The only time I thought hurricanes might be fun was when I was in a disaster control role. In the victim role they were not fun, ever, for me. I lived 4 years on the TX gulf coast and 19 years on the FL gulf coast, almost all "on the water." The rule of thumb is hide from the wind and run from the water. It's a good rule. The worst place to be in a hurricane is stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic trying to evacuate. Evacuate early or not at all. The next worst place is an official shelter; these are simply structures that can probably stand the wind and probably won't flood. There is generally no food, water, or creature comforts and you co-evacuees may kill you for a candy bar. Home is probably best if it's above the storm surge if winds are 100 MPH or less. Cell phones and old-style land lines may work but a battery AM/FM radio is the most reliable source of information. A small generator that can run the refrigerator, a fan, and a couple light bulbs can make things infinitely more tolerable while camping in the house. The power company crews (many from out-of-state are real heroes. If your structure won't survive the expected wind or you are likely to be flooded get out; have a motel (or relatives) reservation before leaving home; they fill up fast. Some motels will take small pets; research that long before you need to know. How "bad:" a storm is for residents depends on intensity (bad) and speed (good). The only time we evacuated was Opal in 1995. Opal had been a stationary Cat 1 storm in the Bay of Campeche (Mexico) when we went to bed. When I rechecked at 0500 the next morning it had suddenly sprinted for our area with a predicted landfall that afternoon at Cat 3 strength. The actual Landfall was 10 miles west of our location (putting us in bad quadrant). With no real planning we put out water and food for the pets, grabbed the go-bag, and left at first light. Soon I-10 became total gridlock so we took the very next exit (which required two more hours) and SWMBO navigated secondary roads to Albany GA, where we spent the next two days. When we returned, the house was intact (even though nothing had been boarded up) but my boat (a Columbia 8.7) was on the bottom. Many trees were down, and fences flattened, docks pulled up, and the receding water left many tons of other debris (no bodies, thankfully). Living without power was uncomfortable and it took me several weeks to cleanup (I was much younger then). Lessons: keep vehicles fueled. Have cash. Have a bugout location in hip pocket. Don't let the cupboard get bare. Observe generator safety-especially monoxide and gasoline. Secure lose outdoor items. Protect vulnerable windows. Scott . > -----Original Message----- > From: Mercedes [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of > Kaleb Striplin via Mercedes > Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2020 7:04 PM > To: Dan Penoff via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > Cc: Kaleb Striplin <ka...@striplin.net> > Subject: [MBZ] Are Hurricanes fun? > > Asking for a friend. > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
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