4 years ago this morning

[Category 5]

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HURRICANE IVAN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 55B
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
2 AM CDT THU SEP 16 2004

...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE IVAN ABOUT TO CROSS THE ALABAMA
COASTLINE...

A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM GRAND ISLE LOUISIANA TO
APALACHICOLA FLORIDA...INCLUDING THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS AREA AND
LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN. A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN
THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY
SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE WARNING AREA.

A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA TO
WEST OF GRAND ISLE.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MORGAN CITY TO WEST
OF GRAND ISLE...AND FROM EAST OF APALACHICOLA TO YANKEETOWN
FLORIDA.

AT 2 AM CDT...0700Z...THE LARGE EYE OF HURRICANE IVAN WAS CENTERED
NEAR LATITUDE 30.2 NORTH...LONGITUDE 87.8 WEST...VERY NEAR THE
ALABAMA COASTLINE.

IVAN IS MOVING SLIGHTLY EAST OF DUE NORTH NEAR 13 MPH...AND THIS
MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. ON THE
FORECAST TRACK...THE CORE OF THE HURRICANE WILL BE ON THE COAST
SHORTLY.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE DECREASED TO NEAR 130 MPH...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. A GRADUAL WEAKENING SHOULD CONTINUE AS THE HURRICANE MOVES
INLAND. OCCUPANTS OF HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS WITHIN THE HURRICANE
WARNING AREA CAN EXPECT HIGHER WINDS THAN THOSE EXPERIENCED AT THE
SURFACE...ABOUT ONE SAFFIR-SIMPSON CATEGORY HIGHER AT THE TOP OF A
30-STORY BUILDING. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS COULD SPREAD INLAND UP TO
ABOUT 150 MILES NEAR THE PATH OF THE CENTER.

PEOPLE ARE STRONGLY ADVISED NOT TO VENTURE OUT FROM SHELTER DURING
THE CALM CONDITIONS OF THE EYE...AS WINDS WILL INCREASE RAPIDLY
WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING WHEN THE EYE PASSES.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 105 MILES FROM THE
CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 290 MILES. THE PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION RECENTLY REPORTED A
WIND GUST TO 98 MPH.

THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE MEASURED BY A NOAA HURRICANE
HUNTER AIRCRAFT WAS 943 MB...27.85 INCHES.

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 10 TO 16 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE
LEVELS...ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...ARE
OCCURING NEAR AND TO THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER IS MAKING
LANDFALL. THE PENSACOLA TIDE GAGE JUST REPORTED A STORM SURGE OF 6
FEET AND RISING. LESSER...BUT STILL SIGNIFICANT SURGE VALUES WILL
BE EXPERIENCED WHERE ONSHORE FLOW OCCURS WEST OF THE CENTER.

DANGEROUS SURF CONDITIONS...INCLUDING RIP CURRENTS...ARE LIKELY
ELSEWHERE ALONG THE FLORIDA GULF COAST.

RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 10 TO 15 INCHES...WITH ISOLATED HIGHER
AMOUNTS...CAN BE EXPECTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH IVAN.

TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS IN SOUTHERN ALABAMA...
THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND BIG BEND AREA...AND SOUTHWESTERN GEORGIA.

REPEATING THE 2 AM CDT POSITION...30.2 N... 87.8 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...NORTH NEAR 13 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...130 MPH.
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 943 MB.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...PLEASE MONITOR
PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT
4 AM CDT.

FORECASTER AVILA

$$
NNNN

[Sabanic]

I remember that night. I lost 9 trees, a garage door, 75 feet of fence, had a tree come through the roof over my kitchen, and was without power for 7 days. Whew!!

[stormy1970al]

We lost part of our roof, our fence and gate, and most of the trees in our yard. It was a night/day I will never forget. And I also went out during the eye of the storm. I would not recommend it but it was eerie. The wind had stopped blowing. Only a light mist fell from the sky. You could actually see the sky. It was like the storm was almost over and then you could hear the wind change direction and everyone ran back inside to safety. I can see how people mistake the eye of the storm to be the end of the hurricane.

