@SamIV hunker down!

[mickey]

@SamIV hope you (and yours) are all prepared & ready because it appears you
are about to have a mean, nasty visitor come Sunday!
As of now the National Hurricane Center has painted a bullseye on Houma's back!

Good Luck!

To those unaware, they are predicting Hurricane Ida to be a Cat 3-4 storm when it makes landfall at Houma, LA.

[PoodlesAgain]

Yeah as the Cajun weatherman says, H is for Houma and L is for Louisiana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDItKWklaMw

Just kidding.
Hope it goes OK, like if there is not enough going out there.

[SamIV]

We plan on leaving. Going to see what tomorrow brings though. Does not look real promising. Landfall at a Cat 4 now is 10 miles to the coast where my home is with a predicted 15 foot tidal surge. Just hoping my home survives.

[Chocol8]

Good luck!

[PoodlesAgain]

Looking around I see mandatory evacuation in parts of New Orleans, it looks like, Tulane to bus students out to Alabama.
I don't get 90 deg Gulf waters, a big contributor to disaster level stuff, but again when we had our puny storm the other day, Atlantic south of Long Island was 84 deg. Crazy. For reference it is like 38 deg in winter.
Stay safe and take care of family and friends.

[mickey]

We plan on leaving. Going to see what tomorrow brings though. Does not look real promising. Landfall at a Cat 4 now is 10 miles to the coast where my home is with a predicted 15 foot tidal surge. Just hoping my home survives.

Good thinking! This one doesn't sound like one to play with!
The "spaghetti models" are still tightly clustered on Houma!
I'd "get the flock out of Dodge!"

@Poodlesagain the temps in the Gulf during the winter are much akin to your sea temps in SUMMER!
That is part of why it stays as warm as it does in winter around the Gulf.

[PoodlesAgain]

NHC prediction update shows a slight shift to the west, still in Sam's way.
He must be out by now.
Worrisome: the graphic labeling is not H, but M meaning highest wind rating, I think?

[OMB]

Be safe Sam. The Gulf Coast is like a Hurricane Magnet unfortunately.

[tonebender]

I hope it loses strength and your house is spared. I hate these things.

[mickey]

NHC prediction update shows a slight shift to the west, still in Sam's way.
He must be out by now.
Worrisome: the graphic labeling is not H, but M meaning highest wind rating, I think?

The "M" means it is a Major storm.
Major storm = Cat 3, 4 or 5.
Anything from a Tropical Storm thru a Cat 2 hurricane you are pretty safe riding it out.
Unless you are in New Jersey.
Damage done gets drastically worse in a Cat 3 & up.
Hard to tell the difference between 140 & 155 MPH winds.
The eye of the storm moving slightly west is NOT good for Houma.
The winds just to the east side of the eye are the strongest winds of the storm
And it is the most common location for tornadoes to occur in these storms.

WWL TV (New Orleans) streaming news/weather:


.

[SamIV]

We are still here. Two of my sons are at work providing stocking the crap for all out there still buying crap for the storm. One works at Target and the other at a local grocery chain. My third son has already made it to Houston with friends. Traffic was bumper to bumper since early this morning, so we are staying out of it until it subsides. I have two places I can go. One in MS with relatives which will get some of the storm, and the other in Houston. Will decide very early tomorrow morning. Will be driving in some bad weather, but will be driving away from it.

Where the storm is predicted to come in has moved about 20 miles west of me. That means we will be on other worst side of the storm. Packed and ready if we decide to leave.

[PoodlesAgain]

Lâche pas la patate!

Wish your family safe travel out of harm's way.
And bring your vax info, if you have it.

EDIT: Could you guys leave before daybreak for better traffic?

[SamIV]

That is the plan. Leave earlier than everyone else. I am sure others have the same plan for though if they have not left already. My nephew left for Houston at 7 am and should have been to Houston at 12, but is still on the road at 5 pm. I have left when we were suppose to not be in the road and there was no one but me and it was a nice nice. Weather was a little bad, but just had to be cautious. Will see what tomorrow brings. House is secured as it can be, yard is all picked up, and we are packed and ready though.

[SamIV]

Latest from weather channel. I live in Houma.

[mickey]

On second thought, don't hunker down, get the flock out of dodge!
Terrebonne Parish is under curfew from 6pm this evening until?
Leave too early & the sherriff will give you a place to shelter with barred windows & doors. striped clothing, etc.
I'd get out before 6 this evening if I were you, having sat thru Cat 5 Hurricane Michael back in 2018.
I'll never go thru anything like that again!

[SamIV]

We are hunkering down. We were going to leave this morning to avoid all the traffic. Took my nephew 12 hours to get to Houston which is normally 5. It is coming in sooner and weather is too bad to leave now. Going to ride it out.

[mickey]

Good luck! & tread water (the storm surge gonna be bad!)

[SamIV]

We actually have a great levee system here now. About 80 miles of higher outer levees and smaller inside levees as well. Also have 110 pumping stations throughout the parish. Much better than surrounding parishes. I have to commend the parish government that has been working on this for over 10 years with very little government assistance. Have to contend with the wind though.

[PoodlesAgain]

Many people around the country, and even the world, are with SE Louisiana in spirit, today.

Stay well.

[uwmcscott]

May you and all in the storms path be safe Sam. Sounds like you are as prepared as you could be, As a long time scouter I live by that rule too, but I’ve never faced a situation like yours. You will be in all of our minds through the day as things unfold.

[SamIV]

Weather is bad now and getting worse. At 2 pm winds around 100 mph. House and fence are holding up. Something hit my aluminum chimney hard and is leaking now. Not bad though. And the worst is yet to come. Houses across the street have trees on them. It is frickin windy. Will check in later.

[uwmcscott]

Thanks for checking in Sam - there's a guy with a live feed that 's been sitting in galliano for a couple of hours now and the eyewall appears to be just over him now. It's amazing to me that he's just sitting there in the middle of it all in a vehicle right on the road, hope you can fare as well.

[Mossman]

Stay safe, Sam... Do you have basements in LA? Where do you go in situations like this?

[mickey]

Looks like Ida has decided to spend the night with Sam, it seems to have stalled (or nearly stalled) in its movement!

@Mossman I don't think they even bury people underground in Louisiana. It is mostly swamps & marshland.

[Mossman]

Looks like Ida has decided to spend the night with Sam, it seems to have stalled (or nearly stalled) in its movement!

@Mossman I don't think they even bury people underground in Louisiana. It is mostly swamps & marshland.

Yeah, I'm reminded of images of New Orleans cemeteries... All above-ground crypts.