Hurricane Watch! (Page 2)

I used to feel this way about tornadoes. I live in Kansas, which is sometimes trigger happy with the sirens and warnings. Until April 14 when my workplace (less than 5 miles from my house) took a direct hit from an EF3 tornado. We were shut down for a full business week, lost 7 production days. No one was hurt (it hit at 10:30 p.m. on  Saturday when only 200 of the 10,000 employees were on-shift) but there will be literally years of repairs. There is still glass in the corners of the parking lot from windows being busted out in my building. I drove to the site at midnight to help with PR and I cried. It was so surreal - like a nightmare - with all of the damage. People wandering out of the building dazed, talking about hearing assemblies and tools being tossed around in the factory above them, finding their car had been moved across the parking lot and smashed. No one thinks it will hit so close to home (literally and figuratively). But it did for me.

Be smart, be safe - whatever that means for you.

How's that?
Both seem to have many different models for where they might or might not end up, and cause much devastation, and fatalities. My point was to be safe, however you define that, hopefully you don't disagree. I would say the same about any type of natural disaster.

It looks like a lot of folks aren't willing to take risks with the storm. I work for Loyola New Orleans remotely and they've closed campus through Wednesday for people to make preparations. They aren't evacuating the students, but have asked that they review their evacuation plans just in case.

Should be an interesting few days. I hope everyone stays safe regardless of the intensity of the storm. 

That tornado that hit your building: how many days before it hit did you know it was coming? We've known since Friday this thng was going to hit the central Gulf coast.

How long before it hit did you know it was an EF3 tornado? Again, for days now we've known the exact strength of the winds and the potential for it to strengthen. All indications are that this will be a minor storm.

If direction or intensity changes one iota we are immediately notified. We will know the exact location of landfall and a pretty close estimate of the intensities hours before the leading edge hits the shore.

Be safe indeed. But Tiffinator's point is that this is currently a tropical storm that is expected to strengthen to a minor hurricane before landfall. She is far enough inland to be out of the effect of the tidal surge, and will see little more than a lot of rain and some elevated winds. Probably not a cause of "much devastation and fatalities" in her area. Yet around her people are "freaking out." Same thing over here, 50 miles inland and 200 miles west of predicted landfall.

I see this (over)reaction as the swinging of the pendulum. We're now on heightened alert because of Katrina's devastation ( and the ensuing media frenzy). A couple years of people panicking for these minor storms, we become complacent and the pendulum swings the other way. Then a major storm comes around and no one reacts...

2-3 days beforehand, the entire meteorological community pinpointed the region for being ripe for that exact type of storm, to answer your question.

I understand the "frenzy" mentality and the routine and desire to dismiss it (see first sentence in my first post, very trigger happy around here). Hence why I said to be smart and safe, whatever that means to you. I was merely sharing my experience, which I thought drew some parallels on some level - and I still think it does.

I can relate to the surreal feeling that you had with the tornado devastation. One month after Katrina we went to the gulf coast to check on the repair progress of my aunt's house that had 5.5 feet of water in it. Driving down the beach rode was saddening and surreal. Homes that had stood for decades were washed away, or parts go them had washed away and you could see into the rooms that were left. A casino barge was sitting on shore near the historic hotel it had hit and knocked a chunk out of. This was an area I visited often as a kid. Restaurants I loved to eat at were gone, the goofy golf course I loved was in shambles. It's mind blowing the power nature has.

Let us not ignore the devastation Isaac caused in Florida, and hope that we don't see any worse as it pounds the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts.

There is also a HUGE difference between being prepared and freaking the heck out like a lot of people do.  Besides, this is after all not even a Cat 1 hurricane.  Last check it still only had 65mph winds.  Can that cause some damage and localized flooding.  Sure.

But this is NOT Katrina despite how badly the media wants to portray it that way.

Well, we're ready! Cars are filled with gas (not in hysterics, just to have gas in the days after), we've got food, extra D batteries for the radio & flashlights. My family has had generators for years (even before Katrina), but those are primarily used to run the deep freezers filled with deer & seafood. I got a couple candles & lamp oil for our antique oil lamps. Restocked the mixers for the liquor. 

Worried? No. Annoyed by the inconvenience? Yes. *shrug* I've been through many Cat 1's & TS's. I'm actually looking forward to the couple days of mandatory 'rest' from regular life. We got a ton of cleaning & organizing done the past couple of days as we've had to move plants inside. 

Definitely think flooding will be an issue in parts of the area since it's so slow moving. 

Anyone else remember TS Allison, Houston 2001? It was "just" a TS, but it stalled and dropped around 40inches of rain.
(again, not worried or think that will happen, its just that...things happen) 

Okay. Forget I said anything.

For the record I'll take a hurricane over a tornado any day.  Those things are scary.

Tested the generator and the blender, I am guessing I will probably need both.

Well we had in Pasco and one in Mantee counties yesterday.

Nobody told me about the tornadoes before I move here!!!

I will for sure take a hurricane over a tornado. Those things are serious bad news. 

In other news, I live in the same neighborhood as my brother and drive past his house every morning on my way to work. This morning as I was leaving I noticed a suspicious car parked at his house. He had already left for work. I saw a man get out of the car and stand there watching me drive by. So I decided to drive up the street a bit where I could see the house. The dude stole my brother's generator out of his storage shed! So I whipped the truck around and tried to block him from getting out of the subdivision. He ran off the road, almost hit my truck and got past me. I tried to get his tag number from my rear view mirror. I turned around again and was able to just see as he turned up a street, so I followed him. He went HOME, I got his tag number and we filed a report with the sheriff. Unfortunately he had left by the time the sheriff went by his house. I'm sure he either dumped the generator or took it to a friend's house. Best part? My bro worked on the generator for 2 hours yesterday and couldn't get it to run. Dude stole a broken generator. HAHA. 

See? People are freaking out here. 

*GASP*!! What an a-hole! Oh, that makes me mad! 
The sad part is that people share. They come together when it gets bad. I know my mom & her neighbors & our family shares. Or we bring people over.

I cooked a bunch, had stuff in the crockpots last night. I've already started giving some away so people have it when they lose power!

That's a shame. 

Just got the quick sitchyation from my parents in Baton Rouge:

  - Wind 15-20 and getting darker. 
  - Gas stations out of gas since yesterday.
  - They're ready, food, batteries, cash, water, food, generator tested.
  - Porch furniture in the garage, all non-courtyard windows boarded. 
  - Not much chance of flooding in their location. Which is weird, it's Louisiana. 

You never know what may happen, but they're expecting:
  - The storm to hit in earnest at dusk
  - 10-20 inches of rain
  - 24 hours of sustained 50MPH winds
  - Loss of power for 4-7 days
  - If power lost, grocery stores will let 5 people in at a time, cash only, after they open
  - No cell service for 2-3 days 

They're as ready as they can be. My dad is sorta, kinda hoping for a little roof damage, if you know what I mean. Good luck and godspeed to all in the path.  

Chris,

glad you made it safe.  We just wrapped up  the misc stuff.  Ran out to the local hardware store to pick up a couple of items.  A few gas stations had gas upto last night.  Surprisingly batteries and bottled water were easy to find, even last minute.  Winds are up a little and temps down to the 80's.  Radar still shows the showers aren't hitting BTR yet.  Main thing is that a couple of local stores are out of beer!  Now that is something to panic about!

The only issue I see is that we have been getting so much rain lately that the ground is not going to be quick to absorb the rainfall.  My lawn is still rain soaked from the storms the other day. 

Stay safe everyone!