Prospero

Count on it. Just look at the past few years. I should know this, but what is considered the be the most powerful and destructive hurricane to hit the US coast in modern history. Camille is what I remember growing up. Andrew with my wife's stories going through it and scenes of destruction, Michael watching online. Sandy?

I remember Hurricane Agnes when I was a kid. Not a landfall in Tampa Bay, and not a Cat 5, but the highest storm surge around here for maybe almost 100 years (80+ anyway). Being in something makes it real, builds those lasting memories. The sounds, sights, the feel, whatever panic or scrambling that has to be done, ignoring Hollywood Squares on TV because something more important is happening, etc. Life experience rules.

I don't see any threats looming. 2020 has been quite a year, but I am not concerned about any tropical threats right now for us. Waiting for cold fronts to come down and give us rain now...

I've been saying for a few months that we in the Tampa Bay area won't consider ourselves out of the woods until Thanksgiving. Granted Eta was a visitor and I look forward to some time this week to finish cleaning up. But maybe the season is over for us.

I'm surprised how dry the area is. Obviously a lot of vegetation was stripped away, but it looks pretty brown and barren anyway. I pictured a lush tropical jungle. I'm sure it has be deforested horribly.

I'm sure it is legit footage from past storms, maybe some from Eta, possibly a clip or two from Iota. Probably too soon to see a lot from Iota. Still a good view of what they go through there whenever they get hammered with tropical systems and seasonal monsoons.

" Ninety-eight percent of the Colombian island’s infrastructure is damaged and one person has died in the category five hurricane, government says." https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/17/everythings-been-destroyed-iota-hits-providencia-island

Off topic, but some background on where Iota is slamming: https://www.roughguides.com/nicaragua/atlantic-coast/ Nicaragua’s low-lying Atlantic coast makes up more than half the country’s total landmass. It’s mostly composed of impenetrable mangrove swamps and jungle, and as such only a few places in the region attract visitors in any number: Bluefields, a raffish port town, the idyllic Pearl Lagoon just to the north, and the Corn Islands, which boast sandy beaches, swaying palm trees and a distinctly Caribbean atmosphere. Outside these areas, the coast remains an untouristed tangle of waterways and rainforests, and should be approached with caution and negotiated only with the aid of experienced locals and good supplies of food, water and insect repellent. Indeed, there is only one actual town in the northern half of the coast – Puerto Cabezas. Few travellers make the trip (flying is the only real transport option), but the impoverished town has a unique feel and is the best access point for the Miskito-speaking wildernesses of the northeast. The possibilities for ecotourism in this vast, isolated coastal region are obvious, though a scarcity of resources and a lack of cooperation between central and local government have so far stymied all progress, while the long-discussed highway linking Managua and Bluefields has failed to leave the drawing board. Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas) Small and scruffy PUERTO CABEZAS, or BILWI, as it’s been officially named in defiance of central governmental control (the name means “snake leaf” in the Mayangna-Sumo indigenous tongue), is the most important town north of Bluefields and south of La Ceiba in Honduras. Everyone seems to have come to this town of thirty thousand people in order to do some kind of business, whether it be a Miskito fisherman walking the streets with a day’s catch of fish dangling from his hand, a lumber merchant selling planks to foreign mills, or the government surveyors working on the all-season paved road through the jungle that may one day link the town with Managua. The people are mostly welcoming, and more used to foreigners than you might expect, thanks to a relatively heavy NGO presence. The town’s amenities are all scattered within a few blocks of the Parque Central, a few hundred metres west of the seafront. The water at the small local beach below the hotels can be clear and blue if the wind is blowing from the northeast, although the townspeople usually head to Bocana beach a few kilometres north of town; taxis can take you here. The river water is not safe to bathe in and you need to watch your belongings as there are often a few dodgy characters around.

Eta was 929 at peak, right?

When Eta was approaching I did some due-diligence on the area. Not a lot of urban areas anywhere near Puerto Cabezas. That is "the" urban area, and even though it sounds like a pretty place to visit if the Gvt was open to tourism, it is very poor. They are still recovering from Felix in 2007. That does not mean their lives are any less important, but doubtful they have anywhere to evacuate to, if they even could. The small islands do evacuate and they should be empty except whoever refuses to go.

Unfortunately around there, nobody is likely paying attention to the Cat call, they are clinging onto whatever they have to hold onto to save their lives. I would be very surprised if any power is on, and reliable internet is something they dream of having someday. We are spoiled here in America.

Am I having dinner with my wife's family?

I wonder, this being 2020, will we finally have a measurable snowstorm in the Tampa Bay area this year?

I don't see lightning flashes. What would the explanation be? I sure don't know. EDIT: OK there are some. The sats are very slow tonight!

I'm still complaining about TS Eta messing up my yard with mediocre TS winds. Not the worst storm I've experienced, but getting older I'm way less tolerant. Iota could be 100 mph more than what we just "endured" that created a problem. How much difference between 40 mph and 140 mph? Yikes! Amazing sats.