Great Merciful Zeus: If you are reading this anywhere near the Eastern seaboard, PLEASE take Hurricane Irene seriously, get off the computer, and BE SAFE
The navy is moving all ships out of Norfolk, Virginia.
Which they don’t do unless something terrible is on the way.
If you are anywhere on the Eastern seaboard, TAKE HURRICANE IRENE seriously.
Do not laugh this off. Get the heck as far away from the hurricane’s path as possible.
Do not be like the people of New Orleans and joke about having been through hurricanes before.
I have a good friend whose whole family almost died in the 90s when a hurricane came through Hilton Head. Her father thought it was all a big joke, and he didn’t evacuate them. Instead, he drank beer and, you guessed it, homemade “hurricanes” and screwed around in the garage, having a great time, tilting into the wind declaring himself “King of all Hurricanes” while the family dog cowered under his workbench thinking, no doubt, “this damn fool has done lost his sorry mind”. Marshals of some kind came to the neighborhood to make sure it was evacuated, and found this fool outside, clowning around, trying to fly like Superman. The cops took water-proof toe tags, like you find at the morgue, and started filling them out for the family members to secure to themselves…because if they insisted on staying, the authorities would need a way to identify their foolish, drowned bodies. If they ever washed up somewhere in a few weeks.
They piled dad in a truck, threw all the family photos and as much clothing as they could grab in another car, and hit the road JUST AN HOUR OR SO BEFORE ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE.
Please take Hurricane Irene uncharacteristically seriously.
The media uses weather as porn most of the time, titillating people with tales of “the storm of the century!” so people underestimate these things. I will tell you, that Justin and I didn’t think it really was going to snow that much here in Chicago this past winter, because this stuff is always blown out of proportion…but then SNOWMAGEDDON hit, and we were stunned how bad it really was.
PLEASE DO NOT BE STUNNED OR SURPRISED BY HURRICANE IRENE.
You are too valuable to the Resistance to lose, and your family is too precious to risk.
© 2011, Kevin DuJan. All rights reserved.
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Nance and I are in Annapolis. Irene's predicted track will have it pass over the beach or Atlantic Ocean when it goes past us. That's about 90 miles east of us. We will get lots of rain and wind, but not hurricane force winds.
My Mom and (step)dad are in Stuart, FL, where Irene is passing now. Irene's center is 130 miles offshore, and the radius of the eye is about 100 miles, so they are about 30 miles from the wall. At that distance, the winds in Stuart should be between 30 and 45 mph with gusts going higher.
Irene will be up toward me around Sunday morning, and hopefully, it will be down to just a tropical depression. Maybe we can give it some anti-depressives and it will quiet down and go to sleep?
Newt – make sure you have food and fresh water stocked up just to be safe.
Can you also check on any elderly or special needs people in your neighborhood to make sure they know what’s coming and are prepared?
Keep yourself and those around you safe!
Sorry, Newt, the lastest forecast calls her a mid-level Category 1 storm, with 85 kt winds. Not a horrible thing if you're 90 miles away, but it's going to be a little more of a problem than you hope for.
Also, the latest recon shows a circular eye 35 nm across. You go-to guide to recon: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/reconlist.shtml .
And you may want to check Dr. Jeff Master's blog entry: http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comm…
I hadn't given storm surge a lot of thought, but it is a consideration along those costal regions. And yes, this is looking an awful lot like the '38 storm. That one wasn't real fun, and Irene isn't shaping up to be a blast, either.
Also, keep in mind that most hurricane related deaths in the USofA is…fresh water drowning.
Dear north Eastern Seaboard people:
Take this seriously!
I live in FL and have been directly under several Cat 1s, 2s, and a Cat 3 (Jeanne). As a matter of fact, for Jeanne and Frances, we were in about the worse location you can be in: the northwest corner. This means you get no timeout because the eye never goes over head.
Trust me, ignore the idiots in the media who go and stand infront of a camera at these times. They are merely proving why they are Lame stream
YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE ANYWHERE NEAR the wind speeds these babies put out.
Here in FL, our building codes are more stringent for these conditions. We, ourselves, actually built our home. I truely know where of I speak. New England structures are not built for this. If Irene stays a Cat 1 or 2, GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!!
I have a brother that live in Philly I sent him a box of steaks so he could enjoy him self while being home bound. (no need to run outside for a 5.8 go to sleep)
Kevin, Here's a good site with lots of information on Irene, there are quite a few stories. I like that it has some comparisions to other storms, having been through several it helps me know what to expect. Please remember our military families, with so many deployed, there are many single parents at home with little ones, they need our support. It looks like Camp Lejeune will be spared but bases in VA are likely to be impacted.
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/54235…
Also, here's great post on how to prepare for disasters, I suggest we all read it and bookmark the page. http://www.blackfive.net/main/2011/08/usaas-advic…
There are some really scary articles online about what will happen if NYC takes a direct hit. Besides the human life toll the economic damage could put our economy over the cliff for years and years to come.
