09/07 - 09/10 - Mississippi River Gathering 2017

Wife is asking about what we need to provide in the way of meals. We plan on arriving Wednesday afternoon from upstream.
 
We are OK from the flooding. My workshop, barns and our property flooded.
The water did not get in our house.  Our home was an Island for a few days.
It rained pretty much continually for 4 days. I registered 28" in my rain gauge before it fell over due to soggy soil.  My guess is over 30" here at my home.
Other areas on the south of Houston received well over 40", in few areas official gauges were over 50"
It was reported that this was the longest time that a hurricane remained above tropical storm status after landfall, and it remained at that status while staying in the same area for days
It was estimated that over 10% of all homes in Harris County (Houston area) flooded, and that over 95% of all rescues were done by private citizen good old boys in aluminum boats with small outboards and jacked up redneck 4 wheel drive trucks. Pickup trucks were lined up at the local Bass Pro buying out their entire inventory of jon boats and heading immediately to the flooded areas.
The same good ole boys roaming the entire area in their boats doing rescues were mostly armed so looting was at a minimum.
Historic crests are predicted on the Brazos and Colorado rivers and will flood many small towns and thousands of additional homes to our south in the next day or so.  Large towns of Beaumont and surrounding areas received similar rainfall as Harvey moved east and tens of thousands are now flooding there as our flooding slowly recedes.
Although not back to normal,  I will have things stabilized soon and Sharon and I hope to see everyone in Clinton.

If this link works, those are prop strikes from rescue boats on the roof of that minivan: http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showt ... ?t=2375762

Tex and Sharon
 
For a little more insight, here is a post plucked from a local hunting and fishing forum:

When my brother called me Sunday morning at 5am saying he needed me and my boat to go help a friend I would have never guessed we'd spend 3 days straight in the boat and truck and a little time back at his shop for repairs! We left Alvin heading down 517 to go to seabrook not even knowing how bad the conditions really were.When we got to 646 we couldn't go any further and seen guys launching in the road.We asked the first guy we saw what was up and he said Dickinson was underwater and people needed help.we turned around and launched and headed down 517 and literally shot thru the rapids going under I-45.once across we turned and headed towards the bayou and immediately started picking people up out houses,off cars and wading in chest deep water!We started taking them to the overpass driving over the go cart track that I had my daughters birthday party at a few months ago.We got a phone number to call from a guy in another boat and they took our number and started calling and texting us addresses of people calling for help.By the end of the day we were about out of gas and I think we estimated we got around 50 people and a few dogs and cats!We went from 646 to hwy 3 on 517 and all down Deets and thru many neighborhoods,it was crazy,sad and amazing all at the same time!When we got back to the shop and refueled we were told the brazos river and Katy cypress area was gonna be next,make a long story short we were there the next morning and sugar land and it was just as hectic! I was amazed at the amount of water everywhere we went! We ended up breaking my steering linkage and had to quit and go home and weld it up for a temporary fix.The next morning we launched at 146 and Massey Thompkins and helped out there then got a call from a friend to head to league city to help.I was very impressed with the Texas outdoorsmen and very proud of my state! My old boat was bouncing off the roofs of cars and tearing my prop to hell on concrete curbs but I saw shallow sports,haynies and gulfcoast right along side air boats and mud boats! Not once did I hear anyone ask what color the person needing help was or who they voted for,we were all Texans and all Gods children!We got elderly out of attics and young people out of chest deep water!Im proud of everyone that helped.Big thanks to OKMAJEK too for joining us on the second and third day!
 
Thans for the report. We were praying that you were OK--and didn't suffer too much damage. Some of my sources described attempted hijack of rescue boats by looters...big mistake with the Cajan and Texas "Navy" boys there!

Been calling our friends and relatives who live in that area and offering our home as a place for them to stay until things are back on their feet....

On another "note" CA Derivas, "Serendipity" just called to say that they will have to cancel because of health issues. We are watching Hurricane Irma--and will be on the road Monday, if it is not going into the Gulf of Mexico.
 
