Dumbing down the weather news

[Blue Collar Guy]

Maybe the news conspired with the grocers to help them clean out their old stock? Just the whiff of some weather related topic causes a rush on the food aisles.

[LOL!]

On buying groceries: I don't get why people buy bread for a hurricane. The stuff goes moldy in a day or so. I don't get why people buy water either. One can get water ahead of time out of their tap. People buy more than they need, too, leaving less for folks who might need it. It's a cliché to show empty shelves of grocery stores on the news.

Has anybody actually eaten all the bread they've bought pre-storm?

When we go backpacking, for lunches we don't like to cook, so we take hard cheese, salami/pepperoni, crackers, and dark chocolate all of which can last for days unrefrigerated. Usually, we have these things in the pantry or in the refrigerator anyways.

Also what's the deal with boiling water? There are methods to dis-infect water that don't involve boiling.

[latexman]

I hate the way the news media exaggerates and sensationalizes these weather events. Some of the headlines I saw on Irma certainly made it sound like the news media was going for superlatives that cannot be topped, like apocalyptic! Really?


a·poc·a·lyp·tic - ADJECTIVE - describing or prophesying the complete destruction of the world.


No, it's not the end of the world for EVERYBODY. Just those who chose to live in harms way and don't evacuate. That doesn't give much hope to the poor folks in Irma's path! It seems Richard Branson survived on his Necker Island just fine. Or, NBC News' "Downgraded Irma May Still Wash Away Many Florida Buildings". Many? Really? And, washed away? Not, damaged or flooded or compromised, but washed totally and utterly away! More than a few will happen, yes, but many, a large % of the total number of buildings in the whole state of Florida? I kinda doubt it'll exceed 0.1%.

[NW-Bound]

It's no consolation if your home is among the 0.1% that gets washed away. It is worse if it happens while you are hiding in it.

[timo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imoldernu Whaat? But it's been 24/7... what don't you understand? Well, for one thing, less than 10% of Floridians live within a mile of the coast. So How does the storm surge affect the people who live 2 miles from the coast? p

Didn't Florida put every geographic area into risk zones? What zone you are in should tell you something right there regarding your questions.

[imoldernu]

I promised to leave, but couldn't resist this last swipe at the media... I mentioned that some of my relatives have a business near Havana...

Irma hit Cuba and especially Havana very hard. I looked for some news. The featured news from all media is not what happened to the people, but nearly every headline featured the airlifting of Dolphins.

Irma: Cuba airlifts dolphins to safety from deadly hurricane | The Independent

Hey... no kidding... you couldn't make this stuff up.

[LOL!]

News is written by people. If there are no people on the ground available to write the news, then it doesn't get written and passed around. I think we can say that if Cuba had more international news reporters on the ground there, then it would have been reported. I think you know why there are not more international news reporters on the ground there.

So my wife is supposed to go bike touring in Cuba next year, so I wonder ....

[Calico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfudtuckerpucker try this report on Irma- the best weather report I've ever watched. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwW6...ature=youtu.be

He's very good. I wonder if he'd like to relocate to NC and join my local station?

Our weather folks are good, but a little to "chatty" for my taste. I like the way this guy does it - just the facts.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LOL! On buying groceries: I don't get why people buy bread for a hurricane. The stuff goes moldy in a day or so. I don't get why people buy water either. One can get water ahead of time out of their tap. People buy more than they need, too, leaving less for folks who might need it. It's a cliché to show empty shelves of grocery stores on the news. Has anybody actually eaten all the bread they've bought pre-storm? When we go backpacking, for lunches we don't like to cook, so we take hard cheese, salami/pepperoni, crackers, and dark chocolate all of which can last for days unrefrigerated. Usually, we have these things in the pantry or in the refrigerator anyways. Also what's the deal with boiling water? There are methods to dis-infect water that don't involve boiling.

+1
I really don't get the buy water part, that is why we have taps, each person uses about 2 gallons per day, which is a lot of water.
Use a teaspoon of bleach and it will kill nearly everything in a gallon of water. Leave it open to the air for 1/2 hour and you won't even taste it.
Canned food will last years. Just keep a manual can opener.

