#2
WARNING; For every one in the northern Antilles (Caribbean)
Tina, my prayers are with you. Be careful. Hide with your plants.
Hap
Oh Tina, I will be thinking of you and hoping that it subsides. No matter how often you've had to do this it must still be frightening. I hope the mountain returns to slumber soon.
How very frightening - good thoughts being sent your way, keep us posted.
Jenn
OH MY Gawd.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As a Hawaii resident we have our own volcano on the Big Island Of Hawaii. It is about 300 miles from where i live on the island of Kaua`i. However, when the winds blow the wrong way we do get the volcanic smog generated by volcanism of the Big Island. About 2 years ago a new vent open that is releasing copious amounts hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide and who knows what else.
As a teen i read the story of Mount Pel�e and what happened on Martinique.
Oh, how I do enjoy this thread and the testimonials we get. Thank you all for sharing this with us and completing our education.
I lived in Montréal, Québec, Canada for 50 years before moving to Florida 4 years ago. We had no volcanoes in Montreal. The 737-foot "mountain" that sits in the middle of the island of Montreal is rumored by some geologists to be an extinct volcano. But you know how it is. For one erudite that claims that the mountain is indeed an extinct volcano, you can find at least 2 more equally as erudite scholars that will swear on a stack of sacred texts that it isn't. So, the mistery remains whole and the mountain has never shown any sign of activity as far as anyone can remember.
I remember when Mount St.Helens blew up. About 4 or 5 days after the event, a cloud of volcanic ash obscured the sky in Montreal, turning day into dusk for 48 hours. We were warned to wait until the ash had finished falling before rinsing our cars off. Anyone who dusted their car needed a new paint job. That stuff is as light as the ashes from my cigars, sticky and gritty.
And then another year, there was Mount Pinatubo (spelling?) in the Philippines that spewed a cloud of ash into high altitudes. That thin cloud of ash circled the globe for a year or two, wreaking havoc with people trying to photograph astronomical events with their telescopes.
What powerful forces are unleashed in volcanoes! To everyone who lives anywhere where their activity is felt one way or another, keep safe.
Sylvain.
Hey, Sylvain. Why hasn't this been in our news? It's not as far away as the fires in CA.
tbmonserrat I have been looking for anyone in my area, I am next door, antigua and have been here long enough to have seen your lovely island before the devastation. Strange thing is on the news just a couple of weeks ago it said the volcano had gone dormant, just proves not to believe everything one hears on the news or in the papers!
Here is Kilauea dumping lava into the sea in Puna. The County of Hawai'i won't allow folks to get very near it.
I am so mad at myself for not going to see it when I was stationed in Honolulu! I hope I get the chance to go someday.
Very scary pics, tb. I'm praying that you stay safe.
Sorry for not getting back sooner! The volcano was really active yesterday. I have been cleaning ash and moving plants, plus cleaning them off. It seems to be never ending. So goes life on the island, price of paradise.
Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers, they are appreciated.
Melissa: Most of the pictures are taken from a spot at the top of my property ( my house was built on a mountain) I am about 8 kilometers (that is guessing, my be a little more) from the base of the volcano. Some of the pictures are taken from the back roof of my house (it is almost flat and easy to get up, almost like an observation deck).
d_thomcat; Sometimes the gases that the volcano puts off are so bad' it is nauseating. It is so nasty smelling. You get used to it after a while but.........
Sylvain; That is so interesting. I remember Mt. St. Helen, I lived in Texas at the time, We got ash from it for a few days.
Cocoloba; Hey neighbor! It seemed like it was going to sleep, 0 activity. The day before the activity started there was no activity at all, woke up the next morning to ash. Then it just came to life. Most of the time it spits ash for an hour or 2 then quits for the rest of the day maybe spitting some more in the evening. Yesterday it was continuous all day plus today. We were so hoping it was going to sleep but I guess not.
I did not move here until after the eruption started, but the before pictures I have seen the island was amazingly beautiful. It is sad that the rain forest was destroyed by the volcano.
Dave; I went to see Kilauea when we were in Hawaii, the closest we could get was 5 miles. I was fascinated by one area the lava had hardened but you could still see some of the highway. We did take a helicopter tour, I have pictures but not on my computer, it was so amazing.
Thanks again everyone, I will stay safe. When they tell me to evacuate I am out of here. So far the new dome extrusions are on the south side so not danger here at the moment. The pyroclastic flows are of low energy and small. If it gets to the point it poses a danger our government will evacuate.
Take Care
Tina
A few more pictures, I tried to get a picture of the dome glowing at night but I can't figure out how to set my camera so that the shutter stays open longer for more exposure.
Can't believe that there is none of this on our news in S. FL.
Hugs.
Hap
Just found this thread. We just returned from a trip to the Gulf Coast that took the direct hit of Katrina. Still very sad. Nature can be a vicious task master.
Will be praying for you, Tina, and others that are affected by this event.
Christi
How did it look, Christi? We don't hear about that anymore either.
Hap
Very sad. Maybe 2% has been rebuilt as opposed to the official reports of 98%. For miles and miles there is nothing but broken vegetation and evidence of where a home once stood. All of the eating establishments are brand new as is every current building. The people are wonderful, kind, resilient and doing their very best. Sad to see signs where a house had been with a sign saying "Please buy my property". It has taken 4 years to clear the debris. Even while all of this was happening, the news concentrated on New Orleans. They were only sideswiped by Katrina and the flooding was caused from poorly built levies.
It is some 90 miles from Gulfport, Miss. where we were staying. We talked to many who were also hit by the tornadoes that spin out of hurricanes. Record amounts of money was donated as well as the money funneled into FEMA. Little to no evidence of where it went.
