Hurricane Coming

[Sourdough]

Was talking to my Sister-In-Law today.  She lives in New Port News Virginia.  She is in a panic.  All the food is gone from the store shelves, and there is no bottled water left.  Irene is supposedly headed their way.  I have told them several times they need to move away from the coast. 

[magooch]

Yup, Obama gets a ready made scapegoat to blame for what will be continued economic calamity.  And a very compelling impetus for more borrowing and spending.  We're screwed.

[no guns here]

See, that's the crazy part.  She lives in there and KNOWS that hurricane season comes along EVERY year from June-October or so.  Why isn't she prepared and ready?  How long has she lived there?  Dang... I'd spend the money and be ready after the first year I lived there.  When we lived in MD and had a hurricane come in, I sent wife and kids inland to the inlaws in KY about 2 days before it hit.  I had to stay and work (military) but I got them out of the way well ahead of the rush.  People live in a state of denial and ignore the basic preparations that are necessary for the area in which they live. 
 
 
NGH

[Conan The Librarian]

I think I can understand the panic part. People have been building closer and closer to the coast, and building houses that are not fit for hurricane conditions. I grew up in hurricane country and they were considered routine.  Everybody had hurricane shutters integral to their homes, all the houses were built with a crawlspace under the living quarters to prevent flooding inside. Roofs were built to withstand hurricane winds. Nobody stocked up on bottled water. People cleaned their bathtubs and stored water there, and kept sterno and the like for boiling it as needed. There was no rush on supplies just prior to a hurricane because everyone already had what they needed and kept it maintained.
 
Every hurricane raised the water level so we could float a boat in our front yard.
 
Then in the 1970s they started building houses directly on concrete slabs in that neighborhood. This guarantees that every such house will flood everytime there's a hurricane, thus raising everybody else's insurance rates. Construction was shoddier too, so when the next big hurricane hit the new houses were flattened while the old ones are still standing.
 
So maybe she's panicking because she knows she's in a bad house and doesn't have flood insurance and is anticipating having all her posessions floating in a foot of salt water.
 
Last time I was in Florida just prior to a hurricane, people were stocking up at the supermarket. It looked like they knew nothing. They were buying ice cream and deli perishables despite the fact that electricity would be out for a few days in most places.
 
 

[Sourdough]

When I lived in Florida, (Homestead AFB) and we went under Hurricane watch, we filled the Tub, and all containers we had with water.  Bottled water was unheard of back in those days.  I took my boat off the trailer, chained it between two trees and filled it with water.  Not to use, but to hold it down.  Then we went to the shelter, (Base Gym).  Luckily we just got a side swipe by that one.  That was back in the mid 70s.  I went back to visit Homestead after Andrew.  The entire housing area I lived in was gone.  Only the concrete slabs left.  All those houses were stapled together, no nails, just staples.  Shoddy construction.

My buddy living in Ft Lauderdale, gets his batteries and water stocked up before the season starts.  He likes to be prepared.  In the center of his house is a room of steel reinforced concrete.  A very large bathroom normally.  When  hurricane hits they all just go into that room and hunker down to wait it out.  He feels they are better off there than in the local shelter. 

The reason my Sister-in-law is in such a panic, she does not have enough sense to do anything on her own.  Her husband always takes care of everything for her.  He was away at a golf tournament.  We talked to him last night, after he arrived back home.  On his way home he stopped at a store and stocked up on batteries and water.  Also canned goods they could use if it gets bad.  I respect him, he is always calm, cool, and got it together.  Why he married such a dingbat I'll never know.  She was a school teacher for over 30 years.  Poor students.

[Conan The Librarian]

Yep, I lived in a rented house in Perrine (about 15 minutes from the AFB) for a while before Andrew. I moved away. Then Andrew literally flattened it, and that neighborhood was the one they used in the national news to illustrate the devastation. All the houses there were very cheaply made, but they weren't cheap to buy.
 
Not related to hurricanes, but to construction at the time, I  worked with a guy that had a relatively expensive house built in that area. He was getting sick a lot and couldn't figure out why. Turns out they didn't put a vapor barrier in the floor, so the moisture from outside wicked up into the carpet, causing a lot of mold to grow. He ended up suing the construction company and the settlement was to gut the house, literally remove a couple of inches of the floor's surface, install a vapor barrier, and then rebuild the concrete slab floor. Imagine that!
 
One of the good things about the recent Florida hurricanes is that it has resulted in changing the laws so that new houses are more storm resistant. Also, if you want to replace the roof on your house, you need to also upgrade it to be more storm resistant.

[powderman]

NGH. YEP, sounds like there was no planning for something she knew would be coming. POWDERMAN. 

