Mark

Abby - and others in New Orleans


I went thru Ivan and Dennis - and my city is NOT below sea level...You guys want NO PART of Katrina.

GET OUT OF THERE NOW!!! WHILE YOU CAN!!

I suggest you head WEST. Because of the earlier projections showing it headed back to Pensacola - there is LITTLE-TO-NO gas here or Mobile.

Thoughts & prayers with you guys.

Abby Normal

Thanks, Bro!

We are keeping one eye on the TV and preparing to evacuate. This thing surprised everyone around here this morning and now the place is a mad house. Gas lines are already very long and getting out of here is going to be a bitch on such short notice.

I'm trying to locate a car trailer to take the shark. If I can't get one, I'll take it to a praking garage and park it on the next to the top floor.

Mark

You are welcome to use my trailer - but I don't think you have the time to come and get it and get back - I can meet you 1/2 way with it if you want!

Abby Normal

Mark,

Thanks for such a GENEROUS offer! Time is the issue, and no telling how traffic could make that trip even longer.

I am going to put the Shark in a enclosed parking garage on the 5th or 6th floor and hope it's alright. If it gets destroyed on a 5th floor garage, I'll have bigger issues than the 928..

I have a lot of older family members that have to be evacuated also, so this is a real PIA....I know you know! We are making preperations to leave in the morning and have rooms booked in Beaumont, Tx.

Thanks again for the offer, it means a lot to me!

Mark

You're welcome. Not a big deal - us sharksters MUST look out for each other.

STAY SAFE, my friend! Post when you can with an update when it's all over.

(BTW - even P'cola isn't out of the woods, yet. A couple of the computer models still have us in the danger zone, and ALL the current predictions have a big "*"...."Depending on when she starts her NW turn"!!) ALL of us along the Gulf Coast need to be on alert!

Cameron

Good luck!

the flyin' scotsman

Our weather systems bring very cold weather for 4 months of the year, then we park the cars in the garage, drive the 4x4s and turn up the furnace.

That hurricane stuff is truly scary...........stay safe you guys!

Red UFO

That is a good idea. Hope you can find a spot.

What is that 3 now in 2 years to hit your area?

Jim Nowak

New Orleans hasn't been hit by a hurricane in as long as I can remember. The shark owners in Pensacola have had two direct hits by hurricanes in less than 1 year. If we get hit, hopefully not, this would be our third major hurricane in less than 12 months.

Be safe Abby and if you need to come this way you have a place to stay!

Red UFO

Abby what about the engine?

David Wilson

Abby good luck overthere. run away run away. Good idea to find high groud in Texas and be safe.

Best of luck,
David

Abby Normal

Tom, we get a good scare on a regular basis.. The motor is stored in a hurricane proof building that houses a huge Telephone switch, so it should be ok.

Thanks for the offer Jim! They are starting counter flow procedures at 4pm and I-10 will be west only on both sides. No going east outta here for now... Currently the I-10 through here is a parking lot.

ELLSSUU

Abby, if you're worried about flooding you are welcome to put the car in my driveway. It won't be covered but it'll be north of the lake. Or even better........

You could also drop it off at my mom's house in Baton Rouge. Don't know if anyone's taken the carport or not but I can check. She's about 2 miles from I-10 so it's on your way out of town. I emailed you my cell number in case you want to drop it in BTR.

I'm sending the family to Baton Rouge and staying here in Mandeville. I'm about 2 miles north of the lake so hopefully the water doesn't get pushed in too far.

Jim Nowak

A concrete high-rise parking garage should be pretty safe. However, I had to park my E55 on top of a four story garage durning hurricane Ivan since all the other spots on the lower levels were taken. The top of this garage was not covered and my car suffered many scrapes and dents from wind blown debris. Many of the cars had their windows blown out and other parts of the cars were blown off too. All of this flying debris was not good for the paint! I had to get a total repaint on the car due to all the flying debris.

Normy

Well, I'm finally back online. I lost power for about 24 hours, starting at 6:15 PM on Thursday night. This was the first hurricane that I had actually been through, and I can tell you that it sucked!

-The storm itself wasn't all that bad in my opinion. It passed over Ft.Lauderdale with 75 mph winds, gusting to 92, and yours truly decided to take a walk outside to see what it was like. I hate to say this, and I realize that this wasn't the safest thing to do so I'm certainly NOT encouraging anyone to try the same....but when I grew up in Michigan, I remember walking to the bus stop some winter mornings when the overall conditions were probably worse than what I encountered Thursday night. The winds were strong, but it was warm, and as long as you stayed away from trees, you really didn't feel too threatened. I wore my motorcycle rain suit...but still got soaked!

The bad part is that the power was off for a while. You really don't know how much electricity means until you go without it for a while! I spent yesterday with Lucy, a friend of mine from work up in Palm Beach, since she had power and wanted me to come up anyway. It was on when I got back last night....but the broadband has been down until about an hour ago...and just a few minutes ago I lost one of the phases on my electrical feed: The air conditioner is down again, along with the lights in one bathroom and the stereo/tv. Outside is nice- I went running today- but most of the gas stations are out of gas, and now that the power is fluctuating again, you can bet that many ATM's and grocery stores are going to shut down. BAH! I love Florida...but these storms SUCK!



N!

PS: Picture near the New River, Fort Lauderdale, with the historic Stranahan House in the background. The winds were 75 mph at this point.