Looks like we're now getting a bit of the tail of soon-to-be Ophelia.

Here in Charleston we've had some torrential downpours this morning and afternoon, with winds gusting to 20-25 mph out of the East.

On the plus side, the temp outside is AWESOME at only 75 degrees F. It is normally brutally hot here this time of year.

I see a lot of rain/T-storms sitting off the coast making their way in towards us. Looks like this week will be a washout for any outdoor activities.

The subject of Cat 1 storms is interesting. Last year when we had TS Gaston and Hermine cruise through, most people didn't really expect much, and yet we had lots of flooding and trees down. My out-laws (wife's parents) live on the coast in Murrells Inlet (South of Myrtle Beach), and they had some really tall pines come down and destroy fencing and other structures on their property. One of the felled pines was pretty big. I am hopeful that after people will finally wake up and realize that even Tropical Storms can cause serious damage with wind alone...let alone the flooding rains we experienced. We had to move our vehicles up on to our front lawn since that was the highest ground we had at home. Had to tear down part of our wrought iron fence to do it, but that was cheaper than dealing with underwater Subarus.

Like everyone, I am heartbroken about NoLa. Hopefully this will serve as a wake-up call for the feds (and state) to start being proactive about storm damage prevention. It seems to me that the NHC has done a tremendous job of letting everyone know what sort of damage might be coming their way. People really need to pay attention to them when they speak.

Just my 2 cents from the (s)Lowcountry.

/Anton