Yellow Snow
Member
How concerned should we be about the possibility of Willa entering the Gulf after moving over southern Texas as a depression and then reforming?
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Tropical Tropical Weather Banter & Venting Thread
- Thread starter TheBatman
- Start date
Almost no chance of that, the GOM is hostile for tropical development, but a gulf low does spin up Thursday and brings a lot of rain to the gulf states and SE. Miller A styleHow concerned should we be about the possibility of Willa entering the Gulf after moving over southern Texas as a depression and then reforming?
I don’t think this will enter the Gulf of Mexico as a depression. The mountains of Mexico will kill that storm.
Yellow Snow
Member
Good - if only we had Trump's wall, that would stop it for sure!
How concerned should we be about the possibility of Willa entering the Gulf after moving over southern Texas as a depression and then reforming?
No concern. Very wet and significant Gulf weather maker, yes. Tropical cyclone? That’s what I don’t see.
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NoSnowJoe
Member
A guy by the name of Keith Vargo shared this on Facebook, a little long but an incredible story.
As some of you know, our beach home in Mexico Beach was destroyed by Hurricane Michael. I was there on Friday to meet with the insurance claims adjuster and to retrieve the few items that were worth saving and to check on my offshore boat that we keep stored under the house. As I was digging through the rubble, a man walked across the street and came up to me and extended his hand to shake mine and said, ‘thank you for saving my life…” Some background: Beth and I took the kids to the beach house for fall break and left on Monday morning as the storm had been upgraded to a cat 1 and gaining strength quickly. I tried to board as many windows and doors as possible, secure outdoor items, and get out quickly to return back to our home in Atlanta. In the rush, I was flip-flopping on whether to trailer the boat back to Atlanta or not – as many of you know, I’m meticulous with the boat so 99 times out of 100 I would have brought the boat back. But, last minute, I decided it would be okay where it was. I was also planning to have an addition built under the home beginning in November so I had pulled the boat as far forward (towards the driveway but still under the home) as possible to allow for the work to be done. I had never stored the boat in that spot before since we built the house several years ago. For the entire week following the hurricane, I was kicking myself for not trailering the boat home. I had come to terms with the fact that the house was destroyed and there was nothing I could have done to save it; yet, I was upset with myself for the decision I had made to leave the boat and put it in harm’s way – something I could have prevented.
As the neighbor continued his story he told me that he and his wife and his parents - the neighbors across the street - had decided to ride out the hurricane in his parent’s one-story beach home. Yes, a very bad idea. His parents are in their 70s and his dad a Vietnam vet in a wheelchair. As the storm surge continued, the entire front of the home was ripped away, and 2 of them were floating on a vinyl mattress and the other 2 on an insulated hot tub cover inside the home, pinned against the back wall of the living room. As the storm surge water pushed to 8 feet inside the home, they only had 12 inches of airspace left to breathe before all would drown. There was no escape. The incredible power of the storm surge, the sounds, and sheer force of the hurricane were unimaginable. They had given up and realized all were going to drown within minutes. In those last minutes as they were saying their goodbyes, they saw something large coming at the front of their home. It was my boat. It had broken free from the trailer that had wedged under the pilings, and floated across the street straight towards their home, and just before it impacted their house, it turned sideways and slammed into the home, wedging itself into the front wall. The boat became the new front wall of the home and acted to divert the majority of the incredible storm surge around the middle of the home to the sides of the home. Once that happened, the storm surge remained steady at 8 feet deep in the home rather than continuing to increase as it should have (the surge was 10+’ from the storm at my home), giving them those precious few inches of air to breath, and remained that way for the next 5 hours as they rode out the storm, literally inches from death. As the storm surge eventually receded, the boat un-wedged itself from the home and gently floated 20 feet to the side of their home and eventually lay on its side in their front yard.
The decision I had been upset about and second guessing all week was immediately put into perspective. I had taken many family and friends offshore fishing on that boat so many times with countless numbers of amazing catches and great memories – memories we’ll all cherish for the rest of our lives. Yet for all that, the boat’s ultimate purpose wasn’t fully realized until last Wednesday. My neighbor’s words will be burned into my mind forever, “your boat literally saved the lives of my entire family – I can’t thank you enough.” Honestly, I had nothing to do with saving those lives. God had a reason for giving me that last minute pause on Monday morning that caused me to leave the boat, and for parking it in a spot under the home, where I had never parked it before, that would allow it to be clear from the pilings to travel across the street and save the lives of those 4 people. What I thought was ‘my mistake’ was really me just not understanding that there was a bigger purpose for the boat, and it needed to be left at the house to serve that purpose.
The amount of devastation I witnessed in Mexico Beach defies words – please keep the good people of this town in your prayers as it will be a very long road ahead to recovery.
