Hurricane Irma weather impact to Atlanta: heavy winds and heavy rain (Buford: neighborhood, movie theater)

[Just Blaze]

The winds are NOT 66mph. It's currently at 112 SUSTAINED. It's probably well over 140 with gusts.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Us Floridians are laughing at y'all. Hurricane Party!

Not sure who "y'all" is but we'll pretend you had a mirror out because I just know you aren't meaning people on this thread.

[whodean]

Originally Posted by fieldm

Y'all aren't used to anything getting hyped up over a freaking tropical storm. Gtfoh

You've been through a Tropical Storm in Atlanta before?

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by whodean

You've been through a Tropical Storm in Atlanta before?

This. When Opal hit in '95 it was no joke.

[whodean]

Originally Posted by Gulch

This. When Opal hit in '95 it was no joke.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Opal

The peak rainfall in Georgia was 8.66 inches (220 mm) in Marietta, 18.08 inches (459 mm) in Peachtree City and 7.17 in (182 mm) in west Atlanta. Southern Georgia only reported 1–3 inches (25–76 mm) of rain, while the northern part of the state reached about 5–7 inches (130–180 mm). The peak wind gust in Georgia was a 79 mph (127 km/h) gust in Marietta, a 70 mph (113 km/h) gust in Columbus, and a 56 mph (90 km/h) gust in the Atlanta-Hartsfield area.[23][28] High winds in Rabun County caused $5 million (1995 USD) from the approach of Opal on October 5. The damage was worst in Rabun County where numerous trees were blown down. The wind damage was described as being worse than the Superstorm of 1993. Power was out for some people for at least a week.[29] More than 4000 trees were knocked down within the city of Atlanta alone. These trees fell across roads, and on power lines, homes, mobile homes, and automobiles. More than a half a dozen people were injured from falling trees in the early morning hours of October 5. There were more than 1200 telephone poles knocked down and almost 5,000 power lines snapped. Power crews from surrounding states helped to restore power to many, however, thousands of residences remained without power through the weekend.

An 80 foot (24 m) gash was torn out of Interstate 285 between Roswell Road and the Glenridge Connector in Atlanta. Schools were closed on October 5 and October 6 throughout the cities of Atlanta, Marietta, and in Fulton, Coweta, Carroll and Douglas counties. A total of 47 of 101 schools were closed in Dekalb County alone. Four state parks were closed after Opal: Moccasin Creek Park, Black Rock Mountain, Vogel State Park, and Fort Mountain State Park. 273 stations reported many falling traffic lights. Agricultural experts estimated that damage to the pecan crop was about $50 million. Several rivers and creeks overflowed their banks.[30]

Beginning the evening of October 4, numerous power outages were reported in metro Atlanta, where sustained tropical storm conditions overnight (including gusts to nearly 70 mph (110 km/h)) felled thousands of trees. Oaks were particularly susceptible, as their root systems were loosened by nearly two days included in a major disaster area.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by Beretta

It's best to be prepared for the worst and pleasantly surprised when the best scenario occurs.

Agreed. I may have over-stocked on the bottled water, but hey, if I did, bottled water lasts for years.

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by DONNIEANDDONNA417

Have you ever had to evacuate?...I doubt it..and the 3 people that died ( i haven'tt heard anything) probably was doing something stupid like these people.

The first 3 deaths were auto accident related. The one in the Keys looked to be blown off the road by a gust of wind.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by fieldm

Y'all aren't used to anything getting hyped up over a freaking tropical storm. Gtfoh

Man i'm from Houston and you see what that tropical storm did to my city? Granted it was other factors but that tropical storm wasn't just some typical fly by storm. Atlanta won't be nowhere near as bad but I've seen trees go down and power go out when it's thunderstorms and rain here in Atlanta. And Atlanta does have a weak power grid then what I experience back home in Texas. I've never experience this many blackouts from minor to heavy rainfall when I was living in any city in Texas compared to this. So yeah this could be a really big deal for Atlanta.

[wasel]

MARTA has shut down all service including rail. Has that ever happened before?

I remember the effects of Opal in 1995. We lost power for several days. For some reason the neighborhood down the road got power back up earlier than we did so at least there were some places to eat and a movie theater we could escape to.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by Redlionjr

Man i'm from Houston and you see what that tropical storm did to my city? Granted it was other factors but that tropical storm wasn't just some typical fly by storm. Atlanta won't be nowhere near as bad but I've seen trees go down and power go out when it's thunderstorms and rain here in Atlanta. And Atlanta does have a weak power grid then what I experience back home in Texas. I've never experience this many blackouts from minor to heavy rainfall when I was living in any city in Texas compared to this. So yeah this could be a really big deal for Atlanta.

We have topography and 1000' above sea level, which will help to weaken the storm.