It's Raining in Florida! !

[Tom]

Yep.  You could call it rain if you like.  Actually it's coming down in buckets and the big man apparently wants to see where it is landing so he has sent a lot of lightening along with it.   I'm sure that I have trees down but haven't cruised the place yet to find them.

Last night was the worse storm we've had in a week.  Before that the place was powder dry.  We lost power last night for hours and couldn't sleep because the house was shaking so bad from the thunder claps.  

This morning we awoke to full ditches and water over the roads.  Over the years we've done a pretty good job in directing the flow so it isn't as bad as it used to be.


Here is a picture of the front of my place at the drive.  It shows the depth of the water in our "show-place" lawn.


Here is a shot, across the road, of the 30" pass-through pipe that goes under the hard-road.  My neighbor's "yard-art" tractor is in the background and you can see the whirl pool as the water is sucked into the pipe.  Earlier the water was flowing over the road about ankle deep.


Here you can see the "pass-through" pipe as the water blows out of it on my side of the road.  You couldn't stand in the ditch 20 feet down stream because the current would knock you over. This water and more will travel another 2000 feet in the ditch, collecting some more as it goes, until it reaches a wet-weather creek in the woods behind the house.  Then it is turned loose and follows that creek to the main creek which eventually dumps into the ocean VIA the Nassau River.

We are pleased that the water is so clear.  All of us have spent a lot of time developing these troughs so that only the water and not the sediment makes it to the creek.  The ditches have bends in them, deep holes and shallow spots to allow the water slow down and drop its sediment.

I'm sure DanG is under much of the same storm as well as Dead-header, DonE911, crosscut, RockyJ, jwood, rivrdvr,  and Bigdogpc.

It seems to be all over the state and headed north. They say more is to come and the forecast for rain and thunderstorms is already slated for the rest of the week and through next weekend.

[Bibbyman]

I thought it was 'post'a rain in Florida.   I've been there a couple two/three times (Orlando, Datona Beach areas) for as much as a week at time and it rained every day.

[Tom]

  You're probably bringing it with you, Gary.

Were you down here the other day?  

[florida]

We sure have had our share in Fort Myers. Got back last Tuesday from a trip to Yellowstone to find the driveway and yard under water. I managed to get about one third of the yard mowed before it started yesterday and then it thundered and lightened and rained so hard we could hardly think.  The power went off and on 20 times in an hour. Noticed a leak in the L/R ceiling last night and a drooping soffit over the kitchen. Been racing to get new roofing over the kitchen this afternoon and a tarp over the L/R. Made it with 5 minutes to spare. The lightening was starting to pop as we finished which makes me plenty nervous.
Looks like you've done a great job getting the water out of your yard with little damage. I'm right on the river so I get to watch the water coming toward me rather than away!

[Tom]

I guess that it must be "All Over The State" if you are getting it in Fort Myers.   That sounds like the same storms we are getting.  It's 4pm and thunder can be heard to the south.  I guess we will be in for it again tonight.  

Hope you get your roof plugged, Florida.

We have some of the same problems you may have with the river.  We are in a swamp.  Everybody's water comes this way.  

[Rocky_J]

We've had some rain but nothing unreasonable. Hey, it's Florida in June- it's SUPPOSED to rain! Florida is a 150 mile wide peninsula with ocean on either side. The sun heats the ocean, the ocean waters evaporate, the moisture forms clouds over the state and BOOM! Afternoon thunderstorms, 3-4 times a week all summer long. At least they help cool it down a little, temps normally drop 10* on those afternoons when it rains real good.

My front door is about 5'-6' higher than the road in front of my house, and the road slopes downhill toward a lake at the end of the street. My front door is about 15'-18' higher than the lake and my house is one of the two highest on the street. I've lived in Florida all my life so I know better than to buy lowland. I wouldn't be able to afford homeowner's insurance if I were in a flood prone area. The biggest mystery is why people act like it's a surprise when it rains and their home is threatened by rising waters. Ain't nuthin gettin' flooded that hasn't been flooded before.

[Fla._Deadheader]

 Rain Y'all are gettin RAIN  Our yard is barely makin it. It's just green enough that it hasn't all burned up, YET. Mow the dust about oncet every 3 weeks

[Rocky_J]

Here's the Central Florida weather-
http://www.orlandoweather.com/index.html

[Tom]

Most of us who live in swamps, like to live in swamps.  The rising water isn't a surprise, it's an adventure.

We have some of the most beautiful land a fellow could ever want.  It's green when everybody else is brown and the wildlife is as happy as I am.  

