Hurricane Season- Your experiences or Handy Tips about them

[k0xxx]

I've been through a couple big ones, Cat 4 Betsy in 1965 and Cat 5 Camille in 1969. If you're forecast to be anywhere near landfall for a major storm and you have small children, leave. Take your animals if you can and do what you can for them if you can't, but get the heck out of Dodge with children. It just isn't worth the risk. We took direct hits with the two storms mentioned and didn't flood. The same area flooded for Katrina. You can't predict what will happen with storm surge or storm spawned tornadoes. If it's just adults involved, then let your conscience be your guide.

One of my relatives that had been flooded during Betsy, always kept an axe in his attack after that. It was a good thing because he needed it when the waters quickly rose during Katrina. In Betsy he had 7 feet of water, for Katrina he had 12. During Katrina he had thought to keep his boat in the backyard and tied to the house, with the tie down straps removed so that it could float off of the trailer as the water rose. When he cut his way through the attic, he couldn't find his boat. After the water went down, and he returned back home, he found the boat in the backyard where he left it. A neighbors car had landed on it and sunk it. He also found another neighbors BBQ pit in the boat.

Edited to add: 1965 Hurricane Betsy. I'm on the far left, in the white shirt.

 

[sunsaver]

I wouldn't live anywhere close to the ocean, unless i was 200ft or more up on a cliff, with a hurricane-proof, earth covered house or cave.

 

[dragonlaurel]

JrMom- I'd missed your post somehow. In the beginning, they said Orlando was gonna be safe. Then 3 forecasters said it would turn NW and get Orlando. One was my local news. Smart guy.
I would have been scared about that power line in the yard.
Sorry about that neighbor. I didn't have to climb with the chainsaw. The wind laid the trees down in the front yard. If my car hadn't been at the mechanics- it would have been crushed. Tree trunk right where the front seats usually were.

Al- Sounds like Ivan was pretty rough where you were. Yikes! It missed me, But Charlie, Frances and Jeanne were enough for me. I'm pretty content just visiting Fla once in a while now.

Good idea about writing your phone # on the horses. It seems harder to make sure they stay safe too. I only had the cats in Fla. I'll have to make sure the animal housing can handle strong winds and a wet snow load on the roof when I get land. Our snow usually starts with hail or sleet.

Sunsaver- I didn't miss electric when I lived off grid, but it's harder to be in city mode without it. The woods didn't care if the alarm didn't go off and we had a woodstove at that place. Living in a city neighborhood that was still dark, after the others have their street lights back on, also felt like a security risk.

None of the other hurricanes I'd been through, had really been a threat before Charlie but I got better at stocking up on supplies after that.
The place I want to build is passive solar + a woodstove. Keep the power needs low so I wont need much electric.

Rhoda- We put 3 oak trees worth of wood to the curb. No fireplace. I hoped somebody would take it home.
Real shutters are a good idea.
I'm used to freezing water or juice, for camping, or when storms are coming.

Dawn - Glad you made it inside without getting cooked.
Headlamps sound like a good idea.
I like Emergen-C packets for electrolytes. Tastes good.

KOxx- That reminds me of people that used to keep a canoe by the edge of the porch roof. It looked funny but they could slip out the upstairs window and go to it.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

My understanding of the flooding that occured in New Orleans was that the levee failed. I have been informed that it was the ACOE that made it. Strangely enough that same organization, does not approve our levee system, which they did not make....we hired our own contractors, and taxed ourselves willingly to do so. Because the feds don't like our levee, we can't afford insurance now. It is my understanding that another one of the federally made levees failed further north recently. Where am I going? Don't wait for the government to take care of you. Go to your local governments and let them know what you need and have it presented locally and ya'll fix your own problems if possible. Millions of dollars were saved in my parish for Katrina and Rita because we didn't flood. The next parish over is waiting for Uncle Sam to come thru and people lost everything they had.
I stay tight in my house with my family for all storms. The nursing home I work for evacuated and we lost our 2 weakest residents for Gustave. We didn't evacuate for Katrina and we were all fine. I know about the incident that happened in Chalmette, but maybe if the levee was built to take what the residents of NO needed, and checked out often, the people wouldn't have drowned. By the way: they were not really abandoned. Not by the nurses anyway. All the houses in Chalmette should have been built many feet up, as well as many other towns in the surrounding area.
I have more faith in the levee that protects me than I have in the one that was suppose to protect New Orleans, but just in case the storm surge is more than the levee can hold back, we are up 8 feet; 5 feet higher than our highway. Again, take care of yourself and don't depend on the government to protect you.
I understand people leaving, but those I know that leave, come home and tell me,"Never again!" They always have horror stories. If you made your house with a hurricane in mind and it went thru a handful of major storms, you are probably fine. A tornado will break it, but then again, tornados will probably hit the areas a lot of the locals will be evacuating to.
By the time the storm hits land, we are getting a pretty bad beating and it is rather wild. Your heart does skip a few beats, esp if its been a while since the last one, but you can take courage by listening to the news because it always weakens after hitting land, so you know you are already experiencing the worst and it will be weakening now. I'll probably have to be one of those people that die in a storm and be told by my angel,"You should have left." to change my mind about evacuating, because the worst experience I ever had was directly because of leaving.
You take a chance no matter which route you take. People just have to see what is in their best interest.

