Anyone here been in a Hurricane?

[Marion Morrison]

People today live with a microwave mentality.

They expect government relief agencies to respond instantly and fix their problems now.

I think fast food places like McDonalds has warped peoples perspective about how long things like restoring electric power really takes to repair in disaster situations. ....

Lotta peeps get soooooo dependent on electricity. Then fall to pieces.

Me, I like a good power outage. Lets you know what your world would be like without this rampant 24/7 fake daylight. Makes you get creative.

It DEPENDS.....when Sandy came through we had huge early snowfall and low temperatures that brought down trees and powerlines all over the state. Because we had well water - without power we had no water or heat other than the wood stove insert. It was interesting - we essentially lived in one room for heat and light and we did get creative. But it lasted a week. And it was cold. Somehow the water situation was what really dragged me down. It was hard to be creative.

Hurricane, snow,Wtf?

 

[Crackerjack]

Yep ... three on land and two at sea.

Not fun ...

I went on a deep sea fishing boat one time.

Got so sea sick that I just laid on the deck for the whole trip. If I would have had a gun, I'd have blown my brains out to end the misery.

You couldn't pay me enough to ever go out on a boat again. .....

I'm not ashamed to say that the ocean frightens me. There isn't a ship big enough that makes me feel comfortable to be on it.

 

[Coyote]

People today live with a microwave mentality.

They expect government relief agencies to respond instantly and fix their problems now.

I think fast food places like McDonalds has warped peoples perspective about how long things like restoring electric power really takes to repair in disaster situations. ....

Lotta peeps get soooooo dependent on electricity. Then fall to pieces.

Me, I like a good power outage. Lets you know what your world would be like without this rampant 24/7 fake daylight. Makes you get creative.

It DEPENDS.....when Sandy came through we had huge early snowfall and low temperatures that brought down trees and powerlines all over the state. Because we had well water - without power we had no water or heat other than the wood stove insert. It was interesting - we essentially lived in one room for heat and light and we did get creative. But it lasted a week. And it was cold. Somehow the water situation was what really dragged me down. It was hard to be creative.

Hurricane, snow,Wtf?

I think it was an inland hurricane?

 

[Desperado]

For the record, as one who grew up in Tornado Alley and now lives in what is now Hurricane Central, the natural ability of people to come together essentially spontaneously and help each other out has always amazed me, and it has always been present. I don't really count on anything in those situations, but if I were to, I'd count on that far before counting on governments or organizations.

Amazing how you get to know your neighbors after a storm. Everyone is out helping each other.
If you own a gas powered chain saw you become very popular around the neighborhood

 

[MarathonMike]

My family and I were in one of large hurricanes that hit Florida several years ago. We slept on the hallway floor of a middle school that was being used as a shelter along with 100's of strangers for one night.

By noon the next morning the winds had died down enough to leave the shelter and attempt to drive about 3 miles to home. The streets were covered with all kinds of rubble and debris. So I had to drive very slowly and snake my way to avoid the trash. When I got into my neighborhood it was even worse. Large trees everywhere had been uprooted and were laying all over the streets. You had to drive around them thru people's front yards and flower beds to reach home.

My house was in good shape with almost no damage. There was no electricity and the plumbing didn't work. We just camped out and used the outdoor grill to cook on. I had already stocked a weeks worth of food and water, so we were set. But it got very boring with nothing to do, and being it was summer, we all wanted a shower and the AC working to help sleep at night.

There was no cell phone service, so I drove all around looking to find a signal and tell my relatives we had survived and everything was good. For 3 days I periodically drove around trying to get a cell signal. I happened to see a guy in the middle of a big field talking on his cell phone. I parked my car and walked around the field hoping to acquire a signal, but got nothing. Frustrated, I approached him and asked how he was able to get a cell signal? He pointed to one spot on the ground and said this was the only place he had found that worked after walking all over the entire field. I stood on that spot and instantly had service to make calls. How the guy found that spot in the middle of that huge field is beyond me?

The main Interstate had a collapsed bridge, and a lot of the roads leading into the city had been completely washed away. So it took FEMA and the National Guard about 3 days to start to arrive and begin major relief efforts. But when they finally were able to safely navigate their way into the disaster area, there was a steady parade of vehicles.

There was no rhyme or rhythm to who had their power restored. One side of the street might have power, and the other side of the street, people still had to wait a couple more weeks. I was fortunate and my power returned on day 5

It had been a week and my food and water supplies were getting low. I started driving around and was able to locate a FEMA aid relief station. They loaded my car up with MRE's (meals ready to eat) and cases of bottled water. Which we lived on for about a week until the local stores opened back up with stocked shelves.