I could afford to buy a bunch when I couldn't afford but an acre in town.  Now that town is filled up, those town people are wanting to spend town dollars on my place.  I don't really want to sell, but if I do, I'll be set somewhere else.  they better have some deep pockets.

[CHARLIE]

Think of the positive side. You won't have to worry about a forest fire.  I thought you had gotten some pretty heavy rain and lightning when I was down there but I didn't see that much water. Good thing you still have your canoe.

[Bigdogpc]

According to my little plastic rain gauge out in the yard...we've had over 10" in a little over a week.  My whole yard is blooming!  So far the only standing water around me is in the pasture out back and it don't stand long.  The neighbor who owns the pasture had just finished deepening his pond before the rain started.  It's full now.

[florida]

Life is just full of comprises and living just above sea level on a river is a big one. On the one hand I know that sooner or later I'm going to have water in the house. Hasn't ever happened yet but one day it will. On the other hand right now while typing this I have only to lift my head to look out the window, past the old live oaks hanging with Spanish moss, past the ferns growing along the old boat basin to the river itself. The water looks like glass except when the mullet jump, or the tarpon fin, or when a manatee surfaces to breath. This evening when I come home I'll go out and lay in the hammock under the palm and watch the ospreys dive for fish. or maybe I'll take a nap. Let the rains come.

[Tom]

Yep, me too.

Deer in the front yard (they are aggravating too) , 'coons on the porch, 'possums at the back door, squirrels on the roof, hawks hunting rabbits during the day, Owls making love during the night, little woodpeckers rat-a-tatting on a gum tree, big woodpeckers dismantling a dead pine with a Whack, Whack, and I can't see a roof top anywhere(yet).

I have the same thoughts about people who build million dollar houses on the beach, over and over, and then run my insurance up when a hurricane blows their house down, Rocky_J.  The facts be known, I'm on higher ground than most of the big city, just don't have the drainage.  

There is a stigma attached to living where other people haven't congregated.  Once they have inundated their world with people, my world becomes a lot more attractive.  It's happening now.  Soon there will be houses on every quarter acre here, it's just a matter of time and my willingness to turn it loose.  

I still love to go out back, sit under a big oak with a beverage and a book and enjoy the quiet. There's no traffic, no lights, no sirens, no construction noises, no asphalt, no big blank walls, just trees and varmints.

[billbobtlh]

Tallahassee has gotten plenty also. It is good to have more normal weather(wet). Lake Jackson finally has some water in it.But still a long way to go. I had two log trucks and a tow truck get stuck last Thursday. I have about seven loads to get split. Lots of oak and a huge hickory tree. Dan G need some smokin wood? Don took down a mesquete tree, the only one he has heard of here. His wood turning buddies were going to take most of it. People that got rid of it were tired of getting flat tires.
Next come the mosquito hatch.

[Tom]

Hello there BillyBob!

DanG's computer broke.  He's not been on in over a week, 'cept when he used a friends.

I'll bet he'd want some of that hickory.  That mobile dimension would get a work-out then, wouldn't it?

I figured y'all were getting these storms too.  I don't mind the rain nearly as much as I do the lightening and thunder.  It feels like.the Cambrian period around here  ...... Lightening, rain, thunder, dark clouds, everything running for cover.  I'll look out of the window and expect to see a dinosaur plodding out of the swamp or pterodactyl swooping down into the front yard.

It sure has settled the dust.

[billbobtlh]

Yep that lightning is bad I have to flip the breaker on my GTO gate when these storms come through. It is very sensitive to surges.It seems every June I have to get another. Maybe that is what happened to Dans computer. I was wondering what that hickory would look like, I have three straight trunks I diddnt measure but maybe 40 in. base.

[Rocky_J]

We had a little system develop right near me this afternoon. My street looked more like a fast running creek for about 30 minutes, couldn't see half a block down the street. Then about 4:30 I got a call from one of the guys I climb for, they had a tree on a house and could I come help. It was only a half mile from my house and it looked like a little twister went through. Had 5-6 trees down all within a block or so. The house I worked at had some roof damage, about 4 trusses busted and a couple limbs punctured through into the living room.

[Tom]

You should have gotten your fishing pole out and cast into the street some.  Betcha you'd have had a bunch of people watching from their windows.

[Rocky_J]

All my neighbors already know I'm crazy, they don't need any more proof.   Although I probably could have got some good action with a buzzbait.

I did have an audience of about a dozen people as I worked that tree off the roof. The power was out so everyone was outside watching the cleanup crews.

[SwampDonkey]

I'm just glad I'm high and dry up on the hill.