2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season Running Thread

Bad week for buildings named Tropicana.

 

The fam had a very boring day in Savannah. No rain, no wind. Scott lived there for almost 20 years, so he took everyone on a tour of their former houses on Whitemarsh Island, out to Tybee for lunch and the riverfront. Not sure when they'll try to get back, since Milton is still clearing Brevard County. I heard tornadoes hit as close as Cocoa Beach, so the bridges to the barrier islands may still be closed.

For us, we received a text this morning from the RV park manager. The head maintenance guy had been able to walk back into the park, so it's still there. No idea of the extent of the damage right now -- no power, no water -- but the trailers appear to all be upright. He didn't mention any flooding but I'm guessing we'll get a more detailed update as the day progresses.

I am amazed by the precision of the computer modeling for this storm. The landfall was within 12 miles of the forecast track from 48 hours ago, thankfully for us, the error was to the south rather than the other way around.

Just watching snippets of coverage today. They seem to be fixated on the Tropiciana Field roof damage and the crane that wasn't secured. Localized flooding and some wind damage. But it appears the tornadoes in Palm Beach Gardens and Fort Pierce may have caused more fatalities than the hurricane itself at this point.

 

Had the NHC stuck to its Advisory 5 forecast (instead of moving it north and then back south later) from 5 p.m. Sunday, they would have practically nailed it 78 hours in advance.

 

From the Rays:

A Rays spokesperson told ABC News, “No first responders were being staged at Tropicana Field and the essential personnel that were there are all accounted for and safe. Teams will be assessing the situation more when it is safe to do so.”​

Hurricane Milton tears roof off of Tampa Bay Rays' Tropicana Field — The Athletic

 

The language got twisted somewhere along the way. I think Tropicana was supposed to be hosting linemen who were coming down afterward to help with power restoration, not first responders during the storm itself.

 

You won't hear me praising the Florida state government often, but this was a very smart (and sadly necessary) step. Insurance regulating officials came up with it, of course, not the Gov or the lege.

Free WaPo link.

Florida issues emergency rule to prevent ‘post-storm fraud’ by insurers
The directive issued just before Hurricane Milton’s landfall aims to protect homeowners against “unfair and deceptive acts” by insurers handling disaster claims.

"The directive Wednesday comes more than a year after an investigation by The Post revealed that insurance companies were drastically altering policyholders’ claims following Hurricane Ian by reducing damage estimates, some without the adjuster’s knowledge or permission. According to the investigation, adjusters contracted by regional insurance carriers said that managers were altering their work by lowering totals, rewriting descriptions of damage and deleting accompanying photos without their approval."


https://wapo.st/4ezD8BB

 

It's been eight years, but the memory of 28-3 will never die.

 

And from a network based in Atlanta? That bastard!

(Still bitter from having to be on pagination duties for the sports page that night, when they had already extended the deadline as it was because of the Super Bowl, only for it to go into overtime, then have the historic choke job.)

 

It's a stupid comparison anyway.

The first half of the Super Bowl was GREAT for Atlanta.

The first half of the storm is great for nobody. At best it's "Well, that wasn't as horrible as I feared."

 

Not happening at all. Hell USF is playing there Saturday. It's not raining anymore between now and then so they will drain the field as normal.