Ike Makes Landfall

Ike Radar Hurricane Ike made landfall at Galveston, Texas at 2:10 a.m. this morning. Maximum sustained winds were 110 miles per hour, just one mph less than a Category 3 strom. High surge, wind, heavy rains, tornadoes, widespread flooding, massive power outages, and fires were the main news stories overnight.

As many as 1200 calls for rescue were received from people who did not evacuate. Most were told they would have to wait until conditions improved. Officials are trying to get out to complete rescues, as well as, to assess the damage. Of particular concern is the status of the oil and chemical plants, and the skyscrapers in downtown Houston.

As you can see from radar, Ike is still dealing a heavy punch to the area this morning. As of the 8:00 a.m. CDT advisory, it was a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds near 90 mph. Additional weakening is expected throughout the day, but Ike could remain a hurricane into this afternoon. Hurricane force winds extend out 125 miles, with tropical storm force up to 260 miles. Although not as powerful of a storm, Ike had a larger wind field than Katrina.

Ike will be making a turn to the northeast sometime later today. This will take the storm to areas of the midwest that are already soaked from heavy rains due to a stalled front. Ike will meet up with a cold front and bring additional heavy rains.

Obviously, all of the TV news stations will be bringing more information and videos as it becomes available. This will be my last report on Ike. Thank you for reading.

Bike Week on Panama City Beach

Many of you know already, but some friends of mine started a full-fledged events planning company and invited me along. Tropic Thunder Events consists of experts from many fields combined with one love – to boost tourism in Panama City Beach by providing awesome things to do.

With myriad events in the works including a classic car show, classic car auction, BBQ Cook-Off and a motorcycle event that will happen in 2 short weeks, we are looking forward to doing our part to boost tourism on Panama City Beach.

Ok, so about the Bike Week. Others in the area have done a phenomenal job in the past of bringing tens of thousands of people to the beach during some of the slowest weekends of the season. Tropic Thunder Events’ goal is to help encourage even more people to come to the World’s Most Beautiful Beaches on some of these slow weekends by hosting events that will attract people to our area. Bike Week has traditionally been one of those events. This year, Tropic Thunder Events introduces its own Bike Week during the week of September 25-28. With the addition of five Unofficial Tropic Thunder Events Venues including Club La Vela, Mellow Mushroom, Dirty Dicks Crab House, and all of the Ms. Newby’s locations, the biker party is sure to be enormous. With our increased marketing efforts, this year’s Bike Week will be the biggest Panama City Beach has ever seen.

Click here for a schedule of events at all our venues!

In October, Tropic Thunder will host the Southeastern BBQ Fest Cook-Off Competition. This will be a professionally sanctioned and judged event of the Florida Barbecue Association. This event is one of only 18 annual competitions sanctioned by the Florida Barbeque Association in the USA. The event will take place at Frank Brown Park on October 24-26, 2008.

Tropic Thunder Events has teamed up with the Emerald Coast Cruizin group to bring the second annual Big Boys Toys Classic Car Auction at Frank Brown Park. The auction will be the same weekend as the colossal Emerald Coast Cruizin Classic Car Show, that Tropic Thunder, of course, will also be promoting. The 2007 Car Auction was a huge success with hundreds of cars sold and thousands in attendance.

Emerald Coast Cruizin’s Classic Car Show, to take place at Frank Brown Park, will feature thousands of classic hot rods from all over the US and Canada. With over 100 top-name vendors, there is sure to be plenty to see and buy. Scheduled is a 30 mile “Beach Cruise”, events ranging from live music to a parade, and much, much more. For details, visit www.EmeraldCoastCruizin.com.

For more information about Tropic Thunder Events, visit www.TropicThunderEvents.com. Also, if you are a vendor, we still have vendor positions available, give us a call at 877-448-7674 to secure your position!

Oh yea, and the legalese, in case you haven’t figured this out yet:

Tropic Thunder Events, Inc. is not affiliated in any way with Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally.

