August
2008 - Though it never became a hurricane, Tropical Storm
Fay brought huge amounts of rain to central Florida.
At first the forecasted
paths had the storm missing our area, but then it suddenly
aimed right for us.
Projected
Path of Tropical Storm Fay I went to bed one night
with the projected path a comfortable distance away.
Actual
Path of Tropical Storm Fay When I woke the next
morning the path had changed, heading directly for my house.
Instead
of moving along as it should, this storm stalled out
right over top of Melbourne for a couple of days and
dumped an incredible amount of water - about 24-30
inches.
My house faired
pretty well. I had some tree branches down and a few
roof leaks, but at least I didn't flood.
The car had been closer to
the house. There is an awning that I did not put
down over the window that caught the weight of the
branch, keeping it from landing on the hood of my
car. I carefully backed out from under before getting
my camera.
There was standing water in my
yard, and the gutter out front was ankle deep. Luckily
the rain stopped before it got any higher. Much better
than so many in town who have hauled all their furniture
and carpeting to the curb because of flooding.
Not
having enough sense to stay home out of the rain, I took
a drive to meet some friends.
This was the day
after the main storm, but the rain was still coming down
in buckets!
