Houses on the coast might experience trouble. The winds can really whip up the waves. And people with big eucalyptus trees, breadfruit trees, or albezia trees too near their buildings might be at risk. Yikes, I've got giant eucalyptus trees!!! Oh well. Such is life. But we took the big one near the house down a couple of years ago out of concern over high winds. Our house is surrounded by large ohia trees. Yes there is risk, but not enough to cause us to evacuate. The barn is more at risk because some of the giant eucalyptus trees could reach the barn if they blew down in the right direction. I wouldn't mind seeing the wind take out some of the higher branches. Wind pruning can be good. And I've got a chainsaw for clean up.
In my own area, people are not freaking out. Yes, they are freaking out in some areas, but not in Ka'u. Ka'u residents have been through higher winds many times. And rains of over 10 inches are not all that rare. No one has bothered to go crazy buying stuff. But then, people in my area tend to already have basic supplies stockpiled because of two things.......we're a long distance from Costco and Walmart, so people stock up......there's always the chance of tsunami or lava, so people stay prepared.
It will be interesting if the hurricane actually hits Big Island. Historically there is no record of one doing that. Many people think that a direct hit to Ka'u can't happen. So we shall see. Since I've been living here, the hurricanes heading right for us have always either veered away or broken up into tropical storms. This first one is forecast to smack Ka'u right on the nose, so it will be a good test.
2:30 pm update: It's just starting to run lightly on the homestead. No winds so far. Nothing out of the ordinary. I just checked out local radar and it shows the bands of heavy rain primarily over on the Hilo side. And the hurricane appears to be heading for Hilo. Looks like Ka'u is once again spared. So most likely we'll just see rain, wind, and high surf. How much we will have to see. But the brunt of the storm is missing our homestead.
ReplyDeleteI stopped in at the local supermarket on my way home for town. CNN would be sorely disappointed. Plenty of water, milk, bread, and everything on the shelves. Everything else in town appeared business as usual except for the Ace Hardware. Closed. Humph. I wouldn't have expected that.
So all's well here so far. I just got done reading CNN's headline.....yeah, Hawaii is the top story. Seems that sensationalized speculation is more important than people dying from ebola and the numerous warlike affairs around the world. People are stuck in horrifying situations, are being multilated, dying cruel deaths and all our news agency can focus upon is a storm. How sick, how sad.
Anyway, looks like I'm due to get soggy over the next few days.
.......The weather gods heard Ka'u people chuckle, and they weren't pleased. As the night progressed, the chuckling because as annoying as a persistent itch. Wind said,"Ka'u residents are too smug. They think they can't be defeated." Storm replied,"I agree. Ever since Kamehameha made the mistake of not capturing their king way back when, those people are so impossibly arrogant." Hurricane sighed, "I've waited too long to visit Big Island. It's about time they be taught a lesson down in Ka'u. You'd think that they would have appreciated the warning I gave them a few years ago. Get out of my way, Wind and Storm, I'm going to head south and hang around for a while. Come along with me and enjoy the show." Both Wind and Storm eagerly joined Hurricane for a night of fun. .......
ReplyDeleteIselle made landfall about 2 am. Slamming directly into Mauna Loa, it was like the proverbial meeting of the inanimate object meeting the irresistible force. So far Mauna Loa hasn't budged. Iselle is just stalled there, morphing. It's shape changed, eye disappeared, looks to be breaking up. And all the time it is dumping rain. In 3 hours, I've gotten 5 inches at the homestead. Funny thing though, no wind. Not sure who is getting the wind now. Earlier the Hilo side was howling, but nothing here at the homestead.
It's too early to say what is happening over in the main focus of the storm. Lots of tree branches and trees came down over Hilo way. But what about Volcano and Pahala, towns right in the path? So far I haven't heard.
Judging from the radar, I'm in for more a lot rain today.