Woman wraps home in plastic to protect from flooding as Hurricane Dorian approaches (video)

WFOX, CNN ^ | 9/3/2019 | Ashleigh Jackson

[simpson96]

(Meredith) - As Hurricane Dorian approaches the east coast of Florida, one woman is taking extreme measures to protect her home.

Brittany Vidal, of St. Augustine, wrapped her house in plastic and secured the barrier with duct tape and nearly 300 sandbags.

She considered elevating her house after it flooded during Hurricane Matthew and Irma. For now, she's relying on plastic wrap.

"Hopefully our barricade will do something for us this year," Vidal told WFOX-TV.

Vidal lives in the Davis Shores neighborhood, which is part of evacuation Zone A.

Zones A and B are comprised of nearly 149,000 people who were asked to evacuate ahead of the storm. Vidal said she plans to stay put for the time being.

Hurricane Dorian, now a Category 3, has been battering the Bahamas, causing extensive damage and flooding.

The National Hurricane center said Dorian is expected to move "dangerously close" to the Florida east coast late Tuesday through Wednesday evening and then move north to coastal Georgia and South Carolina on Wednesday night and Thursday.

[Fai Mao]

At the Guam house, we use duct tape around two of the outside doors when a typhoon approaches. It actually works pretty well

[Responsibility2nd]

Think about it. She KNEW she was going on TV. With her fat gut being on display through out all America.

So what does she do?

I guess she found her cleanest dirty clothes to wear.

[Vigilanteman]

Before the 1960s, Winnipeg, Manitoba was regularly visited by floodwaters. The Red River Floodway, completed in 1968 made those floods a thing of the past.

It has been upgraded to increase capacity and provided additional protection over the years, but it has basically and consistently done what it was supposed to do-- divert excess floodwaters from the regular river into a floodway away from the developed areas.

Smaller versions have been used with success down river in such cities as Grafton and West Fargo, North Dakota.

I'm not sure if this would work in Florida where development is stacked cheek to jowl and there is really no place to build a flood diversion ditch. Besides, they can lean on the American taxpayer at large to help foot the bill to rebuild unlike less politically connected areas along the Red River of the North.

[wildcard_redneck]

“An old Jeff Foxworthy skit about Redneck Engineering comes to mind.”

Henry Ford was a redneck farmer-engineer. He changed the world.

“Celebrated as both a technological genius and a folk hero, Ford was the creative force behind an industry of unprecedented size and wealth that in only a few decades permanently changed the economic and social character of the United States. When young Ford left his father’s farm in 1879 for Detroit, only two out of eight Americans lived in cities; when he died at age 83, the proportion was five out of eight.”
Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Ford

[kaktuskid]

It’s a Jiffy Pop cabin!

[null and void]

It puffs up in a fire? Hmmmm. Maybe!

[ameribbean expat]

Leave Brittany Alone!

[Robert DeLong]

I'm about 90 miles north of New Orleans, 60 miles east of Baton Rouge. Katrina knocked out my power for a month at least. Had to run generator. Thankfully we planned ahead and had 3 50 gallon barrels of gas on hand. 8>)

BTW, I got the highest electric bill ever for that month I had no electricity. Almost 3 times normal. I just paid it rather than argue about it.

[davidb56]

At least she did Something, rather than demand the goober mint help her.

[Grampa Dave]

“Dorian has pretty good taste so those tattoos will likely keep her away from this abode.”

Also, no Top Secret Clearances for her!

[DEPcom]

I live on a river, my lot has been raise about 6 feet and I have the house 8 feet in the air. Thinking about putting in an elevator for when I get older.

I sleep good at night even during forecasted flooding events.

If the big one comes, I just pop out the vents and four large doors underneath the house and let the river flow under the house. The house is three feet above the 100 year flood mark. The river has never reach the house yet, it will one day.

My house has 21 inch footers with interconnecting rebar pillars. My foundations will be here a 1000 years from now.

Total cost for just the engineered foundation and extra dirt: 20K. I still carry flood insurance just in case.

[cuban leaf]

My ex-brother-in-law lives on the Cedar River in Maple Valley, WA. His house used to flood almost every year. The county finally put in a much higher levy that mostly stopped the problem. But a lot of people finally raised their homes - or sometimes razed them.

The whole thing just seemed dumb to me.

[freedomjusticeruleoflaw]

Uh.....no.

[freedomjusticeruleoflaw]

Water pressure... at the bottom.... will find the holes.

[DannyTN]

They should build a space drive using electric company math.

[wardaddy]

I see thigh sideburns in the mix and unpainted toenails

Deal killers for WD

Obesity in the south and Midwest is truly a health issue

I’m six five 236 this morning

My rib is five foot 106

I can’t imagine being 350 or something like that

And I have thyroid disease

Since 1988

My fighting weight till age 40 was about 200

[CommerceComet]

Winds might blow it loose. But this might work if flooding is the primary threat.

Depends on how well the vertical seams between sheets of plastic are sealed. Duct tape could be under a lot of stress and would probably fail.

[Robert DeLong]

I think they are. Either that or they are padding someone’s pocket. 8>)

[mowowie]

The cellophane plastic wrap used to protect pallets of goods might come in handy for hurricanes.
Just keep wrapping it around your house numerous times then when is over cut it of with some razors..

[mowowie]

Thanks for the first laugh of the day!