In the supermarket yesterday. the only fabricated wheat product left was a package of lady-fingers! All the bread, pasta and crackers were gone! As we are down to the last 4 slices of Pepperidge Farm Cinammon bread, I just baked 3 loaves of regular ol' white-bread (sorry SY).
It's funny. On the East coast when a hurricane is coming people run out and buy milk and bread. In Hawaii, they buy rice and beer!
Just breezy and a little rain here today. Hoping for more rain. We have a 12KW generator that runs of the city gas line, so as long as it's good, so are we.
Just breezy and a little rain here today. Hoping for more rain. We have a 12KW generator that runs of the city gas line, so as long as it's good, so are we.
In Russia seniors who remembered WW-II used to buy salt and matches, flour and pasta. But salt and matches first.
The media tries to scare everybody. First it gets people to watch TV. Second it attempts to convince the few idiots that a hurricane IS stronger than you are and can KILL you. Yet there are always people who test Darwin. The guy on the pier is in Boynton Beach Florida about 30 miles north of here. 9 people were injured on that same pier on Thursday when a strong wave slammed them into the railing.
I grabbed the screen shot of the radar from a Miami TV station's weather radar. It was about 4:30 PM on Thursday. Irene was due east of us making a mess out of the Bahamas. The TV stations radar only reaches about 150 to 200 miles out so you only see the western half of the storm. It was a Cat 2 at the time with Cat 3 winds near the eye. Irene had far less rain associated with it than most storms. I was at work Thursday and it was calm and dry enough for us to go out to lunch without getting wet. I watched the radar and planned my outdoor ventures around the clear spots. I left work for the drive home right after grabbing the radar image because we had about 1/2 hour without rain.
Irene has weakened a bunch and become more disorganized so the threat isn't as bad as the media had been forcasting, but the northeast wasn't built the way south Florida is. Local flooding, short periods of high winds are going to happen. Flash flooding is possible.
Remember this:
Most storm related deaths and injuries happen after the storm. Most deaths are due to drowning. If you board up your home have at least two escape paths.
Downed power lines are everywhere after the storm. They can be re-energized at any time without warning. Everything will be wet and a HV power line lying on the ground can kill you from 20 feet away. The ground is not a perfect conductor and there will be a voltage gradient across the earth if a power line is energized. Lots of sparke and fireworks too.
If you use a portable generator for power beware of CO2. Keep the generator outside, but chain it to something big. I used my car. People will steal them in the night.
About 5 years ago out media mis-forcasted hurricane Wilma. It was a "minimal" Cat 1 storm that came from the west. It had been over land for 100 miles before it got here. It trashed south Florida causing the most wide spread damage that I have seen in my 58 years here. This Cat 1 storm had Cat 3 winds near the eye wall that ripped roofs off of houses. I took the 3rd picture from my front porch during Wilma. That is a 4 X 8 foot piece of plywood with the tar paper and shingles still attached. w found it about 500 feet away after the storm.
I knew two people who lost their lives during the aftermath of hurricane Wilma. One fell off his roof, the other had a bicycle accident. She was a very experienced rider and member of a local cycle club,
Your electrical power may be off for a while. Ours was out for 3 weeks after Wilma. When the power is off in a large city like Fort Lauderdale traffic degrades to total anarchy because there are no traffic lights and the biggest truck thinks they have the right of way. Gas stations can't pump gas without power. Food spoils without power. This is true of the stuff your grocery store has too! The distribution center for a major grocery chain was severely damaged and without power. That didn't stop them from delivering food of dubious quality to stores that were also without power. Don't eat the ground beef! Food poisioning sucks.
Even if you bought plenty of food, you will need a way to cook it. My house uses electricity, but the people across the street use gas. We had food they had a means to cook it. Wilma proved that I can live for a week on Gatorade and Chips Ahoy!
It can be very dark during a lonng blackout. There will be people looking to take what you have. Be prepared to defend it!