[Lisa99]

Most counties have a mandatory evacuation for mobile and modular homes. We are in The Villages and trust me, everyone who watches tv knows from the periodic interruption of a show to give urgent updates.

They've also evacuated everyone around two local lakes regardless of home type. Don't remember the lake names since we've only been residents for about 2 weeks.

We're staying. Our house is new and built to current code. It will withstand the winds as long as tornadoes aren't added to the mix.

We'll know tomorrow night whether it was the right decision. As the day has progressed the path has veered more to the west, but only time will tell what it is really going to do.

[Lisa99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset +1 I really don't get the buy water part.

In an extended power outage the pumps that push water to houses might not work. We didn't buy bottled water. We bought a 10 gallon water jug and filled it which is plenty for the 2 of us. We also filled the bathtub with water so the toilets can be flushed.

[FlaGator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset +1 I really don't get the buy water part, that is why we have taps, each person uses about 2 gallons per day, which is a lot of water. Use a teaspoon of bleach and it will kill nearly everything in a gallon of water. Leave it open to the air for 1/2 hour and you won't even taste it. Canned food will last years. Just keep a manual can opener.

Perhaps you don't "get" the bottled water part because you've never lived through an event which made the tap water for hundreds of thousands of people undrinkable for several days?

Wasn't fun and more complicated if you have a kid in diapers....

Yes, water can be boiled, and few drops of bleach/gal does wonders. When you're living without hot water, fresh food, air conditioning and surveying the damage to your property, not having to disinfect water to quench your thirst is nice

Come back after experiencing that and tell us if you have a different opinion about having drinking water on hand.

[LOL!]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlaGator Come back after experiencing that and tell us if you have a different opinion about having drinking water on hand.

I've lived for weeks without tap and bottled water.

I think you missed the point that tap water is put in containers and used later. Of course one has water for drinking and other purposes.

For some of my water I fill 32-gal food-grade containers with lids and leave them in my showers and bathtubs. That way, I can still take showers (while waiting for storm and tap water supply is still working) and keep the water potable. Also when not filled with water I use them to store out-of-season clothes and/or hurricane supplies.

Plus when no longer needed, a simple tube can be used to siphon out the water and down the drain it goes.

http://www.rubbermaidcommercial.com/...sp?rcpNum=2632

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imoldernu If you have a home in the Villages, what do you think is going to happen? Does anyone know how high above sea level their home is? Will rivers rise with the storm surge or just with rain? How much rain is predicted? Where? For Harvey, the predictions were within inches. How much for Irma?Are ALL the highways blocked the way the news channel show? ./. Am all in favor of warnings, and not underplaying the dangers, but why aren't the concerns of the vast majority of residents being addressed? Are Florida residents unable to understand?

Getting back on topic, while it is easy to symphatiize with the OP concern, the forcast for the next 48 hours has changed dramatically over the past 24 hours, because Mz. Irma, suddenly and unpredictably, changed course. And she may do so again. The storm surge in Ft Lauderdale, or rainfall in The Villages, simply cannot be foretold with greater accuracy unless someone finds a way to forecast where exactly she will be, and what wind speed she will carry.

Until then we all will continue to get "worst case" forecasts for specific aspects, such as rainfall, surge, wind, etc, but without the precision the OP desires. Meanwhile, the national cable news will probably continue to air mostly drama that is visually arresting but not useful for any of us.

[meierlde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LOL! I've lived for weeks without tap and bottled water. I think you missed the point that tap water is put in containers and used later. Of course one has water for drinking and other purposes. For some of my water I fill 32-gal food-grade containers with lids and leave them in my showers and bathtubs. That way, I can still take showers (while waiting for storm and tap water supply is still working) and keep the water potable. Also when not filled with water I use them to store out-of-season clothes and/or hurricane supplies. Plus when no longer needed, a simple tube can be used to siphon out the water and down the drain it goes. Rubbermaid Commercial Products - Rubbermaid Waste : 2632 32 Gallon BRUTE® Container

Note that having the containers does mean thinking in advance. Actually one place to look for parts of the hurricane kit is camping supply areas. They feature things like collapsible water containers and the like. As to hot water if you buy a propane camp stove you can get hot water as well, just put some in a pan and onto the stove. Note if you have a gas grill you can also put pans on it. (If you have a gas stove you might check if it works without electricity then you have a way to heat water) A teakettle might be a good idea. (I remember its use at my grand parents house which never had running water, you fill it heat the water and use as needed.
Camping supply places also have off grid showers as well.

