Frankenstorm Part II, D- Day

October 28 -29, 2012 Sunday and Monday 

It's not the hurricane itself that is our problem, it is the storm surge.  The hurricane models are showing that "Sandy" would not be a direct hit in Norfolk now. One of the problems however, is that the Wind Fields for this monster are huge. Areas within a 600+ mile radius are being severely impacted. Norfolk has shelters filling up,  New York had closed the subway system.  Evacuations were taking place in many cities.  Flooding was a serious problem with the continuous heavy rain, Norfolk has "enjoyed" 10-12 inches in 72 hours.
We had the weather station on the hotel TV  for most of the day because "Sandy" reports had changed hourly.  She was downgraded to a tropical storm for about an hour then was upgraded to a hurricane again, the next report indicated that  "she is intensifying".
Sunday morning we watched the fixed docks in the marina disappear under water.  Sailors that chose to stay on their boats could not get to land during high tide.  The floating docks rolled up their cement dock posts leaving less than 2 feet before they would break away, with the boats attached, to float away, crashing into each other and everything else in their path.  The dock hands attempted a make- shift solution for the next high tide should it exceed 7 feet.  They tied the floating docks slides to higher fixed posts.  The consensus was that they could not hold to the force of the pressure and weight.
We watched  helplessly as the fixed docks disappeared again under water an hour before the evening high tide, more than occurred in the morning.  The floating dock slides had 21 inches left on the post once the high tide peaked.  "Chasseur" survived Sunday night high tide.  We went to bed with a high tide prediction of  6.5 - 7.3 feet for Monday morning.  This would give us only 2 inches before the docks breakaway if the tide reaches 7.5 feet.  0947hrs Monday was our D-Day.
Suzanne wanted to  be able to say that she walked in a hurricane, so we took a short walk to "Hell"s Kitchen" restaurant for dinner.  We thought it appropriate.  Food was good.  The streets were empty...just rain and wind.
Monday we woke to a weather forecast that indicated that the surge high tide would be a bit lower than predicted last night to 6.8ft, due to the change of wind direction out of the Northwest.  We sat in front of the hotel window and watched the tide go up and up and up, with glances at the clock waiting for the peak hour.  0947 hrs arrived and whew!....we still had about 12 inches to go on the cement posts...CHASSEUR SURVIVED!!!!!  For those of you that had been praying for us...your prayers were answered and THANK YOU!
This has been the most incredibly powerful experience. One obvious lesson, "Don"t Mess With Mother Nature!!"  Monday, the Coast Guard closed all waterways, Chesapeake Bay, Hampton Roads, The Tunnel across the bay, Intracoastal Waterways, bridges, locks, you name it, it's CLOSED!  The Erie Canal Authority closed the Erie Canal Friday and brought the Canal down to winter water levels,  all boats in the Canal were required to get hauled out.  Over 9000 flights have been canceled.  "Sandy" is affecting everyone now, moving in to the Midwest as well.  Even our own Hailing Port of Muskegon, Michigan, 1900 nm away, will feel this storm.   The HMS Bounty tall ship (of famed 1962 movie, "Mutiny of the Bounty" and  later, "Pirates of the Caribbean") just sank outside Cape Hatteras, 14 crew members survived and have been rescued, 2 are still missing.
The rain and wind have intensified.  We will be in Norfolk until later in the week.

"The only good luck many great men ever had was being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck."

Channing Pollock

Dock Ice machine blown over

Fixed dock posts just above the water, dock is submerged,  water covering the brick walk,
the fixed dock actually sits below the brick walk

Look for the cement post just behind "Chasseur",  the dock slides up and down this post with the tide.
If the dock would go above the post the docks would be free and go floating away with all the boats.
In this photo we had around 12 inches to spare at the surge high tide.....Lucky !!!