I grabbed the screen shot of the radar from a Miami TV station's weather radar. It was about 4:30 PM on Thursday. Irene was due east of us making a mess out of the Bahamas. The TV stations radar only reaches about 150 to 200 miles out so you only see the western half of the storm. It was a Cat 2 at the time with Cat 3 winds near the eye. Irene had far less rain associated with it than most storms. I was at work Thursday and it was calm and dry enough for us to go out to lunch without getting wet. I watched the radar and planned my outdoor ventures around the clear spots. I left work for the drive home right after grabbing the radar image because we had about 1/2 hour without rain.
Irene has weakened a bunch and become more disorganized so the threat isn't as bad as the media had been forcasting, but the northeast wasn't built the way south Florida is. Local flooding, short periods of high winds are going to happen. Flash flooding is possible.
Remember this:
Most storm related deaths and injuries happen after the storm. Most deaths are due to drowning. If you board up your home have at least two escape paths.
Downed power lines are everywhere after the storm. They can be re-energized at any time without warning. Everything will be wet and a HV power line lying on the ground can kill you from 20 feet away. The ground is not a perfect conductor and there will be a voltage gradient across the earth if a power line is energized. Lots of sparke and fireworks too.
If you use a portable generator for power beware of CO2. Keep the generator outside, but chain it to something big. I used my car. People will steal them in the night.
About 5 years ago out media mis-forcasted hurricane Wilma. It was a "minimal" Cat 1 storm that came from the west. It had been over land for 100 miles before it got here. It trashed south Florida causing the most wide spread damage that I have seen in my 58 years here. This Cat 1 storm had Cat 3 winds near the eye wall that ripped roofs off of houses. I took the 3rd picture from my front porch during Wilma. That is a 4 X 8 foot piece of plywood with the tar paper and shingles still attached. w found it about 500 feet away after the storm.
I knew two people who lost their lives during the aftermath of hurricane Wilma. One fell off his roof, the other had a bicycle accident. She was a very experienced rider and member of a local cycle club,
Your electrical power may be off for a while. Ours was out for 3 weeks after Wilma. When the power is off in a large city like Fort Lauderdale traffic degrades to total anarchy because there are no traffic lights and the biggest truck thinks they have the right of way. Gas stations can't pump gas without power. Food spoils without power. This is true of the stuff your grocery store has too! The distribution center for a major grocery chain was severely damaged and without power. That didn't stop them from delivering food of dubious quality to stores that were also without power. Don't eat the ground beef! Food poisioning sucks.
Even if you bought plenty of food, you will need a way to cook it. My house uses electricity, but the people across the street use gas. We had food they had a means to cook it. Wilma proved that I can live for a week on Gatorade and Chips Ahoy!
It can be very dark during a lonng blackout. There will be people looking to take what you have. Be prepared to defend it!
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Got the generator running this morning after putting too much oil in it.
I was having quite a moment. Bought some extra gas and water.
Lots of trees, as I live in the sticks in Maine. The pitch pines generally fall apart in bad weather.
We should not get it that bad, but the intense rain is never fun.
I live in a watershed area, so the water can swell and flood my basement, so generator is really to help with that if needed.
I was having quite a moment. Bought some extra gas and water.
Lots of trees, as I live in the sticks in Maine. The pitch pines generally fall apart in bad weather.
We should not get it that bad, but the intense rain is never fun.
I live in a watershed area, so the water can swell and flood my basement, so generator is really to help with that if needed.
Rather, absence of salt and matches meant panic and disaster expectation indicators.
They should sell buckets with packed dry food in Costco. I saw some piles before that quickly disappeared even here in California. Also, REI and other tourist stores sell everything needed to survive when civilization is down.
Supermarkets here are mobbed, but there seems to be plenty of everything to go around - we do have something like 6 supermarkets within a couple of miles of here so I guess the panic is spread out equally amongst all of them. With the very diverse population hurricane food purchases seem equally diverse.