Waiting for Ike

Ike

Residents along the upper-Coast of Texas and western Louisiana can’t do much more but finish preparations and wait for the worst part of Ike. Ike remains a large storm with hurricane force winds extending out 120 miles and tropical storm force winds up to 275 miles.

They are already starting to feel the effects. Water levels, winds, and waves are on the rise. As much as 20 foot of storm surge along with large and battering waves are expected. Waves and water are already covering roadways, even though landfall is still approximately 12 hours away. Southwest Louisiana already has a storm surge of over 9 ft; over 6 ft. in Galveston. The buoy 22 NM east of Galveston is recording 19 ft. waves.

In the local area, things are still trying to calm and are getting better as time goes by. Things should be back to normal by the weekend.

Other Ike Pics: Here are some photos that were sent to me by Jan Nonog. Jan wrote, “These were taken yesterday evening around 4.30pm to 5 at Tyndall AFB Beach. The whole beach was flooded right back to the boardwalk, normally it takes 2 or 3 minutes to walk to the water from there.” Thank you Jan for sharing!!

Dude, a Bay County Poker Run

Bay County to host Poker Run

Bay County employees will host a Poker Run Saturday, Sept. 13 to benefit the county’s Habitat for Humanity project.

While a healthy turnout of motorcyclists is anticipated, all vehicles are welcome in an event that will lead participants on a trek to sites throughout the county. At each site, the rider collects a card until a five-card hand is gathered.

Registration for the Poker Run starts at 9 a.m. at the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort, and the event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Stops along the way include Mulligan’s Sports Bar & Grille in Panama City, Ruby Rumrunners at Mexico Beach, Granny’s Hideaway in Wewahitchka, and the event ends with live music, games, food and prizes at H.G. Harders Recreation Complex.

The cost is $10 per rider and additional hands cost $5. Players can purchase a redraw for $5.

For more information, please call Valerie Lovett at 784-6198.

Legendary Surfer Shaun Tomson in Panama City Beach

Tomson to Attend Special Showing of Award-Winning
Surfing Documentary ‘Bustin’ Down the Door’

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 10, 2008) — World champion surfer, Shaun Tomson, will be in Panama City Beach, Fla. to attend the showing of “Bustin’ Down the Door” – an award-winning documentary about a pivotal period in the history of surfing. A hit at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, the film documents the rise of surfing as a professional sport.

“Bustin’ Down the Door” will have a special showing in Panama City Beach, Mon., Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m., at the Grand 16 Theater, located at 500 South Pier Park, Panama City Beach, FL 32413. Tomson, the film’s co-producer, will introduce the film and head a question-and-answer session. Fans attending the showing will be able to get free posters autographed by Tomson.

The film will air in select locations throughout Florida in advance of the Surf Expo, taking place in Orlando, Sept. 10-14.

Narrated by Edward Norton, the acclaimed film takes a look at a dramatic moment in history, during the winter of 1975 in Hawaii, when a group of young South African and Australian surfers sacrificed everything for a dream and changed the sport of surfing forever.

“Bustin’ Down The Door” chronicles a tumultuous two-year period of competitive and cultural clashes in the mid-1970’s in the surfing Mecca of Hawaii’s North Shore of Oahu where a crew of six surfers from Australia and South Africa arrive and set out to change the world of surfing. Framed around the emerging careers of former professional surfers and world champions Shaun Tomson, Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew and Mark Richards, the film documents how these young men risked everything to become the world’s best surfers. Viewers will see how their determination and vision began a cultural revolution that led to the birth of professional surfing and ultimately to today’s billion-dollar surfing industry.

As a competitor, Tomson’s consistency and longevity marked one of the most prolific careers in professional surfing. He became South Africa’s most successful surfer, winning the country’s largest event, the Gunston 500, six times in a row and taking the World Title in 1977. Tomson has been called the greatest tube rider of all time and was named as one of the 25 most influential surfers of the century (Surfer, 1999) and one of the 16 greatest surfers of all time (Surfing, 2004).

