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Posted on 08/20/2011 4:22:03 PM PDT by NautiNurse
Tropical Storm Irene has developed from Invest 97 in the Western Atlantic Ocean, east of the Leeward Islands.
Buoy Data:
Caribbean Sea
Florida
The latest NHS forecast still looks like it’s riding the coast the entire way up the Delmarva into NJ before hitting around NYC. But it’s still so far out that the track errors could be huge (they say a four-day forecast has an average variance of +/- 200 miles to the centerline of their estimate, and they show that on the map). I think it’s fairly safe to say that the coastline along the Eastern Shore and up into DE, NJ, and Long Island had better get ready for a wild Saturday and Sunday, though. How wild depends on just a few miles movement of the storm.
}:-)4
Yes! Our banks were closed for 2 or 3 days and opened without elec to cash checks only. They had cops and cashed checks only for their customers.
Well those recruits at the Coast Guard Station in CapeMay are in for a wild ride.
Good suggestions with regard to the generators.
Allow me to add:
My parents were even further south than we were during Katrina. It was still a cat 1+ when it passed just to their east. THEY were w/o power (and cell phone service) for FIVE WEEKS. All the cell phone towers were damaged. They didn’t have a generator prior to Katrina (they have one now! LOL). Fortunately their neighbor across the road (they live in the country) is a doctor who had a generator. My dad had an old railroad luggage cart. The big one. They put the generator on that for transport and 4-5 families ‘shared’ it with everyone adding gas. IIRC they ran it for 2-3hrs each to charge up fridge and/or freezer and run a television to catch up on the news. When each family was done with their turn, they unhooked it from everything it, allowed it to cool off enough to move and then took it (walked with it on the wagon) to the next family. I have no idea what the duty cycle on this particular generator was so that might be worth looking into if power outages are protracted.
Might invest in some professional siphoning equipment. Towards the end they were siphoning their spare vehicles for the gas to run the generator. They had to choose between generator or travel. Gas shortages mentioned in previous post.
It was nearly a week before their road was cleared of 6-8 *massive* 100+ year old oak trees enough to drive a car around. The doctor rode his mountain bike to the hospital every day. 10m each way. In 90+ heat post Katrina. We like this doctor, he’s kewl.
Mind you, this was rural MS. There was NO looting in their vicinity. Ain’t nuthin’ worth dyin’ fer. Besides, they’d have shared if someone needed it bad enough.
No clue what will happen post storm with flash mobs. Might not amount to much, though, if the cell network is disrupted. Kinda hard to summon your hoodlum friends if there’s no tech to do it.
Praying for y’all!
I’m not in NJ anymore even though my location is still there. NJ message board is way more fun and interesting than the MS board. I like to keep up with people I know.
Oh, and if you’re thinking ‘my power lines are all underground I have nothing to worry about!’, think again. What Katrina took out were the BIGGIE transmission lines. YOu know, the 100+ft towers (guessing height here). For several months, every trip on I-55 we noticed the southbound lanes were big rig after big rig after big rig pulling trailers with those big transmission line pieces on them. Katrina played for keeps!
Just had a new roof put on 5 years ago.
Suppose to be able to take up to 100mph winds.
I hope they are not tested this weekend.
Gasoline is always hard to come by after a storm.
Remember with generators the the very real possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning, always a few people loosing their lives needlessly.
Keep them well away from your house and ONLY OUTSIDE.
Another thing on generators, you'll need extra gas naturally, but don't forget oil. The smaller units 5 to 7.5 KW usually don't have an engine oil filter and you will have to change oil every 24 hours of operation, so get at least 5 or 6 extra quarts of oil.
A couple of rolls of thick plastic sheeting is helpful if your roof starts to leak.
Hurricanes spawn tornadoes.
Your mention of flash mobs brings up an interesting point. This storm is potentially going to track across a couple of major urban areas (Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Suffolk/Chesapeake VA and metro NYC) and fairly close to Philadelphia as well. Given what’s been going on this summer, I do wonder what’s going to happen if those areas take a hard hit from this thing and there’s massive power outages and transport disruption.
}:-)4
Great list mware.
For those in areas potentially affected by Irene GAS UP NOW. I’ve been through 2 cat 3s and the gas lines right before and after blew my mind.
Best wishes.
All good points. I want to add that my parents (my dad especially) and all their neighbors (including the doctor) are ‘country people’ who have grown up around equipment and know what to do with it and how it runs. If this is new stuff to you, BE VERY CAREFUL. Find someone who knows what they’re doing (that you KNOW knows what they’re doing) if possible.
Never run a generator inside. Not even inside your garage with the garage door open! I’d be cautious even in a postage stamp yard with privacy fences. Maybe run it on your driveway for a few hours to charge up fridge/freezer and get some news, let it cool off and then put it back in your garage overnight so it won’t get stolen (as easily). That sort of thing wasn’t a problem in my parents area. In an urban environment it might become an issue.
I grew up in Toledo, Ohio. In tornado alley. I spent a lot of my summers in the basement. lol
hi dixie sass,nice to see you.((((Hugs))))
If I might add something to the gas info....
Last year in Kentucky there was an ice storm that knocked out power to several cities. Some of the ham radio operators from our area went to help. Even though some gas stations had generators, they couldn’t pump the gas because the internet was down. Gas was there, power was there, but there was no way to access it until they got their internet connections established again.
Ocean City, MD just ordered mandatory evacuation to start at midnight tonight.
I remember when Katrina hit. Things started going downhill about 6am that morning for us. Hubby had to go in 1/2 day as he’s support staff. I’d been up all night with a brand new baby (4w old that day in fact) and was exhausted. No way the baby was sleeping with all that racket. Hubby walked in about 12:30pm and I essentially handed him the baby and ran upstairs. Put in earplugs and slept through Katrina. When I woke up about 7:00 that evening there was a goodly breeze coming in the windows. He’d basically sat back and watched out the french doors on the lee side of the house. He watched limbs go by. Shingles go by. Baby just wide eyed. Once I woke up we stayed up and talked until about 10:00 and he went to sleep leaving me night shift with the baby again.
So, I listened to WWL out of NO to see what was going on there. At that point the news stations thought NO had caught a break with flooding. But, around midnight there started to be callers talking about water running down their street. Water 3-4ft deep running down their street. ‘That’s not good!’ said the DJ. Nope. Wasn’t. Listened to that all night as the DJ and civil defense finally figured out what had happened.
Meanwhile, we lived in an urban area not too far from the bad side of town. With windows open. So I found my hubby’s .45. Just me, the baby, a candle, the radio and hubby’s .45 Will never forget that.
Wow, they’ve ridden out some nasty storms too.
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