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Head for the high ground
Tonight Ivan the Terrible is heading for a brief pass over Cuba (isle of youth and bay of pigs)
at this writing it has picked up enough speed to fluctuate between a cat 4 and 5 which is 135 mile an hour winds and up .
For those of you unfamiliar with this part of the world , the keys and due South
is for the most part a very tranquil , fragil part of the planet where the Gulf meets the colder waters of the Atlantic and a passing shower is all and anything that upsets the apple cart.
The keys themselves are basically coral mounds of thousands of years old which have formed a barrier of little 3- 15 mile knolls made of shell and fused sand ,
Ficus trees ( the ones whose legs can stand in water ) hold them down in the big blows and Ivan is about to give them a run for their money .
Not since Camille ( killed 300 in the 60's ) has anything of this magnitude been tracked.
No historically you would have to go back a hundred years to the 06 and 09 Hurricanes of Galveston ( killed thousands) and Mobile ( hundreds) has anyting like it been recorded.
Its not really the wind and the rain that is so dangerous;its the Sunami ( water surge ) where a wall of water without warning moves from ocean to land taking everything and everyone with it .
The Camille surge was a wall 50 ft high and miles long ; the Galveston sunami wiped out almost every resident and building. Returning survivors could not place where the town had been .
Traveling the little highways of the coast here you are enchanted with some of the wild nature spots you can encounter; and if you get off the beaten track there is still a lot of mystery and excellent natural beauty affordable to the eye .
But not the pocket book ;
Recently with the advent of the high rise ;white sand beaches and condos reaching the $4O0,00O mark and up is not unheard of. Northerners have sold the house in Michigan and Minnesota to retire to the sun and sand of these nature perserves.Feasting on shrimp and fresh fish while bikini watching in a gated community .
All is fine and well until one of these 100 yr old tropical disturbances show up on the radar map and then the fortress of your sheet rock and swim club high rise looks very fragil indeed.
Then as the days and the predictions grow more dire you are reminded on how living on the edge of paradise; your dream house is all inthe hands of mother nature and your insurance company if your lucky enough to have any .(some fine lines only protect cat 2-3
while 5 is....labeled " an act of God".
Its not certain now ; but by tues much of the Coast of the Florida panhandle will most likely be evacuated to head for higher ground .
Then there will be a great pall ;and darkness with a sudden quickning of the wind .
The sound of the surf will be heard for miles in land
The day will turn to night, and under so much rain those fool hardy to stay will never be able to get out Phone lines will go dead ,street lanps will go out
and the wait of a long night into day begins ,
My work there oddly enough ends mon am ; after which I too will load up the truck and join the creeping exodus heading north .... for the high ground .
Best Michael
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