Traffic on roads here was extremely heavy - heavier in fact than typical rush hour..
We're predicted to get 2 - 5" (5 - 12.5cm) of rain and winds not much over 90mph (144kph) - the wind is the bigger concern. The storm surge could be a problem given how close we are to the sea.. The peripheral rain storms are just getting started - this morning was comparatively airless, and the cloud cover like nothing I had seen before in its pervasive but non uniform height and make up..
I have been through a lot of hurricanes over the years. They are all different. The picture of the roof blowing away was taken during the peak of hurricane Wilma. It was about 10 minutes after the eye passed overhead. That house is about 300 feet away yet there isn't enough rain between me and it to severely cloud the picture. The sky is relatively light. I have seen storms with enough rain to make that house invisible, and storms so dark that the street lights turn on in the middle of the day.
Irene brought us a wide variety of cloud formations. Some were thick, dark and low, while at times the sun poked through. Very little rain. I see worse street flooding from summer thunderstorms. We were still about 100 miles away at its closest though. There was a news video from a weather channel reporter standing on the beach in North Carolina as the eye approached. That's what the typical Cat 1 usually looks like. Rain blowing sideways.
I rarely venture out during the storms because of flying roof shingles. A 1/8 inch asphalt shingle flying like a Frisbee at 70 MPH can cut your head off!
I did venture out during hurricane Frances about 10 years ago to take this (and a few other) picture. I figured out that the shingles I was seeing in my yard were from MY roof. I took a picture and sent it to the insurance company during the storm since claims are usually first call, first served unless the house is condemned by the city officials. Frances was a mild Cat 1 with 60 to 80 MPH winds and little rain. The problem came when the storm stalled and stayed in one place for 12 hours. The roof was so bad by the end that it had to be completely replaced. The two story house was much worse.
Note how I left two panels off of the hurricane shutter on the left. That is my escape route if the front door becomes blocked. It is not uncommon for damage or worse, fire to block one exit.
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The winds are picking up some. I'm just north of Washington DC. I got my windows and back door opened and have free air conditioning now. Nice breezes in here.
Why are your storm shutters so heavily corrugated? Is that just for strength?
We watch in admiration and trepidation from the "safer" side of the pond ...
We watch in admiration and trepidation from the "safer" side of the pond ...
Yes. All new construction and renovation in Dade and Broward counties of Florida (Miami and Fort Lauderdale) are REQURED to have storm shutters that are stamped "Dade County approved". There is a testing agency and specifications to verify approval. One of the tests involves a speciallized cannon that shoots an 8 foot long 2 inch by 4 inch piece of lumber endwise into the shutter at about 40 MPH.
City inspection is required for installation. It is not possible to obtain homeowners insurance in south Florida without approved and inspected hurricane protection.
I made my own shutters using angle iron and 1 inch thick marine plywood when I bought this house 33 years ago. They worked just fine and I believe that they were stronger than the steel shutters I have now, but mine were not "approved". It cost about $2000 to get these 15 years ago. This is the cheapest solution. You can get power operated awnings that close at the push of a button but that would run about $15,000 for this 1500 square foot house. There is now "hurricane proof" glass windows that cost even more.
One of the perils of a hurricane in a densely populated area is flying junk. A coconut or piece of cement roof tile flying at 80 MPH can smash through the side of an older wood frame house or a mobile home. Wood frame houses were common here years ago. They are still common in northern Florida. The extreme building codes that require shutters and hurricane proof construction are only in effect in some Florida Counties. They were first adopted after hurricane Andrew leveled entire communities of poorly built houses across south Dade county in 1992. Broward county adopted them shortly thereafter.
Hurricane Andrew caused the evacuation of 1 million people, 64 deaths, and widespread destruction. The house I grew up in was in the path of Andrew just west of the University of Miami. It was built in 1949 when they made good houses. It survived unscathed. Gangs of armed thugs were roaming the streets after the storm looting and taking what they wanted. There were even reports af the gangs robbing the National Guardsmen for their guns!
