Severe Weather

[Ksyrup]

Wife has been in and out of the house checking here in KY. We've got some low level stuff, not as good yet as a couple of months ago.

[Lathum]

Been keeping an eye out here in Jersey. Heard you can see them in a town a bit north

[JPhillips]

Nothing at the college or home, but people a little north are seeing the light.

[Lathum]

I was able to see them through the camera on my phone and get some pretty cool pictures.

[miami_fan]

Just checking in!

We lost power for about 40 hours starting late Wednesday night until this afternoon. So many tales and experiences. My general takeways.

1. In times of crisis, the vast majority of the people in our subdivision really pulled together to get each other's houses and property cleaned up.

2. I suspect the office that issues the permits to cut down will be very busy of the next three to six months. Whoever polices tree cutting without a permit is also going to be busy. Most of the damage I have seen in my travels have been from trees falling on structures.

3. A lot of people had their hurricane cherries popped this week. Many families either couldn't prepare properly or chose not to prepare properly and it showed especially in the aftermath. Hopefully, lessons have been learned.

4. The privilege, the narcissism, the victim mentality have been all on display. I can only assume the people that were exhibiting this behavior were experiencing their first "big" storm and folks had what to expect but Helene was just a few days ago. How are people shocked that gas stations might have no gas the day after a storm passes through or that power hasn't been restored within 24 hours of the storm leaving the area?!

Oh, and did you know that everyone gets $2400 from FEMA if they had to go 24 hours without power? I learned that on Ring Neighbors comment area.

[JonInMiddleGA]

re #4 - gas ... I'll be honest (and you know I don't give too much benefit of the doubt in general), I can see where a hurricane virgin might not have caught the gas shortage thing the first time around. If they didn't need gas during Helene, with all else that goes on around a storm, that feels like a not huge stretch to be caught unaware by.

Now if they're surprised next time, I'll be at the head of the line to call them fn stupid.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

3. A lot of people had their hurricane cherries popped this week. Many families either couldn't prepare properly or chose not to prepare properly and it showed especially in the aftermath. Hopefully, lessons have been learned.

Interested in learning more. Besides food, water & flashlights what would you say are the top 3 preps that someone riding out a hurricane should have?

[GrantDawg]

I picked up one of those power banks that connect to a solar panel. It has two AC plugs and several USB ports. I didn't end up using it, but I did see a guy that is surviving cut off in NC that was using those and he said they are fantastic. He also had a battery powered cooler that would be fantastic to have. He actually had two, and one would actually get cold enough to freeze. He said he would charge them every couple of days, either with his car or his gas generator.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

re #4 - gas ... I'll be honest (and you know I don't give too much benefit of the doubt in general), I can see where a hurricane virgin might not have caught the gas shortage thing the first time around. If they didn't need gas during Helene, with all else that goes on around a storm, that feels like a not huge stretch to be caught unaware by.

Now if they're surprised next time, I'll be at the head of the line to call them fn stupid.

Originally Posted by Edward64

Interested in learning more. Besides food, water & flashlights what would you say are the top 3 preps that someone riding out a hurricane should have?

Before I go in further detail, I want to make sure everyone knows I am not talking about people with a resource issue. Unless they are living the doublest of double lives, they have the resources. In the mythical Hurricane Prep 101 handbook, it would tell you that if you have a vehicle or vehicles make sure the vehicles are filled with gas. You fill your gas tank not just because of the high probability that it will take a few days to get gas trucks filled to restock the gas stations but because EVERYONE is going to fill all of their vehicles before the storm many stations have already tapped into any local reserves they may have. So many people putting gas in only their vehicles, waiting an hour in line to put gas in their vehicle and/or looking for gas stations with gas to put gas in their vehicles starting at midday on Thursday for a storm that made landfall at 9pm on Wednesday. The thing is all summer long any possibility of any storm coming in the Gulf resulted in a rush to the gas stations.

Also in the handbook, It would say you should have at least a week's worth of supplies. But if you have filled the fridge with food supplies, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that you would have a way of making sure that the refrigerator stays on to preserve your supplies i.e have a generator that at the very least can keep your fridge on. Also the gas necessary to keep the generator running to preserve your supplies. Again, from what I can tell lights in the area began going out around 10pm Wednesday night at the earliest. Power was restored for most by 6pm yesterday. People were looking for gas for their generators by Thursday afternoon. If the plan is to cook, have enough propane gas for your gas grill or make sure you have a charcoal grill. You could always get a case of canned meats and not have to worry about any of that.

I don't count food or water as should haves myself. I always have food and water in the fridge and in the pantry. If I am riding out a hurricane, I don't see why I need to remind myself to have those things. I just to make sure I have to make sure I have enough for my self and my family. I have a top four. My top four would be at least one generator (with enough gas to have to run for 24 hours a day for seven days) powerful to enough to keep the fridge on, flashlights both battery powered and rechargeable batteries(Ryobi, DeWalt etc), portable fans with rechargeable batteries, and a battery powered radio. That last one might seem out of place in 2024 but with everyone's WIFI out, you found out rather quickly how inadequate that one cell phone tower in between the two or three subdivisions in your area actually is when you are trying to anything on your phone including listening to the radio.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

My top four would be at least one generator (with enough gas to have to run for 24 hours a day for seven days) powerful to enough to keep the fridge on, flashlights both battery powered and rechargeable batteries(Ryobi, DeWalt etc), portable fans with rechargeable batteries, and a battery powered radio. That last one might seem out of place in 2024 but with everyone's WIFI out, you found out rather quickly how inadequate that one cell phone tower in between the two or three subdivisions in your area actually is when you are trying to anything on your phone including listening to the radio.

Thanks.