DENNIS' EYEWALL SMASHES INTO GULF COAST!!!

[Jeb]

This Intellicast radar tells the tale......

[Jeb]

This is the NWS radar out of Mobile. Absolutely breathtaking.

[Jeb]

Weather.com depiction of Dennis just after his landfall.....

[Jeb]

Jerry Lewis submitted this pic of the outer storm bands of Dennis smashing into Panama City FL on July 10 2005.

[Jeb]

Dennis hits coast with 120 mph winds

Hurricane moves ashore on Florida Panhandle at Category 3

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/07/10/trop...ther/index.html

 

PENSACOLA, Florida (CNN) -- Hurricane Dennis roared ashore Sunday afternoon southeast of Pensacola, with 120 mph winds snapping trees and triggering tornado warnings across the western Florida Panhandle.

 

The eye of the Category 3 storm made landfall at 2:25 p.m. (3:25 p.m. ET) between the towns of Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach on Santa Rosa Island, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported.

 

By 4 p.m., Dennis was reduced to a Category 2 storm with top sustained winds of 105 mph.

 

Florida authorities have received no immediate reports of deaths or injuries related to Dennis' landfall, Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings said.

 

Eugene Simmons, an amateur radio operator in the mainland town of Navarre, said the storm knocked out power about 10 minutes before making landfall and knocked down tree limbs as it passed. But he said little damage was visible, and his own home was undamaged.

 

"I was surprised how long power lasted," he said.

 

At 4 p.m., the storm was centered about 20 miles north of Pensacola, moving north at about 21 mph. Tornado warnings were posted for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in the far western Panhandle and for Escambia County, Alabama.

 

The storm hit not far east of where Hurricane Ivan, another Category 3 storm, struck last September.

 

Simmons and other Panhandle residents who endured Ivan nearly 10 months ago said Dennis did not dump as much rain on the area.

 

But high winds inflicted severe damage on at least one building in the Panhandle, ripping away a large section of roof from a motel in Crestview, about 50 miles northeast of Pensacola.

 

Dennis also appeared to have been less destructive than Ivan, said Buzz Eddy, city manager of Gulf Breeze, Florida. Dennis' rapid speed helped, he said.

 

"We were very lucky," said Eddy, who rode out the storm inside city hall, about five miles west of where the eye passed.

 

"It was so fast-moving, we didn't take a beating," he said.

 

Dennis had been classified a Category 4 storm just a few hours earlier, with top winds of 145 mph. It was blamed for 32 deaths in Haiti and Cuba. (Full story)

 

The storm wobbled most of Sunday morning, first putting the track farther west and then moving it back east.

 

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said he has requested a disaster declaration from President Bush, his brother, but that request had not yet been approved.

 

The governor said Florida learned from Ivan and three other hurricanes that hit the state last year.

 

"The state of Florida is poised and ready to respond to this hurricane," the governor told reporters. "We've learned a lot in the last year."

 

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was prepared to bring food, water and medical supplies into the affected areas as soon as the weather cleared.

 

"I spoke to the governors of Florida, Mississippi and Alabama on Friday," Chertoff said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "They're ready. We're closely coordinated, and we're going to brace for the storm."

 

Ed Rappaport of the hurricane center said Dennis differs from Ivan.

 

"It's different in two ways," Rappaport said. "One, it's smaller than Ivan, but two, it is stronger. There'll be much more destruction from the wind and the storm surge right in near the center of the hurricane, but not as much damage on the outside."

 

Ivan left billions of dollars in damage and was blamed for at least 56 deaths in the United States and more than 60 in Jamaica and Grenada. (Trail of destruction)

 

In Mobile, Alabama, Mayor Mike Dow said most residents had evacuated, many due to lessons learned from Hurricane Ivan.

 

"You're here for a decade or two and the storms miss, and you probably don't feel that sense of anxiety," Dow said. "But since Ivan, everyone feels that it's real."

