September 2005

Sept, 24, 2005

Hurricane Rita came ashore this morning in Southwest Louisiana and the Upper Texas Coast.  Winds gusted to 144 mph in the path of the eyewall.  Tornado like damage reported over a large area.  Rita will be a very expensive hurricane.  Thankfully Houston was missed!

Damage is extensive along the Louisiana Coast.  Early reports of structural failure over many areas.  Widespread damage from a storm surge.  Camaren, Louisiana hit very hard.  Beaumont, Texas was hit hard - apartment building down with people trapped.  Galveston had extensive wind damage - roofs failed in some areas.  Port Arthur - extensive wind damage.  Many towns have reported homes destroyed and or damaged.  Hundreds of thousands of people without power.  Injuries reported in Beaumont and Port Arthur.

Shreveport is reporting widespread tree damage - trees down and power lines down.

Center, Texas - homes damaged - trees down.  Power poles reported down. Lufkin, Texas is reporting widespread wind damage with power poles, trees, and signs down.  Reports of homes destroyed.  Homes with roofs off.  People trapped in homes.  Roof off of a church in Lufkin, Texas.  Reports of flooding as well.  Many, Louisiana reporting widespread wind damage to trees and power lines.Nacogdoches, Texas is reporting widespread damage.

Lake Charles Louisiana has been hit VERY hard by hurricane Rita.  Major structural damage.  Severe flooding in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  Storm surge has caused major damage.  Water is reported to be flooding homes.  Roofs off some buildings.  Thousands of trees are down throughout the city.  Lake Charles has water in the downtown area.  Reports of most roads under water or blocked by trees.  Reports of some injuries in Lake Charles.

Numerous tornado warnings for Mississippi and Louisiana.  Tornado watches continue this morning.

Blah Blah Blah :)  I wish this hurricane season was over.  This season has brought this nation to its knees.  I thought we could never see a season like last year...I was sure wrong.  This is the worst season I can ever remember.  Total dollar damage will likely be in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

FIRST BANDS OF RAIN MOVE INTO PADUCAH...HEAVY RAIN AND TORNADOES LIKELY OVER THE NEXT DAY OR SO.

9:30 p.m. radar


National Radar

SATURDAY...

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2005

TORNADO OUTBREAK POSSIBLE TODAY  PORTIONS OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY - MAINLY SOUTH OF HERE IN TENNESSEE, MISSISSIPPI, AND ALABAMA.  COULD BE A NASTY DAY DOWN THERE. .  HEAVY RAINFALL LIKELY AS WELL AS TROPICAL DEPRESSION RITA MOVES RIGHT OVER WESTERN KENTUCKY.  THIS IS OUR FIFTH TROPICAL SYSTEM THIS YEAR!

I am getting my Red Cross ERV training on Monday!  That will be exciting.  That means I will be able to go out on the ERV during disasters.  I am hoping that Paducah will eventually be able to get an ERV.  They are expensive though - around $100,000.  Not cheap!  They are a great asset though.  You can use them for fund raising and disasters!  Here is what an ERV looks like - Emergency Response Vehicle.

ERV IN THE BACKGROUND - GENE
DAILEY PHOTOGRAPH

 

Emergency Response Vehicle - Red Cross ERV - GENE DAILEY PHOTOGRAPH

MAJOR TORNADO OUTBREAK ACROSS THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES

GONE






GONE

Towns have been destroyed by the storm surge

MONDAY Continues...
 

THANKS ERICK FOR THE AWESOME CD!  You are the DJ!!!!!


DJ ERICK!                                 THE MIX MASTER

HEROES CAMPAIGN 2006 :)  AMERICAN RED CROSS

We are going to drive the Shadow II (the convertible) with two upfront and one sitting on the seat in the back.  We are trying to find someone to make magnetic signs for the side of the car that has the Heroes Logo and some wording.  :)

Here is Batman :)














RED CROSS HEROES CAMPAIGN 2006
 

CALLING ALL HEROES :)

􀂃 We are assessing the impact of hurricane Rita’s damage and getting a clearer
picture of people’s needs. We know that it will require a Red Cross response on
the scale of Hurricane Charley— the most expensive (estimated to be in excess
of $30 million) of the four hurricanes that ravaged Florida last year. Although Rita
pales in comparison to the devastation from hurricane Katrina, it is still a
significant storm requiring a significant response.

􀂃 The Red Cross has served nearly 15 million meals and snacks since Katrina made
landfall three weeks ago.

􀂃 During WWII, one in four Americans donated their time, money or blood to help
the American Red Cross. Now is the time for Americans to come together again
and consider what they can afford to give.

􀂃 We estimated—before Rita—that the needs resulting from hurricane Katrina
would require more than $2 billion and again, we’re less than half way there.

----------------

What a journey this has been.  Imagine 3 years ago or 4 years ago...where did we think we would all be?  I think about my friends in Toronto, Birmingham, and Atlanta and the incredible stories that we have to tell.  A story of heartache, fear, courage, friendship, and brotherhood.  It reads like a novel or a movie.  An incredible fight for freedom and justice that literally took us to the gates of hell and through a lake of fire.  No human should ever have to go through a fire like that...but to survive that journey would mean that something great would have to come out on the other side.  Something great did come out the other side of all of that.  Shadow Angels - friendships that will never end - beautiful people that have a deeper sense of appreciation for the little things in life.  Lives touched by something greater than any one of us.  Something none of us will ever fully understand. 

Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers...watch the fall leaves turn to orange, red, and yellow...listen to the birds sing in the morning!

Missing ALL of you that are not here. 

