Sally, the Devil

 Hello Friends,

I would like to introduce you to Sally.

She was my firstborn, well maybe my first Springer baby. I am quite miffed at the National Hurricane Center for using her name for devil work without asking. She was an angel who lived to 15 years of age and her claim to fame other than being an angel was being a Leap Year baby.

Now, for the other Sally...I consider myself so grateful that I don't have more damage. 

Those of us who grew up along the coast and just inland use the names minus Hurricane to talk about those monsters. We refer to them like famous people that all people should just know by their first names...Camille, Erin, Opal, Fredrick, Eloise, and Ivan to name a few.

Forever now, I will have to say Sally, my angel's name and associate it with trouble.

I got power today and I must tell you I have NEVER had power back any less that two weeks.

Ivan who came on September 16th, 16 years ago left without power for 16 days. Weird, huh?

Anyway, I have been in the yard all day cleaning up and will say a prayer of thanksgiving for a hot shower.

I only have pictures to share with you of my little yard, but the news will share the mess around the area.

Sally came to the day 16 years after Ivan to pretty much the same area, however Ivan was a monster storm and very wide and of course we were on the east side. That was one of the most harrowing nights of my life. He traveled in slowly, not as slowly as Sally though. The water was inches from coming in our home. 

I know that I am on the water but I am actually elevation wise higher than many neighborhoods in Fort Walton Beach. However, the bayou is like a wind tunnel and it is so scary.

The similarities for Ivan and Sally are the long time they took to come in and location. The difference is surge. Ivan had a higher surge and wind strength. Sally rained for 48 hours solid and hard. She also blew for 48 hours. Ivan did not last that long, although he was an all nighter ---just not a two day storm.

Here is our dock. It actually came up higher than this. We got another squall line after I took these so add about 6 inches more to the height.

This one was not projected to come to us, so many many people left their boats in ---over here many can consider themselves lucky. Ours was still out from our trip.

The pine trees should not be in water and bark is like a missile to the windows.

The oak should not be in water either.

Now, with Ivan the water was lapping over the second deck. where the stone wall porch is ---see the Adirondack chairs. 

For us ---no comparison to Ivan, but out of the beach and just to the west of us they got hit so hard.

LOTS of erosion and roads washed out.

Each storm has its own story so that is why you have to talk about them with their name. They are like people with stories all their own.

Some tidbits...

I know many have seen the news. The Three Mile Bridge is a big deal. It is a MAJOR artery. I actually almost posted a story about it just a month or so ago and never got the time. The bridge is new and built so high...like scary high...not as scary as the Charleston bridge but still scary. IT was built in amazing quick time. They built it and the bridge in your pictures was to be just the east bound. They built it and made it 4 lanes with not near enough room...hence you have to grip the steering wheel with a death grip when you drive a pick up truck and I do. 

They tore the old one down and had started the west bound lanes. Eventually they were to be two lanes with emergency lanes on each side. Well, now it will be awhile.

The deal is this storm caught everyone off guard. Probably shouldn't have but it did. There were barges out there that in normal situations would have been removed. 

They also had another one hit Garcon Point Bridge which is an alternate route. IT should be a quicker fix. This leaves I-10 as the only route in for many who live in Gulf Breeze and Navarre and work in Pensacola. 

In storms here when Highway 98 has been out ferries have been used to bring people across Choctawhatchee Bay, but Pensacola Bay is a bit rougher bay than ours, so I don't know about ferries.

I can't describe how scary it is to see the water and winds blow in. The bayous look like a choppy bay with waves and whitecaps. The rain blows completely horizontal and 100 mile an hour wind is hard to describe.

We only got around 60-65 this time.

Thankful!!!

A few more things...

We watch the local news when a hurricane is in the Gulf headed our way. We are blessed along the Gulf Coast to have wonderful meteorologists. I guess we have weather that would be desirable to cover, but we did switch over to the Weather Channel and Arlene, you might find this interesting. 

The guy along the bay with a white fence behind him was just at the end of Palafox, the street where we ate at the Tin Cow.

Rainfall totals at Orange Beach were 30 inches. That is simply incredible.

For nature lovers...

I was picking up in the front under the live oaks. I was collecting acorns because that is so me.

There were some with the caps on and I collected a little container full...

Usually by the time they get to the ground they have the tops off.

But then I found some attached to the fallen limbs and there were some that hadn't even gotten ready to fall.

We had lots less down in the front circle because our neighbors in the circle all went together this spring to have our life oaks trimmed. Saved us a lot of work today.

Now, let's wrap it up because I have been aware of storms since age 8 and could talk for days about the little names.

Some might ask why we stay here --- it is home. I can't imagine living anywhere else. I live for the salty air. 

Some would ask why didn't you leave... that is simply an entire post for another day, but it was supposed to be a 1 and not even hit here. There is a big difference in each and every category.

I did try to leave for Opal and it was a complete nightmare!!!

If you have any interest...here are two more things...

I am putting a link here for an author who writes a column for the Destin newspaper. He says why we stay and live here well. I didn't know his wife was from the town I grew up in until about a month ago. He tells part of my Ivan story when I arrived finally to see my mama in Brewton. 

https://www.facebook.com/seandietrichwashere/posts/10157817361312947

I am leaving you another link... This is Brewton. So sad. My folks had a business right in the middle of that water during my growing up years.

The Army Corp of Engineers bought them out and were supposed to prevent this from happening again. We moved to the other side of town with the business. With 3 feet of rain and a slow mover, it didn't work all these years later.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=366725401166621&extid=oNNwxZRdCYXNS3q5

My takeaway from this one...

The National Hurricane Center is not going to be my guide anymore. They haven't gotten the strength right in the past two years and they missed the track on this one.

Not their fault, it is just the way it is.

I will go back to living with the mantra...IF IT GETS IN THE GULF, IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GET ME AND BE A 5!

*With that said, there is a low in the Gulf, so I am going to sleep tonight and double check all my preps tomorrow morning. BTW, it is right where Opal formed and believe me our family has a very sad story for it.

I think Sally, the devil caught everyone off guard because we put too much stock in the NHC.

***************

Yes, I am a prepper...the kind that lives in hurricane country...not a hoarder kind on TV. 

This is how we survive the heat that comes after most...

Window unit for one room for whole family to sleep in and generator on the deck to run it and the refrigerator.

I will be back in a few days with something besides storms ---stitching and fall decor. 

I did stitch through some of the winds and rain and long time. Nervous stitching I call it. I will update you on the details later.

And yes, I put out some fall decor. I will celebrate Thanksgiving, but Christmas may come out early too. This is 2020 and I am ready for the hope that Christmas offers and possibly a better 2021.

ONE MORE THING...

Just as my family made me feel special over the birthday trip, many of you blogging friends made me feel special checking on me. Wow, y'all are amazing. I think I was even a topic of conversation in the Walmart in Ocala. You can't beat that.

Saying prayers of thanksgiving for a strong house and roof over my head.

Lifting up prayers for those who need it to the west and north and even out West with fires.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.

Even in the tough times.