Australian Mark Richards redefined the limits of performance surfing on the North Shore of Hawaii. In 1976, he won the richest event on the fledgling IPS professional tour, the Coke Surfabout in Sydney. Richards began shaping his own boards that year and developed a revolutionary, short, winged swallow twin-fin design that perfectly suited his particular style. His swooping turns earned him the nickname “The Wounded Gull.” By 1979, with the twin-fin perfected, he won the World Title and for four consecutive years dominated the World Tour, winning in every type of surf. Today, Richards is considered one of the world’s best and most innovative surfboard shapers.

Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew burst onto the international scene in the winter of 1975. Professional surfing was still just a dream back then, but Bartholomew had the vision and the attitude to make it a reality. His article “Bustin’ Down the Door,” published in Surfer Magazine in 1976, is the inspiration for the film. Bartholomew was crowned World Champion in 1978 and remained in the Top Five for seven consecutive years.

Directed by Jeremy Gosch, and produced by Shaun Tomson, Monika Gosch and Robert Traill, the film, was shot on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii and features iconic surf footage from the best of the mid-1970’s films as well as a period soundtrack that includes music artists Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and Leonard Cohen. Included among the many notable surfers and pros interviewed for the documentary are: Ian Cairns, Peter Townend, Michael Tomson, Tom Curren, Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Barry Kanaiaupuni and “Fast Eddie” Rothman.

For more information about the film and to view the trailer visit http://www.bustindownthedoor.com.

4:00 p.m. CDT Ike Update

9/11/08 Ike Satellite

As of the 4:00 pm CDT advisory from the National Hurricane Center, the center of Ike is about 400 miles ESE of Galveston, Texas. The center is expected to reach the upper-Texas coast by late Friday. Coastal storm surge of more than 20 feet is expected near and to east of where the center makes landfall. In addition, as much as 15 inches of rain is forecasted for some areas.

Hopefully, all people in the area are securing their property and evacuating. Galveston, the site of the U.S.’s worst Hurricane death toll, is especially vulnerable to coastal flooding and erosion. It is a beautiful coastal town which some are betting will become the “Long Island of Texas”. The downtown area has many old Victorian homes and buildings that have stood the test of time.

The coast of Galveston is very similiar to the Atlantic coast of Florida. The houses sit far back from the water at a higher elevation from the beach. This creates a serious problem where the earth under houses erode quite significantly. To help the problem, many use a product called a Geo-Tube, which is a essentially a very long, and very tall, sand bag. The Geo-Tube is buried in the ground to protect from washout.

In the local area, the Gulf appears to be calming somewhat as we approach low tide. It will be a few days before things get back to normal. Hopefully, when the water recedes back to its normal level, our beach will build back easily. Only time will tell.

Hurricane Ike taking away our beach!

With Ike in the Gulf, our seas are very rough. Offshore, swells are exceeding 25 feet with seas 8 to 12 feet in shore. Seas aren’t expected to come down until Sunday.

View in HD

I was at Treasure Island Condominiums earlier and there is no beach between the building and the water. The surf is crashing up against the building and lapping at the pilings of beach homes. After Gustov, we had a little erosion, but we were told at the TDC meeting Tuesday that it would build back naturally. We’ll see after this system moves through. The dock by my house was almost completely covered and boats at a local marina are looking a little high.

Stay tuned to pcbdaily.com for all updates for Hurricane Ike.

What Were They Thinking?

	I don’t know what these two were thinking. I saw them enter the water near the Rick Seltzer Park. They tried very hard to make it out, but couldn’t even get past the first breaking surf line. It didn’t take much time at all and they were already out of the water. It looked like they had enough and were calling it a day.
	See, even locals can make some bad judgments at times. Well, who could blame them.
	Do you know it is only a single red flag day?
	Other pictures: Anyone from the area who has some interesting pics, send them to me at cdurta@att.net. I would like to get some from the other areas around the county.