 

At least 500,000 people left the Alabama coastal area, officials said. Interstate 65 north to Montgomery was temporarily turned into a one-way, four-lane highway heading north out of Mobile, but later returned to two-way traffic. (Safety tips)

 

"We issued the evacuation order at 6 on Friday. 'Evacuation' to people after Ivan means, 'Get out of Dodge,' " said Matthew Lopez, director of emergency management in Florida's Escambia County.

 

Dennis also threatened a stretch of Interstate 10, which runs from Jacksonville across the Panhandle and farther west.

 

The Florida Highway Patrol closed the Escambia Bay Bridge in Pensacola when winds topped 35 mph. Repairs to the bridge from damage caused by Ivan are not yet complete.

 

Several other bridges were closed by late morning, most due to high winds. Low-lying roads close to the shore -- like Florida State Route 30 -- were closed in several areas.

 

As for what comes next, Dow said, "We're as prepared as we can be. We're prepared for the aftermath."

 

Forecasters predicted storm-surge flooding of 10 to 15 feet above normal near the point of landfall and four to six feet elsewhere. (Hurricane categories)

 

The National Weather Service issued tornado watches along the storm's periphery.

 

A tornado warning was issued as far north as DeKalb County, just east of Atlanta, Georgia.

 

CNN's Randi Kaye, Chad Myers and Dan Lothian contributed to this report.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Jeb]

This amounts to a very windy, rainy day.

[Jeb]

Dennis spreads across Southeast

Bush declares disaster as hurricane weakens to tropical storm

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/07/10/trop...ther/index.html

 

 

PENSACOLA, Florida (CNN) -- Hurricane Dennis weakened to a tropical storm Sunday night after sweeping ashore with winds up to 120 mph, causing power outages and flooding in the Florida Panhandle and lower Alabama.

 

The eye of the storm -- then a Category 3 -- made landfall at 2:25 p.m. (3:25 p.m. ET) between the towns of Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach on Santa Rosa Island, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported.

 

As it came ashore, crossed the western Florida Panhandle and headed north into Alabama, the storm snapped limbs, tore off roofs and knocked out power to more than 160,000 residents.

 

Florida authorities have received no reports of deaths or injuries, Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings said.

 

By 8 p.m., Dennis was reduced to a tropical storm with top sustained winds of 60 mph. It was centered about 20 miles northeast of Jackson, Alabama, moving north-northwest at about 20 mph.

 

Alabama Homeland Security Director Jim Walker said no deaths have been reported in his state, either. But he added, "There are still parts of Alabama that still have got to get through the dangers of this storm."

 

Forecasters also warned that Dennis remained a powerful storm as it moved inland.

 

Tornado warnings were posted for Escambia County, Florida, and Monroe County, Alabama, and flash-flood warnings, tropical storm warnings and inland hurricane warnings remained posted for much of south Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle.

 

"People really need to know that this hurricane is not done by any means," said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center.

 

Jennings warned that the lack of injuries reported so far did not mean Floridians had escaped.

 

"Last year, during our storms, the real fatalities and injuries came after the storm," she said. "It's the most dangerous time."

 

Dennis hit less than 50 miles east of where Hurricane Ivan, another Category 3 storm, struck last September. Some Panhandle residents who endured Ivan said Dennis did not dump as much rain.

 

But high waters did engulf low-lying communities in Wakulla County, at the eastern end of the Panhandle about 20 miles south of Tallahassee and 150 miles east of Pensacola, authorities said.

 

Wakulla County Sheriff's Maj. Maurice Langston said the towns of St. Marks, Shell Point, Oyster Bay and Panacea were cut off by storm surges of more than 10 feet -- the area's biggest flood since the 1920s, he said.

 

High winds inflicted severe damage on an Econo Lodge motel in Crestview, about 50 miles northeast of Pensacola in Okaloosa County, ripping away a large section of roof.

