# Look out Rocky!



## Lou Currier (Oct 8, 2018)

@rocky1 here comes another one you way! Batten down the hatches you’re in for some windy weather.

Reactions: Sincere 3


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## Spinartist (Oct 8, 2018)

Batten down the bee hives!!!!

Reactions: Agree 3


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## ripjack13 (Oct 8, 2018)

@Tclem too!


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## ripjack13 (Oct 8, 2018)

@Jack "Pappy" Lewis too!


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## ripjack13 (Oct 8, 2018)

@robert flynt too!!


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## Tony (Oct 8, 2018)

Y'all guys be safe! Check in when you can.


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## Lou Currier (Oct 8, 2018)

Just crossing my fingers that it doesn’t decide to turn to the right early

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Lou Currier (Oct 9, 2018)

What if that one model were ever correct

Reactions: Funny 1


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## rocky1 (Oct 9, 2018)

@FLQuacker 's Monticello residence is in for a rougher ride than I am. I think Wayne and Esther are still up here this week, got to give him a shout this morning and see. Have everything tied down at work, 20 acres of grass mowed, finally got dry enough I could get to all the low spots I haven't been able to mow all summer. Had to get that all caught up before the .30 to 12 inches of rain the weather morons are forecasting hits. Some days they just piss me off so bad! Idiot showed 4 maps last night, every one on wind speed, all 4 of them projected something different for where we are here. Dependent upon which map you looked at winds are supposed to be somewhere between 5 and 75+ mph here. 


All B_S_ aside, translating all the confusing data, we should see 30 - 45 mph winds here, very little rain if the track remains constant and hits where they're projecting. It has shifted just a little west, which pushes it further north going around us too, which eases things up on our end. And, of course having to schedule trucks weeks in advance, nephew had one lined up for this week, and it should be here tomorrow night.


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## CWS (Oct 9, 2018)

Stay safe @rocky1 Only way to tell what the weather is, lookout the window.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## rocky1 (Oct 9, 2018)

Yeah, I'm good here unless it changes course. Talked with Wayne earlier, Said he and the wife were probably going to come this way and find a motel room, his place over in Monticello is in the ugly side of the storm track. Talking sustained winds of 85-95 mph over there.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tclem (Oct 9, 2018)

I’m over on the ms/la line. This should miss us unless it takes a westward turn

Reactions: Like 3


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## rocky1 (Oct 9, 2018)

Update as of 20 minutes ago, Hurricane Hunter flew through it, did their thing, was headed home, and someone saw something they didn't like the looks of. Turned them around and sent them back and Barometric Pressure had dropped considerably over the course of just 2 hours. Given the distance out to sea, fact it's running into warmer water, way it's progressing (_eye is tightening up considerably, a sign it's gaining speed, spinning faster_)... They are now saying it will hit Category 4 before it makes landfall. 

(_Which really wasn't surprising since it was already a category 3 way out there beyond where it was supposed to reach category 2. HELLO! It don't take a meteorologist to figure that one out!_) 

Weather moron must have been told to put all the damn maps away, we only had 2 tonight. Only one of which dealt with wind speed, the other track. And, it sounds like we're going to have a hot, overcast, very breezy day tomorrow, with scattered very likely intense thunderstorms. 

High - 90 degrees
Winds - 30 - 50 mph
Chance of Rain - 65% 

Supposed to rip right on out of here, and have light breeze, and sunny skies by Thursday noon, with a high of 93. 

Weather moron says he anticipates power outages in Tallahassee, city of, to last a week. Currently have over 300 Florida Power and Light trucks staged here along with a couple hundred Asplundh Tree Trimming trucks, over 1300 men ready to move that way soon as it blows through.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Tclem (Oct 10, 2018)

Hurricane hunters are what I worked on at Kessler in the USAFR. Avionics. 403rd. Kessler Air Force Base. Biloxi MS

Reactions: Like 2


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## rocky1 (Oct 10, 2018)

Toilets is what I worked on at Keesler... Applied for Electronics or maybe Air Craft Mechanics, on my dream sheet, was told those fields both required normal color vision, which I didn't have. So the government, in its infinite wisdom, made me a plumber, which also required normal color vision. (_My color vision is pretty normal, I've worked with those that don't have normal color vision and that ain't good! Asked the worst of the two how he wired anything, because he didn't see anything in normal colors, pink was green, green was brown, red was a different shade of brown, and metal flake paint jobs really messed with his mind. And, he said he was fine wiring anything, long as I didn't try to tell him what color a wire was. That they were all different colors, they just weren't the colors I saw._) Then to add insult to injury, they made me a plumber and sent me to the largest electronics training facility in the free world.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Lou Currier (Oct 10, 2018)

