Hurricane Irene

[Purron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R We'll be watching and hoping for the best.

Thanks baby. You've been there and done that. I'll never forget Katrina.

"Irene Goodnight"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1Sc7...eature=related

[unclemick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigE Survived Katrina physically, will never be the same otherwise. Storm surge 28feet in Bay St. Louis and 19 feet in Biloxi. Do not underestimate this storm or the storm surge. I suggest you take all important things (family pics, heirlooms, legal docs) and place them well out of harms way. I would also recommend tying EVERYTHING down. Most items float, even heavy things. Your left over firewood from last winter will become missiles that will destroy you neighbors house, etc. This is not a "fun" time to gather 'round the weather channel or joke about what fun it is to ride out a hurricane, this is serious as a heart attack. Prayers are with the east coast now.

I now live on a hill - a high hill above the wide Missouri. One relative had a heck of a time(Bay St. Louis on the hill) proving/re-establishing legal identity - emerging from Katrina with one shoe and one dress.

heh heh heh - Huricanes like this one still get my attention even though I now live in tornado/hail/ice storm/snow country. Got my fingers crossed for the East Coast. I'll be back in New Orleans next month as a visitor - for a wedding.

[martyb]

I'm in NC now, 100 miles inland. The skies are funny lookin'.... A little rain so far, & the wind is picking up...even this far inland.

[bbbamI]

Hang in there y'all......

[Gumby]

The latest projections show the hurricane making landfall on the Connecticut coast just about directly over my house. Actually, my house seems to be a hurricane magnet of sorts. The eye of the 1938 Great New England Hurricane passed directly overhead (blowing down every single tree on the town green in the process), as did the eye of Hurricane Gloria in 1985. The good news is that I know my 154 year old house has survived at least two substantial hurricanes, so I feel pretty confident about the house itself. I am, however, concerned about my trees -- 15 giant maples on my one-third acre lot. If they fall, it is a certainty they will hit the house.

[Sarah in SC]

We just spent the evening swilling beer at the marina watching the wind. The hand-held windspeed indicator got up to 24 knots! Good stuff!

[FIREd]

Good luck to all of you on the East Coast!

[DblDoc]

Stay safe everyone.

DD

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby The latest projections show the hurricane making landfall on the Connecticut coast just about directly over my house.

Looks like you might need lash yourself to the mast kitchen counter.

All you folks over there on the right coast stay high, dry and safe.

[W2R]

Gumby, those trees are a real worry and I hope Irene doesn't take them out, or cause them to fall into your house.

Take care, everyone.

[harley]

The forecast is getting worse and better at the same time. She's dropped from a Cat 2 to a Cat 1, but the potential storm surge has been upgraded from 2-4 feet to 6-8 feet. Seeing as we're 10' above sea level and tomorrow night is a new moon (higher tides), I'm starting to sweat bullets. I'm not as worried about the 85 mph winds as I am the rising water.

We've proofed our house as much as is possible, considering. Luckily (or smartly on DW's part, since she talked me into it) we've got hurricane shutters on the 3 sliding glass doors that will be facing the major winds. Tomorrow morning I'm moving everything irreplaceable (pictures and paperwork, mostly) up to the second floor. Then taking pictures of everything left, and loading the car with what we need to flee. Just in case. I had the propane tank (underground) topped up today, so the generator will run for a couple of weeks if necessary. And I've got a call in to the HVAC people to find out what we need to do if it looks like the water will go into the crawlspace where the geothermal systems are. Do we need to flip breakers before we run away? Or just leave it to turn off by itself? As long as we don't flood, I think were safe, assuming no flying projectiles. Luckily, there are few trees or other potential hazards around. If it was just me I'd be tempted to be doing the drunken hurricane party thing, but I've got DW and the dogs to think about. If the water gets halfway up our yard we're leaving, because by then the roads will be a couple inches under water.

On the other hand, we've been talking about wanting to move, but can't sell the house for anywhere near what we paid. Maybe it will wash away and we can go somewhere else (a hill in Missouri, maybe) and start over. How's that insurance process work, I wonder?

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley The forecast is getting worse and better at the same time. She's dropped from a Cat 2 to a Cat 1, but the potential storm surge has been upgraded from 2-4 feet to 6-8 feet. Seeing as we're 10' above sea level and tomorrow night is a new moon (higher tides), I'm starting to sweat bullets. I'm not as worried about the 85 mph winds as I am the rising water.

I'd feel the same way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley We've proofed our house as much as is possible, considering. Luckily (or smartly on DW's part, since she talked me into it) we've got hurricane shutters on the 3 sliding glass doors that will be facing the major winds. Tomorrow morning I'm moving everything irreplaceable (pictures and paperwork, mostly) up to the second floor. Then taking pictures of everything left, and loading the car with what we need to flee. Just in case. I had the propane tank (underground) topped up today, so the generator will run for a couple of weeks if necessary. And I've got a call in to the HVAC people to find out what we need to do if it looks like the water will go into the crawlspace where the geothermal systems are. Do we need to flip breakers before we run away? Or just leave it to turn off by itself?