In that particular incident, some potential looters thought it would be nice to have a boat to haul the booty and fired a shot in the direction of the rescue boat thinking the guys in the boat would leave the boat and retreat.
The return fire sent the looters scrambling for cover.
After that story hit the social media around here there were very few additional cases of looting.
We have also had a few cased of attempted home invasion by thugs pretending to be utility workers. Most were met at the door by armed homeowners

With absolutely no input or authorization from governmental agencies, by the end of the first day several tech savvy citizens had set up through social media an online map and dispatching service service connecting by cell phone to the thousands of private rescue boats. roaming the residential neighborhoods.
Word got around quickly and most rescues were handled this way rather that through local agencies or FEMA

One phone call or a post on social media of anyone needing rescue would cause their location to be displayed and address texted to private rescue boaters in the area and there would be a boat or boats on the way.
 
As noted by Thataway, Serendipity, C.A. and Bettie must cancel out. We are very sorry to have to miss this. Had looked forward to seeing 'old' friends and meeting new ones. Hopefully next event will come soon and we'll be able to participate. Y'all have a great time!
 
Well,,we are all hitched up and ready to roll this AM. All gear aboard, including frozen food for 3 weeks, except fresh food in the refers. Last night we were on the extreme outlier of the path of Hurricane Irma. This morning, the consensus of the models by NHC and the American ensemble models show hits on S. Florida. The Canadian Ensemble Models show one path as a direct hit on Pensacola, several show direct hit on the Panama City area, one outlier to the Yucatan, and the rest go from Port St. Joe, all of the way to Virginia. So our risk from Irma has gone from 5% to about 25% in the last 12 hours. Because of the rapidly changing models, and predictions, we are not leaving today as planed.

Since we can make the 1000 miles to Clinton, IA, in 2 days, we will re-consider if we are going or not tomorrow morning. If there is a 40% chance of a hit, we will sadly cancel the trip, stay here; put the storm shutters up. Then evacuate. The path is somewhat similar to Ivan, and it all depends on what the Atlantic High and a strong ridge does in the next 24 hours. The Gulf of Mexico is very warm and it it is not badly depleted in energy as it goes across Cuba, or S. Florida, it could easily be a cat. 4 storm.
 
Keeping our fingers crossed and prayers going for you Bob. And safe travels if you are able to come up. Hope Irma just turns back out and stays at sea. This has just been a weird year. The devastation from Harvey, and all the fires out west! And I'm not even delving into politics!
We will be heading down to Dubuque tomorrow to launch, then take two days to boat down to the gathering. Got my boat back yesterday evening with the new Bimini top and camper enclosure. Then stayed up till midnight putting new bunk boards on my trailer.... Colby
 
Just a note--haven't decided yet if we can make it,--but most recent models show storm track a bit more to the West.

Marie went to the grocery store to get a few incidentals. I mentioned she should pick up a few more cases of bottled water, just in case. She reported that both Windixie and WalMart are almost out of bottled water in the last 48 hours. Also many caned goods and staples were also flying off the shelves--"Just in case"

Our county EOC had given a heads up on Irma...
 
We are off the Trent Severn Canal and have made it to Michigan. We are currently at Warren Dunes State Park near Lake Michigan.

They said we are the first boater camper to overnight at the park. Low trees, broke the Sirius antenna, but I'll find a fix.

We will be in Clinton by the 6th.

I hope Thataway can make it. Irma, go away.

We listened to Sirius radio and were dismayed with the damage from Hurricane Harvey. We lived in Rockport, Tx for 11 winters. Palm Harbors RV, our home for so long, took a direct hit. Everything was leveled to the ground.
 
We had to make our decision at 6 AM this morning (two 500 day drives, plus getting the fresh food aboard and in the refers.) There is too much of a chance that Irma might come into our neighborhood. Only one model has a direct hit on Pensacola., but that is with only a Cat 3 (because it goes across Cuba as a 5) The consensus has it making land fall in S. Florida as a Cat 5 and one shows winds at landfall at the 170 knot range steady, with gusts over 200 mph...that would be one of the strongest hits that FL has ever taken; potentially similar to Andrew in 1992 which leveled Homestead, FL.

