Hurricane Florence. Prepare early!

[MrEen]

Just wanted to post a heads up for those in Virginia and the Carolinas.

I was at Sam's Club yesterday near Richmond, VA and bottled water was flying out the door. There's usually at least 10 brands/sizes to choose from and most were gone. Of the few they still had in stock, by the time they'd get a pallet down, the previous pallet was close to empty.

The gas pumps had huge lines as well.

While it was nice to see people actually preparing BEFORE the last minute, I was quite amazed at the frenzy almost a week before the storm hits.

On the plus side, at least Sam's has time to restock before impact.

I am NOT looking forward to being in the north-east quadrant of this sucker so if everyone that lives on or near the east coast could please point your fans and leaf blowers to the east, I'd appreciate it!

[JoeFootball]

Hurricane Florence Rapidly Intensifying, Likely to Strike East Coast With Life-Threatening Storm Surge, Destructive Winds, Major Rainfall Flooding

[HaveaMint]

!

Your tax dollars at work.
http://www.euronews.com/2018/07/26/how- ... o-find-out

[Portreve]

As someone who lived and sheltered through both Charley (2004) and Irma (2017) I cannot overemphasize the need to be prepared and to do whatever you have to to protect your family, yourself, and also your property.

Also — and this is really important — it isn't just the storm you need to prepare for, but the aftereffects. Flooding, surge, utility outages... these are all things which can potentially be as bad as or worse than the hurricane itself.

Remember as well that there comes a point when emergency services will no longer be available because the human beings performing those noble and sometimes heroic public services have lives and family and property themselves, all of which they have to deal with and keep safe.

To all my LinuxMint brothers and sisters living in the area about to be impacted: be safe, and keep in touch.

[AZgl1800]

and right when we need it the worst,

the internet will be history until long after the storm passes....
those with Wireless internet access will have some access, but it will be pushed to the limits to supply the needed bandwidth.

I am in Oklahoma, and short of a raging tornado or two, we generally miss these things, unless you want to include Ice Storms which can be utterly devastating in their effects also. the last one cut electric power for 2 to 4 days depending on what areas were effected. Ice so heavy it pulled the cross country power lines down.

I bought a 10KVA peak, 8 KVA continuous emergency generator, and installed a certified Switch Over Panel for it. it can use Gasoline or Propane, whichever you have available.

Fire up the GenSet, plug it into the panel, then pull the switch handle down about 2 feet and KaThunk!
We have lights again....
it is not big enough for Air Conditioning, but it will run everything we have that needs electricity except the Clothes Dryer which is A/C....
our HW Heater is Natural Gas, and our winter heating furnace is Natural Gas....

so I have the best of both worlds for Standby Power.

if it gets really, really bad, I can move into our Toy Hauler RV and fire up the GenSet for it..... but it runs on Gasoline only... so not really any better than just staying in the house.

[BenTrabetere]

I live in the "landmass" between New Orleans, Louisiana and Mobile, Alabama, and I have seen more than my share of hurricanes. Hurricane Florence is not a storm to take lightly, and is worthy of the stern warnings.

Here are a few tips that rarely get mentioned by the weather and emergency experts.

1. Ice is as important as water - perishable food last longer if it is kept cold (duh!), and a cool drink is always welcome relief if the power goes out. Fill every ice chest you have and seal them with tape. Threaten to chop off fingers from the hand that unnecessarily opens an ice chest....

2. Stock up on non-perishable food that does not need much, if any, preparation. Canned food is good. You can survive on cold beans and tuna. Get a manual can opener!

3. Alcohol and ladders do not make good companions for chainsaws.

4. Wash any trash cans, and fill them with water for washing up. Fill the bathtub with water and use it to flush the toilet if the power goes out for an extended period.

5. If you live in an area that is prone to severe flooding and storm surge, you need an attic ax. Sometimes the only way out of your attic is to chop a hole through the roof. May you never need to use it.

[lee-dan17]

That's some great advice, Ben. It is better to prepare a stockpile and medical/emergency kit. I'm praying for everyone's safety.

[Tomgin5]

I am glad we don't need to worry about hurricane type weather. Just rain! In Greater Portand Oregon we do get occasional smoke from wild fires that are over 100 miles away in the summer but the last really disabling weather we had was the Columbus day storm in 1961 with winds exceeding 100 miles an hour. I spent the evening in the boat on a trailer in the basement garage. All over in about 8 hours.
Aside from that occasional rain, enough to keep the grass growing. Some snow every few years sometimes deep enough to cancel schools for a day or 2.

[CaptainKirksChair]

2. Stock up on non-perishable food that does not need much, if any, preparation. Canned food is good. You can survive on cold beans and tuna. Get a manual can opener!
-- emphasis added

During the fires in Sonoma County, CA in October 2017, we had enough canned food to feed 8 people for a week and forgot to pack a can opener!!! You should probably find one of these and put it in a survival kit. (Yes, the US military really did name them P-38 and P-51.)

[lsemmens]

I lived in Darwin for 26 years arriving not long after Tracy. I do understand what those in Florence's path are going through. Preparation is KING, If you think you are prepared, prepare again! The only good thing about a hurricane/cyclone is that you, at least, have some indication of when and where it will hit and, so, can prepare. I now live in an area that suffers bushfire and flood. I MUCH prefer cyclones for the aforementioned reason.

Stay safe folks.....

[AZgl1800]

Tornados hit w/o warning here in our land....


IF, we happen to be listening to a live TV, which we don't at our house....
we can get advance warning from the TV stations.

the next best thing is our cellphones, I have two apps that if I have the internet connected, they can give me advance warnings.

and our little community has some Air Raid sirens that are activated by the weather bureau, if we are near home, we can hear those... but, get out of town a mile and those are silent to us.

[Portreve]

I can't speak for "everywhere" in Florida, but at least in this area of the state, there are no such sirens. If they suddenly popped into existence and went off, I don't know if anyone would know what the heck to do.

There's an adapter that costs about $100 which lets you connect an antenna to your wireless network. While its functionality is only available via an app for tablets and smartphones, it would enable those devices to pick up on-air broadcasts even if you couldn't use your television.

I've thought about buying one for myself, actually, since it might have some value, but the $100 pricetag is a bit steep for someone who does not watch TV.