[extropy-chat] FWD (TLCB) After-action report from 7 miles inland of Kennedy Space Center.

[Terry W. Colvin]

1900 hrs 
 
After-action report from 7 miles inland of Kennedy Space Center.
 
Frances is now gone.  I've been through several before, but never saw one last
this long.  We had significant wind from early Saturday evening, that continued
till Sunday evening.  Still had some rain, and lessor winds into yesterday
afternoon. It was actually this afternoon before the winds were completely gone.
 
I, and some of my neighbors, were out in it early Sunday trying to get some
trees off a car and a house. One oak started coming apart as we were working on
it - little hauling ass involved there!   Frances was definitely a thrill
ride.   
 
I lost power about 1400 hrs on Saturday, just got it back 1000 this morning.
Been living on the generator in the interim.  Life takes on a new meaning when 
your biggest concern is if (and where) you can get enough gas to keep the
generator running!
 
No damage to the house, but I have four real tall palms down in my back yard, 
which I've spent two days cutting up.  Each one is/was 30+ feet tall.  Add them
to the two I had just finished cutting up from Charlie, and my back yard looks
like a logging operation.
 
Kennedy Space Center got its ass kicked.  My next door neighbor works in some
physical security capacity out there (not sure what exactly - kind of secret)
and got home this morning.
 
He was in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and says it got beat up pretty
good.  For those of you who have been to KSC you know which building that is.
For those who've just seen it in movies or TV, it's the humungous building in
which they stand the shuttle upright to attach it to the solid rocket booster 
(SRB).  (It's so large it has its own atmosphere inside.  If the air
conditioning goes off for too long in humid whether, it will actually form a
cloud and rain
inside the building.)
 
Some of the electronics facilities inside the VAB got inundated with rain, when
parts of the walls blew out.  He said it was really creepy inside, listening to 
the metal torqueing, and groaning - with no lights.  Unknown yet if the shuttle
or SRB were damaged.
 
A couple other buildings got it bad as well.  On new one lost it's roof, and all
three stories full of communications equipment were totally soaked.
 
This county is nearly 80 miles long, and down in the south part - where brother
Charlie Logue lives - it was worse than we got.  They were just north of land 
fall.  Here's hoping Charlie came through it.
 
As for you guys in the center of the State, and on the West Coast.  How are 
things over there?
 
Gary Beatty
Medic - NKP (73-74)


-- 
"Only a zit on the wart on the heinie of progress." Copyright 1992, Frank Rice


Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1 at mindspring.com >
     Alternate: < fortean1 at msn.com >
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