The picture shows what a Cat 5 can do......
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Gangs of armed thugs were roaming the streets after the storm looting and taking what they wanted. There were even reports af the gangs robbing the National Guardsmen for their guns!
QUOTE]
Not this gang of National Guardsmen:
After Wilma came through we had no power for 3 weeks. Some neighborhoods had power within a week after the storm but there was a several square mile area around us that was dark. There were some "undesirables" passing through almost every night. Mostly they were just throwing bottles and being a general nuisance. I think they were looking for places where they didn't get a reaction, indicating an area where nobody was home. Some houses were buglarized.
We made our presence known with tables, speakers, coolers, and even a TV set up in the front yard of my house. A few people might have had guns, but I wouldn't know anything about that. 🙂
Everybody around us knew that we were home, and 15 to 20 people were not uncommon. There was one annoying city cop that gave us grief for curfew violation, but he had bigger fish to fry and eventually gave up. Oh, yeah, he did demand to see carry permits for those that might have had weapons, even though the law doesn't require one on your own property.
We made our presence known with tables, speakers, coolers, and even a TV set up in the front yard of my house. A few people might have had guns, but I wouldn't know anything about that. 🙂
Everybody around us knew that we were home, and 15 to 20 people were not uncommon. There was one annoying city cop that gave us grief for curfew violation, but he had bigger fish to fry and eventually gave up. Oh, yeah, he did demand to see carry permits for those that might have had weapons, even though the law doesn't require one on your own property.
We do get them from time to time, but they usually degenerate to a tropical storm before they get here. I remember a few serious hurricanes, the most memorable for me being "Bob" back in 1991, wind speeds so high I could not stand up. I thought I would move my car to a safer parking spot when I realized there were a few trees that were just too close. I crawled to the car, moved it, and crawled about 400 feet back to the building, within the hour a very large oak tree fell where that car had been parked. Both the car and I survived that hurricane.. 😀
Hurricane Bob - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Storm shutters are rare here, but I have seen them on some of the local islands and in some new coastal construction mostly on the North Shore of MA. Plywood is expedient of course, but we are not in an area where such measures are usually necessary.
My big concern of course is the wind, there are a lot of things that can fly under these conditions, and some of my neighbors are somewhat clueless. We've removed anything that can fly and put it away.. We brought most of the tomato and pepper plants indoors as well.
Nor' Easters are more common here and since they often occur in Winter are usually more problematic that a weakening tropical storm. Irene has caused more than the usual level of concern so we are hopefully ready. It is pretty quiet at the moment, late tonight and all day tomorrow should prove more interesting. I'll try to take some pictures if it is safe to do so.
During Wilma I realized that the tree in my front yard began to come apart branch by branch. The small branches were hitting my Mustang convertible. I crawled out to the car and backed it up where the rear wheels were up on the front porch of the house. After the storm was over a large chunk of tree was right where the car had been. Another chunk whacked the Volvo wagon, bounced off and hit the neighbors Taurus.
The first picture shows the Mustang backed onto the porch. Note the roof of the house behind the red Escape has already began to come apart. The Ford Focus already has a large tree branch on top of it. This is from the first half of the storm.
The eye of the storm passed directly over us. During this time there is NO wind, NO rain. Like halftime of a football game. All of the neighbors met outside to survey the damages. I took this picture from across the street. But unlike halftime, it's over quickly, without warning. I was about a block away with an expensive camera in my hand when I saw this black wall of evil coming down the street. I ran back to the house just as it came. The majority of the damage happened in the 15 minutes after halftime.
The third pictire is of the failed tree the day after the storm. Check out the clear October sky.
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My old stomping grounds and were I lived on a boat during a hurricane. That's an experience to remember.
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