OT: Hurrican Ike Hits the Carribean

[borner]

You guys could maybe reach a consensus on the probability that if I say black somebody else will say white?

 
 
Sounds like the same thing the Republican and Democratic parties have been doing here in the US the last 8 years.

[tocaff]

...and it's left the US in really fine shape.

What countries need are fewer politicians and more statesmen. Poeple don't want to hear bad news, but it's time they learned to face reality.

[borner]

I can't remember the last time an election here was actually about serious issues and not who can bend the truth the most and have the most negative TV spots. 
 
I guess we should be careful, Matrix tends to look down on political threads I think. Not that I balme them. Things can get heated. 
 
OH, Ike is still out there by the way, getting uncomfortable close to us here in Texas. Only hope now is that it hits somewhere without a lot of people in the coastal areas.
 

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: borner

I can't remember the last time an election here was actually about serious issues and not who can bend the truth the most and have the most negative TV spots. 

I guess we should be careful, Matrix tends to look down on political threads I think. Not that I balme them. Things can get heated. 

OH, Ike is still out there by the way, getting uncomfortable close to us here in Texas. Only hope now is that it hits somewhere without a lot of people in the coastal areas.

Sorry to have to ay this Brian but your misfortune in Texas is our relief in Florida. Everyone here let out a big sigh of relief when the projected path turned west from the early predictions that had it turning north along the west coast of Florida.

[Kingfisher]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

ORIGINAL: borner

I can't remember the last time an election here was actually about serious issues and not who can bend the truth the most and have the most negative TV spots. 

I guess we should be careful, Matrix tends to look down on political threads I think. Not that I balme them. Things can get heated. 

OH, Ike is still out there by the way, getting uncomfortable close to us here in Texas. Only hope now is that it hits somewhere without a lot of people in the coastal areas.

Sorry to have to ay this Brian but your misfortune in Texas is our relief in Florida. Everyone here let out a big sigh of relief when the projected path turned west from the early predictions that had it turning north along the west coast of Florida.

"Better you than me"

Animal Mutha...Full Metal Jacket

[anarchyintheuk]

ORIGINAL: borner

I can't remember the last time an election here was actually about serious issues and not who can bend the truth the most and have the most negative TV spots. 

I guess we should be careful, Matrix tends to look down on political threads I think. Not that I balme them. Things can get heated. 

OH, Ike is still out there by the way, getting uncomfortable close to us here in Texas. Only hope now is that it hits somewhere without a lot of people in the coastal areas.

I haven't been around since the beginning of this country, but I'd imagine every election has been of a similar vein.

Luckily there's a lot of lightly populated areas on the coast. Unfortunately for you Houston isn't one of them. Best of luck to you.

[tocaff]

One thing is certain about Houston, if hurricane Alan from years ago holds true today, people will stand in bars with water up to their knees drinking and refusing the rescue boats.  I know, I was there then.  [:)]

Sadly Houston is built on bayou, swamp land, and we all know what happens when there is virtually no drainage system.

[borner]

The problem is the storm surge... the bayou system here is really quite good, and has been much improved over the last few years. We can take 2-3 inches of rain per hour and be fine. The issue is all that water runs into the bay, hits the storm surge, and then there may be issues. I must say the powers that be seem much more on top of things than 3 years ago when the last big storm came close by. That one turned at the last moment and hit 70 miles away, does not look like this one is.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: borner

The problem is the storm surge... the bayou system here is really quite good, and has been much improved over the last few years. We can take 2-3 inches of rain per hour and be fine. The issue is all that water runs into the bay, hits the storm surge, and then there may be issues. I must say the powers that be seem much more on top of things than 3 years ago when the last big storm came close by. That one turned at the last moment and hit 70 miles away, does not look like this one is.

Wow, 2-3 inches an hour is a light sprinkle here in Florida. We routinely get 5-7 inches per hour in a summer thunderstorm. In 1979 we had our 100 year storm event and got 18 inches in a single hour that day.

We do seem to be pretty lucky with regard to the hurricane paths here in the Tampa Bay area. They seem to sweep by us very closely very often but never seem to strike us directly. Now just a few miles inland and slightly north of here in the Polk County, city of Lakeland area, they had three different storms come through within weeks of each other a few years back. Yet, since they are inland, they have lower homeowner insurance rates that we do.

I hear now Ike is expected to be "only" category 2 when it makes landfall, which means some people won't take it as seriously as they should. While "only" cat2 it is still a massive storm system that will impact a very large area.

Best of luck to you Brian and I hope you and your community come through it all OK.

[tocaff]

2-3 inches an hour here in Brazil is a sprinkle.

5-7 inches an hour is a decent rain.

A thunderstorm here makes a Florida t-storm look like nothing and the streets can become rivers.
 
I live in farm country, but not far from tropical rain forests which are truly something to see, but are a bit dangerous to hike in.  It's easy to loose your way when the canopy blocks the sun and there are more kinds of poisonous snakes here than anywhere else in the world.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: tocaff


A thunderstorm here makes a Florida t-storm look like nothing and the streets can become rivers.

In terms of rainfall rates I will agree that our subtropic environemt is trumped by your tropic environemnt.

However, in terms of lightning strike intensity during thunderstorms, Tampa Bay only rcently lost the title of Lightning Capital of the World to a spot in the African Rainforest. I have had numerous compter systems fried by lightning over the years. It's not uncommon for us to get 2,000+ strikes per hour during summer thunderstorms.

That isn't to say that there are not likely other spots in tropic rainforests that have higher intensities, they just aren't as likely to have ever been observed scientifically and quantified.

[tocaff]

I agree that the state of FL is a magnet for lightning and mercifully here we're not.  It's a rather dubious title to hold.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: tocaff

I agree that the state of FL is a magnet for lightning and mercifully here we're not.  It's a rather dubious title to hold.

Indeed.

Once while I was in high school some football players at another school were struck by lightning on the practice field. After that, if there was even the slightest rumble in the distance, our coach cleared the field and sent us inside for weight training.

A lightning bolt striking in the yard outside your house can literally be seen right through the walls....now that really gets your attention.

[Ike99]

I live in farm country, but not far from tropical rain forests which are truly something to see, but are a bit dangerous to hike in. It's easy to loose your way when the canopy blocks the sun and there are more kinds of poisonous snakes here than anywhere else in the world.

Yes but their beaches are hot and so are their women.

[tocaff]

Some of the ugliest women that I've ever seen are from Brazil.

Argentina has a few of it's own beauties too.

[Ike99]

Some of the ugliest women that I've ever seen are from Brazil.

Yes there are ugly women everywhere but the majority of them are hot. I know one who moved here,(unfortunately with a husband)to find a job and she is hot.

[bigbaba]

hey borner,

everything ok in houston? i hope so.

[Ike99]

hey borner,

everything ok in houston? i hope so.

I believe Borner must be without electricity now Bigbaba as I have not recieved his email for 2 days and this is not normal. Before he said he had been fortifying his house and bottle water.

[bigbaba]

ORIGINAL: Ike99

hey borner,

everything ok in houston? i hope so.

I believe Borner must be without electricity now Bigbaba as I have not recieved his email for 2 days and this is not normal. Before he said he had been fortifying his house and bottle water.

aye. he wrote the same to me as he sent me his last turn 2 days ago. hopefully his fortification was at level 9 as ike came.

[borner]

yeah, next time I am shooting for a fort level of 18!!!!!   power has been on and off here at home, and internet just came back for the first time tonight.... look for turns for my games soon, as soon as I remember what i was doing in each of them!!!!
 
Brian