Ocean Point

[comdude21 6]

jacqulina: Thanks for the compliments.

To All: The hurricane updates will continue today. What will happen with the storm? Will it hit Ocean Point head-on, or miss the city in a close call? The answer won't come until this afternoon or this evening, when the hurricane makes landfall.

[comdude21 6]

Posting the Page 32 TOC:

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Whoa, that's cool. I think it's my first time posting here, and yes, that looks all dark and stuff.

May I recommend that you do not have mayor names on, and borders on when taking region views for something like this, otherwise it looks weird.

Ocean Point's great, too.

[dhoppeii 12]

Hey, the lesson on coastal flooding was pretty cool.....I don't think it is unrealistic to change the time and/or of landfall for the Hurricane.  Perhaps it just stalled out for a few hours....you never know....

[The Big Z 103]

I can't wait to see what happens when the Hurricane makes land fall! *twitches anxiously*

[comdude21 6]

Shadow_Assassin: Thanks for the compliments dude. As for the mayor names/city boundaries, they're only on there for a couple of reasons. If you're referring the the pictures with the clouds, I kept the names/boundaries on to show where the area was through the clouds, and because I had to take the picture quickly before the clouds moved away. I usually do turn them off anyways, but thanks for pointing that out.

dhoppeii: Thanks for the compliments, and it's great to see you liked the lesson on coastal flooding! I'd call myself an amateur weather watcher, so that's where the lesson came from. And you're definately right, hurricanes do stall out, make loops, etc. So that's my explanation for the delayed landfall time.

Z: Thanks. I'll try to make the landfall as cool as I can.

To All:

Route 99 area, eastern Pinewood Banks:



Even farther inland from the river, the floodwaters have been unbelievable in some places:

[RadioheadFan 1]

Wow...I'm guessing that the flooding is being made with the rain mod? Hard to believe that even those larger apartment buildings were submerged...

RHF

[comdude21 6]

RHF: Yes, the flooding is from the rain mod. It takes a lot of clicks with the mod to get the kind of storm surge that I'm getting here, but the low elevation doesn't hurt either.

To All: What will be shown next will show what this hurricane is starting to do in the region. The eye is closing in on making landfall, and the region is currently being buffeted by sustained winds out of the northeast at 105 MPH, with gusts to 130 MPH. It is likely that major wind damage is already occuring in the region.

However, in South Baytown, the storm surge may be too great in some places for the wind to even damage any buildings. That's because those buildings are now underwater.

DEVASTATION OCCURING IN SOUTH BAYTOWN

A combination of the Marshland Bay storm surge, already up to 14.0 feet, and the flooding Pinewood River are destroying parts of this town

It just keeps getting worse and worse.

Out on the Pinewood Neck, where the elevation is about five feet above sea level and there are no sand dunes to protect the land from the bay and the river, massive coastal flooding is already occuring. This area may become the hardest hit area in the entire region, due to the extreme flooding that is currently worsening there.

First, here's a picture from earlier in the storm. It shows how the houses built up on pilings will survive the storm, while the houses built on ground level will not. This picture is from northwestern South Baytown.



Currently, the flooding is extreme and worsening in South Baytown. This area is actually a decent distance from the Pinewood River in central South Baytown, but it's still getting massive flooding:



On the Pinewood River, in the southeastern part of town, the flooding is incredible. The Ferryside Waterfront Complex and Hotel, centered around the South Baytown Ferry Station, is currently under about 20 feet of water.



Here is the border of South Baytown and Ocean Point, showing the South Baytown side. This is on the eastern side of town, where the elevation is very low. The flooding is absolutely unbeleivable in this area.



Here is a zoomed-out picture of the devastated area above and its surrounding neighborhood:




Information on the hurricane: At this time, it appears that North Beach will be spared with minor wind damage and less coastal flooding than all of the other areas in the region. It looks like the hurricane will make landfall just south of the region. Since the northern side of the storm is by far the most violent in this hurricane (The winds blow onshore as opposed to offshore on the north side of a Northern Hemisphere hurricane), areas just north of the hurricane's eye, including Crosstown, South Shores, South Inlet, Pinewood Banks, South Baytown and Ocean Point will most likely become the hardest hit areas in the region. Time will tell as to where the storm will track, and where its greatest path of damage will be.