I went Keesler for 3 months for tech-school

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Mike1950 (Oct 10, 2018)

Tclem said:


> Hurricane hunters are what I worked on at Kessler in the USAFR. Avionics. 403rd. Kessler Air Force Base. Biloxi MS


Is that where you started wearing your chamber pot??  Stay safe

Reactions: Funny 1


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## rocky1 (Oct 10, 2018)

I guess it could have been worse... The government could have sucked all my brains out, and made me a news reporter! 

-- "Governor Rick Scott issued Mandatory Evacuations yesterday! Do not stay; get out immediately." This is an hour after they told us... 
-- "Governor Rick Scott said it's too late now; if you're going to stay, stay in doors." Followed by...
-- "We're going to be staying in this "30 ft." high rise." (_Should have been "story" and he has said this erroneously 3 times in the last hour._) 
-- "Storm surge of 12 - 15 ft is expected, water will be over the ground floor, but we're staying in this "30 ft." High Rise, on the 20th. floor." (_This is ON THE FLIPPIN BEACH, with 150 mph winds! The wall on the side of the rooms facing the ocean, and those 150 mph winds, is all glass._) Then he tells us... 
-- "Up there on the 20th. floor, winds will increase, and step that up a category. Already this morning we were seeing the water sloshing back and forth in the toilet bowl, with the building swaying." The wind isn't 40 mph yet... 

Then the dingbat at the news desk, says... "Well Doug we don't see any sand bags in front of the doors; do they expect the water to be to deep to stop it?" 

Ya think???? HELLO!!! I'm pretty sure when that 13 ft. storm surge and those 28' ft. waves push up there and start slammin all that glass on the ground floor of that hotel, there isn't going to be any walls left, let alone any doors to sandbag there dingbat! 

Then the other dingbat here closer to home, not having anything really important to report on, is out reporting on the sand pile at the Baker County maintenance yard... IN THE DARK!! And, she's speculating on why no one is out there filling up their SIX free sandbags, the county is going to give you, to save your property, at 6 am, after they have told us for 2 days now, that this is NOT going to be a rain event, it is going to be a lot of wind damage, in a fairly small focused area. We're supposed to see 30-40 mph winds over here, .03 inches of rain according to their forecast, and she's 40 miles further away from the storm. (_This not to mention, what in the hell are you going to save from flooding with 6 sandbags?? And, I can't even talk bad about the rednecks in Baker County being slow, because here in Columbia they're limiting folks to 15 free sandbags._) 

Oh dear GOD... He is now showing "Storm Track Four" and telling us it is jacked up and suited for dealin with riding around in these storms. (_It's a stock Ford Super Duty pickup y'all!"_) And, he has just told us that the water on the street he is standing on is expected to be 6-7 ft. deep. 

This was right after telling us that they are staying in the 30 ft. condo again, which was just before saying they're going to be moving to a parking garage 6 miles away before the defecation contacts the rotary mechanism... 

I gotta go take a shower, then venture out and see if the generator runs. These yo-yos is killin me!!

Reactions: Great Post 1 | Funny 2


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## Tclem (Oct 10, 2018)

Lou Currier said:


> I went Keesler for 3 months for tech-school


I did part my tech school Kessler and at Sheppard, I think, lol but did my basic in the regular army and with my college electrical degree they just let me test out and go straight through.


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## Tclem (Oct 10, 2018)

Mike1950 said:


> Is that where you started wearing your chamber pot??  Stay safe


No. I stole that from Paxton. Lol. We shouldn’t get any storm. May end up going down there to work though. Guys already in Carolinas working so maybe I’m next

Reactions: Like 2


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## Mike1950 (Oct 10, 2018)

Tclem said:


> No. I stole that from Paxton. Lol. We shouldn’t get any storm. May end up going down there to work though. Guys already in Carolinas working so maybe I’m next


about time you did something!! how is the addition and the Mrs?


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## Tclem (Oct 10, 2018)

Mike1950 said:


> about time you did something!! how is the addition and the Mrs?


Addition is fixing to be painted. Wife is good. Paxton is still upset babybisnt a boy. LolThanks.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Mike1950 (Oct 10, 2018)

Tclem said:


> Addition is fixing to be painted. Wife is good. Paxton is still upset babybisnt a boy. LolThanks.