 

Elsewhere in the county, U.S. Highway 98 between Destin and Fort Walton Beach was flooded, a government spokeswoman said.

 

Disaster declared

 

President Bush declared portions of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi major disaster areas, said Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "We'll start helping individuals immediately," he said.

 

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, said Florida learned from Ivan and three other hurricanes that hit the state last year. "The state of Florida is poised and ready to respond to this hurricane," the governor told reporters.

 

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was prepared to bring food, water and medical supplies into the affected areas as soon as the weather cleared.

 

At least 500,000 people fled the Gulf Coast as Dennis approached, and Jennings pleaded with residents who had evacuated not to return home immediately.

 

"We're encouraging people to stay where you are until [Monday]," she said. "The individual counties will tell you when the evacuation orders are over."

 

Mayfield said the threat of tornadoes, downed power lines and falling trees continued to pose risks to residents farther inland even as the storm lost steam.

 

Jennings said Florida had prepared well for the emergency, with 2,600 National Guard troops ready to be dispatched to affected areas.

 

In Pensacola, Mayor John Fogg said storm damage appeared limited to old-growth pines that snapped, hurling limbs into homes.

 

Much of the city was without power, but he called his city's residents fortunate.

 

"We thought the eye was going to pass to the west of us," which would have inflicted maximum damage on Pensacola, Fogg said. "Just at the last moment, the storm turned to the north and the eye went right into Pensacola Bay."

 

Still, he urged the area's 400,000 residents to stay indoors. "There's a lot of hazards out there," he said.

 

'We were very lucky'

 

Dennis appeared to have been less destructive than Ivan, said Edwin Eddy, city manager of Gulf Breeze, Pensacola's southern neighbor.

 

"We were very lucky," said Eddy, who rode out the storm inside city hall, about five miles west of where the eye passed.

 

"It was so fast-moving, we didn't take a beating."

 

Similar reports of light damage were reported in Baldwin County, Alabama, home to the beach towns of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

 

The storm wobbled most of Sunday morning before hitting land east of predictions. A few hours before landfall, Dennis had been classified a Category 4 storm, with top winds of 145 mph. It was blamed for 32 deaths in Haiti and Cuba.

 

Local officials said Gulf Coast residents were more willing to evacuate due to lessons learned from Hurricane Ivan.

 

" 'Evacuation' to people after Ivan means, 'Get out of Dodge,' " said Matthew Lopez, director of emergency management in Florida's Escambia County.

 

Ivan left billions of dollars in damage and was blamed for at least 56 deaths in the United States and more than 60 in Jamaica and Grenada.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Jeb]

There's still a good deal of rain associated with this tropical system, as this Intellicast radar out of Atlanta, Georgia attests to:

[Jeb]

Many thanks to Bea Bailey for submitting this pic of Dennis approaching the Navarre Beach Bridge on July 9 2005.

[Jeb]

Dennis soaks Ohio River Valley

Georgia man dies in storm's trek through Southeast

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/07/11/trop...ther/index.html

 

 

PENSACOLA, Florida (CNN) -- Remnants of Dennis were moving on Monday to soak the Ohio River Valley after the former Category 3 hurricane left one person dead in Georgia and the Florida Panhandle battered in its path across the Southeast.

 

A man was killed early Monday when a tree crashed on his home in Decatur, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, amid high wind and rain.

 

Edward Timmons, 36, was alone in the master bedroom of his house at 3:30 a.m., when a creek in his back yard overflowed, wiping out several poplar trees, one of which fell through the roof, said Jean Goldman, a family friend.

 

Timmons' wife, Brandi, had gone to the basement to be with the couple's 3-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter, Goldman said.

 

"She and the children were unharmed," Goldman said. "It's devastating news."

 

On Sunday, furious tides whipped up by Dennis slammed into shorelines along the Florida Panhandle, washing into beachside residences and businesses, leaving parking lots and roads covered in sand and in some cases completely washed out.

