts of the Appalachian Trail late last night and into the early morning hours. As the weather clears, please be very careful as you venture back out onto the A. T. In the coming days, the trail will be assessed for damage by volunteers and staff. Be aware that trees that have fallen during high winds may have significant strains and binds that may not be readily apparent and can be very dangerous. Also be aware of slippery footing, potential landslides, and trees that may still have fall potential. Closures still may exist on lands adjacent to the trail.

Please report any significant damage to Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s southern regional office in Asheville, North Carolina at (828) 254-3708.

[Curious G]

Sucker. All of that is just disinformation to keep you from suspecting our reptilian overlords.

Reposted because I couldn't figure out how to edit.

We're doomed.

[MtDoraDave]

I made it through okay. Lost a few shingles and power was out for 48 hrs. Still hard to find gas as most gas stations are still out from the panic before the storm.

Some areas nearby had tornadoes do some serious damage. Lots of tornadoes spun off of this thing. I'm sure the news is showing pictures and video of the damage.

It's pure luck, or the will of a higher power if you wish, that the coast of cuba took such a hit and took a lot of umph out of this massive storm. I was anticipating the worst case scenario from this monster; a very large portion of the state leveled like south Florida was from Andrew.