wrote in message
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Robert Green wrote:
The Hurricane center has predicted a much greater than usual season with
the
possibility of several cat 5 storms. While I am substantially inland,
the
recent issues with a sick tree have made me wonder what I should be
doing to
minimize the risks of hurricane damage should one hit. I used to feel
safer
from such storms, but since a tornado hit 5 blocks away, I am beginning
to
think no place along the east coast is really safe from hurricanes and
wind
storms. Especially since an F5 "super twister" hit just 50 miles away a
few
years ago in LaPlata, Md.



We live on the water, but haven't gotten direct hit.

After a hurricane, FEMA should sponsor tours of the devasted areas. I don't
believe people can appreciate the scale of serious weather disasters until
it happens to a place that you're familiar with and you see it and touch it
and realize it goes from horizon to horizon.

I recall visiting the path of the twister that went through our town and was
just shocked. Not only by the huge oak trees scattered like pixie sticks,
but by the general rearrangement of stuff. The tornado sliced right through
the local Home Depot, it got caught with huge bags of mulch and all the
other stuff they keep stacked outside vulnerable to the wind. Mulch was
everywhere, signs were everywhere (except where they should be) and it went
on for blocks and blocks. The tornado had followed, almost exactly, the
path of a small stream. It lifted cars 12 stories up, killing the
occupants. Until that day, tornadoes were something that happened to
Dorothy in movies and people in the midwest and the devastation was about a
TV screen's worth. It just did not compute until I saw it for myself.

Our worst winds were about 70 mph...took out the huge skylight in atrium
of our condo, but it wasn't secure because of roof damage. 5x15' plexi and
aluminum
skylight landed with the frame hanging in the top of one of our palm
trees, plexi smashed all over the yard. That amount of wind loosened
even concrete roof tiles on nearby homes, although I don't know if any
became missiles.

I had a bird cap fly off the chimney and become a missile. It smashed my
car windshield on the other side of the house. It was steel, sharp and
pointy and easily could have killed someone. I am stunned by the people who
know bad wind is coming and don't secure the basics like trash cans, lids,
patio furniture, etc.

The first thought is to keep exterior in good repair, caulking all tight
and leak-proof. Expect wind and rain, so weather radio and a plan are
most important. Secure important papers, have food and water for at
least three days, a place for pets if you need to vacate, plenty of any
rx meds, a plan to contact or meet neighbors in case neighborhood is
trashed, flashlights and batteries. Reinforce fasteners for roof
rafters Install brackets to brace garage doors - that is one quick way
for wind to destroy a home, the weakest point in many. If there are
tree limbs overhanging roof, get them trimmed so they don't bang on the
roof.

When I know a major storm is coming, I begin charging every chargeable
battery in the house (many!) and empty and replenish the emergency water
supply. I secure all external items that I can. If I were in the middle of
the hurricane belt I would convert my decorative window shutters to real
ones. I also backup the main computer to DVD-R and lock a copy inside the
FireKing. It weighs over 500lbs so I assume it won't get far in a storm.

I don't know the record for storm-carried objects, but I recently saw a doco
about the 1935 hurricane that described how some Rhode Island kids were
carried safely to the next state in a raft that was actually the top portion
of the attic where they had sought safety from the surge. Amazingly, it had
broken free, floor and all, when the surge reached that height and sailed
off in the storm like a little lifeboat.

We have had two mandatory evacuations, one of which lasted three days.

Lots of people still have hurricance parties to try to ride out the storm.
I don't think I would now in my post-youth. (-: The problem with
evacuations is that most cities long ago exceeded their ability to move so
many people so quickly. I heard one forecaster, I think it was Bob Sheets,
say that if you have serious rush hour traffic problems on a daily basis,
evacuation is probably going to be very difficult. So many places are
dependent on one or two choke points like bridges that throttle the flow
severely. And you can count on people being so freaked out that they drive
worse than usual.

A friend on Hawaii says that after several false tidal wave evacs, he's
certain a lot of people will just ignore the warning when a real one hits.

We had to secure stuff like trash cans because there is no indoor
storage for them...If there are elderly or disabled neighbors, make sure
they are taken care of. Hurricanes usually have tornadoes dancing
around the edges, so be ready for anything. I'd be inclined to have
hurricane shutters even if not on water.

If you've even had a grazing hit, shutters are a great idea because they
really lessen the damage potential. Even without a hurricane, a good
Florida frog-strangler rainstorm can dump an enormous amount of water
through a broken house window, especially wind driven rain. I spent some
time there in the 80's and I've never seen rain like that anywhere ever.
And then five minutes of feeling like you're driving a submarine, the clouds
vanish, the rain burns off and it's like nothing ever happened. Florida is
where I learned to always check my sunroof on the car, no matter how blue
the skies were that second!

During some flood several years ago, there was a news item about a guy
who sandbagged all around his house after laying up plastic tarps.
There was about 3-4 feet of flood water, but none got into his home, I
was impressed ) Dang lot of work.

My friend, a fireman (they call them fireys) in Oz said that after several
serious brush fires, people have installed diesel powered roof sprinklers,
slate roofs and even have built insulated "safe rooms" inside their house to
wait out the blaze. I saw a picture last week of a man who had built a
similar safe room in his house in the tornado belt and sure enough,
everything else was smashed flat and he stood in the door of his
still-standing safe room, happy to be alive but not to cheered by the state
of the rest of his house. You can do that with a tornado, but it would have
to be a waterproof unit with a heavy duty snorkel or scuba tanks to survive
the massive storm surges that often accompanying the big ones. I often
thought the escape egg that Donald Pleasance rides in the movie Escape from
New York would be a handy thing to have in the hurricane or tidal wave
vulnerable areas. Maybe a surplus Mercury space capsule would work, too.

As for names, I think we should have unisex names for hurricanes. Here's
Pat! (or Alex, Sam, Chris, Jean, Terry, Bobby, Dweezel, Moon Unit, etc,)

--
Bobby G.