My article describing (in part) our experiences that led up to our evacuation from the North Carolina mountains after the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Helene. 

https://amsweatherband.org/index.cfm/weatherband/articles/our-evacuation-from-the-mountains-of-north-carolina-after-hurricane-helene/

Knowing that internet links have a habit of disappearing I’ll try to locate my original text that was submitted and post it here.

Our Evacuation from the Mountains of North Carolina after Hurricane Helene

•  Nov 8, 2024
•  Weather Band Content, Hurricanes, Severe Weather, Solo 
 
•  Rod Scott

We stood at the window in horror as the eighty-foot-tall tulip poplar, uprooted by the landslide, slid into the gorge and fell across the face of the dam. It was the second landslide we had witnessed that morning.

This is a small part of the road we used to evacuate from the B&B. 

We were among six guests (three couples) at a Bed and Breakfast surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest who were sheltering in place because the road above and below the inn was impassable. Ten inches of rain had fallen in the two days before Helene came to impact the local mountains, which had brought down trees and power lines, triggered landslides, and washed out the bridge on the road below us.  

A major landslide we had to slog through to hike out from the B&B

The loss of power (and water from the well) created its own problems, but the innkeepers were resilient and prepared. Once the rains slowed down, the generator was set up and gasoline was inventoried. To conserve gasoline it was decided to run the generator three times a day for just one hour so that water would be available. This also provided lights in the kitchen where food could be cooked on a gas stove. 

Fortunately the inn had installed a Starlink internet system the year before and with a battery block powering the system we had internet capability. It was a unique experience to be trapped in the mountains with hours of internet capability each day! One couple had arrived in a Hybrid Highlander, and they set the car up to run in “generator mode.” This allowed the car to power one refrigerator 24/7. When the hybrid battery became partially depleted, the car would start and run to recharge the battery and then shut itself off. Connecting a power strip to the extension cord from the car allowed us to recharge cell phones and tablets. Careful computations suggested we could keep the refrigerator cold for seven to nine days using this setup. 

We were far more fortunate than many others in the mountains. We had a roof over our heads, water, generator power, and we had communications. We used our internet connection to reach out to family and begin to make plans for our evacuation. 

After five more inches of rain had fallen on Saturday, we rejoiced as Sunday dawned with blue skies and white cumulus clouds. It was the first sunshine we’d seen since Tuesday. On this day, one of the guests reconnoitered the local routes out of the area.  He was gone for five or six hours and came back exhausted, but his information was invaluable. Regardless of the road damage that he found, he stated that evacuation was possible.

A major washout on the asphalted part of the road we used to evacuate from the B&B.

On Sunday we made plans to hike out via the road on Tuesday and communicated that information to family and friends. When Tuesday dawned, we ate breakfast, and the six of us hugged the innkeepers and thanked them profusely for taking such good care of us. We left our cars, keys, and possessions (including clothing) behind and started hiking out with the clothes on our backs, water bottles, and snacks.

I’ve been hiking and backpacking in the woods for my entire life, but this was the most difficult hike I’d ever attempted. The first landslide almost stopped us as we climbed over downed trees and negotiated mud that was more than two feet deep. It took us over an hour to make it 300 feet. After a rest we proceeded the rest of the way up the mountain, slogging through mud and crawling over downed trees. 

A wooded stretch that became a river alongside the road. The water from this river overtopped the dam at the BnB, undercut the spillway and caused at least one landslide. 

In spite of the obstacles and after three and a half hours we completed the two-and-a-half-mile hike, and were greeted and embraced by family. We were evacuated on October 1, five days after Hurricane Helene’s landfall. 

Rehearsal

Written 5 or 6 years ago, found in DRAFT mode, and just now published.

I still recall the days when our tenor section would rehearse separate from those who sang bass. These choir rehearsals took place during my high school years as I sang in various music productions. Rehearsal was what we did for most of the time.  We had to learn the songs, understand the parts, and recall the notes when we all sang together. It was easy to remember my lines when singing with a bunch of tenors. When the entire choir got together it was much more difficult. Its hard to remember but I guess we rehearsed 25-35 times for each production.

Recently I've started rehearsing again. This time it is not singing, but playing the semi-modular synthesizer. During the last two and one half years of synth experimentation rehearsing played a very small part of my exploration of this music.  Typically if I were to record a track on YouTube I'd rehearse two or three times and let her fly. My results typically revealed the lack of rehearsal. It was easy to argue that since this is modular synthesis there is a lot of room for "flexibility" (read: error).