 

[k0xxx]

My understanding of the flooding that occured in New Orleans was that the levee failed.

Several of the levees in New Orleans failed. There were other levees in New Orleans that were over topped. The levees in St. Bernard Parish, which are a different system than those in New Orleans, were over topped also.

The nursing home I work for evacuated and we lost our 2 weakest residents for Gustave. We didn't evacuate for Katrina and we were all fine. I know about the incident that happened in Chalmette, but maybe if the levee was built to take what the residents of NO needed, and checked out often, the people wouldn't have drowned. By the way: they were not really abandoned. Not by the nurses anyway.

The nursing home that you are referring to, St. Rita's, was located in the town of St. Bernard (which is in St. Bernard Parish). It was operated by the Mangano family, and I know them personally. The area that the nursing home was built in did not flood during Camille or Betsy, and having many bed ridden patients who might not have survived the evacuation, the owners thought it safer to stay. They believed it strong enough to invite family and friends to stay at the nursing home with them. Unfortunately, they were wrong.

I have more faith in the levee that protects me than I have in the one that was suppose to protect New Orleans, but just in case the storm surge is more than the levee can hold back, we are up 8 feet; 5 feet higher than our highway.

Being up that high is great. Unfortunately, the storm surge that over topped the levees was somewhere a bit over 18 feet.

My point is simply that while evacuating is indeed a pain and can be expensive, especially for those that wait until the last minute, I never wanted to gamble with the lives of my children. While someone that stays may be safe 99% of the time, I was not willing to put the kids at risk. Others may see it differently.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Completely understand Mark. Its just in my upbringing. The idea of evacuation is fairly new to the locals. I have experienced every hurricane, except George for all of my 45 years and some of them were bad. I'm not good outta my domain. I have to see a bayou or I feel lost. I start wandering where south is and in which direction is home and all. I'll prepare and stick it out. DH isn't so good at leaving either. If I change my mind, I'll just grab some Community and go visit you.

 

[k0xxx]

If I change my mind, I'll just grab some Community and go visit you.

Cool! That would be AWESOME! Maybe this big will be all growed up by then and well have a Cochon de Lait.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Tres bien, mais amie. Something happens to us when we leave, esp if we upset; our R's start rolling more than usual. Lol.
One thing we do to pass time when our normal lives are upset and modern technology is cancelled is read books aloud. After Gustave, we read, "The Magician's Nephew" by CS Lewis. The younger kids loved it; especially when they discovered that it was really the introduction to another story they were familiar with. And we once read,"To Kill a Mockingbird."
Without the constant humming of the electrical appliances in a house and with very little light by night time, your senses sharpen. You can smell the cleaners you used to clean the house (and you will clean the house), the smell of baby powder on the kids and yourself and you can hear the sounds of the police cars patrolling the streets.....there will probably be a curfew; weather your local police dept is able to enforce it may be another story.
Here is a suggestion: keep yourself in a good way with small local business; like a mom and pop grocery. They will value their property and will take steps to keep their store secure from vandals and the elements following a storm, and because they not millionairs, are more likely to be around following a storm than the big chains. After the last big one, I was stocked up with most of my necessities but had somehow not noticed I was going to be out of coffee. I called the closest store with my problem and that I had no cash at all and asked if they would accept my check....the man wanted to know my name and said he would have to ask his wife, who was also on the phone and she said she would take my check (she was also one of my 5th and 6th grade teachers), so DH went over. He told me he was watched going over to the coffee, and escorted to the register, but when our old teacher greeted him, they all relaxed. He came home feeling glad to know people like that, even if they were super careful. Unfortunately their store burnt down to pretty much nothing last week, so not very many small businesses left for me, but I was glad at the time.
One other thing: when you out at a thrift store and find a washboard and bucket, get it. Decorate it with flowers and cute things, hang it on a wall, but after 4 days without power, you might pull it down and start washing your underwear and t-shirts. Hopefully you do have a line and some clothes pins.
I feel that following a storm is the perfect opportunity to get in good with your neighbors. They probably not home, so if you see someone hanging around who shouldn't be, get nosey and ask questions.....in a group if possible, take license #'s and call your neighbor if you have their cell #. They will appreciate it greatly. If you hot and sweaty and happen to be holding a chainsaw or longhandled cane knife, no one will mess with you. A hammer works pretty good too, esp if you have about 4 people 25 or so feet behind you running, saying,"Wait!! Don't do anything yet! We coming!"