Hurricane Barry

The last couple of days has been miserable. Wednesday, we were inundated with water spouts and Tornado warnings all within 5-15 miles of my home, as Then storm Barry made it's southern track into the Gulf of Mexico. Keep in mind the N/E Quadrant of any storm is the absolute worst for Storm Surge, Rain, and especially Tornado's. The storm dumped approx 8.5" inches of rain into the city of New Orleans in about 3 ½ hours, causing enormous flooding. My daughter called, and was caught in a flash flood in New Orleans, and was stuck on the road, unable to get out of her car or move until the area was pumped out, she didn't elect to be there, but was there for work. Finally was able to get her out of there safely. (What a relief)

The storm entered the Gulf of Mexico, and is now strengthening over the nearly 90 degree waters, and has made a westward track that she's on now. I'm still in the Northeast Quadrant of the storm, as it continues it's snail pace movement westward, the water spouts and tornadoes it's spawning have been the danger point. Having this problem in mind, the Mississippi River has been at a record high level due to all the rains and flooding from up in the Ohio Valley flowing down to the Gulf. The winds and the storm surge are predicted to interrupt the flow of the Mississippi River as it makes landfall, and cause the River to back up and allow flooding. This is what happened during Hurricane Katrina that flooded us all and killed so many. After Katrina had moved through, and we thought we were safe, a levee was breached and flooded New Orleans a day or so after the storm. There are so many dangers to be considered during a Hurricane, the winds are usually a big issue, at least in this storm we don't have the issue of extremely high winds, were actually expecting wind gusts of about 80 mph, but are forecast to receive between 15-20 inches of Rain. Thats the part that has all of our attention. Meteorologists are saying to prepare for 48 hours of torrential non-stop rain. Again as Barry makes Landfall, New Orleans and my home will still be in the Northeast Quadrant of the storm, which really elevates our chances for water spouts and Tornado's.

The barometric pressures have been rising and falling as the storm moves and maneuvers through the area, which has been really effecting Ms Zoey and Rocky. Wednesday during the water spouts, Ms Zoey screamed non-stop until I opened her cage, she flew out of her cage, to my chest, and huddled under my chin. Rocky was under foot, and neither have ventured out of eyesight. Hopefully by tomorrow morning, this storm will have made landfall, and started it's forecast northerly track, dissipate and turn into someone's afternoon rain shower. As it stands at the moment, I will evacuate to my daughters home up in Mississippi, however that depends on the the storms track, If the storm tracks a little more west or takes a westward turn, I should just be in for a lot of Rain. The biggest fear is the widespread power outages in the middle of July's temperature as Temps have been staying between 90-100 degrees at midday. The feeder bands of rain continue to pass over us, dumping heavy rains, and winds are sustained at about 20 mph, but as we go through today and into the night, the weather will be deteriorating, as Barry is forecast to make landfall tomorrow morning.

Stay safe and have your evacuation plan in place with your car prepacked.

As you well know, the path is shown as traveling up the Mississippi River and once a bit above the Ohio River Valley, turning East. So, the already swollen Mississippi River will continue at advance high levels for many more weeks to come.

Thanks for the information!
Stay safe and if you choose to move, move early and ahead of the crowd.

Thinking of you, family, and birds during this early and unwelcome surprise. I recall we discussed this when you joined, very sorry it became an ugly reality.

Be safe, and please update as you are able.

I sincerely hope you all ride the storm out safely. I also agree with 'boats, and that if it looks like an evacuation may take place, leave early so you stay ahead of everyone else. It's better to leave and not have needed to than stay and not be able to leave if you have to. Let's all hope it loses strength when it makes landfall and doesn't do as much as predicted.

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SailBoat said:

Stay safe and have your evacuation plan in place with your car prepacked.

As you well know, the path is shown as traveling up the Mississippi River and once a bit above the Ohio River Valley, turning East. So, the already swollen Mississippi River will continue at advance high levels for many more weeks to come.

Thanks for the information!
Stay safe and if you choose to move, move early and ahead of the crowd.

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Thank You Boat's, I have a travel cage sitting out, Luckily (Wheew) yesterday my breeder got a replenishment of food to me for Ms Zoey, because as of last night the postal service/UPS & Fed Ex has suspended service until next week. I wasn't sure how long the food supply would last me, and if she would even like any of it, being in storm season, and adjusting Ms Zoey's food (Pellets, Seed, & Vegetables) has been quite the task. One bag of food, she actually hasn't eaten but just certain items, Luckily my breeder had an answer for that, so with her new dry food supply arriving yesterday, a big burden was lifted.

Scott said:

Thinking of you, family, and birds during this early and unwelcome surprise. I recall we discussed this when you joined, very sorry it became an ugly reality.

Be safe, and please update as you are able.