[thatmonkeysim 8]

wow thats some terrible flooding....

how are you gonna do the wind damage??

[comdude21 6]

TMS: For the wind damage, I'll use the tornado disaster. I won't just wipe out cities, though. I'll just have a tornado over a small area, to flatten some wind damage-prone buildings such as mobile homes. I'll also flatten out some weaker homes on the oceanfront, where the wind is the strongest. And I'll also have to blow down some trees.

To All: The hurricane is moving a bit to the north. It appears that it will make landfall over the southern part of the region. Ocean Point may be spared from major flooding. The high sand dunes on it's ocean beach are holding up well in the hurricane, although the ocean is starting to crash over them and onto the streets of downtown Ocean Point. However, it looks like the water won't get deeper then a few or several feet in downtown, which is great news there.

South Baytown may end up being the hardest hit town in the storm. Crosstown and South Shores may also become the hardest hit. The wind is just starting to really cause extensive damage, so time will tell as to how much wind damage the region will endure.

The hurricane's current status and position:

Location: 40 miles southeast of Ocean Point
Sustained Winds: 150 MPH
Wind Gusts: 175 MPH
Pressure: 930.2 MB
Category: 4
Marshland Bay Storm Surge: 16.8 Feet

The Marshland Bay storm surge is expected to continue rising to around 20 feet or so.

Pinewood River stages (Includes storm surge):

Listed as Normal Stage/Flood Stage/Current Stage

in feet

Great Bend: 12.4/16.0/28.6
Pinewood Shoals: 16.9/21.4/36.9
Pinewood Banks: 19.1/25.3/40.2
South Baytown: 24.7/30.1/55.7
Ocean Point: 29.5/33.9/56.1

Records for each station:

Great Bend: 30.0
Pinewood Shoals: 38.4
Pinewood Banks: 41.7
South Baytown: Current state (55.7) is the record
Ocean Point: Current state (56.1) is the record

[RadioheadFan 1]

This is definitely not good...glad to see that North Beach will be spared, but Ocean Point seems to be in the line of fire...

RHF

[helomoto 28]

Great update, and good water effects.

[comdude21 6]

RHF: North Beach isn't out of the woods just yet. The hurricane is making a slight turn to the north. If the eye wall, the most intense part of the hurricane located just outside of the eye, effects as far north as North Beach, there could be some major problems there. That would include winds of 130-150 MPH+, which would probably cause major wind damage there.

In Ocean Point, 150 MPH+ winds are likely. How well the city will be able to handle the exteme winds is unknown. Hurricanes of this strength usually don't come nearly as far north as this region, so most of the buildings aren't very well protected from hurricanes. Time will tell in Ocean Point, and hopefully, when the sun comes up tomorrow morning, the city will still be there.

helomoto: Thanks for the compliments. I'm glad you like the flooding stuff I've done to simulate a storm surge. Of course, SC4 could never even nearly do justice to a real hurricane, but I'll try to get as close as I can get.

To All: There may be some more pictures of the storm surge flooding tonight. The eye of the hurricane is expected to make landfall tomorrow afternoon. Until then, the storm surge will continue to wreak havoc on the region, along with extremely powerful winds.

OPI's weather station was taken down before the storm to prevent any damage to it, so it's not relaying any weather conditions. However, some private weather stations reporting to the internet have already registered wind gusts of over 100 MPH in the Ocean Point area. As the winds continue to increase, these weather stations will almost definately blow away, putting everyone in the dark as far as how fast the winds really get.

[jacqulina 162]

great update

[comdude21 6]

jacqulina: Thanks.

To All: Here is an update showing the increasing flooding in Great Bend.

MAJOR FLOODING IN GREAT BEND

Great Bend, located about four miles up the Pinewood River, is only expected to see about a 5-9 foot storm surge as compared to the forecasted 20 foot storm surge on the lower river and Marshland Bay. Still, 10-15 inches of rain both in the area and continuing well upstream will be enough to cause major flooding in the first place. Since a lot of rain still hasn't fallen and flown through this area, the Pinewood River, isn't expected to crest until tomorrow morning (The hurricane is forecasted to make landfall this afternoon or early evening).