---------------------------

David is in Lisbon :)  LOOKS NICE!  Lisbon is a beautiful city!  I believe that I wish I was there.  I will definitely have to visit it one day!  I believe Italy is next on the list!  Here are some photographs that he took while he was there.



Lisbon, Portugal
View from Castelo de São Jorge 

View from Castelo de São Jorge


Even better is the Pearl Tower - Shanghai - David was there last week!

Photo David took...


Now where are my Lucy photos???????  Kristy is slacking in the Lucy Photograph Department.  :(

 

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

And the beat goes on....

The next tropical system is forming :(
 

Stan is that you???

TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
1130 AM EDT TUE SEP 27 2005

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...

A VIGOROUS TROPICAL WAVE CENTERED A COUPLE HUNDRED MILES SOUTHEAST
OF JAMAICA IS PRODUCING CLOUDINESS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF
THE CENTRAL CARIBBEAN SEA. THIS SYSTEM HAS BECOME BETTER ORGANIZED
TODAY... AND UPPER-LEVEL WINDS HAVE ALSO BECOME MORE FAVORABLE FOR
A TROPICAL DEPRESSION TO DEVELOP DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO. AN AIR
FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT IS SCHEDULED TO
INVESTIGATE THE SYSTEM TOMORROW... IF NECESSARY.  INTERESTS IN
JAMAICA... THE CAYMAN ISLANDS... AND IN THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN
SEA SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM OVER THE
NEXT FEW DAYS AS IT MOVES WEST-NORTHWESTWARD AT ABOUT 10 MPH.


TROPICAL WAVE IN THE CARIBBEAN - Soon to be
Stan?
 

COLD WEATHER IS COMING :)  YAY

TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE IN THE LOWER 40s ON FRIDAY MORNING!  THIS WILL BE THE COLDEST WEATHER SO FAR THIS SEASON!!!!!  I AM MORE THAN READY FOR IT!

Houston and the race card...this issue seems to be running through the media as of late

Most of the people I talked with and worked with in Houston were African-American. Many were likely just as much victims of poverty as they were victims of the hurricane. If I were going to divide these African-Americans into categories then I would do it like this -

1. A handful of trouble makers. I would say out of the 27,000 people that around 2% of those caused us problems.

2. The rest of the people I would consider heroes. People just like you and me. People who were caught up in one of the worst natural disasters our country has ever experienced. I talked with a lot of people who helped rescue their neighbors...helped rescue their families and their friends out of the flood water. One guy, that I talked with, tied four doors together and helped rescue a number of his neighbors. Tarel floated these people to safety through the deep, murky waters. On the way to the Superdome, with his family and rescued neighbors, Tarel met up with someone who had been shot in the arm. He sent his family ahead and stayed behind to help this man. When Tarel helped this guy to a police car, where two officers were sitting, and asked them for help they refused to get out of the car and wouldn't help the injured man. So without the New Orleans Police Department to assist, Tarel took care of the injured man himself. He walked him to the Superdome where eventually he was able to receive medical attention. Tarel told me that he couldn't leave someone like that behind. It didn't matter that Tarel didn't know the guy. All that mattered was that the guy needed someone to help him. 

Dozens of other African-Americans that I talked with also helped to rescue people along the way to the Superdome. People pulled together. People worked together to survive. They shared their water. They shared what little food they had. They comforted each other. They held each other, they watched over the children, and they helped calm the women. These African Americans were true AMERICAN HEROES - through and through. They are the unsung heroes of this disaster. They selfishly acted on behalf of their fellow men, women, and children. They put themselves in the line of danger in order to help others.

These people were not paid, they were not asked to help, they would have been excused if they had simply gotten their families out of harms way. But no - these people pitched in and did what had to be done. The same can be said for the vast majority of Hispanics, whites, and other people and nationalities that were caught in the storms path. They pulled together - nobody cared what color your skin was. Nobody cared what language you spoke.  Nobody cared whether you had a huge bank account or were working pay check to pay check. It didn't matter.

Suffering doesn't recognize color. Disasters don't care who they impact - they impact everyone. Black and white. Humanity should never recognize color.

A large number of the Red Cross volunteers in Houston were white. These volunteers didn't care what color the hurricane victims were. Nobody cared that most of the people who were in the shelters were African-American. The volunteers only cared that the needs were being met of those who were hurting. Many shared tears as they tried to comfort those who were missing loved ones. There was not the divided world that Jessee Jackson and Al Sharpton preach about. There was not a division of whites and blacks. Nope - there was unity. People came together for one purpose - to help others.  Tears are the same color around the world you know.

 
For all of those who still believe in brotherhood then you have reason to hold out hope for America. Although there are a FEW people who have tried to turn all of this into a debate on racism there is a much larger number of people who have rolled up their sleeves and put outside whatever differences they may or may not have had with each other and got to work. They got the job done and are getting the job done. Division, hate, and scandal will sell newspapers. Heroes will not. 
Too much focus has been given to the "looters" in New Orleans. Too much attention has been given to the few, although horrible, incidents that occurred at the Convection Center and Superdome.

It is a shame that all the heroes are lost in the negative media blitz. There are thousands of stories about unsung heroes out there. There are thousands of stories yet to be told.

THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO ASHCREEK THIS EVENING - A FEW OF THEM ARE SEVERE.  LOOKS LIKE MAINLY HEAVY RAIN AND LIGHTNING HERE IN PADUCAH.  COLDER WEATHER WILL ARRIVE AFTER THE COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH!

TONIGHTS COLD FRONT :)  THIS MAP SHOWS THE TEMPERATURES FALLING RAPIDLY BEHIND THE FRONT!  YAY OUR FIRST FALL COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE!

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