with Lorelle and Brent VanFossen

Tag Archives: storms

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Visual Impact of Hurricane Katrina – Starting to Head Back

Some of you may know that we are also among the millions of refugees/evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. We’ve been in Atlanta for over a week now, waiting for the electricity and water to be turned on and the roads to be cleaned up back in Mobile, Alabama. Where we are staying, we have had no […]

Evacuating from Hurricane Katrina – This is what we know

We left Mobile, Alabama, six days ago, home on our backs. We are currently in Atlanta, Georgia. For us, personally, Hurricane Katrina has not caused us to lose property or life, but it has caused us to lose income – a lot of income. Not just in wages unearned but also in expenses paid that […]

Hurricane Katrina – This is Our Life

The wizard known as Rincewind lurched into the room, white-faced, and stopped in front of the table. “I do not wish to volunteer for this mission.” he said. “I beg your pardon?” said Lord Vetinari. “I do not wish to volunteer, sir.” “No one was asking you to.” Rincewind wagged a weary finger. “Oh, but […]

Escaping Hurricane Katrina: We’re in Atlanta

We are safe and out of Mobile, Alabama, and away from Hurricane Katrina. We left early Sunday morning and are now in Atlanta, Georgia. Right now, we have a WIFI connection but we’re not sure how long it will last. Friends of ours and their families have evacuated from New Orleans and along the Gulf […]

Hurricane Katrina – Knocking on Our Door

There is a lot I could say about the tension and stress we are under, debating to stay or evacuate from Mobile and Hurricane Katrina. And then I saw this from weather.com. They say a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, this one is worth a single decision.

New Evacuation Map for Mobile, Alabama – Almost

As we are preparing to evacuate Mobile, Alabama, we’re packing up and constantly pausing to check the news and we found an an article discussing a new Mobile County Emergency Management Agency evacuation map. It’s announcement came Friday, just before the National Hurricane Center announced the predicted path of Hurricane Katrina towards Mobile and the […]

Looks Like We’re in the Path of Hurricane Katrina

While we will be watching closely, I spent long hours last night packing up the inside of the trailer and this morning we’re attacking the outside, replacing the hot water heater that is leaking and packing up to head out. Where? Where else? Away from the hurricane. Hurricane Katrina is now pretty much confirmed to […]

Hurricane Katrina Approaches

Yes, another hurricane is on its way. And wow, it’s almost the end of August and we are already into the “k” for hurricane names. Hurricane Katrina. That’s a lot of hurricane names used up this year. Brent said, in that authoritative way he has, that they just keep going with the names at the […]

Journal: Falling Trees and Friends Part Three

Journal: Falling Trees and Friends Part Three Greensboro, NC July 6, 1998 The next morning, I awoke to a kitten in the truck and an angry old cat in the trailer. I put the kitten back in the trailer and let the old cat get angrier, and caught up with Linda, the healed Southern Baptist, […]