I had an order for my last, two-tip 'Celedine' and the buyer lives in New Orleans. I was to ship the 32" x 26" plant out today but was worried about the hurricane targeting New Orleans. The lady that bought the 'Celedine' lives in the heart of the city. I contacted her and told her she might want me to delay the shipment a few days. She said not to worry, just ship it as scheduled. It went out at noon today. Who knows where if/when it will be delivered.

I have two large fiddle-leaf ficus to ship out to central Mississippi and that lady contacted me and said wait a few days until the storm has come ashore. She lives 200 miles north of the Gulf coast. Go figure.

That is how it goes. I moved a whole bunch of plumeria that I would cry over into my garage last Saturday. And unscathed out again this morning.
A friend on another forum cried today how she lost a whole bunch of her new small potted plumeria....
It just takes a bit of common sense and a little preparation time to prevent a loss that could have been avoided.

I certainly agree with Hatti. Common sense and taking the time to protect them is the key. I would have taken you up on the delay in shipping As long as it is protected thru the severely rainy days, there should not be a problem with that lady's Celadine. New Orleans is predicted to be back to scattered showers by Friday, but I imagine it will be longer. The eye is forming now, and the darn storm is slowing down and will get much stronger.. My house is up on pilings, and whenever we are predicted for days of rain, I get my young adeniums and plumerias under the house. Too much money invested in some of these to lose them over my carelessness. I have been guilty of losing some in the past just for being careless, particularly early cold weather. That was sure nice of you to at least offer her a delay in mailing. Just my thoughts

Thanks, Bluescat. I just heard that Isaac is now a cat. 1 hurricane. It is going to be a mess along the entire AL/MS/LA Gulf coast and probably a lot of flooding far, far inland as well. I see predictions of 1-2 feet in a 24 hr. time. The Gulf coast has had a fairly rainy summer and I fear it won't take much rain/wind to bring down a lot of trees and power lines. I am just thankful I am now in Starkville, Mississippi rather than Pascagoula, Mississippi!

Other than a lot of rain, Isaac should be a non-event for New Orleans. The storm is going ashore at barely hurricane strength and will be weakening almost immediately. I believe she'll get her plant no later than Friday, 8/30/2012 if you expedited the shipment.

I don't want to be a panic-mongerer but the advisories are all about like this one:

Very powerful winds are going to continue to spread onshore quite a distance away from the center. The effects of Isaac, including wind, are going to be felt along a large portion of the northern Gulf Coast as well as points further inland. PLEASE do not take this Category 1 hurricane lightly. With extreme rainfall and Category 3 type storm surge, Isaac is likely to be the costliest Category 1 hurricane in United States history.

I can assure you, 12-24" of rain within a 24 hr time frame is never a non-event in any city in America, particularly New Orleans. The only thing that keeps this city from being permanently under water is its numerous gigantic pumping stations. How many cities do you know that is below sea-level?

Hetty, where do I list some staghorns I have for sale? In the co-op section?

the co-op / classified forum is where you can start and then a quick post in the http://garden.org/forums/view/... just that you have some to sell but best to stick to listing in the co-op / classified then a quick list of the sale and maybe a link to your sale thread in another forum

hope makes sense

mike

yes, what Mike said.

Oh and I'm from Holland so I know all about being under water....

drdawg said: How many cities do you know that is below sea-level?

Hetty, I was going to mention Amsterdam!

Hetty, how many hurricanes has Amsterdam experienced? I don't know much about Europeon history, so perhaps you or estranjera can educate me on this. I have visited Amsterdam and found it to be a wonderfully beautiful European city, but don't know what climate the city is subjected to. Ken

I don't think they are in the hurricane zone but I'll bet they get some nasty storms off the north sea. I loved that city, but it was really COLD when I've been there. Once was in the spring and the locals were in short sleeves but I had on every sweater and coat I had. Plus, that was before I moved to the tropics so I'd really suffer now.

Hope all is well with you in MS, looks like Isaac is taking a large, slow tour of the Gulf coast.

No hurricanes in Holland but they do - indeed - get some seriously nasty storms. I painfully remember an early childhood birthday when the wind was so strong nobody showed up because they were advised not to get out of the house. That hurts when you're little!

The word is not good I'm sorry to see, half a million people without power, massive overtopping of the levees, up to 12 ft of water in some areas, people stranded on rooftops again....and the storm is moving so slowly it will get worse before it gets better.

Unrelenting rain is really bad...have seen that fairly recently as severe moonsoon rains dumped very heavy rain for over a week in Manila. Was so afraid for our families there. The ground can only absorb as much. Hurricanes are typhoons over there, and what they got is not even typhoon level but the damage is equally catastrophic. What makes it worst pumping stations failed, so a lot of lowlying areas got neck deep in water. Luckily our families survived, they did get flooded..I know there are still areas with water, and rainy season is just warming up over there.

Prayers to all those suffering Hurricane Isaac The similarities of the conditions are very striking..take care to all affected

I'm getting pics of the storm damage from Biloxi from texts for niece. The Hard Rock casino is flooded, as is Hwy 90. Gulf is about to top the sea wall in spots. Not as bad as it could be.

I hope things are as well as you have reported drdawg. Red Cross Volunteers from all across the US are headed your way to help where they can. If they are not needed, it needs to be told. Everyone has the Gulf Coast in their prayers.

I guess for us, we naturally compare hurricanes with the worst ones that we have experienced in our lifetime, namely Camille in 1969 and Katrina in 2005. Isaac will bring misery to many people on the Gulf coast and the New Orleans area, but there won't be the same extreme damage and loss of life experienced in the two horrific, historical hurricanes of '69 and '05. These two storms left the entire area looking like an atomic bomb had been dropped on them. Isaac will probably go down as the most destructive cat. 1 hurricane in history, property-wise, but thank God, not in lives lost. I am sure the American Red Cross will have their hands full, not only on the Gulf coast and New Orleans, but elsewhere, as the storm slowly moves north and then east .

Been through my share of hurricanes here in the Houston areas. They are not to be messed with. H. Rita was bearing right for us then made a sudden left turn. H. Alecia stayed in the Gulf, building strength for days and made a beeline for Houston as predicted. You just never know. I hear 4 lives have been lost already and that NOLA had people who refused to evacuate.

There will always be people (like me) who don't evacuate. Looking back on my life spent dealing with cat. 3-5 hurricanes, I was simply stupid and didn't realize the danger I placed myself and my wife in. Thank God I had moved away from the Gulf coast before Katrina. Hopefully I would have learned my lesson by then and would have evacuated. The vast majority of Americans have no idea what it is like to go through a severe hurricane, with hours and hours of howling wind, torrential rain, and tornadoes constantly roaring overhead. They see it on TV but condensing the sound and fury onto a 25-50" TV screen bears no resemblance to what occurs. Then there is the aftermath of dealing with cleanup and not having power or water for days or even weeks.