Tropical Storm Isaac

Some damage after a "normal" storm last weekend

As of 8 am this morning, we are tracking Tropical Storm Isaac, which is currently 225 miles South\Southeast of Puerto Rico. He is moving west @ 13mph and has sustained winds of 40mph.  The track of the storm shows Isaac to be just south of the Florida Keys around 2 AM Monday morning, with it staying west of mainland South Florida and then passing into the Gulf.  While the report is showing that we should not get a direct hit, we are still preparing as though it will hit us directly.  With that being said if it does pass into the gulf, South Florida will be in the NE quadrant of the storm, which (usually) means a lot of rain.

 

More damage from last weekend's storm

 Here at the Club we take all sorts of necessary precautions to prepare for and ultimately clean up after any storm that comes our way. From getting our irrigation computer and other electronics away from windows, which are covered with plastic, to pulling in flag sticks and tee markers from the course to avoid projectiles.  We follow a comprehensive plan to make sure we are prepared for the worst while expecting the best. One of the key procedures we perform is getting our machines inside the Honda Building next to our maintenance yard, or in the main storage building. We will also leave our front-end loader and back-ho parked in the middle of our yard away from the possibility of a tree falling on and disabling it.  By doing this we will be assured it is available for use after the storm as it is be our most important pieces of equipment for clean up. These practices will assure us to be in the best possible position to attack the golf course after a big storm. We will have everything ready well in advance of the storm, and our most important members of our team, the employees, need to be available to take care of their families also.  We normally let the personnel go 24 hours in advance and ask them to report roughly 24 hours after the storm passes.

 

We here in South Florida are not strangers to heavy storms, as we deal with heavy rain and thunderstorms on a weekly basis it seems like.  The duration and uncertainty lead to the dangers of these tropical events.  South Florida know the routine that comes with these storm scenarios and are all grateful for the technology that allows us to track these storms from the time they are born out over the Atlantic . The wonderful people at the National Hurricane Center have been on top of TS Isaac since the end of last week. I mention this because this is the 20-year anniversary of one of the most destructive storms of all time Hurricane Andrew and the ability to monitor these events has improved in leaps and bounds since Andrew.  

Minor bunker washout after last weekend's storm

 

Please take the time to keep an eye on the news and weather websites to be as prepared as possible and we will all be ready if Isaac decides to make a stop here in South Florida .  This blog and TPC Eagle Trace Facebook page will be updated continually throughout the weekend as the storm progresses.

 

Here is a link to the tracking page that we use here at the club.

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at201209_5day.html