Hurricane

[Stallard12]

Six hours from now Laura, a category 4 hurricane, cat 5 is worst ever, is about to make landfall at Port Arthur, 80 miles south of us.  It has 150 mph sustained winds .  Our home has a bullseye on it, right in the path line.  We have our windows boarded up as usual, everything stored and lashed down, and are desparately hoping that the 80 feet high trees surrounding us don't fall.  Have six one gallon jugs of bourbon lined up on the bar and that should last until Friday as long as the house does.

Thats the news from the colonies. Signing off.

 

[asperity]

Good to know you have your priorities right Stall 🥃😂. Stay safe.

[Stallard12]

Thanks Asp, just been upgraded to a category 5, have rode out six 3 and 4s, but this is new.  It's 3:30 pm and the first outer bands are lashing rain across the windows at 60 mph, by midnight they will be at 145 mph with accompanying tornados.  It's the sound that gets to you, at anything over a 100 the wind sounds like a Stuka fighter is diving in the room with you and the thump thump of falling trees goes on for about eight hours, you just have to hope that they don't hit your home, cos no way a two by four is stopping a 80' pine tree - kinda like London in the blitz !  The sonabitches always arrive in the dark, never in the day, when you could see and enjoy seeing everything you own destroyed !!   My wife and my 100 year old mother in law, who we moved up to us from the coat this morning, are both devout Catholics, and are reciting rosaries and reading prayer lists, I'm quietly sipping on my xxxxxth. whiskey and water, funny, I seem in a much better frame of mind than them !

I guess this is just routine to an old sea dog sailing the China Sea.

[asperity]

I've been through a few Tornados in the Far East and near Hurricanes in the Atlantic. Not nice!

[Evil Sid]

Over here we are panicking at 60-70mph winds. Seems like a summer breeze compared to what you are facing.

Hope the whisky holds out and on the bright side with all the trees down there will be plenty of firewood about.

[Stallard12]

Came through unscathed !   My wife tells me that it was an interesting night, unfortunately I missed it, fell asleep in my chair and woke up at seven am - bourbon is a wonderful friend !

Beautiful day now, but got a days work picking up branches and debris, but at least our access is not blocked by any of the downed trees, so I don't have to break out the chainsaw.

About three weeks ago an idiot backed into the rear fender of the Cadillac and it's been in the body shop in Beaumont, probably parked outside cos it's about complete. Unfortunately that's where the hurricane made landfall at 150 mph, so I don't know if I still have a car !

[Davy51]

Good to hear you survived intact, Stallard.

[Stallard12]

Thankyou.  Thank God for a last minute swerve north, which put us on the edge with only 70 mph winds.  I own the wooded lot next to my house and it has several 80 ft high pine trees in reach of our  house.  If you want to know the value of a human life, in my case it's $10,000 to have four trees removed !  Again thank you.