[LOL!]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meierlde Note that having the containers does mean thinking in advance.

Right. This thread does have "Dumbing down" in its title.

So if you go to the grocery store / Costco / Walmart and find all the bottled water gone, do you think Home Depot or Lowes will have all their Brute containers gone?

BTW, a decent camp stove is $15 and the gas canisters are about $4 in our area and store indefinitely, so one can get a few of them and toss them in their Brute container until the next disaster.

But don't forget to learn how to use them and practice ahead of time, too.

And I wouldn't waste my water on a shower.

[FlaGator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LOL! I've lived for weeks without tap and bottled water. I think you missed the point that tap water is put in containers and used later. Of course one has water for drinking and other purposes. For some of my water I fill 32-gal food-grade containers with lids and leave them in my showers and bathtubs. That way, I can still take showers (while waiting for storm and tap water supply is still working) and keep the water potable. Also when not filled with water I use them to store out-of-season clothes and/or hurricane supplies. Plus when no longer needed, a simple tube can be used to siphon out the water and down the drain it goes. Rubbermaid Commercial Products - Rubbermaid Waste : 2632 32 Gallon BRUTE® Container

I got the point, and used containers throughout the 2004-5 seasons, plus a camp stove, bbq grill, Engel DC portable fridge, a portable absorption unit cooler and a portable generator.

It is work to be prepared, and to manage a family with young kids under those conditions. Having some bottled water on hand makes it simpler.

[Gotadimple]

You know the issue of blaming the media is really a cop-out.

The ONLY media that has no skin in the game is the U.S. Weather Service. They provide thorough and complete analysis, include cogent explanations. They have no senior management attempting to manage to a profit, therefore, they stick to facts, not assumptions.

The rest of the media gets all of their information from the federal government sponsored and supported outlet, and then, to meet the demands of senior management, they edit it to manage a profit from the news cycle. Sorry, to spill the beans, but that's the deal.

Every county has an emergency management group and they do publish on web sites, on emergence radio channels, and will interrupt television broadcasts with what every citizen should know. Blaming the "mainstream news media" serves no purpose. You get it free, you get what you pay for. You get weather news and analysis from the U.S. Weather Service because you pay taxes, and they do a far better job the the freebie guys.

[LOL!]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlaGator I Having some bottled water on hand makes it simpler.

Of course it does. That's why we put tap water into plastic bottles that we always seem to have around.

[meierlde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meierlde Note that having the containers does mean thinking in advance. Actually one place to look for parts of the hurricane kit is camping supply areas. They feature things like collapsible water containers and the like. As to hot water if you buy a propane camp stove you can get hot water as well, just put some in a pan and onto the stove. Note if you have a gas grill you can also put pans on it. (If you have a gas stove you might check if it works without electricity then you have a way to heat water) A teakettle might be a good idea. (I remember its use at my grand parents house which never had running water, you fill it heat the water and use as needed. Camping supply places also have off grid showers as well.

I might say that having visited my grandparents house many times while growing up it makes it easier to see how to live without. It was on a farm built in 1910. They also had a cistern that filled with rainwater or purchased water for the kitchen. You got hot water from a teakettle. They had upgraded from a wood stove to a propane stove so that made cooking a whole lot easier. The old wood stove had a container on the side where you could put water in and it would get hot if the stove was lit. They needed the cistern because it was an area with shallow coal beds and the ground water contained sulphur. (The place was dug up in the early 1970s, and this was part of the reason they did not upgrade to at least some running water in the 1950s. )