Category Archives: Weather

Hurricane Andrew was record-breaking, Irma is much worse

Seth Borenstein, NBC Miami, 8 September 2017, Hurricane Andrew Was a Monster; Irma Could Blow It Out of the Water: Andrew, “an incredible buzz saw giant tornado of a hurricane,” killed 65 people; Irma is much larger,


Satellite imagery of Hurricane Andrew (inset, at left) from Aug. 23, 1992, is digitally superimposed, to scale, over imagery of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 7, 2017.
Photo credit: NOAA

At the time, Andrew was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history with damages of $26.5 billion in 1992 dollars (about $50 billion in current dollars), according to the National Weather Service.

“The effect of Irma on the state of Florida is going to be much greater than Andrew’s effect,” said Continue reading →

Videos: CDBG, Seago retracted, road crossing closures, CDBG, GEMA, and public safety radios @ LCC 2017-01-24

It’s great they’re talking early about the CDBG grant for Habitat for Humanity and maybe some others, but they can’t get any state or local grants until the county finishes feuding with all the cities in the county about tax distribution. They spent second most time on the Kinderlou Road CSX RR crossing closure. Seago rezoning was withdrawn by the applicant. For Emergency Manager Ashley Tye’s report on tornado damage, see the videos of the previous morning’s Work Session. See also the agenda.

Below are links to each LAKE video of the 2017-01-24 Regular Session, with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist. Continue reading →

Videos: Seago back again, road crossing closures, CDBG, GEMA, and public safety radios @ LCC 2017-01-23

Lowndes County had no fatailities or major injuries from the recent storm, but our neighbors to the west and north were not so lucky, reported Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye. They vote tonight at 5:30 PM on is no longer on the agenda, but not on the Seago rezoning, because the applicant withdrew it. They can talk about CDBG funding, because of “all the circumstances”, namely that the county is feuding with all the cities in the county about tax distribution, and can’t apply for any state or federal grants until that is resolved. They adjourned to executive session to discuss litigation: does that mean they’re going to sue the cities about tax distribution all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court again?

Below are Continue reading →

Seago back again, road crossing closures, CDBG, GEMA, and public safety radios @ LCC 2017-01-23

This morning at 8:30 AM we’ll probably hear a storm report from Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye. And back on the agenda for the third time, REZ-2016-21 Seago, 4678 US Hwy 41 S, still trying to buy a bit of adjoining land to get up to the minimum acreage: see the LAKE videos of the previous regular session, which link to all the previous stuff.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Water, VSU bonds, 3 road abandonments, 1 widening, MIDS bus, Comprehensive Plan @ LCC 2016-10-11

Two weeks ago, County Manager Joe Pritchard announced that Commissioner Joyce Evans is now serving as Vice Chairman, yes, the resolution to approve the VSU bonds was requested by the South Regional Joint Development Authority (SRJDA), and John Stevens is the new VDT reporter. Citizen Shirley Moore said she’d like a connection to county water and sewer. They tabled the Comprehensive Plan update, apparently because the Commissioners wanted to “dig into it deeper”.

The rest was mostly approving what they already discussed the previous morning. They meet again Monday morning.

Below are links to each LAKE video with a few notes, followed by a video playlist.

Continue reading →

Videos: Art, hurricane, engineering reports, VSU bonds, 3 road abandonments, 1 widening, MIDS bus, Comprehensive Plan @ LCC 2016-10-10

The Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline and others already in the county came up in the Comprehensive Plan approval discussion, as you can see in these LAKE Videos from Monday morning; they vote tonight 5:30 PM.

Stephen Spradley and Georgia Forestry were still helping after Hurricane Matthew, but Ashley Tye reported on evacuees, Chad McLeod reported on engineering projects including the Naylor Boat Ramp at the Alapaha River, and Angela Crance reported on an art district; actually Buddy Boswell did that.

They also heard about a self storage rezoning, three road abandonments, a road widening, the annual MIDS bus service renewal, and a county resolution about bonds for another private LLC by the South Regional Joint Development Authority (SRJDA), different from the one with the public hearing October 21st at a private law firm. What does the resolution say? It’s not in the documents with the agenda.

Below are links to each LAKE video with a few notes, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →

Videos: Forestry, river gage, abandon two roads, dedicate another @ LCC 2015-09-21

They vote this evening, about right now. Here are videos of yesterday morning’s Work Session. The Forestry report referred to a report that the public can’t see. What the forestry rep reported was mostly numbers of burn permits.

County Manager Joe Pritchard had to stop Chairman Bill Slaughter from adjourning so he could say: “Friday afternoon we received a request for electronic signalling at highway 41.” County Engineer Mike Fletcher elaborated that it was a railroad pre-empt that would not allow for left turns onto Tillman Crossing when there’s a train. Request came from Norfolk Southern. Chairman agreed to add it to the agenda, then they adjourned.

The annual continued funding for the Little River USGS stream gage at GA 122 costs $400 more this year. Commissioner Marshall wanted to know what happened with the automated gage reporting system he thought they voted for previously, that would send reports when the gage was high. County Manager Joe Pritchard said that was actually the SCADA system for the county’s wells and sewage lift stations. Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker wanted to know how this gage operates. Box on bridge, tube down into river, monitors height and flow, reported through a cell phone, real time data on the web. It’s been there long enough to establish flood stages and advanced warning levels so people can protect their property.

The Abandonment of a portion of Spain Ferry Road and Kinderlou Clyattville Road turns out to be from Continue reading →

River gage, abandon two roads, dedicate another @ LCC 2015-09-21

This morning at 8:30 AM, USGS Funding Agreement for HWY 122 Stream Gauge continue funding for Little River USGS stream gage at GA 122, Abandonment of a portion of Spain Ferry Road and Kinderlou Clyattville Road because “the county has received a request” from whom wasn’t said, Dedicate a portion of Shiloh Road to whom or what wasn’t said. Plus GEMA Sheltering Memorandum of Agreement “for the sheltering of evacuees from Coastal Georgia and/or Florida in the event those areas are threatened by a hurricane”. Plus Declaration of Surplus Items and Authorization to Sell on GovDeals.com.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2015, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015,  5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Valdosta Wastewater presentation to Greenlaw, Save Our Suwannee, SRWMD, Hamilton Co., and WWALS 2015-03-17

Due to requests from Greenlaw in Atlanta and Save Our Suwannee in Florida, WWALS Watershed Coalition asked the City of Valdosta for a presentation on their wastewater situation. Valdosta presented less than two weeks later, and brought their entire hierarchy related to this issue, from the mayor on down. Plus Lowndes County, which isn’t even responsible for Valdosta’s wastewater, was represented by their Chairman and a Commissioner. Not all questions could be answered that quickly, but many were.

The slides are on the LAKE website and the videos are on the LAKE YouTube channel; see below. See also Valdosta’s Sanitary Sewer System Improvements web page.

At the meeting, clockwise from Tim Carroll (introducing), were: Continue reading →

Anti-tethering ordinance proposal by Dr. Amanda Hall and others @ LCC 2015-01-27

All the anti-tethering videos from the Monday morning 26 January 2015 Work Session (presentation by Dr. Amanda Hall) and the Tuesday evening 27 January 2015 Regular Session (four citizens and the Chairman) of the Lowndes County Commission. More details from the VDT 24 January 2015 and 28 January 2015, and see the Break the Chains facebook page. Continue reading →