Hurricane Dennis packs a punch

[southsider2k5]

Luckily Dennis lost some intensity in the last few hours before making landfall. This area was just battered last year by Ivan, and hadn't really recovered from that.

 

It will be interesting for us to see if we get some of the rain and storms from the remnants of Dennis. It looks like it might happen, as supposedly there isn't much of a jetstream to push this to the east.

 

Hurricane Dennis slammed into the Florida Panhandle on Sunday, packing 120 m.p.h. sustained winds and unrelenting rain that battered several Gulf Coast towns still struggling to recover from a devastating hurricane last year.

 

Dennis came ashore near Santa Rosa Island, Fla., just east of Pensacola, then headed inland into Alabama where hurricane-force winds and heavy rain spawned tornadoes and floods.

 

Throughout the coastal area, power lines dangled from poles, traffic lights lay in flooded streets and roofs were ripped off. At least 236,000 homes and businesses were without power in Florida, and an additional 280,000 in Alabama. Gulf Power Co. said it may take three weeks or longer to fully restore service.

 

President Bush on Sunday declared Florida, Alabama and Mississippi disaster areas, making residents eligible for low-interest loans and other federal aid needed to recover from the storm.

 

Later in the evening, Dennis had weakened to a tropical storm with 60 m.p.h. winds. It was 20 miles northeast of Jackson, Ala.

 

Officials attributed the absence of major injuries to a widespread evacuation in which more than 1.8 million residents of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana were urged to leave coastal areas. Many communities were virtual ghost towns Sunday, as authorities also ordered curfews to keep people off the streets.

 

The route into the Panhandle from the Gulf of Mexico was almost the same path Hurricane Ivan took 10 months ago, killing 52 people in the United States and causing more than $7 billion in damage.

 

While Dennis was blamed for at least 20 deaths in Haiti and Cuba last week, there were no immediate reports of deaths or major injuries on Sunday. However, a 3-year-old child died Saturday after falling out a van in Walton County, Fla., during an evacuation. More than 1.5 million Cuban evacuees returned to their homes on Sunday.

 

Officials in Florida's Escambia County, where much of the initial damage occurred, said the area "dodged a major bullet" compared with Ivan despite downed trees, structural damage, power outages and roads covered in water.

 

"We have extensive damage, but ... we are miles ahead of where were last year," said Sheriff Ron McNesby, adding that he had made a quick survey of the area. "Everyone needs to say a little prayer tonight because the good Lord took care of us."

 

The storm, which had strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of up to 145 m.p.h. Sunday morning, weakened as it moved closer to shore. Hurricane-force winds stretched only 40 miles from the center, compared with 105 miles for Ivan.

 

Still, it remained a powerful Category 3 storm as it landed midafternoon between Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach.

 

Navarre Beach, about 50 miles east of where Ivan came ashore last year, was still cluttered with its debris from tattered houses and damaged beaches. McNesby said repairs had just begun on some structures, making them vulnerable to Dennis.

 

In downtown Pensacola, the gulf spilled over sidewalks eight blocks inland.

 

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said search and rescue teams would begin combing the hardest hit areas Sunday night looking for people in need of help. He said it would take several weeks to determine the full extent of damage, and he expressed concern for people who were still living in temporary houses as a result of Hurricane Ivan.

 

More than 3,000 families in Florida live in trailers that were provided by the federal government after a series of major hurricanes struck the state last year. More than 9,000 people were in Florida shelters on Sunday.

 

"A lot of people are going to be hurting, especially in southwest Florida where people are still living in trailers and evacuated," Bush said. "They will come back home and might not have the temporary housing they got a year ago."

 

Earlier Sunday, forecasts showed the eye of the storm might pass through Mobile, but by later in day guests who had taken refuge in a Marriott hotel near the airport just hunkered down as the storm approached. Though a shelter, complete with a free buffet, was set up on the second floor of the 20-story hotel, most residents remained in their rooms after learning the hurricane's main impact would bypass the city.

 

"I have experienced winds higher than this driving down the Dan Ryan [Expressway]," said 57-year-old Jevena Robinson, of Oak Park, Ill., who was in Mobile with her husband, Robert, 58, for a family reunion. "I prayed to God that it goes the other way, and God answered my prayers."

 

Emma Faulk, of Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif., became teary every time she thought about being stuck in Mobile. Faulk, 61, who described herself as an "assertive Air Force officer," said she wasn't crying out of fear but out of frustration.

 

"I would not make a good prisoner of war. I felt trapped because I couldn't get out," said Faulk, a flight nurse in the Air Force Reserve. She said she came to Mobile for a business meeting on Friday and was unable to get a flight out after the meeting was canceled.

 

Most flights from the Gulf Coast were booked over the weekend, and airports in major cities closed Saturday night because of the storm. Flights were expected to resume in most areas on Monday. As the storm passed through, Faulk walked outside to experience her first hurricane.

 

"It was really anticlimactic. I thought it would have been something big here," she said. "You can't see it, but you can feel it when you go out."

 

Though the eye of the hurricane did not go through Alabama, officials said coastal areas received substantial damage. State officials said they remained concerned about flash flooding, which threatened much of Alabama overnight.

 

"We are still not out of the woods yet," said Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, adding that the state is fortunate not to have experienced as much damage as expected. "We will be dealing with this all night."

 

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How to help

 

Here are some charitable organizations recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. For a complete list of charitable agencies recommended by FEMA, go to www.fema.gov/rrr/help2.shtm

 

- American Red Cross donor assistance line, 800-435-7669 or www.redcross.org

 

- Catholic Charities USA, 800-919-9338, or www.catholiccharitiesusa.org

 

- Salvation Army, 800-725-2769 or www.1800salarmy.org

 

- United Methodist Committee on Relief, 800-554-8583, or gbgm-umc.org

 

--Associated Press

 

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dglanton@tribune.com

[BHAMBARONS]

The storm ended being a lot better than expected here in Bham had rain and wind but nothing to serious.

[Rex Hudler]

Dennis was a pussy!

[Sonik22]

Dennis was a pussy!

i sure got lucky that dennis was a pussie and took a nice right turn away from my vacation houst that barely survived hurricane ivan.

[southsider2k5]

BTW that rain... say Hi to Dennis. The old eyewall is stalled over southern illinois right now, it will be interesting to see how long the storm keeps its westerly track, and when exactly it begins its journey eastward.

 

The All-Star game could be a washout tonight under the right scenario.

[southsider2k5]

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/20...afx2133718.html

 

Dennis managed to disrupt an oil platform in the gulf that was scheduled to start pumping 250,000 bpd

 

[kapkomet]

And Emily is heading this way... I really hope it heads up this way, we need the rain bad.

[Queen Prawn]

And Emily is heading this way... I really hope it heads up this way, we need the rain bad.

 

The company I work for has a plant in Barbados. They have closed for the day - government order.

 

that Joe and his crew are safe and stay safe.