Great Bend's Pinewood River Stages:

Current Stage: 30.4 Feet
Normal Stage: 12.0 Feet
Flood Stage: 16.0 Feet
Record: 30.4 Feet sets a new record for Great Bend, breaking the old record of 30.0 Feet.

Forecasted Crest: 36.3 Feet at 3 AM Tomorrow.

Here is a picture of the river north of downtown Great Bend:



The Ferry Station in southern Great Bend, on the east side of the river:



The Ferry Station in central great bend, also on the east side of the river:



The forecasted additional six foot rise for the Pinewood River in Great Bend would wipe out even more buildings there.

[RadioheadFan 1]

Man...Downtown Great Bend looks pretty submerged as is...

RHF

[ScottFTL 29]

This is a really original idea, Comdude.

The photos look much better now that they are darker. As someone who went through 3 hurricanes last year - yay, Florida! - I can tell you this looks more like the real thing.

I especially liked the washed-out avenue in one of those pics. Very realistic indeed.

I imagine the local Home Depots and Lowes have been out of plywood and batteries for days - and the local grocery stores will have no water or non-perhishable foods in stock.

How is the power holding out? Widespread outages yet?

I hope you are planning for the hurricane to make an unexpected zig or zag at the last minute. They never hit exactly where predicted, you know!

[kingofsimcity 5,739]

Wow, I still can't wait for downtown ocean point major flood 30 stories high...reminds me of the Day after tomorrow...

[comdude21 6]

RHF: Well, most of the buildings in downtown Great Bend are doing fine for now. Six more feet of water there could come up to the first story windows (There are mostly 2-7 story buildings there), but that's about it. Other parts of Great Bend have either been wiped out, or will be, including some of the riverside neighborhoods near downtown, the ferry stations, the Great Bend Country Club, and much of Great Bend's large industrial park on the other side of the river.

ScottFTL: Thanks for the compliments and the great input; it's great to hear from someone who knows what a hurricane is really like! You and MayorTim are probably the only ones in this thread who have been through hurricanes, although I kind of have (Hurricane Floyd was a borderline tropical storm/hurricane when it came through New Jersey, where I live, in 1999). I can remember incredible rains- there was about 10-15 inches of rain, lots of flooding, and a lot of branches and twigs blown off of trees. I'm sure it was much worse at the coast, but I live in interior NJ.

It's great to hear that this looks like a real hurricane, from somebody who's been through them. Yep, the Home Depots, Lowes, Wal-Marts, etc. ran out of plywood a few days ago. In fact, most of the sims in the region had to go outside of the region to find plywood to board up their windows. Batteries can't be found anymore, but due to the huge percent of sims evacuating from the region (89% evacuated from the island, and 68% evacuated from the entire region), they took longer to go then the plywood.

The shelves were cleared from all of the grocery stores, at least as it pertains to bread and water. There probably isn't any available bread or water in Ocean Point for 20 miles.

The power is done, at least on the island, where it's pitch black at night. Even on the mainland, very few customers have power, and most of them are in the inland areas, such as Pinewood Township. However, when the eyewall comes ashore and brings the hurricane's strongest winds, the entire region's power supply is expected to go out.

As for the hurricane's track, I'll get to that here, in the hurricane information below. You're right about that, and this hurricane will be no exception as far as a crazy track is concerned.

Again, thanks for the compliments and all of the great input, I really appreciate it.

King: Sorry, it's not going to happen. Downtown Ocean Point is well enough protected from the storm that only a few feet of water are expected there. I have to be realistic with this.

To All:

Information on the hurricane:


Current Location: 45 miles due east of Ocean Point
Moving Speed/Direction: 6 MPH to the northwest
Sustained Winds: 145 MPH
Wind Gusts: 160 MPH
Minimum Central Pressure: 931.0 MB


A map of the storm's forecast track (This is subject to frequent and significant changes):

[will_silver00 0]

Lol, what a great idea to include in a CJ - the pics of the hurricane look very effective! Man, those stats sound kinda nasty tho , hope the costs and damage to the region hasn't be too bad!!

