For years in this area people were lax about hurricane preparation and that has led to some very dangerous moments when storms have struck. People have refused to evacuate from known danger areas when it was safe to to do so, and then expected to be rescued when the storm was exactly as warned, and was tearing their house apart.

Even though Ida has turned out to be a lot less dangerous than first thought, local governments moved to minimize the risks. The Pensacola News Journal covered closures in the West in Panhandle braces for Ida, and the Northwest Florida Daily News covers the East in Businesses, schools, bases close for Ida.

I can guarantee that officials will be receiving flak from people who will feel that all of the closures were unnecessary for Ida. These are the same people who will call to be rescued after they lose their roof and the wind is gusting over 100 mph.

I would also remind locals that if your area is subject to flooding, this is going to be a rain event, if nothing else, and you can expect the local rivers and creeks to rise. Depending on how slowly it moves, we can have severe flooding in the North County.

If you were trying to get here early this afternoon you may have received odd error messages.

They had nothing to do with the tropical storm because the problem was out West with a database server and a runaway process. It is one of the prices you pay for sharing resources.

Things appear to be back to normal.

Position: 29.3 N 88.6 W [ 9 PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [360°] near 13 mph [20 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 65 mph [100 kph].
Wind Gusts: 75 mph [115 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 200 miles [320 km].
Minimum central pressure: 997 mb ↑.

It is 100 miles [165 km] South-Southwest of Mobile, Alabama.

A Tropical Storm Warning is now in effect for the northern Gulf Coast from Grand Isle Louisiana eastward to Aucilla River Florida including New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]