Although we are pulling all food items off of the boat, we are leaving our clothes, and if weather permits, we are still strongly considering spending a couple of weeks on the Tennessee River a week from today...

We are saddened we will not see our many friends at Clinton. Our best to all--have a great time!
 
Sorry to hear you won't be at the gathering but do understand. You and Marie will be missed.
Maybe we'll see you on the Tennessee? We'll keep in touch.
Dan and Peggy
 
thataway":3xabgv65 said:
We had to make our decision at 6 AM this morning (two 500 day drives, plus getting the fresh food aboard and in the refers.) There is too much of a chance that Irma might come into our neighborhood. Only one model has a direct hit on Pensacola., but that is with only a Cat 3 (because it goes across Cuba as a 5) The consensus has it making land fall in S. Florida as a Cat 5 and one shows winds at landfall at the 170 knot range steady, with gusts over 200 mph...that would be one of the strongest hits that FL has ever taken; potentially similar to Andrew in 1992 which leveled Homestead, FL.

Although we are pulling all food items off of the boat, we are leaving our clothes, and if weather permits, we are still strongly considering spending a couple of weeks on the Tennessee River a week from today...

We are saddened we will not see our many friends at Clinton. Our best to all--have a great time!
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We are going to have to cancel also. We have a farm in SC, and hurricane Irma is just to big to ignore. I spent three weeks in south Florida in the aftermath of hurricane Andrew and to say it was challenging is an understatement.

Bob, please let us know if you decide to go ahead with the Pickwick launch
 
I wish you all the best back there! Stay safe.
 
Wow, Another hurricane. You all are in my prayers. Wishing you all safety and best of all, a good MISS by Irma.

I have good friends in Dominican Republic. They are holding their breath too.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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hardee":520fad26 said:
Wow, Another hurricane. You all are in my prayers. Wishing you all safety and best of all, a good MISS by Irma.

I have good friends in Dominican Republic. They are holding their breath too.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

IMGP3254.thumb.jpg
Click to expand...

Just saw the Weather channel showing one arrow track pointing at South Carolina and one towards the gulf coast. Sustained winds have increased to 185 mph and it's still anyone's guess on when it turns north in the next five days. Not good, especially given a Category 5 hurricane is 500 times more powerful than a category 1
 
We are leaving the gear on the boat, so we can make the Tennessee river trip if we don't get a near hit, and that area looks "clear". But this is the peak of hurricane season and another storm has just been named off Africa. We have been blessed in Pensacola, for 13 years since the devastation of Ivan, with no major storm hit directly.

I'll start a new thread if it looks as if it is a "Go" for the Tennessee River for us. Missing the gathering is very disappointing I know for all of us who are potentially in harm's way. Such a massive and unpredictable storm seems a bit unusual.
 
Hi All!
We too are cancelling out of this Gathering (sorry Tex).
We're both retired as of July 21, and had previously decided that we should sell our home in Ocean Springs, Mississippi (slab at 25 feet, Katrina surge in the 'hood was 24 vertical feet). We've always liked Pensacola and keep the boat there all season (late April to mid Nov, then to Key West).
So we rented a smaller house in Pensacola, closed on our home on Thursday, and U-Hauled the last of 4 loads on Friday (pretty good for a couple of 62 year olds). We're still unpacking.
Today we were at the FL DMV for only 6 hours (although it seemed like only 5.999 hours) and we each got a FL drivers license (but no go on registering the car or truck or boat or trailer). But hey, we don't have to go to work tormorrow!
Maybe we can still cruise the TN river with Bob next week, depending on how efficient the FL DMV becomes (Note to Bob: Don't hold your breath here.)
Stay out of the way of Irma. Katrina was our 13th hurricane, and the only one we ever evacuated for (but only to Pensacola). Be prepared.
Happy Preparing!
John
 
You guys in Florida and SC, stay safe! We'll be praying for and thinking of you.
 
It was good to see a few fellow C-Brats today at the gathering in Clinton. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay long because we are scheduled to fly back home to prepare for this impending hurricane. Maybe we can make it to Hontoon Island in March. Jonathan and Rosa aboard Salty
 
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