By now my car was getting low on gas and the fuel gauge showed less the 1/4 of a tank. I found a small gas station that had cars filling their tanks, so I took a place in line. After about and hour I was the next car in line to use the pump went the gasoline storage went dry. And the station said, "sorry folks, it's empty". Grrrr!!!

On the way home, I happen to notice several National Guard trucks and a large diesel generator parked next to the gas pumps at the local Wal-Mart parking lot. Working on a hunch, I got up at sunrise to be the first one in line. When I arrived, I was like car number 50. Apparently a lot of people had the same idea as me. Within an hour there was at least a couple of hundred cars in line behind me. It was really hot setting out in the Florida summer sun. The NG personal were able to hook up the generator, get the pumps working, and I was able to fill up my cars gas tank by around noon.

After a couple of weeks things were back to normal for me and my family. But many people had houses with roofs torn off and totally destroyed by water damage. FEMA provided them with small temporary trailers as available. Eventually, temporary trailer parks were opened throughout the city, and thousands of people stayed in them rent free up to 18 months.

People who have never been in a hurricane and endured the aftermath, have no idea how much effort it takes government relief agencies to respond to such a monumental natural disaster.

As for me, I thought FEMA and the National Guard did an outstanding job. Although you would never know it listening to the media pontificating nothing but negativity from their cloistered armchair coverage of the event. .....

Thanks that was very informative. Nothing like actual life experience to swat aside arm-chair quarterbacking.

 

[fncceo]

There isn't a ship big enough that makes me feel comfortable to be on it.

I wasn't on a ship ...

 

[Crackerjack]

There isn't a ship big enough that makes me feel comfortable to be on it.

I wasn't on a ship ...

Ah, got it.

Of course all you have to worry about then is not going deep enough to get crushed ...

 

[fncceo]

There isn't a ship big enough that makes me feel comfortable to be on it.

I wasn't on a ship ...

Ah, got it.

Of course all you have to worry about then is not going deep enough to get crushed ...

Unfortunately, for one of those hurricanes, we were running on the surface ... a cylinder isn't a very stable surface in bad weather.

 

[HenryBHough]

Many times in two states. States accustomed to hurricanes. Where, in years past, they were quite common. The danger really comes when hurricanes are too widely spaced. When an area has a couple in a row (one or two in each of two years) people quickly figure out what's smart and what's stupid. Those who really want to stay rebuild in ways that minimize damage. The stupid patch things up. Those who don't want to stay do the bare minimum and look for a greater fool to buy the property. Those greater fools generally won't listen to advice and warnings. Especially when there's a lapse or three or so years before the next big storm.

Hurricanes, if one is prepared, are fun to watch!

 

[Pogo]

For the record, as one who grew up in Tornado Alley and now lives in what is now Hurricane Central, the natural ability of people to come together essentially spontaneously and help each other out has always amazed me, and it has always been present. I don't really count on anything in those situations, but if I were to, I'd count on that far before counting on governments or organizations.

Amazing how you get to know your neighbors after a storm. Everyone is out helping each other.
If you own a gas powered chain saw you become very popular around the neighborhood

EXACTLY, thank you both. That's why I took that sociopath 2aguy to task for that mindless thread whining about whether the Virgin Islands would have "enough guns".

 

[Sunni Man]

The only cool thing the next night after the hurricane was the sky.

With the no lights for miles because of the power outage, and the hurricane winds cleaning up the airborne pollution.

I've never seen so many stars!! ...

 

[Pogo]

People today live with a microwave mentality.

They expect government relief agencies to respond instantly and fix their problems now.

I think fast food places like McDonalds has warped peoples perspective about how long things like restoring electric power really takes to repair in disaster situations. ....

Lotta peeps get soooooo dependent on electricity. Then fall to pieces.

Me, I like a good power outage. Lets you know what your world would be like without this rampant 24/7 fake daylight. Makes you get creative.

It DEPENDS.....when Sandy came through we had huge early snowfall and low temperatures that brought down trees and powerlines all over the state. Because we had well water - without power we had no water or heat other than the wood stove insert. It was interesting - we essentially lived in one room for heat and light and we did get creative. But it lasted a week. And it was cold. Somehow the water situation was what really dragged me down. It was hard to be creative.

We had a week like that when I was seven years old. A blizzard knocked out everybody's power and the heater wouldn't go on. I remember a brown boxy-looking kerosene heater we huddled around in one room where the only heat was (it was March). I don't remember what we ate. It was so cool.

 

[Coyote]

People today live with a microwave mentality.

They expect government relief agencies to respond instantly and fix their problems now.

I think fast food places like McDonalds has warped peoples perspective about how long things like restoring electric power really takes to repair in disaster situations. ....

