with Lorelle and Brent VanFossen

Tag Archives: hurricane

What Is In Your Emergency Kit?

With Southern California out with no electricity, homes burning up in Texas, tornadoes across the country, devastating heat waves, much of the Northeast under water (and more water), earthquakes, and the threat of terrorism in New York and Washington DC (which means it could happen anywhere), are you ready? Is your emergency kit been inspected, […]

Hauling Away Hurricane Katrina

I found this image in my files. I was driving through Mobile, Alabama, and saw the railroad had been repaired with fresh gravel lining the fixed rails. Hurricane Katrina had done its damage along much of the railroad system that followed the gulf coast, washing out and twisting the rails like licorice sticks. I liked […]

Hurricane Ernesto: Stress and Water Rises Again

We had a lot of plans of things that need to get done this weekend, and now our plans are changing. Again. I turned on NPR and found out that Tropical Depression 5 is now Hurricane Ernesto and computer models show it on a path that may turn right for us. While the models are […]

Two Months After Hurricane Katrina – Into New Orleans

Not knowing the intimate details of the damage left behind from Hurricane Katrina, I assumed I’d seen the worst of it in Ocean Springs. Everyone talks about how bad New Orleans is, but from the little television and Internet coverage I saw before making this journey, buildings were still standing in New Orleans, so this […]

Two Months After Hurricane Katrina – Pascagoula to Ocean Springs Mississippi

It’s been two months since Hurricane Katrina brought her wrath and forces to the Gulf Coast of the United States. In Israel, after a terrorist bombing of a restaurant, cafe, or night club, it is the general policy of the people to do everything possible to make sure the bombed site is open for business […]

Two Months After Hurricane Katrina – Gulf Coast Shores

I’m in New Orleans and access to the Internet is very complicated and difficult. I will write more about my experiences here, but here are some photos taken on the drive over along Highway 90 through the Gulf Shore area of Mississippi. I want you to remember that this area is almost 100 miles from […]

Lorelle’s Hurricane Soap Box

Living in the hurricane ravaged dart board for the past year, I have become a cynic when it comes to disaster relief and disaster victims. And I’m not happy about what I’m hearing about the problems with Hurricane Wilma. So forgive my momentary soap box. Hurricane Katrina was not expected to suddenly turn so ugly, […]

Trailers for Hurricane Victims

I found this posted by allthatjazz01 Coffee Talk on her AOL blog: Driving south on I57 from Indianapolis, we noticed that every fifth vehicle was a new travel trailer towed by a pick up truck. At first I thought there must be a lot of campers till I realized that these trailers were going to […]

Ain’t Hurricane Season Over YET?

After Hurricane Alpha was blown away by Hurricane Wilma, I thought maybe we would have a reprieve. NOT. A Public Advisory from NOAA on Tropical Storm Beta states that this new storm should turn into a hurricane by this evening. Computer models from Weather Underground show Beta moving into Nicaragua and bringing 10-20 inches of […]

Tropical Storm Alpha is Born

Ever since the formation of two major hurricanes in July made it clear that the Hurricane Season of 2005 was going to challenge 1933 as the busiest season ever, I’ve been expecting to see the words “Tropical Storm Alpha” emblazoned on a hurricane tracking chart. Well, we’ve got the record now. The formation of Tropical […]

Record Breaking – Hurricane Wilma Now Category 5

There has never been a hurricane like Wilma before. With an unbelievable round of intensification that saw the pressure drop 85 mb in just 12 hours, Wilma smashed the all-time record for lowest pressure in an Atlantic hurricane this morning. The 4 am hurricane hunter report put the pressure at 884 mb from a dropsonde, […]

Hurricane Wilma Might Knock on Our Door

Yesterday, Brent and I took our first day off since….wait, I’m thinking…well, it was before Hurricane Arlene. And now Tropical Depression Wilma has matched the all time record for named hurricanes. I was hoping there would be a Hurricane Zelda, but it seems that Z-names aren’t recognized by the World Meteorological Organization’s Storm Names (pdf). […]

Off and On and Off and On and Off and On

Years ago, a co-worker of Brent’s awoke in the night to a terrible cackling sound. He got up to find the lights turning on and off and on and off. The cackling happened between the lights going on and off. Puzzled, but suspiciously aware of the source of the sound, he stepped outside of his […]

Rebuild Hurricane and Flooding Zone Homes with Houses that Swim

You don’t have to look far to see the cleverness and ingenuity of man. The problem is that the information of one group’s cleverness never seems to reach the ones who need the same clever thinking. In Amsterdam, US journalists are exploring how the Netherlands dealt with their flooding problems over the centuries. A little […]

You Don’t Know What It’s Like

You don’t know what it’s like. You can’t imagine what it’s like. You would never believe it. You don’t know how hard it is. You don’t have a clue. Well, guess what? I do. I know what it’s like. I have an imagination. Having traveled a lot of the planet, I can believe just about […]