Waiting for Bill

[Rocky]

Hurricane Bill is still over 400 km's (over 200 miles from Halifax) but the storm is so broad that the leading edge is here bringing only sporadic rain and light gusting winds so far.
The eye will pass offshore, but the rain is expected to be of the monsoon type with heavy gusting winds - enough to damage trees and in some cases blow them over as Bill wanders by. A lot of damage is expected from flooding and along the coastline from the storm surge.
The eye is expected to be offshore from Halifax around 3:00 pm today so there's nothing to do but sit and wait.
The hatches are all battened down here and at my lake cottage where there are really big trees. That's my main worry.
But they survived Hurricane Juan so maybe we'll get lucky again.
I'll keep you posted.

 

[DaveM]

We will be thinking of you Rocky keep safe

 

[CarlS]

I've been following the track and thinking of you. I hope you have no damage. Please keep us updated and stay dry!

 

[The Seeker]

Good luck my friend, good luck!

 

[Rocky]

As we approach 12:45 PM (Atlantic time), the eye of Bill is about 300 km offshore from Halifax and lashing us with wind gusts and some rain. Nothing too serious so far.
The storm is degrading little by little, but there are power outages around the city and reports of fallen trees. Some coastal roads are flooded.
I've lost cable TV. Oh the pain of it all :ya2:
But I did get to watch the F1 race this morning.

 

[The Seeker]

[quote author=Rocky link=topic=6875.msg37585#msg37585 date=1251042392]

But I did get to watch the F1 race this morning.
[/quote]


Then ALL is well!! We do have our priorities to uphold you know...LOL ;-)

 

[Simmer]

Hang on Rocky. Hope and pray everything will be okay.

Dave

 

[CarlS]

I hope he will be nothing but a bad rain storm. Good to hear you are OK so far.

 

[Rocky]

It's only been 90 minutes since my last post - then I immediately lost power - but for only 35 minutes.
The wind is gone, there's only a light intermittent shower and the sky is so bright it looks like the sun will pop out.
The eye is well offshore and to the east now. Bill caused many inconveniences, but no serious damage from all reports. We dodged a bullet for the most part.
By, bye Bill

 

[CarlS]

I am happy for you and with you!!! Great news, Rocky.

 

[Rocky]

Bill is well off to the east now, but we're getting a bit of wind from the trailing edge of the storm as the last remnants pull way.
I'll wait until tomorrow to check my trees at the lake, but I don't expect any problems (sez I with crossed fingers). We were pretty lucky that the wind didn't reach expected velocities.
If all is well a buddy and I plan to hit the road for a couple of days this weeks on our bikes.
Thanks for the good wishes everyone.

 

[CarlS]

Enjoy your ride! I hope you find the lake place in good order.

 

[Rocky]

Thanks Carl.
The sun is out, the sky is blue and the humidity and high temps are gone. It's seasonable late August as it should be.
It's hard to believe this event came and went in just nine hours.
In some areas of the province the power is out and probably will be for 24 hours so we're very lucky here in the city.

 

[CarlS]

Bill is moving pretty fast which is usually the case in the more northern latitudes. When they move fast, not only is the bad weather over quickly, but the damage is much less. When they stall out and remain stationary, is when you get a whole lot of damage such as we had from Charlie in 2004.

 

[dazco]

Man, i don't know how you guys who live in hurricane territory can handle that ! I hate earthquakes, but so far i've only experienced 2 bad ones in my 56 years in So Cal and neither cause me or mine any problems except a friend who's chimney in a 100+ year old house came down. They can be scary, but i'm much more scared of hurricanes and tornadoes. It always amazes me when i see entire neighborhoods flattened and then they rebuild ! h:

 

[DaveM]

I don't know how any of you live with any of these extreme weather condition. A bit cold or a bit of rain and we already cannot handle it :y114:

 

[Geoff587]

Don,t know where I heard it but some one once said,
"Theres no bad weather, your just wearing the wrong clothes".

 

[Rocky]

Way up here in the northeast, up until about 6-7 years ago, we didn't have to worry about hurricanes. They always petered out and went away. At best we only got some rain and a bit of wind. Nothing out of the ordinary for northeast weather patterns.
I've lived all my life in Nova Scotia and hurricane Juan in 2003 is the only one to hit us hard enough to do any damage. Since then we've become very concerned when a storm develops because we know now that it can happen again.
Since Juan, Bill has been the only storm to cause us any serious concern. If that spread of storms holds to a pattern I'm not worried that much about it.
Of course it only takes one storm to tear us apart, but the risk is minimal and I have no plans to move - just as the folks in Florida have no plans to move.
This is home and it is what it is; summer, fall, winter or spring.

 

[CarlS]

[quote author=Rocky link=topic=6875.msg37659#msg37659 date=1251109789]
Of course it only takes one storm to tear us apart, but the risk is minimal and I have no plans to move - just as the folks in Florida have no plans to move.

This is home and it is what it is; summer, fall, winter or spring.
[/quote]

Exactly. :y115:

 

[Rocky]

I just got back from looking over my cottage properties down at the lake (35 minutes away) and barely a twig was out of place. It was as if Bill never happened.
Naturally, I am more than pleased to not have to do a cleanup or repair damage.
Now, if Bill and any of his "friends" will only steer away from here for the next couple of months that would please me even more :ya2: