Dorian

[HopperFan]

I'm kind of surprised at how little evacuations/warnings have been given. I mean the track - or the line in the middle of the cone - is only about 30 miles offshore, seems like that would be close enough to the "better safe than sorry" level for the governments, but they probably know a lot more about it then I do. Just seems like they're not quite being cautious enough to me.

I think part of it is the roads simply can't handle the volume of cars that would hit it if everyone began evacuating right away. St. Johns is just south of Jacksonville so it is coming after the more south counties issued theirs. And unlike other coastlines where folks can travel farther inland a long distance ... FL being a peninsula means to be very safe you might need to travel the length of state in to Georgia.

And most residents already are following it closely and know what they are going to do. To me this is more just the formal announcement that if you choose to stay ... we will not come to get/help you after xxx date/time.

 

[wgeo]

I think part of it is the roads simply can't handle the volume of cars that would hit it if everyone began evacuating right away. St. Johns is just south of Jacksonville so it is coming after the more south counties issued theirs. And unlike other coastlines where folks can travel farther inland a long distance ... FL being a peninsula means to be very safe you might need to travel the length of state in to Georgia.

And most residents already are following it closely and know what they are going to do. To me this is more just the formal announcement that if you choose to stay ... we will not come to get/help you after xxx date/time.

Yeah I get it, I live in FLorida, just on the gulf coast. Maybe our news just isn't relaying all of the evacuations that have already been posted for the east coast. I probably wrongly, assumed that since I hadn't been hearing about them they weren't up yet.

But also - this storm is so slow moving its not like you want to tell people to evacuate too many days in advance.

ETA: - typically when there is a major East coast evacuation all of our shelters open up to house everyone and that hasn't happened yet, which is different than in previous storms.

 

[luvsJack]

We are about 10 miles inland on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Our home, built much like yours, did fine in Katrina (a 150 mile storm, too). We lost a tree, some shingles. But overall did ok.

Tornadoes did go through our neighborhood and some homes had damages from that.

We did not stay because we had 4 small kids and did not want the weather to scare them.

Our utilities are underground. We lost power for 3 days, but got power back quickly because the elementary school across the street (on our same lines) became a headquarters for emergency personnel.

Had we to do it again today, we probably would stay as our kids are young adults now and dh are hurricane veterans, having lived here all our lives.

If you stay, fill up every container you can with water, including bathtubs, for washing off, dishes, flushing toilets, drinking, etc.

Our city water supply was not safe for use for over 2 weeks.

OTOH, we are 60 miles inland and lost a huge number of trees and a tree fell on our house and my sister’s house next door. Houses all over our neighborhood centered by trees and completely destroyed.

We were without power for over a month.

As far inland as we are, another storm with that strength and we will most definitely evacuate again.

 

[HopperFan]

Yeah I get it, I live in FLorida, just on the gulf coast. Maybe our news just isn't relaying all of the evacuations that have already been posted for the east coast. I probably wrongly, assumed that since I hadn't been hearing about them they weren't up yet.

But also - this storm is so slow moving its not like you want to tell people to evacuate too many days in advance.

ETA: - typically when there is a major East coast evacuation all of our shelters open up to house everyone and that hasn't happened yet, which is different than in previous storms.

Got it. Yes evacuations started yesterday down farther south along with shelters opening. Our family down there is staying put, they are far enough inland to have flooding from rain but avoid storm surging. I wonder if the shelters are waiting for more concrete path predictions. I mean if they head west and it does too ... that won't work. This storm certainly is fickle I wouldn't put anything past it.

We are in Georgia, fingers crossed - as our place is 150 yards off the beach. They began prep work Thursday in community. We normally have a few residents stay but most leave as does management. Then the waiting game begins.

 

[Southernmiss]

OTOH, we are 60 miles inland and lost a huge number of trees and a tree fell on our house and my sister’s house next door. Houses all over our neighborhood centered by trees and completely destroyed.

We were without power for over a month.

As far inland as we are, another storm with that strength and we will most definitely evacuate again.

It is crazy how far up state the destruction went.

Our house is sort of on the side of a hill (as much of a hill as there can be at 20 feet above sea level) and the house across the street and the woods behind us blocked the most of the winds. We had trees in the woods topped by tornadoes.

 

[pearlieq]

NEVER watch the Weather Channel if you are in the path of a hurricane. That channel has the mission of presenting weather stories as entertainment. It is NOT A NEWS CHANNEL!

Can't emphasize this enough! TURN OFF THE WEATHER CHANNEL!!!

Or, if you must, limit yourself to one 5-minute check in each hour.

They have 24 hours to fill so all they can do is repeat the same things over and over and speculate about things that may or may not happen. Keeping the Weather Channel on will scare you unnecessarily and drive you bonkers!

Get yourself prepared, watch for updates, then find something else to occupy yourself!

 

[wgeo]

Can't emphasize this enough! TURN OFF THE WEATHER CHANNEL!!!

Or, if you must, limit yourself to one 5-minute check in each hour.

They have 24 hours to fill so all they can do is repeat the same things over and over and speculate about things that may or may not happen. Keeping the Weather Channel on will scare you unnecessarily and drive you bonkers!

Get yourself prepared, watch for updates, then find something else to occupy yourself!

LOL - you are right of course, just kind of funny because I now have the weatherchannel website pulled up. Not listening or reading anything - just using it for the radar though since Dorian's close enough to watch on radar. I would never recommend listening to their hosts - too much hype for my taste.

 

[breeknee]

I've never been in a hurricane, but I think the worst thing would be the aftermath without power, cell service etc. I'm not sure any of that is avoidable. Good luck.

It’s getting better as time goes on and infrastructure is better with repairs from past storms etc. but yes this is the worst part.