Great-well except for Paxton

Reactions: Funny 1


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## kweinert (Oct 10, 2018)

rocky1 said:


> Toilets is what I worked on at Keesler... Applied for Electronics or maybe Air Craft Mechanics, on my dream sheet, was told those fields both required normal color vision, which I didn't have. So the government, in its infinite wisdom, made me a plumber, which also required normal color vision. (_My color vision is pretty normal, I've worked with those that don't have normal color vision and that ain't good! Asked the worst of the two how he wired anything, because he didn't see anything in normal colors, pink was green, green was brown, red was a different shade of brown, and metal flake paint jobs really messed with his mind. And, he said he was fine wiring anything, long as I didn't try to tell him what color a wire was. That they were all different colors, they just weren't the colors I saw._) Then to add insult to injury, they made me a plumber and sent me to the largest electronics training facility in the free world.



Yep, that's the military. I wanted drafting because I was in architecture school, got sent to teletypes. Back then they were a mass of fiddly little gears and levers. Then due to circumstances beyond my control got transferred out of Thailand early and ended up doing computer stuff - and that's what I've done most of my life now. So it didn't turn out bad but was certainly not the direction I was moving in.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## FLQuacker (Oct 10, 2018)

Well after Mikey went anal last night, figured no reason to hang around up there. Came home to get more stuff, chainsaws and generators.

Eye is making the corner about 30 miles from our place right now. Headn out tonight to be back up that way around daylight. Then we'll cut our way back in with everybody else who had more sense than courage :)

Reactions: Like 1 | Sincere 4


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## rocky1 (Oct 10, 2018)

Not looking good over that way, at all bud! Not sure how much of the damage is making national news, but it isn't good down there along the coast, and Tallahassee wasn't looking real good either. Hope all is well over there at your place. 

So far here everything is OK, haven't had much rain, maybe the .03" the weather yo-yos suggested, winds gusting to 30 mph or so, otherwise 15 - 20 mph for the last 3 hours. Power has blinked 3 times now, but hasn't quit yet. Have my fingers crossed there. Storm is tracking more northward than they had projected earlier, and I think we're going to be out of it pretty much altogether here, in a couple more hours.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## rocky1 (Oct 10, 2018)

Well the weather yo-yos seem to have survived, the one this morning that was going to stay in the 30ft. building, then decided to move to the parking garage had video from the parking garage. OH MY!!! Winds of 155 mph, gusts measured up to 185 mph, they're in the parking garage where you have a little venturi effect going on.

But jut before that arrived, some families had decided to stay, and at the last minute they decided they should maybe not stay seeing how things were looking and it wasn't even there yet, and they got out on the road and decided that was... NOT A GOOD IDEA!!! Then they saw the News Idiots in their souped up stock Ford pick-em-up parked in the parking garage, so they pulled in beside them and parked. And, several vehicles full of not so intelligent folks rode out the storm in a parking garage, watching torrential rain and chunks of trees and buildings wizzing past at speeds approaching 200 mph!! Proving once again beyond all shadow of a doubt that God loves and looks after crazy people!

Reporter interviewed some folks up in Bacon County, GA (_Yeah, there really is a Bacon County, GA we had to look it up and my mother grew up in the next county over_), and the reporter asked Bubba why they had come to the shelter... HELLO!!! That was a no brainer, 'cause one look at Bubba and his bride, and you knew beyond all shadow of a doubt, it was because they and their 4 children live in a 2 bedroom, 1962, single wide mobile home surrounded by trees. 

After it was over and the crews started moving around over there on the coast, while telling everyone else not to move around, there were at least half a dozen of them seen on TV, microphone in hand, standing on wet streets, mere feet away from downed power lines, while espousing the hazards of being out and about, and telling everyone else they could become a toaster pastry if they stumbled upon one of these power lines that they're standing 3 ft. away from on a wet surface in their news reporter super invincible sneakers.

Not to be outdone on the end of STUPID! however, the newsroom anchor said, "Vick... Would any of the stores there happen to be open?"



 

 

 

 

 



Seriously dude?? The third most powerful hurricane to strike the United States, in recorded history, just came ashore in the neighborhood, and you are gonna ask if a store is open? 

Left the local station over that one, couldn't stand it anymore. Went to the national news, severe weather channel, and was watching clips of the damage there. More yo-yos standing on top of power lines in their invincible sneakers, while they tell everyone they are going to DIE if they go out and look around. Had video clips of a few places I've visited in Mexico Beach, Tucans Restaurant and Lounge made the news. Not sure how extensive it is, but the pictures look like it exploded. There was an outdoor bar with fenced in patio on the side, that may be what lifted, but the building literally sat on the beach.

