100 Degrees

Granted my Saturn is black and absorbs heat like a sponge but I had to take a picture of the temperature as reported from inside the sweltering vehicle. Gulf breezes usually cool us off in Fort Myers but not today. Official temp hit 97 with a heat index of 106.

Backhanded Slap From Fay

I need to keep my mouth shut. 500 tours and I have never had one as wet as today's. It was my first Everglades tour since Fay headed North and with a forecast of partly cloudy (a departure from the usual thunderstorms), we figured to have an interesting day of checking out Fay's damage. Our first stop was Lake Trafford where we take our airboat ride. The lake had hit an all time low of 4 feet in June. By August 4th the level had risen slightly.

Fay passed directly over the lake and dumped 12 inches on Tuesday, a few more yesterday and despite the "partly cloudy", dumped another 6 inches of rain today as one of the rain bands whipped back down south and provided a lengthy monsoon rain, soaking everyone on the airboat. There was no room on the boat, so I had to stay behind. When they returned, one little British girl was covered in mud but no one was sure how or why!
It continued to rain all day and the lake level has come back to a near record high with 3 months left in the rainy season. I wanted excitement. I got it. Picture above is from July 11th. Below is from August 21st. Same dock. Vegetation is gone.
The Everglades National Park was still shut down from the storm and Everglades City had been under a foot of water on Tuesday, but our walk in the Fakahatchee was productive with many alligator sightings and this happy little pup, glad that the rains have come back.

Stormy Wither - Rainstorm Fay

What does Star Wars: the Phantom Menace, Haley's Comet and Y2K all have in common with Tropical Storm Fay? They didn't live up to the hype. For varying reasons to be sure but for the storm that withered as it passed Fort Myers it was disappointing. I blame Jim Cantore. He's the guy on the weather channel standing in front of a pounding surf and telling people not to be complacent about a storm despite the fact that he's standing on the wind scoured beach dodging coconuts and sheet rock. When there's a storm on the way, the Weather Channel crews are out in force, assuring that Armageddon will be televised or at least a kitesurfers disastrous flight through the streets of Fort Lauderdale will be caught on video.

So when Tropical Storm Fay failed to develop into a hurricane, came ashore at Marco Island 35 miles south and passed over Immokalee 20 miles east with 65 mile an hour winds on Tuesday 8/19th, it was disappointing to look out and see drizzle and a few shaking palms. It was as if Fort Myers was in a protective bubble and you would think that would be met with a collective sigh.

Yet many hoped for more excitement from the storm. Why? It's not a New England nor'easter where you simply have to bundle up and shovel yourself out. Hurricanes can be catastrophic and they destroy homes, businesses and lives but the sense here was of great disappointment and in some cases annoyance that we had to stock up, prepare the home, batten down the hatches and all for what? A storm less dramatic than our usual afternoon thunderstorms.

There is a general sense of monotony in our day to day lives that is livened by the possibility of something out of the ordinary. It gives us something to witness, experience and hopefully live to talk about. I hear it all the time down here as the after effects of Hurricanes Charley, Ivan and Jeanne in 2004 and Wilma in 2005 still resonate with those who survived them. They were destructive and in some cases debilitating for some, but it gives us a reference point on our individual timelines that is easy to pick out.

Fay continues to smack Florida and has caused considerable damage after intensifying over land on Tuesday and is about to punch out into the Atlantic. We shouldn't be disappointed that we were spared the excitement. Others to our north will have hoped to have been spared after this storm withers and passes but no doubt they will remember Tropical Storm Fay.

The Clam Before the Storm - Hurricane Fay?

It smells like a monkey in here. It's getting dark outside. The rain has begun to fall and the wind is howling at only 10-15 mph. Tropical Storm Fay is expected to reach hurricane status in the next few hours and Fort Myers is expected at this time (5:40 pm Monday) to take a direct hit.

People are boarding up their homes and burrowing in like clams in advance of the storm. (See I was going somewhere with that title. It's not just another misspelling.)

We decided to return from Fort Lauderdale last night at 11 pm to make sure everything was secure at home and so we could evacuate with the cats if necessary. We stopped at the Wal-Mart in Miromar since that was all that was open and we needed a few last minute things. Miromar is north of Miami and apparently we arrived just after the looting occurred. The shelves were bare of hurricane supplies like water, food, propane....it was weird. When we arrived in Fort Myers at 2 am, two of the gas stations were out of gas. We filled up near the house and headed for bed, expecting a busy Monday. But its been quiet and remains quiet except for the occasional howl of the wind.

