DENNIS THE MENACE

My ex-husband Doyle (who's been my ex for almost 19 years, but checks in several times a year to say Hello) called last night. He lives in Gulf Shores, Alabama and says it's getting rough down there. Hurricane Dennis is making it's presence felt, also this warning about about the tide was issued.

...STORM SURGE FLOOD AND STORM TIDE IMPACTS...ASTRONOMICAL HIGH TIDES WILL OCCUR AROUND MIDDAY ON SUNDAY...AND COMBINED WITH THE SURGE FROM DENNIS...COULD RESULT IN A STORM SURGE BETWEEN 10 AND 14 FEET IN AND NEAR WHERE DENNIS MAKES LANDFALL. THIS WILL RESULT IN MAJOR DESTRUCTION ALONG COASTAL AREAS...SIMILAR TO WHAT HURRICANE IVAN PRODUCED LAST YEAR

Doyle is headed north to safety and family, and wanted to let me know he's gonna be around a couple of days.

Gulf Shores is still rebuilding from the last big blow. Friends who went down recently said that the beach was covered in heavy equipment and that hotel rooms were hard to find because reconstruction was everywhere.

Hope everyone stays safe. Now some hurricane facts:

The word hurricane is used only to describe tropical cyclones with winds of at least 74 miles per hour that occur in the North Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea or the eastern North Pacific.

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a 1 to 5 rating based on a hurricane's intensity, principally wind speed.
Category One: Winds 74 to 95 mph. Storm surge generally four to five feet above normal.
Category Two: Winds 96 to 110 mph. Storm surge generally six to eight feet above normal.
Category Three: Winds 111 to 130 mph. Storm surge generally nine to twelve feet above normal. Terrain lower than five feet above sea level may be flooded inland eight miles or more.
Category Four: Winds 131 to 155 mph. Storm surge generally thirteen to eighteen feet above normal. Low-lying escape routes may be cut by rising water three to five hours before arrival of the hurricane center. Major damage to lower floors of structures near the shore. Terrain lower than ten feet above sea level may be flooded as far inland as six miles.
Category Five: Winds greater than 155 mph. Storm surge generally greater than eighteen feet above normal. Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within five to ten miles of the shoreline may be required. Only 6% of hurricanes ever reach Cat 5 level winds. Only 22 have been recorded as Cat 5 and 15 were Cat 5 for one day only.

Around here we have tornadoes. They're bad enough, y'all can keep thehurricaness.