Great CJ, keep up the exemplary work,

Will

[dhoppeii 12]

This is such a cool idea.  When you started, I was thinking, Ok, how far can he take this.  I gotta admit, it's much farther than what I though.  The  forecasted path of the Hurricane pic is a great touch.....

[comdude21 6]

will_silver: Thanks for the compliments. The hurricane damage will certainly be in the billions (USD), but we'll see how high it goes. Again, thanks for the compliments, they're very much appreciated.

Dhoppeii: Thanks for the compliments. To tell you the truth, I doubted myself that I'd be able to pull this off. I thought that there was only so far that I could go, kind of what you were saying. The rain mod can only go so far, along with what I will do with wind damage, but I couldn't be more satisfied with the way that the rain mod has worked.

To All: The first pictures of Ocean Point, North Beach and Baytown from the storm will come this evening. Also, an updated hurricane forecast track map will be released. At this point in time, it appears that the storm will take more of a turn to the south then was originally expected.

[ScottFTL 29]

Comdude, glad I could chime in with an expert opinion.

I love the hurricane tracking map, but you forgot the cone of probability. There is always the black line which is the most likely path - and usually the path the hurricane is least likelt to follow - then a cone of people that are in danger. I may not be describing it well, but you can check out the NOAA site if you are interested. (We spend way to much time looking at these damn charts down here in sunny Florida!)

You have it spot on with the storm reducing to Category 3 at or near landfall. Then again, there are many instances where these storm unexpectedly got stronger at the last minute. Charley went from a 2 to 4 before hitting Port Charlotte last year. Something to think about...

I wonder what's going to happen next!

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Hmm, looks scary. One thing - I'd join the adjoining city to the edge of the tile - it makes it look realistic, and you don't see that light blue border anymore.

[comdude21 6]

ScottFTL: Thanks for the compliments and input. You're right about the cone. I'll include it in the next map.

I remember when Charley strengthened, because I was glued onto the weather at the time. I was on vacation and watching it on The Weather Channel, because I didn't have access to a computer. This hurricane may be similar to Charley by landfall, which would devastate the region. As a matter of fact, the hurricane is currently strengthening and is almost a Category 5 at the time, with sustained winds estimated at 150-155 MPH. Ocean Point is a big city, and even I'm having trouble imagining what a direct hit by a Category 5 would do to the city.

Shadow_Assassin: Thanks. Your suggestion is great, but the problem is that the flooding is completely different on both sides of the border. The rain mod is pretty much uncontrollable, so it wouldn't look natural with the transition between South Baytown and Ocean Point. It's just not flooding well in Ocean Point. Thanks for the suggestion, though, it would have been nice if I could have done that.

To All:

The hurricane hunter aircraft which has been taking the pictures of the flooding is currently on the ground north of the region, for re-fueling and maintenance. Whether or not there will be another (Or the same) hurricane hunter aircraft tonight remains to be seen. The hurricane should make landfall tomorrow afternoon.

Current hurricane information:

Location: 50 Miles Southeast of Ocean Point
Movement: SW 5 MPH (Almost stalling at the time)
Sustained Winds: 150 MPH (Strong Category 4)
Wind Gusts: 180 MPH
Minimum Central Pressure: 925.8 MB

[oroen 0]

Oh my! I last checked in here right as your were announcing the hurricane. You've made it look so real! I too really like the way you've shown the roads being washed out, and the images of the ferry station gradually going under are nothing short of gorgeous!

/gushing

[comdude21 6]

oroen: Thanks for the compliments. Since I'm going for realism all the way, I really appreciate those compliments. The roads and ferry stations would be the first to go, which I tried to do as best as possible, and I'm really glad you noticed that.

To All:

Here is the latest hurricane track map. The hurricane is now a Category 5, and is headed straight for Ocean Point. However, at this point it could still take a major turn in any direction.

[thatmonkeysim 8]

EDIT: ok so now Ocean point is a direct hit?? AHHH!! runs out of his apartment in Ocean Point...

but now North Beach is in the worst shape well as of now...

[wks2003x 0]

I've never been so excited and pleased to see a hurricane before.    Lookin' good.

[jacqulina 162]

great cant wait for more