We had our first brush with 2014 tropic weather this afternoon when Tropical Storm Arthur went from Invest 91L to a tropical depression to Tropical Storm Arthur right off the coast from us. To be honest, it wasn’t all that big of a deal: we had a regular boomer move through a couple of days ago that was a lot more impressive for its wind, heavy rain and lightning.
The lawn and flowers got a nice splashing.
Tropical Storm Arthur
Still, it was worth going out on the porch and carport to grab a little video.
Shooting hurricanes is tough. Not only do you have to deal with being wet and miserable (not to mention worrying about a piece of flying tin roof taking your head off), but still photos don’t capture the sounds and movement of the storm. TV guys can make a nothing storm look scary by shooting water gushing out of a drain spout or stop signs going whipity-whipity-whipity.
Hurricane Kate in 1987
I shot these two national guardsmen being told they should abandon their checkpoint and seek shelter because the winds of Hurricane Kate were getting dangerous. About 30 minutes later, a reporter and I were on the second floor of a motel talking to some folks we had spotted watching the storm from their window.
“How long have you been hearing that sound?” I asked one of them.
“Quite awhile,” he answered. “What is it?”
“That’s the sound of nails pulling out of wood.” Just then, the suspended ceiling collapsed, drenching us with water. A couple of heartbeats after that, we were looking at sky because the roof of the motel had peeled off and been deposited in the parking lot behind us.
We went down to the first floor where a bunch of utility workers were waiting to hit the streets. The reporter asked if she could use their phone to check in with the office. One of the workers offered a bottle of Jack Daniels and a glass while she was talking to the city desk. She waved off the glass, snatched up the bottle of Jack and upended it. I think it was her first hurricane.
Tropical Storm Isaac a wimp
I guess I should withhold judgement. We’ve had some power flickers (some folks have been dark for hours) and our cable TV service is out, along with our Internet connection. A UPS has smoothed out the flickers and I’m using a Verizon wireless card to file this post.
Except for rain bands that have been coming in waves all day, it hasn’t been too bad, not much worse than a strong summer thunderstorm.
Video of the wind and rain
Wife Lila took all but the opening shot of this video. I’m going to have to confess to napping through most of the heavier stuff in the late afternoon. I figure if I don’t hear the sound of nails pulling out of wood, then there’s nothing to get excited about.
We had our first brush with 2014 tropic weather this afternoon when Tropical Storm Arthur went from Invest 91L to a tropical depression to Tropical Storm Arthur right off the coast from us. To be honest, it wasn’t all that big of a deal: we had a regular boomer move through a couple of days ago that was a lot more impressive for its wind, heavy rain and lightning.