Hearing the storm is equal parts terrifying and fascinating, but it feels like it goes by fast. Then afterward, it sucks because you usually can’t drink or use water from the tap for a bit. No electricity creates an atmosphere of lawlessness if you live in or near not so great areas. When I was 18 and Ivan hit, we slept with the windows open due to the heat and I awoke at 3 AM to what I thought was my uncle with a flashlight at the end of the hall. Turns out we were getting robbed. They set strict curfews.

The flip side is because no one has electricity you see every single star in the sky. People sit in their yards, soaking in kiddie pools (a post hurricane must have!) sharing food they cook on their grills before their freezer thaws. You play card games and make the best out of the misery. We didnt get electricity back for 3 weeks then, I think they get it back up within 1 week these days. I remember grocery stores getting shipments in and standing in like to go in 20 at a time with flashlights. It was a weird time.

 

[Friend of a Mouse]

I was in Orlando for Charley. It made landfall as a Category 4. It weakened before it got to us, so I think it may have been 2, not quite sure. Honestly, the squall line prior to the storm was the scariest for me. I’m a midwestern girl, so that was new. It was not as scary as I thought it would be. WE were lucky not to lose power (parts of Orlando were without power for a couple of weeks), our lights just flickered. The anticipation was worse than the actual storm. But we were also inland and did not have to contend with surges, and that storm was faster moving than normal, so I believe the flooding was less.

 

[BaymaxFan78]

I made a thread about tracking dorian https://www.disboards.com/threads/tracking-hurricane-dorian.3767821/

I'm trying my best to keep it up to date.

 

[breeknee]

I was in Orlando for Charley. It made landfall as a Category 4. It weakened before it got to us, so I think it may have been 2, not quite sure. Honestly, the squall line prior to the storm was the scariest for me. I’m a midwestern girl, so that was new. It was not as scary as I thought it would be. WE were lucky not to lose power (parts of Orlando were without power for a couple of weeks), our lights just flickered. The anticipation was worse than the actual storm. But we were also inland and did not have to contend with surges, and that storm was faster moving than normal, so I believe the flooding was less.

It’s definitely it’s own animal. I always tell people if they didn’t handle a 2 well to definitely never stay for a 4. It kind of sounds like the world became one big tornado.

 

[LSUmiss]

Bob Breck was telling people to leave Saturday. That’s when we decided we should go. Gas lines were insane and people were getting out Saturday afternoon. We left very early Sunday morning and heard the mandatory evacuation order on the radio when we got to BR.

Yeah we were already in BR, my dad left Saturday morning & got up to us in regular time. Other family didn’t leave til Sunday & sat in 11 hours of traffic from just from NOLA to BR!

 

[fla4fun]

So tired of waiting for this to be over! I have family from Brevard County headed my way this morning, and trying to get my house prep finished, getting laundry done in case there’s no power later, and doing work from home (because, yeah, people might want a paycheck after the storm), and I have had about three hours sleep in the last 24 hours. Maybe I will just sleep through the storm. That’s what I thought with Irma, but there was too much noise to sleep. Why anyone would want to be here if they didn’t have to be, I do not understand. I would so much rather be in North Dakota or Montana about now . . .

 

[NotUrsula]

Yes, the noise is enough to shred one's nerves. My Dad used to pull a mattress off a bed and have us sleep UNDER it, with it propped at an angle over another bed against an interior wall, mostly to protect from falling debris if the roof failed, but also to take the noise level down from an incessant shriek to just a dull roar.

I guess by rights all Hurricane kits should include foam earplugs.

Early reports out of the Eastern Bahamas are bad, really bad. I have a feeling that the death toll there will be quite high, though if so, it is a strong possibility that many victims will never be found. I heard that about 90% of the residents on the Abacos tried to shelter in place, but the surge there was over 20 feet -- on islands where most buildings are one-story, and most of the terrain is less than 50 ft above sea level. The British Navy is on the way, but they have to wait for the storm to clear the area before they can get in.

 

[wgeo]

I didn't imagine when I started this thread that Dorian would end up passing us by completely but it really has. We have very slight wind and the kids have school tomorrow. It makes me sad to think that we get to be fortunate solely because it ended up stalling over the bahamas. The pictures coming out of there are devestating.

 

[Lynn CC]

Yes, we got our sandbags 3 days ago and stocked up on water/food.
Feels like I'm back living on Cape Cod again. I moved to Central Florida hoping we don't have damage to our new house here.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I didn't imagine when I started this thread that Dorian would end up passing us by completely but it really has. We have very slight wind and the kids have school tomorrow. It makes me sad to think that we get to be fortunate solely because it ended up stalling over the bahamas. The pictures coming out of there are devestating.

You suffering from FOMO? Never fear, there is another just off the coast of Africa that has an 80% chance of developing into a cyclone in the next 48 hours, 90% in the next five days. It will probably head northwesterly. I'm also on the Gulf Coast on Marco Island and we have the outer bands of breezy winds and storm today from Dorian. Usually our storms come from the South, East or West during the rainy season, but these are coming from the North going counterclockwise. Like I said, outer bands of the hurricane.

I've seen those photos of the Bahamas and the water at their windows is really scary. And if this other storm builds up the same way, it will be very bad for those people in the Bahamas.

 

[hereyago]

The Governor of my state(VA) has called for a state of emergency.

As it is NOW, the city where I live may get flooding in some areas. But nothing like the Bahamians.

 

[Nora03]

Haley R, I just saw you and your husband on The Tim Trackers video! Looks like you’re making the best of a bad situation. Stay safe.

 

[Haley R]

Haley R, I just saw you and your husband on The Tim Trackers video! Looks like you’re making the best of a bad situation. Stay safe.

Yes! We got to meet him yesterday and asked to do the closing. I was so excited to meet him!