We saw half dozen of the homes that Lowe's had designed and put together a kit house. Very tiny and definitely temporary. Goes without saying, the casino's are all up and running.
Another experience that shows just how blessed I am.
Thanks for the honest update, as sad as it is.
Hap
Hurricane Hugo was as fierce here, destroyed the whole Island. And with lots of new people coming in, and many of the 'old' ones leaving, the island was pretty much rebuilt after four years. Disaster takes a long time to recover from. Sad, yes.
I'm trying to think of a house that's hurricane/tornado/and Earthquake proof!
I think it's called a cave!
Opps, forgot earthquake. Guess there is nothing.
Hap
Well, that could be an option, molamola. If it's portable, so what if it's in a rumpled mess. Anyone living in one doesn't have much to lose. (Not knowing anyone living in one, I hope that I haven't offended.)
But, do they WiFi?
Hap
Update
The volcano was really ashing yesterday and we had a tropical wave come through gave us a lot of much needed rain so I thought. Apparently the winds switched direction so at my house it was raining mud and acid rain.
I got up this morning and was absolutely heartbroken. I will show pictures cause I cry every time I try to describe it.
my alamanda bush with the pale salmon colored blooms.
My plumbago There were 8 of them, they all look the same.
my Red Ty plant, the others look just as bad.
my white hibiscus
The Plumerias
I had a lot of other plants get sever burn; the Tacoma stan, Madagascar Alamanda, tropical Hibiscus, morning glory bush, Alamanda, the mexican Oleander & the Oleander. The list goes on. I have been out today doing a hard prune on everything that got severely burned, cutting them to about 3in from the ground. I hope this helps them survive.
All my trees are dropping their leaves, they will come back and so will the other plants but it is still heartbreaking to see all my hard work fried.
Though, I was surprised at the plants that were not affected like the daylilies, hosta, desert rose, moss rose and a lot of my other tropicals. All my palms are a little burned but last time they were not affected.
All my potted plants I got under cover a few days ago so they are ok.
Next are the pictures of around the house.
My pool
pool deck
Oh Tina, how very heartbreaking! Hopefully all the plants you have cut back will survive...are you having to flush out the pots and the ground with fresh water too?
I can't imagine how your pool filter is going to be able to take care of all that ash and acid rain - I am so very sorry.
I promise not to complain about the heat searing my plants again. Bless your heart.
Is the volcano still belching?
Christi
Can you bring plants from Antigua? I have huge plumeria and in fact some other interesting plants...let me know if I can help to re-propgate your garden, would be more than happy, never had luck with plumbago though....
Oh ouch! I'm so sorry. That is a heartbreak. I know, it will grow back but it is so hard to see.
Tina, are you getting yourself out of there, and breathing clean air!
Thanks All The plants will survive they always do but it is so hard to cut them down. Wtupid volcano!!!!!!!!
Jenn - All but a few of my potted plants are undercover and not affected. The ones I left out don't seem to mind the ash or acid rain. It has never damaged them. But I still dig out the ash and wash them really good. We never run the ash through the filter we vacuum it straight out of the pool, I just throw the pool hose over the side of the wall and gravity pulls the water through creating the suction so it never goes through the filter.
Christi - Yes plus doing a few other things. lol. How is the weather in Texas. Before we moved here I lived in Arlington. Off of I20. Our most of our kids live in Arlington.
Cocoloba - Thank You so much for the offer. My Plumerias will be ok. They usually drop their leaves but they have always come back. I would put the 2 by the pool under cover but the pots they are in weigh to much..their concrete. I will have to let you know the next time I am in Antigua I would love to see all your plants. I make a day trip of there 2 or 3 times a year.
Dave - No Worries Mon, This only happens when a tropical wave comes through, the winds come from the south-southeast and blows the stuff over my house. When the winds are blowing in that direction I stay in my shut up house & don't want to breath the stuff. If I have to work in it I wear a mask & goggles. The gases are not at a dangerous level. When the upper level ash mixes with rain it creates the acid rain, I will not go out in it, you should see what it did to my leather jacket (when we first got here). Anyway 98% of the time all this mess stays a good distance away from my house, that other 2% I find thing to do in the house under the winds switch back and they go in another direction.
Extranjera - Yes it is heartbreaking and hard. Today a friend came over and finish cutting everything back because it was getting to me. I probably looked really silly out there cutting plants with my mask and goggles crying like a baby. But he is a fellow gardener and understands.
Take Care
Tina
Such devastation! I was heartbroken when a white bird of paradise I planted 6 months ago got some fungus that finally killed it. I will replant another one in memory of your losses.
Keep on digging.
Sylvain.
Good Morning and am hoping things will be better today.
How often does this happen?
Is it really worth living there? Bet your kids wouldn't mind if you came back!
Hap
I live less than 20 miles from The Parks in Arlington. You know exactly what I am speaking about when I say heat. I'm such a wimp only one episode of ash and I would be on a plane. Easy to see my lack of adventure, we have lived in the same house since Feb. 1967. Only thing about it or the lot that is the same is the address. Have always admired those with courage to move to different parts of the world. Still thinking of you and Katiebear with the hurricanes.
We are cleaning out the little 8X6 greenhouse and the tool barn today to put the tropicals inside. Supposed to be in the 40's by tomorrow night. As you know, we have summer and winter. No transitional seasons in Texas.
Christi
Hi, everyone.
A cold front is expected to move over Florida today. Temperatures will plumett in the low 70s. We'll keep an extra blanket at the foot of the bed, just in case.
Sylvain.