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Yep Scott, we did. The storm winds honestly won't be too bad, however 20" inches of rain is more than anyone is equipped to deal with. With that kind of rain, we usually loose our giant oak trees, because the soil around the root system loosens up, and with a minimal wind blows the tree over. That said, they always seem to land on homes, across power lines, and of course roads. The rain is coming in feeder bands, about once an hour we will get a 15 minute downpour. When you look into the sky, the clouds are rushing across the sky, a really eerie sight, because were all just use to seeing clouds gently float bye, but in a storm when you see clouds blowing by at super speeds, it makes your heart drop, as you realize this isn't normal, and something bad is about to happen. The winds are suppose to really pick up after about 11 pm (CST) and as that happens, it's so dark outside, and the clouds block off the moonlight, you hear branches snapping, strange sounds, even the ground settling, but you can't see anything by eyesight until the sun comes up, so after dark it really gets scary, because a flashlight just has a narrow beam compared to whats needed to really see whats going on. I've packed a 72 hour bag, travel crate for Zoey, and a 2' x 2' x 2' cage for Ms Zoey along with about a week food supply, along with an ice chest for her fresh veggies and such. I've also packed up Rocky's crate, and leash, bowl and food. The travel crate Ms Zoey arrived in, is what I plan to move her around with. That's if I decide to pull the trigger and evacuate, as I'm still following the forecast. My daughters house will be the destination, which puts me far enough North and East to keep me out of harms way. I'm not sure if this will make sense to y'all, but the eye of the storm hasn't completely formed, which is why it's a minimal hurricane, and because of that, the hurricane hunters can't really document the eye for computer analysis, which gives meteorologists a better track of the storm. Their seeing the southern part of the eye, but aren't exactly sure about the northern portion, so it makes tracking this storm nearly impossible. As Boats said, their thinking it's going to follow the river northward into the Ohio Valley then turn east. Their expecting this storm to remain dangerous wind wise until it reaches Northern Louisiana. Pictures by one of the news agency an hour ago, are already showing the storm topping the levees in the Algiers area of New Orleans, a suburb, and were still 14 hours before it makes landfall. Truly with overlapping of the Levee already happening, means parts of New Orleans is already flooding significantly by the Mississippi River. This was our biggest fear!

OutlawedSpirit said:

I sincerely hope you all ride the storm out safely. I also agree with 'boats, and that if it looks like an evacuation may take place, leave early so you stay ahead of everyone else. It's better to leave and not have needed to than stay and not be able to leave if you have to. Let's all hope it loses strength when it makes landfall and doesn't do as much as predicted.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

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Spirit, I live approx 25 miles outside of New Orleans, and if you see the lake on the news, (Lake Pontchartrain) and labeled it N, S, E & West, right where you would put the "E" is where I live. They call it the Northshore, but I'm actually East of the city. Theres 3 major Interstates that come together about 5 miles from my home, which are I-10, I-12 & I-59. I'm at least not having to fight with the Missippi River, but I have a heck of a fight with wind and storm surge pushing water back up into the lakes and Rivers, which is what placed 9 feet of water in my home in 2005 (Katrina) By the time Police let us back to our homes, The electric company hung a notice on my front door knob, along with everyone else in the neighborhood, which stated the Electric company had removed my power meter, and would not be restoring power until the house had been signed off on by a certified electrician. The City had a meeting with all certified electricians in our area, and instructed them that all home wiring had to be brought up to the new city electric codes, which in effect allowed the city to bring every home to city code at one time before restoring power. This was just one more obstacle we had to cross during the greatest disaster we had ever seen, all the while, as Fema said they had no money for assistance, and many Insurance companies rushing out to attempt to make $2,000-$5,000 dollar settlements and getting a signed release, as we the property owners had a total loss, all furniture, all appliances, all carpeting, drywall, wiring etc.... Then at the same time, scammers hit the area, were collecting deposits to do work, and disappeared into thin air without doing anything. It seemed everyone came into town, made a quick dollar and ran away. It was so bad, we had to make the contractors do work on a day by day payment plan. Even then, after a homeowner bought drywall, the contractors then would pick it up, and go to someone else home and sell it for a profit because supplies had dwindled. Just about every homeowner got carpenter lessons, and became do it yourselfers over night. The stories of Katrina just go on and on. That part of Katrina, no one ever really reported on, and was scarier than the actual storm. The barometric pressure of the storm is getting lower, so were all sure it's strengthening. The eye isn't well formed, so were not exactly sure where to pin point it, and even worse, makes it almost impossible to see where it actually turns. Every storm wobbles, but a wobble in this storm could mean the difference of 35-40 mile variance in storm track. The wind is blowing the water inward to the coast, and walls of water keep coming behind it, thus storm surge. Winds at my home right now are gusting upward to 50 mph in the passing feeder bands. The meteorologists on TV are saying the storm seems to be on the west side of the Mississippi River now, which means the winds turning counter clockwise are now stopping the water flowing from the river into the gulf, and are now backing up. Again being this is happening right at dark, means many folks won't be able to see the flood waters flowing towards them until they start entering their homes. I'm more worried about rainfall in the home I have now, than wind or flood damage. I'm still following the storm trackers, but actually the further west it travels now without turning, the better my chances are, so this is really the critical time for making the evacuation decision. I thank y'all for your thoughts, and well wishes. Ms Zoey, myself and Rocky are just watching it now, catching the feeder rain bands as they drift through. Either way, I'll keep everyone up to speed whether we decide to ride it out, or evacuate. To tell you the truth, what really causes the mistrust is one news tracker says the river hasn't started rising yet by their gauge, and yet another channel shows water overlapping the levee. It's like a meteorologist saying theres a zero chance of rain tomorrow, while your standing in a downpour...... Except this storm is much more significant.