As some of you know, our beach home in Mexico Beach was destroyed by Hurricane Michael. I was there on Friday to meet with the insurance claims adjuster and to retrieve the few items that were worth saving and to check on my offshore boat that we keep stored under the house. As I was digging through the rubble, a man walked across the street and came up to me and extended his hand to shake mine and said, ‘thank you for saving my life…” Some background: Beth and I took the kids to the beach house for fall break and left on Monday morning as the storm had been upgraded to a cat 1 and gaining strength quickly. I tried to board as many windows and doors as possible, secure outdoor items, and get out quickly to return back to our home in Atlanta. In the rush, I was flip-flopping on whether to trailer the boat back to Atlanta or not – as many of you know, I’m meticulous with the boat so 99 times out of 100 I would have brought the boat back. But, last minute, I decided it would be okay where it was. I was also planning to have an addition built under the home beginning in November so I had pulled the boat as far forward (towards the driveway but still under the home) as possible to allow for the work to be done. I had never stored the boat in that spot before since we built the house several years ago. For the entire week following the hurricane, I was kicking myself for not trailering the boat home. I had come to terms with the fact that the house was destroyed and there was nothing I could have done to save it; yet, I was upset with myself for the decision I had made to leave the boat and put it in harm’s way – something I could have prevented.
As the neighbor continued his story he told me that he and his wife and his parents - the neighbors across the street - had decided to ride out the hurricane in his parent’s one-story beach home. Yes, a very bad idea. His parents are in their 70s and his dad a Vietnam vet in a wheelchair. As the storm surge continued, the entire front of the home was ripped away, and 2 of them were floating on a vinyl mattress and the other 2 on an insulated hot tub cover inside the home, pinned against the back wall of the living room. As the storm surge water pushed to 8 feet inside the home, they only had 12 inches of airspace left to breathe before all would drown. There was no escape. The incredible power of the storm surge, the sounds, and sheer force of the hurricane were unimaginable. They had given up and realized all were going to drown within minutes. In those last minutes as they were saying their goodbyes, they saw something large coming at the front of their home. It was my boat. It had broken free from the trailer that had wedged under the pilings, and floated across the street straight towards their home, and just before it impacted their house, it turned sideways and slammed into the home, wedging itself into the front wall. The boat became the new front wall of the home and acted to divert the majority of the incredible storm surge around the middle of the home to the sides of the home. Once that happened, the storm surge remained steady at 8 feet deep in the home rather than continuing to increase as it should have (the surge was 10+’ from the storm at my home), giving them those precious few inches of air to breath, and remained that way for the next 5 hours as they rode out the storm, literally inches from death. As the storm surge eventually receded, the boat un-wedged itself from the home and gently floated 20 feet to the side of their home and eventually lay on its side in their front yard.
The decision I had been upset about and second guessing all week was immediately put into perspective. I had taken many family and friends offshore fishing on that boat so many times with countless numbers of amazing catches and great memories – memories we’ll all cherish for the rest of our lives. Yet for all that, the boat’s ultimate purpose wasn’t fully realized until last Wednesday. My neighbor’s words will be burned into my mind forever, “your boat literally saved the lives of my entire family – I can’t thank you enough.” Honestly, I had nothing to do with saving those lives. God had a reason for giving me that last minute pause on Monday morning that caused me to leave the boat, and for parking it in a spot under the home, where I had never parked it before, that would allow it to be clear from the pilings to travel across the street and save the lives of those 4 people. What I thought was ‘my mistake’ was really me just not understanding that there was a bigger purpose for the boat, and it needed to be left at the house to serve that purpose.
The amount of devastation I witnessed in Mexico Beach defies words – please keep the good people of this town in your prayers as it will be a very long road ahead to recovery.
GeorgiaGirl
Member
So that's what's potentially going to make Thurs/Fri a wet/raw day reminiscent of winter. I was being lazy again and just checking temps/weather on the GFS and I was scratching my head as to why it was so cold those days, but then checked and saw there was a CAD effect and some rain, and it finally started to dawn on me that this rain might be from ex-Willa earlier in the morning, then fully did early this afternoon.
Yellow Snow
Member
One of the most amazing stories that I've ever seen. I looked up Mr. Vargo's Facebook page, here's the link to the post (with photos of the boat - I guess you could call it a "life boat"):
One of the most absurd things I've ever heard.
The 22 year old mentioned in the story goes to our church, we know his family well.... my understanding is he is in critical condition with head trauma. Any one so inclined prayers would be appreciated!
https://abc11.com/nc-lineman-killed-1-injured-while-repairing-lines-downed-by-michael/4553200/
https://abc11.com/nc-lineman-killed-1-injured-while-repairing-lines-downed-by-michael/4553200/
This young man has passed away, all 3 were killed by a drunk driver who hit them while they were working on power lines
https://www.rrspin.com/news/286-barrett-succumbs-to-injuries-sustained-in-florida-crash.html
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