Posted on 08/26/2023 2:03:00 PM PDT by NautiNurse
Tropical Depression 10 has formed between the Yucatan Peninsula and the Western Tip of Cuba. Governor DeSantis issued a state of emergency for 33 Florida counties in advance of the system.
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Mercifully, I live in an Orlando suburb. Power system upgrades in recent years mean that we now rarely lose power. Next year, our power lines will be buried and therefore nearly immune to outages from tree falls.
“but to place much of Florida in a formal state of emergency when it’s not even raining cheapens the phrase “state of emergency” and conditions people not to believe what they actually see.”
You missed the point. Florida Statute 501.160 provides for protections against price gouging under a declared state of emergency. That’s the law. DeSantis did the right thing by declaring an emergency because preps for a hurricane start a week before expected landfall. This is when generators, for instance, become sold out and unscrupulous dealers charge 3-5 times the going rates, gas stations jack prices 3 fold, but not under a declared emergency. As it is, right now, I just saw a gas station jack their prices a $1/gallon to $5.45 for diesel. Yeah, I reported them.
“but to place much of Florida in a formal state of emergency when it’s not even raining cheapens the phrase “state of emergency” and conditions people not to believe what they actually see.”
You missed the point. Florida Statute 501.160 provides for protections against price gouging under a declared state of emergency. That’s the law. DeSantis did the right thing by declaring an emergency because preps for a hurricane start a week before expected landfall. This is when generators, for instance, become sold out and unscrupulous dealers charge 3-5 times the going rates, gas stations jack prices 3 fold, but not under a declared emergency. As it is, right now, I just saw a gas station jack their prices a $1/gallon to $5.45 for diesel. Yeah, I reported them.
https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/storminfo/10L_tracks_latest.png
I take it you don’t live in Florida...
Harbor Freight has plenty of generators of all types and sizes right now. They stocked up. Standard prices, too.
We’ve been trying to get a 30kw diesel generator installed for the past several months but prices have been $33,000 to $77,000 estimated for what should be no more than $23,000 installed. So, we just bought a 9500 watt generator today to power the 220 volt sewer lift pump, and other things. We have another generator but it only provides 120 volt power. This is a good piece of mind until the permanent generator can be installed.
12z global models ticked SE again
That is, if retailers are prohibited from raising prices on the rapidly decreasing volume of critical goods, there soon would be none left as people buy up these precious goods even faster than their immediate need requires them to do. By raising the price in response to the often incredible demand, people would buy less of a specific item and, although at a much higher temporary price, these critical goods would still be available. I think that's a better situation than to not have these critical goods available at any price. (Note that if the retailer raises the price too much, people won't buy them and the lack of demand will force the price back down.
We saw the effects of panic buying during the toilet paper debacle in the early phase of the Fauci Flu, and the unavailability of generators during the deliberate electrical grid shutdowns during the wildfires a few years ago out here in California.
Just something to consider ... a different perspective.
I hate hurricane season... that said, we do need the rain...
No, I live in the Sierra foothills 30 miles northeast of Sacramento, and declared states of emergency have become more commonplace (and dismissed by many residents as they become more inured to them) in recent years out here. For things like wildfires and winter floods, most counties and the state are still using the alert, then advisory, then warning, then declared emergency (which requires state involvement so that federal funds can be accessed) process which makes sense to me.
When a signficant earthquakes occurs, an emergency is declared at once of course ... although an occasional seismic advisorie is issued for a specific locations when there is a swarm of minor quakes or along the coast if the potential for a tsunami generated by a distant earthquake is determined to exist.
This thread should be a reminder to everyone anywhere—always keep a solid supply of bottled water and non-perishable food on hand.
Always.
If you make a habit of it then you do not need to panic when other folks do.
There are many other prep measures that we take—but those two are the bare minimum—and anyone can do them.
Me too! I’m stopping on my way home for extra chocolate 🤣
Went with propane for long fuel storage capability.
The other thing I failed to mention, is personal and family safety.
My wife and I live in a Gated community with 178 homes, with a 24/7 guard out front.
During a recent hurricane, the HOA board, took down the security arms and told the guards to go home to be with their families.
In addition, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office issued a warning if the winds got above 40 mph sustained, they would not respond to anything except the most extreme emergencies.
The Sheriff’s announcement made a bunch of would-be thugs and criminals’ ear’s perk up, what better time to rob and steal if the cops won’t be responding.
A group of owners started noticing a bunch of foreign vehicles in our neighborhood, driving around during the storm looking for opportunities. A number of neighbors sat in their garages with the doors up, with a rifle or shotgun in their lap, just warn off any potential home invasion thugs from getting any ideas.
Looting is a huge problem during and right after the storms especially if it’s a bad one.
Chocolate is a basic hurricane supply.
Crews have been busy in our neighborhood all year cutting limbs and burying more line. Destin, FWB.
My house’s subdivision has underground lines, but main transformer is back in treeline in swamp! Yay FPL
We dodged some big ones, Katrina, Ivan, Michael, all were headed right for us at some point till last minute turn,
I never lost a shingle in over 20 years, 5 mi from water. Fingers remain crossed, ayep
I skipped propane because it runs out quick and refills sometimes took weeks after Michael. That, and the propane tank costs equalled diesel on the botyom line.
Much of Florida is tourism. Gouging really kills that.
Sorry to hear about your father... always hard to lose a parent.
Years ago I visited a family member in small PA city and was stunned the 'evening news' carried a picture of a lightning strike - ONE lightning strike. We're so used to thunderstorms here in Florida we don't even include them in our scary stuff. Thanks for sharing... (oh, and earthquakes are scary for me... no real warning when they're going to happen)
BULLETIN
Tropical Storm Idalia Intermediate Advisory Number 4A
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL102023
100 PM CDT Sun Aug 27 2023
...IDALIA BRINGING HEAVY RAINS TO PORTIONS OF WESTERN CUBA AND THE
YUCATAN PENINSULA...
...EXPECTED TO BECOME A HURRICANE OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF
MEXICO...
SUMMARY OF 100 PM CDT...1800 UTC...INFORMATION
Hmmm…
Not a fan of that track 🫣
Thank you, as always NN, for all you do.
Tatt
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