 

Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sens. Mel Martinez, R-Florida, and Bill Nelson, D-Florida, toured some of the damaged areas Monday.

 

"The state of Florida is poised and ready to respond to this hurricane," Bush said in Tallahassee, pledging as much support as needed for the state, which has been hit by six hurricanes in less than a year.

 

"We've learned a lot in the last year, and all of the lessons learned and all of the training is now going to be brought to bear to provide support for hundreds of thousands of people."

 

Dennis came ashore as a Category 3 hurricane on Santa Rosa Island on Sunday afternoon, with winds up to 120 mph and storm surges higher than 10 feet, officials said.

 

Greg Strader, CEO of the American Red Cross of Northwest Florida, said that some smaller communities were hurt worse by Dennis than by last year's Ivan, which slammed ashore just 50 miles farther east on September 16, also with 120-mph winds.

 

"That's certainly the reports we've heard in some of the eyes-on-the-ground impact assessments we've received from Red Cross personnel who've toured the area," he said.

 

One of the hardest-hit communities is far to the east of Dennis' landfall. The storm's rain and wind bands, swirling madly counterclockwise, pushed water into bays and estuaries all along the Gulf Coast, but nowhere worse than at St. Marks, a small fishing town on the St. Marks River 20 miles south of Tallahassee.

 

There, seawater swelled the river from Apalachee Bay and then overflowed the banks, flooding businesses, homes and streets with salt water.

 

"I've been here all my life, and this is the most water we've ever had," said St. Marks Mayor Chuck Shields. "We had probably a 10-foot surge over normal high. All the businesses and everything along the river here was completely flooded out."

 

City Manager Zoe Mansfield added, "All the homes in town have been underwater, but [the residents] seem real upbeat, and they know that we've got a lot of cleanup to do."

 

High water also engulfed other low-lying communities in Wakulla County, at the eastern end of the Florida Panhandle, authorities said Sunday.

 

Wakulla County Sheriff's Maj. Maurice Langston said the towns of Shell Point, Oyster Bay and Panacea also experienced storm urges more than 10 feet, causing the worst flooding since the 1920s.

 

Before hitting the Florida Panhandle, Dennis had killed up to 22 people in Haiti and 10 in Cuba when it crossed the Caribbean.

Storm downgraded

 

Early Monday, Dennis was downgraded from hurricane to tropical storm to tropical depression.

 

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said it expected the storm to stall in the Ohio River Valley, with 3 to 6 inches of rain in western Tennessee, Kentucky, southern Illinois and Indiana. Rainfall could be as much as 12 inches in some areas.

 

Tornadoes were also possible Monday in northern Alabama, Mississippi and the western Tennessee Valley.

 

Flash-flood warnings and tropical storm warnings remain posted for much of southern Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle, and President Bush declared federal disaster areas in portions of those states.

 

Dennis Rudduck of the American Red Cross said 158 shelters housed 50,000 during the storm.

 

"We're going to be sending some teams in here to do some damage assessment, to meet with the people, to try to identify some of the needs that we have here" Rudduck said.

 

He continued: "We're going to be doing everything we can to make sure that people have the things they need to get their lives back in order."

 

One estimate from a firm that serves the insurance industry surmises that Dennis is likely to cause between $1 billion and $2.5 billion in insured losses. (Full story)

Power outages

 

Late Monday morning, nearly 575,000 Florida electric customers were without power, and another 236,000 were powerless in Alabama.

 

Over all, more than 850,000 customers had no electricity in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, where flash flood warnings, wind advisories and severe thunderstorm alerts followed Dennis' trail.

New storm forms

 

Forecasters at the hurricane center were monitoring another tropical system that appeared headed for the Caribbean Sea, said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center.

 

Tropical depression 5 formed off western Africa and could drift into the Caribbean within four days, Mayfield said.

 

If it develops into a tropical storm, its name would be Emily -- the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------