Panties in a Wad?

Wesley Chapel, Florida

The heavy rains let up last night around bed time, and didn’t start again until around 4 am, when the weather radio alerted us to a tornado warning.  

I realize many people do not take tornado warnings seriously, but we do.  When there is a tornado in the county we’re in, it gets our attention.  If the tornado is heading our way, it really gets our attention.

I got an interesting “anonymous” comment yesterday that I was getting my “panties in a wad,” about this tropical storm, and “creating hysteria.”

Well,  Mr. Anonymous, thank you for your comment, however I disagree with some of some of what you said. 

Yes, I believe our rig would be okay from tropical storm force winds.  We can take the rain and the area is in no danger of flooding.   But, we cannot handle any tornados that may be spawned from this storm.

We lived in Tampa when Hurricane Charley hit.   I remember it quite well because it was supposed to make a direct hit on the  Tampa Bay area.  We were preparing for it,  (in our concrete block house),  but it took a last minute right turn and made landfall in Port Charlotte instead of Tampa.  We were on the “good” side of the hurricane, so we didn’t get much wind or rain from it.

Hurricane Charley caused  7.5  billion dollars in damage and killed 25 people.  Yes, I realize it was a much stronger storm, than what we are experiencing now.  It made landfall as a Cat 4 storm.

You said it passed right over you and there were no rigs damaged in your campground.   I guess you were extremely lucky.  I distinctly remember many, many mobile home retirement communities that were destroyed, including one where the mother of a friend of mine lived.  

The following picture is the before picture of one of those mobile home parks.

The next picture shows the same park after Charley.

The fact that you took a direct hit from a Cat 4 storm and that  “no rigs were damaged in your campground”, was truly a miracle.

Remember, this storm made landfall on the west coast of Florida, went northeast  across the state causing damage all the way until it exited the state as a Cat 2 Hurricane.   Much of the damage was caused by tornados that were spawned from the hurricane.

So,  yes.  We are taking this tropical storm seriously. 

Yes, it’s currently  “going away” from us, and yes, it’s only a tropical storm.”    ……..for now………

 

I have lived in Florida long enough to know that:

1.  storms are unpredictable

2.  The weather forecasters are normally much better predicting where the storm is going than the strength at landfall.

3.  Tornados are frequently spawned from tropical storms and hurricanes.

 

So, in answer to your question.  Yes, I think our rig could sustain tropical storm force winds.  Do I want to ride out a tornado in a motor home?   No,  I do not.

I remember a very sad story about an entire family of 5, that was killed by a tornado last spring.  There were warnings days in advance that this was going to be a very bad system and that a lot of deadly tornados would form.     You are not supposed to ride out a tornado in a mobile home (or rv), but these people went to sleep in their mobile home knowing strong storms were coming their way.  The young mother, and father died right away along with two of their small children.  Their 15 month old was found alive in a field after the tornado.  She died in the hospital a few days later.   Did they take the tornado threat seriously?   I guess not.   I imagine they had time to realize their mistake before they died. 

I don’t want to be in that position.   

I’m sorry if you think I am trying to “create more hysteria.”   That is not my intention.

 

Enough said about that……

 

After our heavy rain this morning, the rain has stopped and we actually see the sun!   The storm is still here, but for now at least the feeder bands are to our east.   I hope they stay there.