[Ivanhater]

The most horrific night I have ever been through. In the eastern eyewall all night and it just wouldnt stop. It was a war zone here after, no power for almost 3 weeks and out of school for a month. I never want to go through another storm like Ivan ever again. I cant believe it has been 4 years...







and a moving video that breaks my heart everytime I see it

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseacti ... id=8195422

[docjoe]

it was a long long night for sure....i had no idea how bad the aftermath of a bad storm could be until i lived it. it certainly altered my area(milton) and the rest of the western panhandle not to mention portions of bama. i lost 30 trees, almost lost a business, and got very adept with a chainsaw. it was something i will never forget. i agree with ivanhater that it was a horrific event. little did we know that just 10 months later dennis would pay a visit....

docjoe

[stormy1970al]

My big cozy, shady tree in the backyard. It has finally grown back!

[terrapintransit]

I am from Central Pennsylvania...Williamsport to be exact...and we were flooded here with 5 inches of rain from Ivan!! That is a lot for my area. We haven't seen that much rain from one storm since Hurricane Agnes back in June 1972!!

[O Town]

and a moving video that breaks my heart everytime I see it

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseacti ... id=8195422

Those 911 calls give me chills. How scary to be in the middle of darkness going through that, I can't imagine.

[fasterdisaster]

Let's also not forget the utter catastrophes in Grenada, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands!

[Jason_B]

Ivan was actually the first storm to demonstrate how catastrophic storm surge is now along the Gulf coast, unfortunately not many people outside of the area took that into consideration before Katrina.

[jinftl]

Not sure people who went through Camille, Betsy, Frederic, or Carla....plus others...would agree Ivan was the first storm to demonstrate how bad surge can be in the Gulf....but ivan was one of the first this century for sure with such a large damage area.

The damage throughout the islands was massive with Ivan as well....from the NHC report on Ivan...

A total of 686,700 claims were filed and the American Insurance Services Group estimates (14 December 2004 re-survey) that insured losses in the United States from Hurricane Ivan totaled $7.11 billion, of which more than $4 billion occurred in Florida alone. Using a two-to-one ratio of insured damages yields an estimated U.S. loss of approximately $14.2 billion. In addition to the insured losses that occurred, the U.S. Naval Air Station at Pensacola, Florida sustained damage losses of $800-$900 million.

In the Caribbean region, extensive damage occurred to homes, buildings and other structures. The following are brief synopses of the reports received from some of the Caribbean islands:

Barbados
More than 176 homes completely destroyed; many homes lost their roofs; most coastal roads severely damaged due to erosion caused by the storm surge and wave action.

Cayman
95 percent of the homes and other buildings (which generally follow South Florida's building codes) were damaged or destroyed.

Cuba
Roofs were torn off homes in extreme western Pinar del Rio Province; flooding damaged houses, and fishing and farm installations; mud slides cut off at least two towns.

Grenada
At least 80 percent of the 100,000 residents were without power; more than 14,000 homes were damaged or destroyed; 80 percent of the nutmeg trees were destroyed; a 17th century prison was also damaged allowing many of the inmates to briefly escape during the height of the storm; Ivan was the worst hurricane to strike the island since Hurricane Janet in 1955.

Jamaica
At least 47,000 homes were damaged, of which 5,600 were completely destroyed; most of the islands utilities were damaged.

St. Vincent/Grenadines
50 homes severely damaged with 2 homes washed away into the sea; more than two-thirds of residents lost power.

Tobago
At least 1 home collapsed and fell into the ocean; at least 45 homes lost their roofs; numerous trees and utility were blown down; 20 villages suffered various forms of damage

In the Caribbean Sea region, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) estimates the damage at more than US$3 billion -- US$1.85 billion in the Cayman Islands, US$815 million in Grenada, US$360 million in Jamaica, US$40 million in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and US$2.6 million in St Lucia. No damage estimates were available from any of the other Windward Islands countries, Venezuela, or Cuba.




http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2004ivan.shtml?

Ivan was actually the first storm to demonstrate how catastrophic storm surge is now along the Gulf coast, unfortunately not many people outside of the area took that into consideration before Katrina.

[Jason_B]

Not sure people who went through Camille, Betsy, Frederic, or Carla....plus others...would agree Ivan was the first storm to demonstrate how bad surge can be in the Gulf....but ivan was one of the first this century for sure with such a large damage area.

