Okay, so the remnants of hurricane Ike ended up coasting over my house on Sunday. And that would usually warrant a big fat "so fucking what" from me most days. However, it had rained non-stop since Thursday allready, and Ike had to pee. So we got 10 inches more in 2 days and I had shit floating in my basement until about 8 hours ago. Not actual shit, dodged a bullet there, but shit as in stuff I own. And in my best Mad Max scavenger impersonation, I was able to salvage practically everything except for my hot water heater. I had 10+ inches downstairs which put it just above the burner mechanism and just at the right level to kick me in the balls.

What happened to the good old days, you know, back when hurricanes stayed down south and only displaced and killed italians?

So I'm drying out the igniter as best as I can, keep your fingers crossed for me.

I guess the moral of the story is this, better to have 10 inches in the basement than 10 inches in the backdoor.

Unless that's what you're into. In which case bring your floppy cheeks over to my house and wrap your manhole over this mess and take it the fuck with you because it's driving me insane.

Well, insane-er anyways.

For those who haven't been through a Hurricane (Cyclone) or Tropical Storm or Tropical Depression don't realise what sustained winds and rain are like. Sustained as in nonstop and constant. For hours and days on end. Even when a system is downgraded to a Tropical Storm or even Depression, you are still getting anywhere from 40 to 60mph constant winds with rain for hours.

Trees and Utility poles become waterlogged and fall damaging roads, your home and car. When Hurricane Frances and Jean came through here in September 2004 the systems hit me hard, knocking out our power for two weeks. When Tropical Storm Fay passed through here last month we were lucky that our power didn't go out and no tree damage. The nonstop wind and rain seriously got on my nerves

One of the worst parts of the storm is the anxiety it produces. You are in your air-conditioned home, watching tv and internetting, monitoring the storm as it is about to hit. It's almost torture, knowing full well you maybe without power for a undetermined time or even a home.

Anyway I didn't mean to make a long rambling post about Hurricanes and even planned on making my own Hurricane Ike thread just so I could post these images so here you go:

Sorry this reminds me of my favorite South Park character


[video width=480 height=360]http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:southparkstudios.com:155302:[/video]

Yeah, I got sick and tired of Fay as well. Six days of constant storms is a pain in the ass. I'm wondering when all the stupid power companies will wake up and start burying cables.

I don't really subject myself to that self-induced torture that all the damn forecasters try to subject us to.

I really want to put solar cells on my home I just dont know much about them yet. I'm not sure if they would make it through a fairly strong hurricane and if they have developed any that are storm resistant. I think if I had solar energy along with a mid sized generator I would be able to power enough of my home to where I could just put up the storm shutters on all the windows and just watch movies and play ps3 throughout the weeks worth of recovery after a storm.

We didn't get any of Ike's residual piss, but we did get some ass-kickin' wind all day Sunday. Blew the hell out of trees, power lines, roofs, etc. Some of my friends and co-workers just got electricity back today.

I was lucky in that I only had a 20-foot chunk of a maple tree snap and land in the middle of my back yard. No house damage, thank God (if he, she or it exists).

Well, the solar panels on my parents house has survived all the hurricanes, including Andrew, but Wilma disabled them by snapping off some connection box. Nonetheless, the panels are still there. So, I think we've gotten to the point where they are storm resistant, provided nothing like a palm tree clips it, and they're firmly anchored.