When they went to the news yo-yo in Georgia trying to act like he was being blown around by the wind, and there wasn't a flutter in his rain suit, I had to go watch Walker for awhile, it was simply too much!

Reactions: Funny 2


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## rocky1 (Oct 10, 2018)

*On a Serious Note...
*
Local station reported that estimates were coming in that 280 residents in Mexico Beach, ground zero, elected to ride it out. Search and rescue efforts started before sundown this evening. 

How quick they can get help in there is iffy, I-10 appears to have a tree down across both lanes every 30 - 40 feet for miles over there in the Tallahassee area. Some search and rescue, and assessment crews are moving through, some people trying to get back that didn't live on the coast are moving through, but they're all using the emergency lane. There's almost an hour of 2 lane highway through timberland from the interstate to the coast over there, without trees stacked all over it. 

It isn't good guys!

Reactions: Sincere 5


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## Lou Currier (Oct 11, 2018)

The damage images is mind boggling  going to take some time to clean up the mess.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Herb G. (Oct 11, 2018)

I remember when Hugo hit South Carolina back in 1989. I drove thru SC in 1991. For 100's of miles, the trees were clipped off at about 50' off the ground.
It looked like someone had giant hedge clippers & cut every tree off at that height. That was a Cat 4 storm too.
I can imagine what Florida looks like.
I have relatives that live between Tallahassee, Fl. & Macon, Ga. The storm went right over them & their phones are out now.
I am hoping for the best for them.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mike1950 (Oct 11, 2018)

watched a video of mexico beach- YIKES- I will stick to snow..





__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=873567633033212

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Oct 11, 2018)

We are getting rain, rain and more rain here. We've got water where I've never seen water before. I can't imagine what Florida and everyone else is like.

Reactions: Like 1 | Sincere 1


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## rocky1 (Oct 11, 2018)

Weather channel yo-yos this morning stated given the wind speed, this storm was comparable to an EF3 tornado 150 miles wide going through there.

Stephanie was standing next to a 1/4 mile or more of railroad hopper cars that were blown off the track on the West (weaker) side of the storm.

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## rocky1 (Oct 11, 2018)

Eric Rorabaugh said:


> We are getting rain, rain and more rain here. We've got water where I've never seen water before. I can't imagine what Florida and everyone else is like.



Florida was not really a rain event, haven't seen any totals, but it wasn't here long enough. 4 hours after it came ashore it was in Georgia.


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## Mike Mills (Oct 11, 2018)

Mike1950 said:


> watched a video of mexico beach- YIKES- I will stick to snow..
> 
> 
> 
> ...



They live in South Georgia but my M&FIL have/had a beach home there. They do know the house next door was swept into the next yard but no idea on theirs. 
I could no spot it from the video.


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## Lou Currier (Oct 11, 2018)

The damage is mind boggling but I think you can see a difference from new construction vs old.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mike1950 (Oct 11, 2018)

Lou Currier said:


> The damage is mind boggling but I think you can see a difference from new construction vs old.


If you were going to rebuild it would be easy to go through neighborhood and figure out contracter you wanted to use. Not even an lot of new ones are un-damaged.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## rocky1 (Oct 11, 2018)

Putting the Search and Rescue, and Recovery effort into perspective... Quincy to Defuniak Springs, the stretch of both lanes of I-10 closed, is 99 miles! There were/are additional closures east of Quincy on the East bound lane, back to Tallahassee. Most of that has been opened however. The majority of that stretch has trees growing in the median as cause for both lanes being closed. 

While there are a lot of people along the coast over there, the remainder of that area is sparsely populated. A few small towns, rural dwellings, most of it is heavily wooded, so trees down everywhere. 

Bridges are closed until inspected at least at Blountstown, Appalachicola, and Panama City Beach. Trying to get rescue and recovery personnel in was a challenge in itself.


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## rocky1 (Oct 11, 2018)

Chatted with Wayne - @FLQuacker briefly this afternoon, he got to his place in Monticello and all was good there. Was trying to get into NE Tallahassee, I would guess to the kid's place.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## rocky1 (Oct 11, 2018)

Another one to put things in perspective... Hotel at 2:34 in the video, is the El Governor, I have stayed in that motel 3-4 times when working bees over in Port St. Joe. Please notice the sand on top of the building, I assume deposited by wave action against the sea wall. The building is 5 stories high!! There was an old smaller motel next door, single story, line of rooms... It's not there anymore!


