I don’t even know where to begin.  Hopefully this hotspot holds up long enough to transmit.  Thanks Ad Rem for earlier.

First things first, myself and family are okay.  We are blessed and fortunate.  Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers and well wishes.

For those who are familiar with Hurricanes, Ian was unique; painfully slow and painfully unique.  However, it had similarities to three previous storms, Frances (location), Michael (intensity) and Andrew (aftermath).   What made Ian very unique was the duration.

Normally there is 1 hour scary, 1 hour hell, 1 hour scary.  Soup to nuts three to four hours.   For Ian, that was just the first half.  With a start time around 1:30pm and a finish time around 9:30pm this one was brutal.  That’s why so much infrastructure failure.

When I saw the search and rescue flight path overhead at daybreak this morning, I knew the barrier Islands were catastrophic.  Indeed, Fort Myers beach, Sanibel Island, Upper Captiva and Pine Island all suffered topography changing events.   People will reevaluate living on barrier islands.

The Sanibel Causeway is destroyed.  The three spans still exist, but the spoil islands which held the road are totally wrecked.  No way on/off the island by vehicle.  The Pine Island bridge also failed.  The only way to Sanibel or Pine Island is by boat.  The dozens of air national guard flights today were all heading to those locations.  Regional Southwest Airport (RSW) remains closed except for rescue flights.

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Attempting to reassure the nation of the federal government’s competence in the aftermath of a devastating Hurricane Ida, Joe Biden introduces the woke FEMA officials who will be coordinating the recovery effort.   The outcome was, unfortunately, exactly what you would expect.

Within the confidence building effort, Biden introduces “his boy” Senior Advisor and Director of Public Engagement, Cedric Richmond.  Things go downhill from there:

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As many long-time readers will know, we do have a little bit more than average experience dealing with the aftermath of hurricanes. I ain’t no expert in the before part; you need to heed the local professionals who guide you through any preparation, and neighborhood specific guidelines, for your immediate area…

…But when it comes to the ‘after part’, well, as a long-time CERT recovery member, perhaps I can share some things you might find of value. Consider this little word salad a buffet, absorb what might be of value – pass over anything else.

If your town, city or hamlet is not underwater, there will be convoys coming to construct a pre-planned electricity grid recovery process. Convoys from every city, town and state from the east-coast to the mid-west. A glorious melding of dirty fingernails all arriving for the meet-up. Depending on your proximity to the bigger picture objectives at hand, you will cherish their arrival.

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Speaking toward the end of his remarks at FEMA headquarters, the installed occupant of the White House:

Biden: “I’m not supposed to take any questions, but go ahead.”

Media: “Mr President, on Afghanistan”…  [Biden interrupts]

Biden: “I’m not going to answer Afghanistan now”.  [Walks away]

https://youtu.be/Kym5iiK1L4c

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This is the fifth time in 10 days Joe Biden has refused to answer questions about the crisis in Afghanistan that he created.  There are 13 dead U.S. service members, and the commander in chief refuses to address the questions.

Pathetic.

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There’s not much you can do except hunker down when winds of this scale start hitting the coastline.  Hurricane Ida is about to make landfall along the Louisiana coastal region with winds in excess of 150mph.  A very strong category-4 storm, with massive storm surge potential. The hurricane force winds (the buzzsaw) are approximately 100 miles wide.  Anyone who needs help, feel free to reach out in the comments section, or send us an email and we will do everything we can to assist.

NHC Report – At 1000 AM CDT (1500 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Ida was located by reconnaissance aircraft and NWS Doppler radar near latitude 28.8 North, longitude 90.0 West. Ida is moving toward the northwest near 13 mph (20 km/h). A slightly slower northwestward motion should continue through this evening. A turn toward the north should occur by Monday morning, followed by a slightly faster northeastward motion by Monday night and Tuesday. On the forecast track, the center of Ida will make landfall along the coast of southeastern Louisiana within the hurricane warning area within the next few hours.

Reports from NOAA and Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicated that the maximum sustained winds are near 150 mph (240km/h) with higher gusts. Ida is an extremely dangerous category-4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some slight additional strengthening is still possible before Ida moves onshore along the Louisiana coast. (read more)

Hurricanes can be frightening; downright scary. There’s nothing quite like going through a few to reset your outlook on just how Mother Nature can deliver a cleansing cycle to an entire geographic region.  If there’s one positive aspect to this storm, it’s the daylight as she makes landfall…. at least it ain’t night.

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Preparations for the arrival of Hurricane Ida should be completed today.  She’s pushing a lot of water.  Wind field – NHS reflects approximately 60 miles across of hurricane winds and 250 miles of tropical storm winds.  Ida is gaining strength rapidly. Any Treeper in the coastal area of Louisiana and Mississippi should be taking preparatory action today. Those in the forecast areas are strongly advised to pay close attention to local officials and heed all evacuation orders.  [National Hurricane Center]

NHS ADVISORY – “Maximum sustained winds are near 85 mph (140 km/h) with higher gusts. Rapid strengthening is forecast during the next 24 to 36 hours and Ida is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it approaches the northern Gulf coast on Sunday night. Weakening is expected after Ida makes landfall.

At 1000 AM CDT (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Ida was located near latitude 24.8 North, longitude 86.1 West. Ida is moving toward the northwest near 16 mph (26 km/h), and this general motion should continue through late Sunday or early Monday, followed by a slower northward motion on Monday. On the forecast track, the center of Ida will move over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico today and move over the central Gulf of Mexico tonight and early Sunday. Ida is then expected to make landfall along the U.S. northern Gulf coast within the hurricane warning area on Sunday. (Advisory Link)

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This seems a little odd to me.  Citing the time it takes to implement contra-flow traffic as a problem, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell stated there is not enough time for the city of New Orleans to execute a mandatory evacuation.   Additionally, she is asking all residents who do not evacuate to shelter in place for Hurricane Ida.

Contra-flow traffic is the process of turning inbound lanes into outbound lanes and depending on the metropolitan area takes around 8 hrs for local and state DOT to get set up.   The mayor is asking for a voluntary evacuation saying “time is not on our side.” “The City can not issue a mandatory evacuation because we do not have time, Cantrell continued. WATCH:

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Yikes… and Biden’s team is running FEMA.

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Ida is currently a tropical storm headed into the Gulf of Mexico. However, the conditions are perfect for Ida to quickly become a major hurricane as it heads toward the Louisiana coastal region.  Everyone along the gulf coast from East Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and western Alabama should be making preparations right now.  Do not delay.

In the background several Civilian Emergency Response Teams (CERT) have been activated.  Due to the confluence of events, everyone is taking this storm very seriously. Any Treeper in the coastal area of Louisiana and Mississippi should be taking preparatory action today. Those in the forecast areas are strongly advised to pay close attention to local officials and heed all evacuation orders.  [National Hurricane Center]

Check your hurricane supplies of shelf-stable food, water, medicine and don’t forget pets.  Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.  Everything is replaceable, except you and your family.  We have a lot of Treepers in the path of this storm. If you need assistance, use the comments section of any ‘Ida Update thread’ to reach out, or use the email address in the upper right of the site.

Right now you are in control.  Have a solid plan, work that plan – stay busy, and don’t get caught up in the hysteria.  Try to avoid national media hype. Stay updated via your local news stations. Sunday morning looks like the key day impact zones will be identified.  Reach out to your neighbors; touch-base and check to see if they are okay or need anything.  Community restoration begins before the storm arrives. Look out for each-other.

Additionally, I hate to note this, but Joe Biden is in charge of FEMA… So plan accordingly.

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