[Conan The Librarian]

And the news reporting doesn't help at all. It's portrayed as the end of the world, and people react to that. It used to be calmly addressed when I was a kid in the 60s, then there weren't any hurricanes for a long time and people forgot. I don't think they've re-learned how to handle them well.

[gypsyman]

First gun show I've done in Richmond in about 12-13 years, and I had to pick a weekend when the hurricane is coming.   In all seriousness, when I turned the weather channel on last night, and their going on about the stores getting hit for supplies,plywood,generators and such. I always wondered, do the people throw away all the things they bought from the last hurricane that came thru?? If I went thru the trouble, of getting plywood fitted to my windows, buying a generator, I sure wouldn't throw them away. I would have enough common sense to store them someplace for the next time. Some of these people have to be pretty stupid. I sure can see living in that area, as being close to the ocean is 99% of the time very nice. But, know what's going to happen. That's as bad as sometime's as when an earthquake hits Ca. and you'll see some women crying her eyes out, saying,''I didn't expect it to ever be this bad!!''. Really. That would be like living here in the midwest, and crying about a blizzard. Ya know it's going to happen, be ready for it. gypsyman

[SHOOTALL]

She needs to look around some , I was down that way yesterday and there was food and water in some of the larger stores but that can change in an hour , tell her to try Lowe's for water . Williamsburg also may fill her needs that's next door. I doubt other than wind damage and possible elec. outage she will see much. Hey NN residents should be ready for water it floods on a heavy dew. I hear from friends that way the interstate - I 64 is a parking lot with the Outer Banks jumping ship.
 They say beer and pop tarts are the biggest sellers . My wifes family is spread out from Norfolk to Moyock so we get up dates quite often. I went past Elizabeth City on RT 17 yesterday and the farmers were working round the clock to get the corn out the fields.

[no guns here]

You know, we just bought a place here in south Texas.  We only plan on being here about a year if at all possible.  However the wife and I were talking last nice and agreed that we need to get a good generator that can run our fridge, lights and such.  Might even get a small window unit A/C that could be used for one room and still be able to run it off the generator.  Then if needed we could all sleep in one room, shut the door and stay semi-comfortable.  Need to get it set up to run into the house wiring I guess.  I'm getting a stock of canned goods layed in a little at a time.  Not much room for storage until I can get a new storage building bought and installed.  Point is... I'm not ready for the end of the world but at least we have a plan for some short term problems.  Just a matter of money.  I'd like to get a small solar panel or two and wire in some low wattage LED's for basic lighting too.
 
NGH

[Sourdough]

My Brother-in-law Mike bought the only small hill in his subdivision, when they were selling lots.  Instead of having a pad poured, he had a crawl space, with the house up 36 inches off the ground.  Big two story house on a golf course, only one with a crawl space.  When the last hurricane hit North Carolina about 10 years ago, water was their problem there in New Port News.  All the houses in the subdivision was flooded except one.  Guess where all the neighbors came to escape the water.  There was over 50 people staying in that house.  People were sleeping in closets and storage rooms.  Mike's garage was at ground level on a poured slab.  Both cars in the garage were a total loss.  Water came up to the last step from the garage to the house.  Mike's old beater F-150 was in the back yard.  His younger brother had changed the oil and had put the front of the truck up on ramps.  When he finished changing the oil he left it up on the ramps.  Since Mike had not needed the truck, he had not taken it down off the ramps.  When the water came up the engine and cab was up high enough they did not get damage.  Only the lower portion of the cab and the bed were underwater.  When the water went down, Mike had the only vehicle running.  After all the neighboring houses were repaired, Mike sold that house and bought a condo up on a higher hill, in another subdivision.  By then his kids were grown and gone so they did not need the room.

[Sensai]

I live in the tidewater area of Virginia.  A little earthquake and people go crazy, a hurricane coming and people go crazy, somebody say "snow" and people go crazy.  I'm beginning to think that people just enjoy going crazy.  Maybe it's because they don't have so far to go in the first place!

[SHOOTALL]

I live in the tidewater area of Virginia.  A little earthquake and people go crazy, a hurricane coming and people go crazy, somebody say "snow" and people go crazy.  I'm beginning to think that people just enjoy going crazy.  Maybe it's because they don't have so far to go in the first place!

That is an understatement !

[BBF]

 Speaking of crazy. All you got to look is to who sits in the WH !!

[SHOOTALL]

Hey buddy Bush caused the Fire in the swamp , the earth quake and the hurricane the guy in the WH has done nothing .

[BBF]

I wish all y'alls would keep that kind of weather on your side of the Border..................geezzz.