With the remains Leo on heels of Irene we are seeing far more water being dropped on us than with Irene. I'm looking out at something I have not seen in the 20 plus years I've been here. Two waterfalls and sets of rapids in my backyard area and I'm on the high ground, fortunately. All this that has been going on for 4 days now is working its slow way north. Thus my thoughts go to Deluxe (and my prayers) and how they are doing in this 2nd and probably far worse round of water. A lot of the major roads around the DC area are closed due to flooding and the reports coming out of the PA area aren't good.
Perhaps a model of an N scale Ark is in order? Seriously, I have seen plenty of such weather, having lived in the Pacific North WET. (Omit the "s" in west.) So understand the rains you describe. Sure hope that Dave is catching up some by now and he'll soon pop in with an update.
I sympathize with all the water damage from Irene, now Lee. Sadly, Nate also may pose the same problem. The National Hurricane Center still predicts that Nate will go into Mexico, though their landfall predictions keep moving more north with each update, now northeastern Mexico rather than central. Though what disturbs me the most is that the Hurricane Center is ignoring most computer models which forecast the ultimate landfall as the north central Gulf states, then up the Appalachian chain following the track of Lee. Of course any northern Gulf landfall would be at least a week out, so much can change in the interim causing the long-term models to alter their track predictions. The best outcome would be for Nate to landfall on the southeast Texas coast and track slowly up through central Texas and Oklahoma, quenching the fires and easing the drought. http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at201115_ensmodel.html
Well we have Katia which may cause some tidal flooding along the coast as it passes by. But Maria is my concern now. The East Coast is in the crosshairs again with this one. Then I can worry about Nate if Texas doesn't soak it all up. I know a lot of modelers up in the harder hit areas of Maryland and I hope that they are high and dry. We will need a week before all the water levels return to normal since most rivers in this area haven't even reached the max crest yet. I feel like I'm getting cabin fever. With a couple of brief breaks have been cooped up inside. Heck even my favorite fishing hole is under ten feet of water. On the otherhand I've never got this much modeling done this time of year before, and on the bright side I can set inside and watch it go by being retired now. Now if this was snow it might be up to the capital dome and we might not melt off til next June. With the last deluge this AM we have exceeded the ten inches called for and may end up with over a foot when it finally gets out of here.
My wife just called. Her employer is tied into business impacted by these storms. She says as of now they're looking at Florida and Georgia for Maria.
Fortunately, Maria appears to be tracking along the same path as Katia, which means it may not become a hurricane. The Hurricane Center is saying that Katia churned up colder water along its path, therefore limiting the amount of energy available to Maria for strengthening.
As a So Fla resident for over a half century, and a former surfer, having surfed for 40 something years, I monitor all weather channels as part of my daily regimen which includes reading email, facebook, Trainboard and the Atlas forum. I follow several weather channels although I don't surf, because old surfers don't die, they just watch the weather. For the last year or so, we have been in a condition called El Nino, which originates by cooling of the Pacific off the coast of Peru, which temp changes into the tradewinds to a line across Mexico, the Gulf and into the Atlantic. What it does is divert and wind shear most hurricanes looming toward us. That Irene struck the Bahamas and others are showing later north turns is an indicator El Nino is petering out, and that is what concerns me. If it can preserve itself through the first week of October, maybe the fronts coming in from the north and west might steer them away. I sure hope no one lost any beloved trains or belongings in basements up north because of this excess flooding. Insurance companies are not very sensitive about relative value of covering "toy trains" as recoverable belongings, or even at their true value. Besides, I can see that you guys feel like I do, our trains are priceless. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
My hometown of Binghamton (which is the focus of my layout) has been devastated. Flood waters reached the highest levels ever recorded, overtopping the floodwalls along the river. None of the cities bridges (road or railway) were seriously damaged and most importantly no lives were lost, but nearly 5000 homes and businesses were seriously damaged. Recovery could take years. During the flood, CSX and Susquehanna parked trains on several bridges (this can be seen in the aerial photos posted on www.pressconnects.com). I suspect this is to keep the bridges from being 'lifted' off their piers. Is this accurate?
A old RR practice since way back. Usually loaded gons, and hoppers filled with ballast or stone to keep the bridge deck in place from impacts of trees/ houses etc. However if the support piers became undermined it was usually a lost cause.