Lotta peeps get soooooo dependent on electricity. Then fall to pieces.

Me, I like a good power outage. Lets you know what your world would be like without this rampant 24/7 fake daylight. Makes you get creative.

It DEPENDS.....when Sandy came through we had huge early snowfall and low temperatures that brought down trees and powerlines all over the state. Because we had well water - without power we had no water or heat other than the wood stove insert. It was interesting - we essentially lived in one room for heat and light and we did get creative. But it lasted a week. And it was cold. Somehow the water situation was what really dragged me down. It was hard to be creative.

We had a week like that when I was seven years old. A blizzard knocked out everybody's power and the heater wouldn't go on. I remember a brown boxy-looking kerosene heater we huddled around in one room where the only heat was (it was March). I don't remember what we ate. It was so cool.

When I was younger...I was much more adventerous

We lived for a while in an aframe with undependable water, wood heat, ladybugs and wasps...and...it was fun. But after a while things didn't get better, only harder.

Now...I like my comfort

 

[Crackerjack]

For the record, as one who grew up in Tornado Alley and now lives in what is now Hurricane Central, the natural ability of people to come together essentially spontaneously and help each other out has always amazed me, and it has always been present. I don't really count on anything in those situations, but if I were to, I'd count on that far before counting on governments or organizations.

Amazing how you get to know your neighbors after a storm. Everyone is out helping each other.
If you own a gas powered chain saw you become very popular around the neighborhood

EXACTLY, thank you both. That's why I took that sociopath 2aguy to task for that mindless thread whining about whether the Virgin Islands would have "enough guns".

I mean, I consider myself a big fan of firearms and that sort of thing, but I think you have to take a holistic approach to it. I know the guy on one side of me is a former combat Marine, the guy on the other side works nights, the guy across the way is a vet tech, etc., etc., so I feel pretty good about what might happen in the neighborhood in a disaster, and it wasn't going to be chaos and lawlessness. Other neighborhoods I've lived in might have been a little different though. But knowing where you are and who is around you is probably at least as important as having sufficient supplies for the short term.

FWIW, I used the hell out of the NextDoor app during Harvey. I highly recommend it for not only disasters but for everyday usage.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Me?

I was "Born in a class five hurricane....
And I howled at my Ma in the driving rain....
I was schooled with a strap across my back....
But its all right now...."

 

[HenryBHough]

One of the most interesting sights Dad took me to see so I'd remember my first hurricane....

There wasn't another good one for a couple off decades so the really stupid were set up for some serious destruction when it hit:

The destroyed homes were built on areas wiped out by the previous storm but few remembered.

Will anyone learn from the 2017 Hurricane season?

Probably not.

 

[Disir]

I have stayed for one hurricane and left for one hurricane. I lived in Key West. I know why exactly why people don't leave.

But listen to the song of my people:

 

[Pogo]

For the record, as one who grew up in Tornado Alley and now lives in what is now Hurricane Central, the natural ability of people to come together essentially spontaneously and help each other out has always amazed me, and it has always been present. I don't really count on anything in those situations, but if I were to, I'd count on that far before counting on governments or organizations.

Amazing how you get to know your neighbors after a storm. Everyone is out helping each other.
If you own a gas powered chain saw you become very popular around the neighborhood

EXACTLY, thank you both. That's why I took that sociopath 2aguy to task for that mindless thread whining about whether the Virgin Islands would have "enough guns".

I mean, I consider myself a big fan of firearms and that sort of thing, but I think you have to take a holistic approach to it. I know the guy on one side of me is a former combat Marine, the guy on the other side works nights, the guy across the way is a vet tech, etc., etc., so I feel pretty good about what might happen in the neighborhood in a disaster, and it wasn't going to be chaos and lawlessness. Other neighborhoods I've lived in might have been a little different though. But knowing where you are and who is around you is probably at least as important as having sufficient supplies for the short term.

FWIW, I used the hell out of the NextDoor app during Harvey. I highly recommend it for not only disasters but for everyday usage.

No idea what a "Next Door app" is but it does remind me of the bit about cell phones in the OP I neglected to fill in ---

Most people's cell phones wouldn't work, regardless where they evacuated to, because in 2005 your call had to connect through the area code where you lived, so if you had a 504 New Orleans number and had evacuated to Tennessee and wanted to call California -- you couldn't, because the call would have to relay through New Orleans, where most of the towers were down.

That's when we learned to text, because what little cell structure there was could handle the much narrower bandwidth of texts, when it couldn't handle the much wider stream of voice. So you'd send a text saying "I'm at this number --- " and give a landline, then you could reconnect.