You can flip the breakers before you go. It's easy - - no problem. Then you don't have to worry about it. I always forget but have never had any damage due to forgetting. But, I did worry a bit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley As long as we don't flood, I think were safe, assuming no flying projectiles. Luckily, there are few trees or other potential hazards around. If it was just me I'd be tempted to be doing the drunken hurricane party thing, but I've got DW and the dogs to think about. If the water gets halfway up our yard we're leaving, because by then the roads will be a couple inches under water.

That would be too late to be leaving. You don't want to get stuck if the water is deeper elsewhere, and traffic may be a huge problem. I'd suggest leaving earlier and just going on a little vacation for a couple of days somewhere inland.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley On the other hand, we've been talking about wanting to move, but can't sell the house for anywhere near what we paid. Maybe it will wash away and we can go somewhere else (a hill in Missouri, maybe) and start over. How's that insurance process work, I wonder?

Take your insurance policies with you if you evacuate. Might come in handy.

[TromboneAl]

Another thing on our "power outage imminent" checklist is "make ice."

[Cruisinthru]

Is anyone in SC, NC, or even parts North online to give an update? What has happened in your neck of the woods?

[Sarah in SC]

We hung out down at the marina last night (Harley you say drunken hurricane party like that is a bad thing!)
The hand held wind speed thingy got up to 24 knots while we were on the boat, but all our rain was early in the day as the big feeder bands came through. It is such a distinctive way the wind comes in with hurricanes. It is distinctly circular. There was a magnificent sunset to reward our sitting out there in the wind and we had a good "trial run" on prepping the boat for the next one.
Good luck to the rest of you!

[VaCollector]

Here in SE Virginia I'm not in a flood prone area and so can't comment on that but the power had been off for about 4 hours and is currently back on (not a problem as I have a whole house genny) for now...

Tornado warnings just east of us....lots of torrential rains with heavy wind gusts that look like they will could finish covering the yard with debris ...and this monster is STILL well south of us!

Good luck to all ~ please stay safe!!

Edited to add that there are parts of the local area that have been issued mandatory evacuation orders (mostly due to projected flooding) for the 1st time in my lifetime (and I have lived here all of my 56 years).

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley Darn meteorologists, can't they figure out exactly where this thing will go a couple of days ahead?

I'm married to one, so I've heard this discussion quite a bit.

Hurricane forecasting has improved tremendously in the last 15 years, mostly due to computing power (being able to analyze volumes made up of progressively smaller increments). However with a big storm like this one it's still difficult to precisely locate the eye, and when it's that big there are many smaller effects which add up unpredictably.

"Locating the eye" varies with the weather, the hurricane flights, how close the satellite is to the storm, and whether it's day (visual) or night (IR).

If the storm gets over land then it's even more difficult to analyze.

Spouse mentioned that one nationally-known METOC legend (Max Mayfield) came out of retirement to warn that this storm is gonna be a problem to be taken seriously.

[MichaelB]

Wilma passed directly over our house in '05. It had fallen from cat 5 to cat 2 so folks thought it would be less harmful, but it did quite a lot of damage. After the storm the experts concluded that the damage was caused by tornadoes that spun off from the hurricane.

Broward county was without supplies for almost 2 weeks.

[DblDoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords I'm married to one, so I've heard this discussion quite a bit. Hurricane forecasting has improved tremendously in the last 15 years, mostly due to computing power (being able to analyze volumes made up of progressively smaller increments). However with a big storm like this one it's still difficult to precisely locate the eye, and when it's that big there are many smaller effects which add up unpredictably. "Locating the eye" varies with the weather, the hurricane flights, how close the satellite is to the storm, and whether it's day (visual) or night (IR). If the storm gets over land then it's even more difficult to analyze. Spouse mentioned that one nationally-known METOC legend (Max Mayfield) came out of retirement to warn that this storm is gonna be a problem to be taken seriously.

Our local weather guru just posted a blog article with data on this issue. Cliff Mass Weather Blog: A Potential Breakthrough in Hurricane Forecasting

Pretty impressive ability to predict the track IMO - but I guess if you are hunkered down in your home and a couple of miles E or W makes a big difference you might see it otherwise!

DD

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC Nords, that sounds about right--I would like the massive airsickness bags the best!

Well, I thought P-3s or commercial aircraft would be bad enough, but I just stumbled across this article showing how the Air Force has managed to make a C-130 ride even more miserable than anyone would have assumed possible:
http://defensetech.org/2011/08/26/us...chasing-irene/