We have our batteries, candles, cupcakes, water and everything else required to survive a storm for the next few days if need be. This thing may just blow by. But better to be stocked up. Hurricane Wilma knocked out power for weeks in some places. We could go live in Kenny's truck if we needed to. I think it's a certified fallout shelter.

But for now we wait. I brought the cat carriers inside in case we need to evacuate them. In truth the carriers are former monkey "sky kennels" used to transport monkeys to my parents old Monkey Sanctuary. I forgot how much they still smell like monkey. Maybe I should leave them outside until the worst comes. The clam shell hasn't been completely closed yet.

Aqua Roulette or Why I Hate the Weather Man

Previously on JunglePete's Everglades Adventure -

I don't know why subscribers received a recap of the the first ten blogs. I had nothing to do with it, but apparently at least one of you enjoyed them again like fond childhood memories of H.R.Puffenstuff and Ooops All Berries Captain Crunch. You liked it so much the first time, you had to have more.

The 9th Florida Panther was struck and killed just off of the interstate on Tuesday. The record for vehicle caused fatalities was 11 in 2006. I would imagine that record will be broken.

Funny thing about forecasts. This afternoon I went to a speech by Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel.

He's the guy on TWC usually standing somewhere around the gulf of Mexico when a massive hurricane is about to hit. Never mind the storm surge, the 75 mph winds and the shingles flying by. He wants you to know it's dangerous!

He was announcing the 2007 Hurricane Report for about 500 members of the Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce. (chamber meetings....and you thought Red Algae was fascinating!) His estimates were a bit more tempered than the official report of 17 major storms for this year. He predicts 10. Of course last year they predicted 15 and there were 0 so the margin of error seems to be +/- 15.

His message was that hurricanes are still impossible to predict. His goal is to make sure people "get out of the way". Except for him. And despite the fact that it's hard to know where they will hit. So really just be prepared. Evacuate if you need to and don't if you don't have to. Depends on where the storm will go. Predictions say north into the gulf but it could turn at any moment. Keep watching your TV and if Jim Cantore is outside of your house you probably should have evacuated.

In 2005 after Katrina, leery Texas residents evacuated in droves as Hurricane Rita bore down on the Lone Star State. (Don't mess with Texas does not apply to acts of God.) More people lost their lives on the evacuation routes than from the actual hurricane. Moral of the story? Don't evacuate? Or maybe just don't watch the weather channel. It may cause freak outs.

If traffic was bad with millions of people on the roads during "the season", imagine what it will be like with 6 million people trying to go north. Or east if Jim Cantore tells us to. Or just get away from the storm or don't evacuate. It's really up to you. Just stay tuned. It's all too confusing and really a game of aqua roulette. Where will the rain and storm surge hit? Spin the wheel of doom!

Typically we get about 12 inches of rain from November to May (aka the dry season) Over the last 6 months, south Florida has experienced one of the worst droughts and until Monday we have had 3.5 inches of rain. Fires have scorched millions of acres across the state and many were hoping for a tropical storm to bring rain. Fortunately the rainy season has begun and the official start of the hurricane season begins June 1st. We have received nearly 7 inches of rain since Monday which has suppressed many fires and extinguished the chants for a tropical storm.

As meteorological forecasting technology becomes more sophisticated we seem to have less accurate forecasting. Maybe it is just me. Personally I like how they predict weather in Ecuador - with the weather rock seen below attached to the green rope.

If the rock is swinging - it is windy
If the rock is wet - it is raining
If the rock is violently shaking - there is an earthquake.
and so on...

We can't predict very well where hurricanes will hit until they are far too close. We have too many people living directly in the paths of hurricanes. Here at Casa Pedro y Ma-Le we're preparing our hurricane plan, but the best prepared person has to prepare for the least prepared person as well, because when water, gas, food and other necessities are in short supply, the unprepared look to the prepared. It makes me a bit nervous.

I have lived in Florida for 28 years of my life and have yet to experience a hurricane. (Got a tropical storm in Vermont in 1998 though!). Here's hoping I still don't this year. As for the 17 predicted major storms? Let's hope the weather man is wrong as usual.....