a day with debby

As of 11 PM last night, the swirling mass had finally attained the status of respect she wanted.

 

Debby was officially a hurricane, with sustained winds of 75 mph, the minimum requirement needed.

 

She was rocking along at 12 mph in the warm Caribbean waters and heading in to nestle within Florida's gently curving arm.

I went to bed a little later to the sound of rain, but knew the Hurricane 1 status would be a thing of the past once Debby made landfall.

I woke about 6:30 and could not go back to sleep, so I tuned in for Bill and his fish.

Ticker trails above and below the image cast forbidding warnings to all about the approaching storm.

Soon after 8 AM, I checked NHC.NOAA.ORG for a status update.

She was only then making landfall and was still Hurricane Debby.

 

Her speed had slowed down to 10mph and those 75 mph winds were lashing the Florida coast and surrounding areas down to Kissimmee with rain.

 

That rain extended all to way here, to Savannah.

 

I could still see the oak tree across the street, so that was good.

When I checked NHC at 11 AM, the monster had a name change in place: Tropical Storm Debby.

Why did I say monster?

She still packed sustained winds of 70 mph, but had slowed down to 8 mph as she traveled inward.

Debby had been lashing out at Tallahassee as it cut its swath, reaching it around 2 PM.

Concerned, I contacted my blue-sky cousin to see if she was safe.

Penny assured me they were all fine, getting only 0.5" of rain and some wind, but never losing power.

That was such good news!!!

Here, though, the tornado sirens were going off, starting about 3 PM.

That had been the first alert.

By the time of the above message on TV, the tornado sirens had sounded their alarm 4 times in my neighborhood.

When the second one had gone off around 3:30 PM, I readied a space to hunker down: an interior closet with space for me and my medicines, in the hall.

I took out the vacuum cleaner, but left the suitcase, thinking it might provide a seat or cushion, and I left the door open, so I could quickly run in.

Was that the sound of an approaching train?

 

Was that horizontal rain striking the living room window?

 

I knew those signs well.

 

After all, I'd been through a tornado when I worked for my brother Smitty, then again for Hurricane Matthew, and I am terrified of them.

Thankfully, the fifth, and final, siren went off here in Thunderbolt area about 6:30 PM.

 

Debby made it to Waycross by 8 PM, dragging her heels at 6 mph, but at least the winds had quieted - if that's the right word - to 45 mph.

This is the radar image of the monster at 10 PM, and, yes, monster she is.

Stretching all the way out to Macon, Augusta, and Myrtle Beach - all of which are at least three hours from my house - and well into the Atlantic Ocean, Debby is likely three hundred miles wide.

That reminds me of a something I saw on fb on Pat Prokop's page.

 

He had posted the image from NHC as well as his forecasts and warnings.

A woman asked him, "I see the line doesn't go through Savannah. Does that mean we'll be safe?"

He responded, "NO!!! The system is more than 200 miles wide!!! We are definitely getting hit!"

As I told my first niece, people can be so science-illiterate. 

 

At least my students would have known better than to ask that question.

 

Here, we had massive flooding all over town, including something I don't recall ever hearing happen before: the pond at Daffin Park overflowed onto Victory Drive.

That's because we had SIX INCHES of rain today.

Here's a bit of perspective: Savannah usually gets about FIVE inches of rain per summer month.

They've forecast another 4 to 7 inches of rain tomorrow.

Meanwhile, when one of my neighbors asked on Sunday if we needed to get sandbags from the city, I told them this.

"I've lived here since 2001 and even during Hurricane Matthew we did not have flooding. Allegheny backs up sometimes, as does Timberline between DeRenne and Redland, plus Timberline between Skidaway and Pine Valley. The water buildup on Timberline is due to the slopes of the road in that area, but it usually clears in a timely manner."

Let's hope that continues to hold true.

Meanwhile, Savannah is under curfew until 6 AM.

Get this: some twit asked Mayor Van Johnson if that meant all would be safe then.

"No, it means it will be daylight and we can see the hazards."

Science-illiteracy... seriously.

Now, I'm going to bed, to the sounds of strong wind and hard rain, still going as they have been for almost two hours.

Here's hoping tomorrow's gonna be a brighter day, as Jim Croce would say.

"Nobody ever had a rainbow, baby, until he had the rain."