Stupid question ~Tropical storm warning

[Shelly888]

I have looked but have only found hurricane prep, should we be doing this if we are under tropical storm warning? I figured with many folks from all over the US somebody is bound to have a good idea as to how we should prep. We have bottled water, a generator with 8 gallons of gas, charcoal& lighter fluid, what else do I need? SHould we tape the windows, get an ice chest etc. We are coastal CT near Mystic.

 

[newddmommie]

You'll be fine. No reason to tape windows or anything like that. An ice chest is alwasy handy to have, but i wouldn't worry to much. Down here, we still go to work if it's just a tropical storm. There will be wind and rain and you might lose power but that should be about it.

FYI: taping windows doesn't keep them from breaking, just from making a huge mess if they do. Should you ever have an actually cat 3 or more hurricane, board them up with plywood.

 

[Shelly888]

THank you! I think us having a tropical storm here might be close to you getting a few inches of snow(but maybe not?!)there. Here a few inches is nothing, we don't panic until we are looking at 14-18 inches :giggle: But just to hear tropical storm warning with a hurricane warning not very far is a bit nerve wracking.

 

[lillygator]

well, I have a bit of a different take, around the 9/11 thing, we had a tropical storm....we lost several windows, part of the roof and had quite a bit of yard damage...those winds get pretty strong. No power for five days was no fun....how close are you to teh water? I would have lots of supplies on hand.

 

[MommyJack]

We're not too far from you here in RI. The thing you want to make sure you're prepared for is to lose power for a few days. Hurricane winds are over 75mph, so tropical storm winds are less than 75 mph. Take in anything that will blow away and tie down things you can't take in. PP was correct that tape only keeps glass from getting all over the place. I wouldn't board up your windows unless you live right on the water.

This is what they're predicting for our area right now:

... Probability of tropical storm/hurricane conditions...
the chance for hurricane conditions at this time is 8 to
14 percent. Also... the chance for tropical storm conditions at
this time is 44 to 53 percent.

... Winds...
sustained tropical storm force winds of 40 to 60 mph are
expected. These winds are most likely to begin Friday afternoon.
The period of strongest winds should occur late Friday and Friday
evening... then diminish late Friday night and especially Saturday
morning. Given trees remain fully leaved... combined with heavy
rainfall... winds of this magnitude will easily be capable of
Downing limbs and small trees.

... Storm surge and storm tide...
with the present track projection and timing... storm surge
flooding is not a major concern along the Rhode Island coast. A
storm surge of 1 to 3 feet is possible.

... Inland flooding...
the axis of heaviest rainfall is expected across Rhode Island where
amounts of 2 to 4 inches is possible... with isolated amounts up to
6 inches. Much of this rain may fall in a 12 hour period late
Friday into Friday night... which would be enough to produce
widespread urban and poor drainage flooding along with minor small
stream and river flooding... with pockets of moderate flooding.

The axis of heaviest rainfall is track dependent and could shift
farther west or east depending on the eventual track of Earl.

... Rip currents...
high surf and dangerous rip currents will arrive today along the
Rhode Island shoreline. The worst of these dangerous beach
conditions will be Friday as Hurricane Earl approaches southern
New England. Earl will exit into the Canadian Maritimes
Saturday... however the southern New England ocean waters will
remain very turbulent into this weekend despite improving weather
conditions. Therefore expect high surf and dangerous rip currents
to persist through Saturday and possibly into Sunday as well.
Beach goers should check with local beach patrols and lifeguards
before entering the water. Swimming restrictions are likely with
possible beach closures during this time. The most dangerous surf
conditions are expected at south and east facing ocean exposed
beaches.

 

[RitaZ.]

Keep cash on hand in case you lose power. Good luck!

 

[Smile&Nod]

Don't forget to have your car filled with gas (no power means you can't pump gas at most stations either).

 

[Shelly888]

Interesting. So weird because I have run out to the store both today and yesterday, and nobody was buying water, ice, batteriese, etc. Just weird odds and ends groceries, like hotdog buns and chips, and not big carts of food either, like 20 things. I don't know, I think we are prepared for the worst, and of course hoping for the best. We will have a lot of ice water if we don't lose ower.

 

[nancycg56]

We are in the warning area and we've brought in all the bird feeders, bungeed the kayak down really well, brought in the tiki torches, flags, and the dog pool and bed. I haven't bought any water and we already have ice, flashlights, etc. We lose power all the time so wee are always prepared

Right now the wind is picking up a bit and it's cloudy but that's it so far.

I plan on going to the dog park in the morning

 

[sjs314]

If the predictions show the cost getting a direct hit, I would definately try to stock up on some ice.....In 85 when Gloria Hit I was inland apoxmately 35 miles and due to high winds we lost power for 6 days. We had a local ice house but it was impossible to get any the line went on forever and then they would run out, luckily our neighbor was a manager of a store in another county and drove there each day to bring back ice for everyone on our hill without him many of us with small babies and children would not have been able to store milk we needed.

Sounds like you pretty much have everything else covered in the event Earl hits us.......praying he goes out to sea myself


I almost forgot fill the bathtub with water so you can flush the toliet if you have a well ( no electric no pump)

 

[Pig Pen]

We are in the warning area and we've brought in all the bird feeders, bungeed the kayak down really well, brought in the tiki torches, flags, and the dog pool and bed. I haven't bought any water and we already have ice, flashlights, etc. We lose power all the time so wee are always prepared

Right now the wind is picking up a bit and it's cloudy but that's it so far.

I plan on going to the dog park in the morning

My son and family are in Portsmouth. Their house is just across the street from river that leads to Chesapeake Bay. DDIL is in the navy so she is on emergency call for the naval hospital so she cannot evacuate. DS is thinking of taking the baby and heading to higher ground anyway.

 

[kirstenb1]

I always cook a turkey breast, in case we lose power for any length of time. You can make sandwiches, soup, etc for days.

 

[Tiggeroo]

We are expected to get a tropical storm, which we've had before. I secured all of the yard stuff. We always have coolers. I have propane for the grill in case of no cooking. I have canned food, but we'll be grilling. I have candles and lighters ready. I am going to get some more bread and eggs, a box of wine and maybe some rum. Ya. It will be a baby hurricane party here tomorrow. Unless it gets really bad we'll be going up to the beach tomorrow to watch Earl blow by. Because we have three other storms already I'll probably prep a bit better over the next week.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Oh, one of the reasons I get gas is that our gas stations get flooded and I don't want to buy from them for a couple of days. Find out from your neighbors if you tend to flood. You might want to move your cars if that is the case. There are parts of my town where people are moving their cars to higher ground. We will make brownies if the power doesn't fail.