Do you have any of those article links?
What would happen if a direct hit on NYC by the hurricane?
In a word: disaster.
The MTA already is preparing for flooding in the NYC Subway system.
The NYC Public Service Unions would go MIA, like in the snowstorms…..
Since the city would be under a State of Emergency, they would use this opportunity to take paid time off!
We are in Williamsburg, VA area, and the opinion of most is that Irene will be a glancing blow off the Outer Banks.
We will have wind (45 – 50 mph gusts), and rain (maybe several inches), but that most damage will be done only on the coast and the Eastern Shore.
We are prepared for this, and expect it will be NO Isabel, even if they are both female-named storms.
My personal belief is that due to the likelihood of a NYC and New England hit, this is the reason for the media hysteria.
I have personally been through about 3 major hurricanes, and although they are scary, this one is not of that category for us….
So some counter to all the alarm…..
I've sat through the eyewall of Camile (120 miles north of the coast), Georges (3/4 miles from beach), and Katrina (3/4 mile from beach), and had numerous canes past to both the west and east of me, within 50 miles.
The most terrifying effects of the wind are very, very localized. There can be heavy thunderstorms, but the huge 100+ mph sustained winds are pretty much confined to the eyewall.
AS LONG AS THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE EYEWALL PASSES TO YOUR EAST, winds won't be as severe. (part 2 follows)
Part 2
Now FLOODING is going to be very dependant upon the orientation of the water body to the piling up of water. For instance, Hurricane Frederick in 79 hit mobile pretty hard, but 50 miles away in Biloxi, the water actually blew OUT of the bay and into the gulf. We had a NORTH WIND in that instance. With Katrina, we got a south wind, and with a bay open on the south end but closed on the north, everyone knows what happened there. With New Orleans, they had the east west oriented Lake Ponchatrain. Even if the eyewall was slightly east of new orleans, thus giving them a north wind, Lake Ponchatrain to the east was getting filled with water piling into the crook which comprises the louisiana delta and is blocked to the north by Mississippi. If that description makes sense, it sort of demonstrates how the orientation of the body of water with respect to the acccumulating water determines where and if there will be flooding.
HOWEVER, all that being said, don't take much heart in a line drawn on a 3 day forecast as to where the center of the cane will be. They are nearly ALWAYS wrong.
Acquaintance from VA said the Navy evac is standard procedure from what she's been told. They're new to VA and staying. Not sure what to think of that or that people are telling her that about the Navy…… Went through the one in the early 2000s in Delaware, no power for like 4 days so definitely stock up on non-perishables and water (especially for toilets, etc).
Thank you for thinking of us, Kevin. I live in central Maryland. I'll be checking on as many people as possible and will take this seriously.
You are very thoughtful, Kevin, bless your sweet heart. I am in the Hudson valley about 60 miles north of NYC and protected by mountains and a big wide 100 year flood plain a good distance from the house, and the house is on high ground, but I will be watching and preparing at least for power outages because we will lose our water if the lights go off as we are on a well.
I will be worrying for my elderly mom who is still living on Long Island, because she had a bad fall a few weeks ago and broke some ribs so she can't drive anywhere right now, but my sister is just across the backyard in a nearby house and I know her family will look out for my mom.
The worst we had when I lived on Long Island was Gloria, it tore the place up, but we all know the drill about taping windows and such and GTFO if necessary.
May God bless and keep all the wonderful HillBuzz friends. Stay safe all of you! (((hugs)))
All taping glass does is keep the pieces together if it gets shattered. Plan a safe room with no windows to go to if you stay.
Have lots of water.
Better yet, fill all available space in your freezer and fridge with 3/4 full bottles of water (when it freezes it expands) If the power goes out, a freezer that is full stays cold longer than a partially full one.
And the side benefit, if your power goes out, you will have cold water to drink as it melts.
We live in the DC area and are off to buy a couple of cases of water this morning and stock up on a few non-perishables. It is so hard to take the warnings seriously because every little thing gets overblown and over-hyped. Just spent a few minutes rereading about Hurricane Gloria (1985) and Hurricane Isabel (2003) so I could have some context for what is hitting us since I went thru both of those. (No electricity for over a week on LI w/ Gloria and lots of wind damage and one week off of work -schools- because of Isabel and flooding and wind damage.) I looked at storm strength and wind speed and am trying to match it up to what they predict will hit here. It's amazing I feel compelled to take these steps, so great is my distrust of media sensationalism.
If you are in the path of the storm, the big thing is to be ready for at least 3 days of taking care of yourself and your family without electricity. Food, water, medicine, batteries and battery radio, etc. Help will get to you when it is safe for them to travel. I know Florida is already gearing up to send people to you. You guys did it for us in 2004 – thanks!
I linked to this post over at my place, here: http://zillablog.marezilla.com/2011/08/irene-is-o…
There is some Hurricane Irene related music posted there for your enjoyment.