For the past week or two I've been rehearsing for the possibility of being able to play publicly at an "open mic" event. We are not yet sure how much time we have to perform, but 10-15 minutes is the current guesstimate. I'm trying to pack the smallest synth footprint, so I'm limited to the Moog Mother32 stack (the Mother96), and one skiff. Additionally one midi controller and a set of headphones along with the mixer will complete the whole show.   I'll need a small portable table, and and multi plug power distribution and one long stereo cable. 

Good News on the Climate

 Katherine Hayhoe is a well known climate scientist who is focussed on the opportunities that we as humans have to change our climate for the betterment of all humankind. Her newsletter always includes a "Good News" segment and it is always worth hearing some good news on this subject. 

Her May 29, 2024 news letter is curated by a guest writer this month. Dr. Joellen Russell is on of the founders of  Science Moms  a group of mothers who are also climate scientists.  The below extended quote is from that newsletter that came out today. 

"Despite what you might think from listening to political advertising and more than a few media reports, US carbon emissions dropped last year at the same time that the economy grew.

Yes, that’s right! Last year, the US economy grew by 2.5 percent while the total carbon emissions by decreased by 2-3 percent, according to the US Energy Information Administration. US emissions are now down 20 percent from the all-time high in 2007, according to the EIA.

That’s not the only good news. Americans, on their own, are consistently choosing to save money by reducing their own energy costs, whether it is through more efficient lighting, electric cars, better windows, etc. Although per-capita emissions are still at the high end of the global scale, the US has gone from emitting around 20 percent of the global total of CO2 annually in 2000 to less than 12 percent of the global total in 2023."

 It really appears that the changes both small and large are starting to make a measurable impact on the forces that are driving climate change. This is "Good News"!  So share it with a friend or neighbor if you get a chance. Thanks for reading! 

RIP Charles Freddy Edgerton

 

Freddy and Jane on one of their recent adventures.

My post on FaceBook: 

I was only 19 years old when I first met Freddy. As a confirmed introvert who preferred being a wallflower I met this guy who was confident and outgoing.  At first he seemed “dangerous”, but it was soon apparent that I was mistaking dangerous for “daring”.  

Our friendship, lasting 50 years, ended Friday May 3rd when Freddy left behind this physical world for the Next Great Adventure. It was one week ago today (Saturday April 27) that I spoke with Freddy and Jane in the ICU. Freddy was on oxygen but was coherent as we spoke. We discussed the trip Debbie and I were making in 2 days to Tybee Island. I also told him that I was composing a piece of ambient music for him. “It’s almost finished”, I told him.He said he was interested in hearing it when I got it finished. I told him he was going to be all right and that I loved him. He reciprocated with “I love you man”. 

If I listed all of the small building blocks of my life that came into being exclusively because of Freddy it would take a while. Just a few: he taught me how to eat raw oysters, he taught me how to cook a steak on a grill, he introduced me to a broad palette of fine Kentucky bourbons, he was the first to put a special cigar in my mouth (a cigar made in a small island country South of Florida) and light it, he was the first person (that I knew of my age) who owned stock, he was the first to introduce me to the joys of hot peppers (there’s a great story behind that one). 

If you knew Freddy from way back then, you knew he was one of the strongest people you’d ever meet. I still remember helping him move furniture on to a rental truck once. There were two of us on one end of this gigantic piece of furniture and we were about to die! He held up the opposite end with just one hand. 

Freddy taught me a number of life lessons and one of them was the importance of having a generous spirit.  He was a generous man and his example shaped me to a certain degree.  While I never achieved his level of benevolence, he did push my needle in the correct direction. 

In many ways Freddy was “bigger than life”, and one way I was reminded of that was when we hugged. Whether it was a greeting or a departure there was no better hug than a Freddy hug. It was like hugging and being hugged by Mount Everest and a benevolent bear at the same time. This I will miss. 

The four of us travelled on the only cruise ship I’ve ever sailed on,  Holland America’s Westerdam. This was an Alaskan cruise and it was a total blast. Being there with Debbie, Jane and Freddy made the trip perfect. 

His love for his wife, children and grandchildren was absolute. We grew up with their kids and watched them mature into responsible adults. An untimely accident took Joshua’s life and while it altered the family landscape forever, this beautiful family carried on buoyed by their faith in God. Their daughter Loriahn has two sons and a daughter. Freddy and Jane loved being grandparents to those three. 

This could carry on forever, but I’ll bring it to a close for now. Please pray for Jane, Loriahn, Eddie and the grandkids as they navigate these trying waters. May their memories of Freddy be a comfort to them during this season of grief.

Freddy will always reside in my heart and in my mind. 

A link to the almost finished piece of music, called simply “C F E”, (after Freddy’s initials), can be found in the comments. 

https://on.soundcloud.com/bfMCErybdKJNzdQ59