Maybe I should rephrase that...Ivan was the first storm in a very long while to bring that kind of storm surge to the Gulf. And think of all the growth along the coast that has occurred in that area since those storms. A LOT of complacency built up in that time gap.That's what I was trying say.

[stormy1970al]

I wanted to post my experience from that night earlier today but didn't have enough time since I have a sick child.

Anyway being a native from the area my husband and I had just moved back to the area in 2001. He had never been through a hurricane so he had no idea what we were up against. He had been down here during Frederick in 79 to see the aftermath but not through an actual storm. This was my first time going through a storm with children so my first priority was my girls. At the time my girls were 2, 3, and 5. For the first time someone else's life was in my hands and I had a priority to protect them while not scaring the living daylights out of them. So as we watch the t.v. and made the decision to pack up and leave I got a few things together to take with us. We were going to where my husband worked so it wasn't going to be too bad. Of course I had mixed emotions. I was packing up for an army and didn't know how long I would be there. No one knows what goes into packing for young children unless you have them. I had to make sure I had enough diapers since I had two in diapers, food, toys, sleeping blankets and beds, etc.

I also had mixed feelings about leaving my house. Would it be the last time I saw it? Would I have a home left when I came back? All of these things enter my mind as I packed both of our trucks with our stuff and put the girls in their carseats. My husband was in front loading the truck up with our Dog Bo. The rain was starting to come down as I buckle my oldest child into her carseat. It was the first of the many feeder bands we would get that night. I am estimating it was probably around noon, Sept 15 when we headed out. I was only going about 30 minutes up the road to where D worked. We were going to take refuge with the rest of the city workers and their families that were staying to help out in the aftermath of the storm.

Will post more tomorrow morning. Got to go to bed before it is time to get up again.

Edited to add more...
We arrived at our refuge just a tad bit south of I-10 on Mobile Bay but inland to avoid flooding. The rain started to fall as I was getting the girls out of the car. I would hand one child to one of my husband's coworkers while I went and got another child out of the truck. When the girls were safe and sound inside I went back outside to unload the truck. The rain started to fall even harder than before and the wind was starting to blow. After getting soak all the way down to my toes to my head I manage to get everything inside. I felt like I had packed my house up and brought everything up to the office.

That afternoon the rainbands came in one after another. The wind gradually picked up. We started cooking a big meal for everyone in the kitchen. I remember looking out the glass window near the kitchen and watching the gust of wind get stronger and stronger. I knew we were in big trouble because it was late afternoon and we were not even in the worse part of the storm yet. After everyone ate we got the children into a room and put movies on the laptop. At the moment we had power but would soon be going under a generator power. I don't remember exactly what time the power went out but I know it did. While the girls were watching t.v. with the other kids we were tuned into our local station. The wind started to pick up and the rain started to fall harder. Around 8pm I went into the office to lay down with the girls to get them asleep. My main goal at this point was to keep the girls from being scared. I am proud to say they slept through Ivan. I dose off for about 30 minutes when a loud boom hit. I jumped to my feet with about ten people nearby wondering what was that. The wind was blowing harder. The rain was pounding. We knew that the weather was getting worse thanks to channel 10 and 5 for the continuous coverage. I know that the mets had to be tired by this time and they did a wonderful job keeping everyone inform that night. It was like a reassurance that we would make it through this night.

I don't remember the exact time when this happen. I remember sitting in the office and hearing the wind blow. Several times I thought the roof was coming off because of the sound of the wind blowing against the building. And then it stopped. We walked outside the building and the sky was clear with a mist of rain falling. Yes, we were in the eye of the hurricane. It was so strange because you had a glimpse of what had happen but not an okay feeling. I don't remember exactly how long we were in the eye but I remember when the other eye wall came over us. It was an eerie sound and we ran to the building. Almost like a sound of death coming toward you. I honestly know how people can mistake the eye for being the end of the storm until the eye wall comes back over you.

We were in the bulding by now and then this horrible sound came out of no where. At first we thought it was the generator running out of gas but this was one of those big generators that should last over a day. One that you hook up to a truck to pull it. We ran to the window on the other side of the building and realize what had happen. A tornado had touchdown on the road next to the building and took out of one of the trees which fell on the other building next to us.