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## rocky1 (Oct 11, 2018)

Lou Currier said:


> The damage is mind boggling but I think you can see a difference from new construction vs old.



Mexico Beach had a lot of old construction, 1960's vintage mostly. It was a laid back, cool old town. Along the beach, later code mandated that homes and buildings be built on stilts. The El Governor for instance, ground floor is all parking under the building, the only thing on the ground floor was the office/gift shop, and a small tavern behind the office on the beach. 

There was a sand dune constructed on the north side of the highway, and most residences were behind the dune. Not only are the houses gone, the dune is gone as well. It used to be about 12 ft. high, you didn't see all of the homes driving down the highway through there; the occasional roof a few of the newer homes that were 2 story on stilts. A lot of the old construction was concrete block home Mike; they 're saying the wind ripped the roof off doing structural damage to the block in the process, tidal surge and wind leveled it after that. What the tidal surge didn't get, the wind did. 

Found interview of one of the City Council Members, and she stated that after the Mandatory Evacuation Order was issued, the local PD went door to door, told people it was going to be seriously ugly, and urged them to go. If they refused they asked for name, Social Security Number, Next of Kin, and a Phone Number to contact them. Council Woman said she had friends that were going to stay, and when it came to that, they packed up and left. Given that info however, the 280 that stayed wasn't an estimate, it was based on PD reports and names they had gotten making contact with residents that were staying.

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## Mike1950 (Oct 11, 2018)

@rocky1 , yes probably urm. Unre-enforced masonary , appears strong but stucco with lath is stronger. Modern code puts rebar and concrete in the holes, now you have strength. 
Keep up the up dates.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Oct 11, 2018)

Well we just had the first bit of damage here at the house. My wife and I were sitting here and heard a big crunch. We looked at each other and said that was a tree. And it was right in front of the house. I grabbed a flashlight and went outside. A BIG oak fell (luckily away from the house) in the yard. No damage except popped some of the asphalt up. I'll post some pics in the morning when it's light out.

Reactions: Sincere 2


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## Tony (Oct 11, 2018)

Glad it didn't hit the house or your cars Eric, hope that's all that happens. Tony

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Oct 11, 2018)

Me too. One good thing, I'll have probably 4 nice clear logs and a bunch of firewood for next year. I won't have to haul the firewood very far.

Reactions: Like 2 | Way Cool 2


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Oct 12, 2018)

A little bit of wood


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## Mike1950 (Oct 12, 2018)

@Eric Rorabaugh Is that phone line or?


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## CWS (Oct 12, 2018)

Great that the damage wasn't to serious.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Tom Smart (Oct 12, 2018)

If it was going to go down that was the best place for it to land. How did you plan that?

Reactions: Agree 3


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## woodtickgreg (Oct 12, 2018)

@Eric Rorabaugh


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Oct 12, 2018)

I got lucky!!! It's the old satellite cable. Our electric lines are underground up to the house and run on the other side of the tree. Glad it didn't pull it up. I just got off and getting ready to start cutting.

Reactions: Like 2


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## rocky1 (Oct 13, 2018)

Interesting find... As the storm was passing here at about sundown, the wife was out grilling steaks for supper. Came in and yelled at me to come out and look at the sky. Here it had a purplish hue with lots of grey clouds zipping by real rapidly. She was taking pictures left and right, I was involved in other things so I looked, said yep that's cool, and came back in, trying to finish up before supper was done. Friend tagged me in a thread on Facebook that had several pictures of the event a little earlier than the wife called me out, that did it way more justice than what I was seeing here.

The only event I've seen that came close was a passing storm in ND, back in 1980-1981. Tornado in the clouds overhead, could hear it roaring like a jet coming in to land as it passed over, and the clouds were oddly turquoise in color. Nature can do some truly strange things at times.

Reactions: Way Cool 4


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## Strider (Oct 18, 2018)

Wow, that is surreal Rocky! I know that nuclear blasts make sky pink/purple, not hurricanes Lol!


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## rocky1 (Oct 18, 2018)

Death tool is climbing with clean up efforts underway. Last I heard was 26 storm related deaths, 18 of those in Florida. Still quite a few people unaccounted for/missing in the Mexico Beach / Panama City area.


The purple skies were a bit strange, and reported over a large part of Florida. Some of those pictures came from the central part of the state, some from out in the panhandle after the storm passed. It wasn't a localized anomaly.


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