I had Verizon cell service at the time, and they were awesome. When they couldn't get it to work they reassigned me a new number based in Houston, a city I've never even been to, so the phone would work. I had to give everybody the new number but it was working again. Then a month or so later being still migrant I asked Verizon "what about my bill" and without missing a beat they said "you don't have a bill".

That was the only time I've ever used texting. It's good for when bandwidth is down.

The epilogue to this is that cellphones no longer work that way --- it doesn't have to connect through your home A/C. I found that out a few years later when another hurricane (not Harvey) was poised to wipe out Houston, and I called Verizon to see if we should switch my number again, maybe to Colorado. Wasn't necessary.

 

[Pogo]

People today live with a microwave mentality.

They expect government relief agencies to respond instantly and fix their problems now.

I think fast food places like McDonalds has warped peoples perspective about how long things like restoring electric power really takes to repair in disaster situations. ....

Lotta peeps get soooooo dependent on electricity. Then fall to pieces.

Me, I like a good power outage. Lets you know what your world would be like without this rampant 24/7 fake daylight. Makes you get creative.

It DEPENDS.....when Sandy came through we had huge early snowfall and low temperatures that brought down trees and powerlines all over the state. Because we had well water - without power we had no water or heat other than the wood stove insert. It was interesting - we essentially lived in one room for heat and light and we did get creative. But it lasted a week. And it was cold. Somehow the water situation was what really dragged me down. It was hard to be creative.

We had a week like that when I was seven years old. A blizzard knocked out everybody's power and the heater wouldn't go on. I remember a brown boxy-looking kerosene heater we huddled around in one room where the only heat was (it was March). I don't remember what we ate. It was so cool.

When I was younger...I was much more adventerous

We lived for a while in an aframe with undependable water, wood heat, ladybugs and wasps...and...it was fun. But after a while things didn't get better, only harder.

Now...I like my comfort

I like comfort too but when the whole paradigm shifts everything that was mundane routine is gone and it's a whole new scene. It wakes you up. It's a new world. I like that. I guess because it gets rid of the same-old.

And furthermore, ladybugs are our friends. They eat aphids.

 

[Crackerjack]

For the record, as one who grew up in Tornado Alley and now lives in what is now Hurricane Central, the natural ability of people to come together essentially spontaneously and help each other out has always amazed me, and it has always been present. I don't really count on anything in those situations, but if I were to, I'd count on that far before counting on governments or organizations.

Amazing how you get to know your neighbors after a storm. Everyone is out helping each other.
If you own a gas powered chain saw you become very popular around the neighborhood

EXACTLY, thank you both. That's why I took that sociopath 2aguy to task for that mindless thread whining about whether the Virgin Islands would have "enough guns".

I mean, I consider myself a big fan of firearms and that sort of thing, but I think you have to take a holistic approach to it. I know the guy on one side of me is a former combat Marine, the guy on the other side works nights, the guy across the way is a vet tech, etc., etc., so I feel pretty good about what might happen in the neighborhood in a disaster, and it wasn't going to be chaos and lawlessness. Other neighborhoods I've lived in might have been a little different though. But knowing where you are and who is around you is probably at least as important as having sufficient supplies for the short term.

FWIW, I used the hell out of the NextDoor app during Harvey. I highly recommend it for not only disasters but for everyday usage.

No idea what a "Next Door app" is but it does remind me of the bit about cell phones in the OP I neglected to fill in ---

Most people's cell phones wouldn't work, regardless where they evacuated to, because in 2005 your call had to connect through the area code where you lived, so if you had a 504 New Orleans number and had evacuated to Tennessee and wanted to call California -- you couldn't, because the call would have to relay through New Orleans, where most of the towers were down.

That's when we learned to text, because what little cell structure there was could handle the much narrower bandwidth of texts, when it couldn't handle the much wider stream of voice. So you'd send a text saying "I'm at this number --- " and give a landline, then you could reconnect.

I had Verizon cell service at the time, and they were awesome. When they couldn't get it to work they reassigned me a new number based in Houston, a city I've never even been to, so the phone would work. I had to give everybody the new number but it was working again. Then a month or so later being still migrant I asked Verizon "what about my bill" and without missing a beat they said "you don't have a bill".

That was the only time I've ever used texting. It's good for when bandwidth is down.

Mash here to find out about NextDoor.

Your point is well taken about cell phone availability. I used to work in the wireless infrastructure industry and can confirm that relying on cellphones in a natural disaster is a risky proposition at best. It's a lot less risky than it used to be, but the system is still fragile enough that it isn't to be relied upon in dire circumstances. And yes, text will absolutely get through before voice. The bandwidth requirements are minuscule for text in comparison to voice.