First Light – Hurricane Ike Update

Well, it is 6 a.m., which is right about high tide. I am awakened to the roar of the waves and can tell without even looking that the situation has changed significantly overnight. It is still a bit dark, but from what I can see the water is covering most of the beach and moving fast. It appears that some has even come passed our fence line and into our “yard”. The surf is very rough. The buoy south of Panama City that I reported as recording 10 feet wave heights yesterday, is now showing over 24 feet.

Ike Surface Wind Field

The 4 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricance Center read in part,

AT 400 AM CDT…0900Z…THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IKE WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 25.2 NORTH…LONGITUDE 87.6 WEST OR ABOUT 620 MILES…995 KM…EAST OF BROWNSVILLE TEXAS AND ABOUT 285 MILES…460 KM… SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

IKE IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 9 MPH…15 KM/HR. A GENERAL WEST-NORTHWESTWARD MOTION OVER THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO IS EXPECTED TODAY AND FRIDAY. ON THIS TRACK THE CENTER WILL BE APPROACHING THE NORTHWESTERN GULF OF MEXICO COAST LATE FRIDAY.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 100 MPH…160 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER GUSTS. IKE IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE…AND IT COULD INTENSIFY INTO A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE OVER THE NEXT DAY OR TWO.

IKE IS A LARGE TROPICAL CYCLONE. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 115 MILES…185 KM…FROM THE CENTER…AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 255 MILES…410 KM.

AN AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER PLANE REPORTED A MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE OF 946 MB…27.94 INCHES.

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 3 TO 5 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS…ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES…CAN BE EXPECTED WITHIN THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING AREA. ABOVE NORMAL TIDES OF 2 TO 4 FEET ARE EXPECTED ELSEWHERE ALONG MUCH OF THE NORTHERN COAST OF THE GULF OF MEXICO DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO…BUT WILL BE INCREASING ALONG THE WESTERN GULF COAST AS IKE APPROACHES.

We’ll see what the day brings and update later.

Tapestry Park Cinema to Play Alvin and the Chipmunks

Close out Tapestry Park Cinema with Alvin, Simon & Theodore

PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL (September 9, 2008) – Join Tapestry Park as we welcome the fall with the final installment of Tapestry Park Cinema on Friday, September 26th. This month’s feature film brings three singing chipmunks to the giant 16-foot screen in Savannah Park. Tapestry Park Cinema will also be offering a cash-only concession stand.

Tapestry Park began hosting this four-part event series in June and has seen tremendous support from the community at large. Tapestry Park is currently seeking local businesses interested in sponsoring Tapestry Park Cinema, and other community events, in 2009. The Tapestry Park community hopes to host this event and add additional educational/cultural events that promote a community atmosphere, and is looking for partners to allow family-friendly events to continue into the future. To inquire about event sponsorships at Tapestry Park, please contact Adam Shiland by calling 850.428.0825.

“Everyone who has taken part in our events have thoroughly enjoyed their experiences,” said Mark Tanney, the developer of Tapestry Park. “I know that there are businesses in the area that see the benefit of supporting these programs and in return they will receive tremendous exposure to our guests.”

The final screening will begin at 8:00 p.m.; however, guests are encouraged to arrive early to secure their spot on the lawn. The cash-only concession stand will feature popcorn, sodas, juices and bottled water. Tapestry Park will be collecting pop tabs from all sodas purchased at the event. All collected tabs will be dropped off at the Ronald McDonald House of Northwest Florida to support their Pop Tab Program.

For more information on Tapestry Park, visit the community online at tapestrypark.com or call us at 850.234.3339. Tapestry Park is located on Clara Avenue, between Hutchinson Boulevard and Hwy 98, in the heart of Panama City Beach. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Savannah Park.
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ABOUT TAPESTRY PARK

Born out of the search for the ideal family neighborhood, Tapestry Park introduces a new approach to the planned community in Panama City Beach, Florida – where owners control the design of their home. Open parks, wide sidewalks, and neighborhood friendliness draw people from all walks of life, and diverse architecture sustains a feeling of individuality. Designed to be primary residences, Tapestry Park offers the permanence of a traditional neighborhood with the beauty of a vacation town setting. For more information, visit http://www.tapestrypark.com.