Daytona Int'l Speedway Under 10 ft of Water!
Up to 30 inches of rain hits immediate central Florida area!
Adjacent town of Holly Hill gets 29 inches, lucky ones on high ground. A thousand or more Daytona homes, down on the flats, flooded out, as runoff, fish, & floating garbage poured through doorways. The state has declared some counties a disaster area. Estimated 60 million in property damage, & 50 million more in nearby truck farm crops of melons, 'maters, & 'taters, rotting in the ground.
The tunnel entrance to the Daytona International speedway was under ten feet of water early this morning. The entire track is flooded, for the first time in history.
Worse than a Hurricane?
Caused by a freak interaction of a stationary high pressure system over northern Georgia, rubbing against a stubborn Cuban low which slowly moved up the middle of Florida, the storm began last Monday, bringing consistent torrential rain, and wind speed of up to 55mph, lasting 24 hours a day, every single day, and all hours of the night. Today, (Sat) was the first sign the weather was finally beginning to break. We've yet to see the sun for more than a few minutes. What's really weird? As of last Sunday, we'd finished a month and a half of San-Diego-esque 80-90 degree days with nary a drop of rain. The understatement of the year is to say the Florida rainy season began a month early this year. Now we can wait for the mosquito population to explode. Yeah, we get no snow, but we got our problemos, like everywhere else.
What Happened?
As the Nor'easter wind blows the salty ocean water onto the shoreline, beachside sewer grates may actually percolate up with salty ocean water, providing the 30 inches of rain runoff no where to go except gradually sink into the ground. So far, there's a lot of left over flooding. Worse yet, ants, snakes, racoons, & other critters seek the high ground in an attempt to avoid drowning, so people are dealing with more than just standing water & fallen trees. It's a real mess. On the sunny side, I'll bet you can book a Daytona oceanfront hotel room for less than thirty bucks this weekend..
Bike Scene Decimated:
Nobody is riding now. Few people desire to venture far from home, even in their cars. Neither of ABM's bikes has been ridden since last Sunday, the longest stretch we remember having went without a two wheeled fix. Have not been away from the compound in a week. Mighta tried to dodge the wet for a little spin today, but fighting a nasty cold brought on by days of working outside in the driving rain, to unplug rain gutters, lash down stuff that was blowing away, as high temps dropped from the mid-ninties to the low sixties in 12 hours, & stayed there all week, was awful. The combo of cold, wet outside, & indoor a/c finished me off. Tomorrow's another day. We'll ride, but we ain't expectin' much co-op from the sun, still, it'll be sweet to hear them bikes up & running again.
If this is like what life in Seattle has to offer, ABM will el-paso on the move to Washington state.
Adjacent town of Holly Hill gets 29 inches, lucky ones on high ground. A thousand or more Daytona homes, down on the flats, flooded out, as runoff, fish, & floating garbage poured through doorways. The state has declared some counties a disaster area. Estimated 60 million in property damage, & 50 million more in nearby truck farm crops of melons, 'maters, & 'taters, rotting in the ground.
The tunnel entrance to the Daytona International speedway was under ten feet of water early this morning. The entire track is flooded, for the first time in history.
Worse than a Hurricane?
Caused by a freak interaction of a stationary high pressure system over northern Georgia, rubbing against a stubborn Cuban low which slowly moved up the middle of Florida, the storm began last Monday, bringing consistent torrential rain, and wind speed of up to 55mph, lasting 24 hours a day, every single day, and all hours of the night. Today, (Sat) was the first sign the weather was finally beginning to break. We've yet to see the sun for more than a few minutes. What's really weird? As of last Sunday, we'd finished a month and a half of San-Diego-esque 80-90 degree days with nary a drop of rain. The understatement of the year is to say the Florida rainy season began a month early this year. Now we can wait for the mosquito population to explode. Yeah, we get no snow, but we got our problemos, like everywhere else.
What Happened?
As the Nor'easter wind blows the salty ocean water onto the shoreline, beachside sewer grates may actually percolate up with salty ocean water, providing the 30 inches of rain runoff no where to go except gradually sink into the ground. So far, there's a lot of left over flooding. Worse yet, ants, snakes, racoons, & other critters seek the high ground in an attempt to avoid drowning, so people are dealing with more than just standing water & fallen trees. It's a real mess. On the sunny side, I'll bet you can book a Daytona oceanfront hotel room for less than thirty bucks this weekend..
Bike Scene Decimated:
Nobody is riding now. Few people desire to venture far from home, even in their cars. Neither of ABM's bikes has been ridden since last Sunday, the longest stretch we remember having went without a two wheeled fix. Have not been away from the compound in a week. Mighta tried to dodge the wet for a little spin today, but fighting a nasty cold brought on by days of working outside in the driving rain, to unplug rain gutters, lash down stuff that was blowing away, as high temps dropped from the mid-ninties to the low sixties in 12 hours, & stayed there all week, was awful. The combo of cold, wet outside, & indoor a/c finished me off. Tomorrow's another day. We'll ride, but we ain't expectin' much co-op from the sun, still, it'll be sweet to hear them bikes up & running again.
If this is like what life in Seattle has to offer, ABM will el-paso on the move to Washington state.
posted by americanbikerminute at 4:07 PM
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