Locked down at Memorial Hospital for the duration. Somebody has to keep the servers humming along. The good news is our meals are free and we "exempt" employees are actually paid overtime.

Lots of rain for the last five hours or so. Some wind but nothing too serious. The little bend Isaac took to the west is probably bad news for some but good news for us. Storm surge has been less than expected so far. High tide was around 8AM so that worked out well, too.

Sandy is headed home from work. We can't believe the bank asked non-essential personnel to work today. Rob is close by if she needs any help with anything but the house shouldn't be affected by this little blow.

The NSX is safe in the garage under a noah cover. The beater is in the hospital parking garage. Sandy's car is getting a thorough washing as are Rob's two vehicles. AJ's Miata is safe and sound in Starkville, MS.

All in all, this is turning out to be an excellent drill for the more serious storms that surely will visit our area in seasons to come. New Orleans is fine, so far. There is some coastal flooding from Pensacola to the lower sections of Louisiana.

This is your Action-Weather reporter with on-the-scene Action Weather. Jim Cantore has nothin' on me.

 

Thank you for keeping us updated, Mike.

 

Mike be safe, keep us posted and hope for the best.

 

Mike, hope you see sunshine soon - best wishes for a quiet night.

 

It was the track from last week but.....

 

Good luck, Mike. Enjoy the free meals. Hope you packed a toothbrush. I hear the hospital charges handsomely for a toothbrush and mouthwash.

 

You guys are funny. Thanks for the grins.

Speaking of grins, we just finished an after work mini-marathon of "The IT Crowd" in the IT conference room. It's an English sit-com about a small IT department. If you like very broad English humor in the tradition of Fawlty Towers, I recommend it. Of course it was appropriate for the audience in this case.

Isaac made landfall earlier this evening in south Louisiana. It then crossed back into open water but is close to a second landfall. All is quiet here at the hospital. Sandy made it home fine and reports that things are fine at the house. We do expect some stronger winds overnight but we'll probably sleep through it.

In local news, one unfortunate family lost their home to fire when firemen were unable to get equipment in due to local flooding. The home was empty so it looks like some folks are in for an unpleasant surprise. However given the neighborhood, it was probably well insured and if the residents had evacuated--which seems likely--they probably took their irreplaceable things with them. One can hope.

Rumor has it that we will be going home in the morning but based on the forecast I'm betting on tomorrow afternoon.

 

Mike, thanks for the Cantore report. Watched TWC on/off last night to see how you guys were faring. Glad it is okay so far. Hope your hospital has a good chef. Best wishes to you and all your friends/family. {{{hugs}}}

 

First, thanks to all for your thoughts and good wishes.

The Morning Report:
Like the tedious party guest who won't leave, Isaac sits just on shore in Louisiana, wobbling here and there but not really moving along much. It rained heavily all night and continues to do so this morning as large feeder bands continue to sweep over our area. There is lots of local flooding, but fortunately not too many homes here in Mississippi have been affected yet. Road flooding from the heavy rain is common as far away as Hattiesburg, which is about 90 miles north of the beach. Sections of US 90, which runs along the beach, are inundated with storm surge. But new homes along 90, and there aren't any old homes along 90 after Katrina, are fine as they are all on stilts or built up lots.

Here at the hospital we are ready for a long stay. If Isaac would get a move on we might be headed home this evening, but my bet is on sometime tomorrow or Friday.

Of course local schools and just about everything else is closed right now.

I spoke with Sandy this morning and our house is currently without power. Mississippi Power (a Southern Company) has a nice feature on their web site for reporting outages. When I entered my phone number it informed me that a crew had been dispatched to locate and repair the problem and that power should be restored by noon. Of course I am keeping up with friends and family via email and facebook. What a great thing this Internet is.

Anyone who is interested in local storm video can go to www.wlox.com and get the feed from our local TV station.

-Mike

 

Appreciate the update, tof. You and all those folks sitting in the path of Isaac have my best thoughts and wishes.