Ughh, the stress I feel you! I hope things go ok, glad you got food!
As a Florida gal, I feel ya....

You have the best possible plan and lots of experience to guide your instincts. This is most definitely a rain event, be safe!

Your family and birdies have our bestest hopes and prayers. You can at least read about the forecasts and ways to cope -all your birdies can do is hope you can read! Good luck.

******Storm Update********

Barry has finally moved past us, The whole time it was coming, kept me and my family on it's eastern side. We really got into the weather just at dark last night, and at one time we had Three Tornado's in a 12 mile square all headed directly for us. Luckily, they picked up, but as I kept checking on my daughter, she was facing the same Tornado issues, about 60 miles away, They were spinning up quite frequently and touching down all over. The rain bands off of Barry stretched from Morgan city all the way to Pensacola FL. and Mobile AL got clobbered pretty good by Rains, I seen they were at 5 inches of rain within the first rain band. The city of New Orleans showed several pictures yesterday of car roof tops sticking out of the rain water flooding, but has since been pumped out, although there were more levees overtopped by rushing water than anyone can count, all day yesterday, the news showed heavy equipment working on the levee's dropping huge sandbags, trying to stop the flood waters, luckily they were successful. The rain continues this morning, and will stay until tomorrow, as the reminisce of the storm moves by. So far in my area, the drainage is working very well, although we have standing water here and there, it will not stop transportation needs.

Ms Zoey did pretty well for her first named hurricane, and last night did her pace on her tree stand perch back and forth, fluffed up doing her Cockatoo Babble, lol. She found a wall mirror as she flew off of her perch, after losing her balance, and of course, the curiosity feathers perked up all over, as she investigated. She didn't want to get back in her cage last night for bed..... She wanted to stay out and play, although the weather hit it's peak worst about that time. So before waking her up this morning, and getting her fed, I wanted to update everyone on the great news. Thank You everyone for your thoughts and prayers, and concerns.

Scott said:

You have the best possible plan and lots of experience to guide your instincts. This is most definitely a rain event, be safe!

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Hey Scott, we had a convention in town all last week, the News kept interviewing them Friday, There were approx 5,000 of them, and they were all suppose to fly out yesterday, I kept wondering just how that was going to work out for them....lol Airports were offering you to change flights without charge to move ahead and behind your scheduled departure to get folks moving out. Well most opted to Party on Bourbon Street before leaving, as I guess that was the highlight of their trips, So then the Airport closes, Bourbon street floods, and folks can't even fly out of Mobile or out to Pensacola due to weather concerns. Delta, United, Southwest, and Sprint were all offering to help get them out Friday, but I guess the prospect of the party was just too great for them. Anyway, the news showed them finally catching flights this morning, looks like they all finally found a party somewhere, it looked like a rowdy bunch of travelers trying to find a plane at the airport lol Definitely they will have a story to pass on for many generations lol The rain event is suppose to stay for 48 hours, going from light to heavy rain bands. I'm sure the news will show tourists on Boubon Street later, snorkel in one hand, and a Hurricane from Pat Obriens in the other, lol The party never ends....lol

Wonderful update, seems the worst has passed and the Army Corps of Engineers did a great job shoring up the levee and pumping systems!

Poor Zoey, what an introduction to miserable weather. You just know she paid close attention to you and your reactions.

I'll bet the convention folks were apprehensive, knowing the history of New Orleans and Katrina. As long as traditional New Orleans food and hospitality continued, they were likely satisfied. Airlines are very cautious about flying into extreme weather and do not leave their $50M plus equipment on the ground during the height of storms. So there can be a delay for inbound aircraft to arrive and turn for departures. Sometimes they'll substitute larger aircraft (except Southwest and Spirit) to get a head start on the move out.