Jenny's News Stand

Well, we just went through our first tropical storm/almost Hurricane.  TS Fay hit us on Monday night. It was a hurricane when it hit cuba but lost momentum when it left. So we only got major rain, 60 mph winds, and tornados. Who knew that Florida got tornados and waterspouts (tornados over water) when they got hurricanes? No wonder insurance is so high here. If the winds don't do enough damage, you get flooding and tornados to do some more. We were lucky - while the northern area is getting flooded we only got 8 inches of rain in a day. Not bad really. And the tree outside our apartment is ok, the one across the street is now leaning at a 45 degree angle but still alive. Watching the wind is actually kinda cool, but it sure is windy. And the pouring rain is like nothing seen in the West. The oddest thing is that the storm has arms and spaces between them. So you get lots of wind and rain for a few hours, then the arm passes over you and you get calm for a while. The second oddest thing is that those arms swing over the ocean and pick up moisture and warmth that keep fueling the storm. So it can almost sustain itself. Like a giant spider rotating with huge legs. All in all, a good first hand look at hurricanes and storms here in Florida.