I don't believe I slept much that night and the days to come. Living through a hurricane and watching it on the internet is two different things. The aftermath of a hurricane is even worse. I would like to thank our neighbors from MS, LA, and TX for coming to our rescue and serving hot meals to us after the storm. The next year my husband and his friends return the hot meals in Waveland, MS after Hurricane Katrina. It is amazing how communties will form a positive bond after natural disasters.

[Jessie]

I fled to Montgomery for Ivan. At 8:00 that evening watching TV in the Motel they announced the storm took a turn East and Mobile would not be directly impacted. For some strange reason I jumped up and yelled "touchdown Auburn!!!" --- strange response. Within a couple of hours the power went out in Montgomery (the storm hadn't even reached shore yet????). We had to stay there two days with no power because after the storm left Mobile it went North and hit Montgomery. Power was on at my house in Mobile the day after the storm - yet I had to stay in Montgomery with no power. The Montgomery radio stations were concerned about themselves and the damage to Montgomery so mentioned almost nothing about the impact in Mobile. Next time I'm staying home.

[stormy1970al]

I fled to Montgomery for Ivan. At 8:00 that evening watching TV in the Motel they announced the storm took a turn East and Mobile would not be directly impacted. For some strange reason I jumped up and yelled "touchdown Auburn!!!" --- strange response. Within a couple of hours the power went out in Montgomery (the storm hadn't even reached shore yet????). We had to stay there two days with no power because after the storm left Mobile it went North and hit Montgomery. Power was on at my house in Mobile the day after the storm - yet I had to stay in Montgomery with no power. The Montgomery radio stations were concerned about themselves and the damage to Montgomery so mentioned almost nothing about the impact in Mobile. Next time I'm staying home.

If I had been able to leave I would had. Now as for going to Auburn or Montgomery I don't know if I would had gone that route. I guess it depends on the track of the storm once it come on land. Some places were without power on the Eastern Shore for anywhere from 1 to a week. We lost our power for three days. My mom lost her power for 1 day. A friend of mine lost her power for a week. It just depends on how much damage. My house was a more east of the eye where it went inland. We were in the eye. Where I stay the eye went right over the area. My house probably was more in the eye wall for a longer time which would describe the amount of damage that was done to my house.

[Jessie]

I fled to Montgomery for Ivan. At 8:00 that evening watching TV in the Motel they announced the storm took a turn East and Mobile would not be directly impacted. For some strange reason I jumped up and yelled "touchdown Auburn!!!" --- strange response. Within a couple of hours the power went out in Montgomery (the storm hadn't even reached shore yet????). We had to stay there two days with no power because after the storm left Mobile it went North and hit Montgomery. Power was on at my house in Mobile the day after the storm - yet I had to stay in Montgomery with no power. The Montgomery radio stations were concerned about themselves and the damage to Montgomery so mentioned almost nothing about the impact in Mobile. Next time I'm staying home.

If I had been able to leave I would had. Now as for going to Auburn or Montgomery I don't know if I would had gone that route. I guess it depends on the track of the storm once it come on land. Some places were without power on the Eastern Shore for anywhere from 1 to a week. We lost our power for three days. My mom lost her power for 1 day. A friend of mine lost her power for a week. It just depends on how much damage. My house was a more east of the eye where it went inland. We were in the eye. Where I stay the eye went right over the area. My house probably was more in the eye wall for a longer time which would describe the amount of damage that was done to my house.

You're right -- your house was impacted much more than mine --- I'm in West Mobile -so I was on the West side. During Ivan I took my elderly parents to Montgomery with me, but they are much worse now and I won't be able to leave for future storms. After Katrina I purchased a natural gas generator and DuraShield covers for all my windows since I know I'm stuck here. My only fear is the 3 giant live Oak trees in my yard --- but the president of the Oak Tree society in New Orleans told me studies have shown that live Oaks actually protect homes during hurricanes --- hope she's right!

[tropicana]

thanks Ivanhater for posting the link to that video. Terrifying ordeal to have lived through.

-justin-

[Ptarmigan]

Hurricane Ivan was really large when it made landfall on the Gulf Coast.