Hurricane Season 2010

[AppleaDay]

It looks like once again the NOAA has predicted catastrophe, calamity, and even major unpleasantness! No, Rosie O'Donnell doesn't have a new show on television... they put out their predictions for hurricanes this year. Once again we are supposed to get slammed with lots of them. Big ones. Big, nasty ones. Not as big as Rosie but stil...

So, just a little reminder to everybody to get their supplies together, batten down the hatches and pick something in stainless steel and plastic to carry.

What new preparations did you make this year for the hurricane season?
I cleared some trees and limbs, replaced some retaining logs with cinder blocks so they're less likely to float away, bought and filled sandbags for the garage...

[Palladin]

My prediction...
big oil slick on the gulf = calmest season in 100 years

we should do it every spring!


Mid-Atlantic may be a different story...

[WRW]

My prediction...
big oil slick on the gulf = calmest season in 100 years

we should do it every spring!


Mid-Atlantic may be a different story...

We'll see...but I made the same comment to the wife when the news came out.

For my part, a couple more 5 gal. metal gas cans.

[Chasbo00]

NOAA or this fellow?

http://www.nationalcenter.org/HurricaneForecast.html

[Diomed]

Ugh. Storms suck. No power, no water, ungodly heat. Actual damage is a nightmare, been very lucky so far. I really want to get a generator put in but can't get clearance from the property owner.

I'm stuck buying bottled water and batteries, and hoping we get spared again.

[GS78]

......you're wrong, Rosie does have a new show coming this fall.......I think she is slated to fill the big hole left when Oprah leaves....and who better to fill a hole that size ?...(The exec's at the studios think its time to put a rabid, far-left radical lesbian on daytime television, you know to fit in with "mainstream Americans"......

[Vahunter]

Hurricanes make my bank account get fat. When Gustav hit I put in 14 straight 16-18 hour days. The stories of wasted FEMA money I could tell.

[mut617]

Since Im new to Virginia I have to ask how often does a hurricane make landfall here? I have lived in Florida most of my life and have been through Andrew, Opal, and Ivan, as well as taken refugees from Katrina. To tell the truth the fishing is great in the eye of a hurricane. Opal was at least.

[allingeneral]

Since Im new to Virginia I have to ask how often does a hurricane make landfall here? I have lived in Florida most of my life and have been through Andrew, Opal, and Ivan, as well as taken refugees from Katrina. To tell the truth the fishing is great in the eye of a hurricane. Opal was at least.

Last major hurricane in Virginia was Hurricane Isabel in 2003. It came straight up the Chesapeake Bay into the Potomac (Well, actually - the eye came ashore in North Carolina, and the strong side/inland winds came straight up the Potomac).



I lost power at my house near the Potomac River for about 10 days. I lucked across a generator at the local hardware store, so after the first couple of days, we made out OK. We lost a few trees, but no structural damage to the house. Winds topped out near 90MPH here. The Potomac river took a storm surge over 9 feet all the way up to Alexandria. It was pretty nasty - especially since I was expecting that landfall was going to significantly weaken the storm before it hit us. No such luck - it was still Category 2 as it came up the Potomac.

More information on Hurricane Isabel here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of ... n_Virginia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Isabel

I would suggest that everyone have *at least* one Maglite around the house! (MagliteSales.com is another of my websites) I have no less than four Maglites stationed at various places throughout the house. There are better flashlights out there, but for the money, a Maglite won't do you wrong.

[WRW]

I think most thought that landfall would weaken that storm more than it did. It didn't. Fredericksburg got busy for a bit during and shortly after that passed through.

[TheGearGuy]

I haven't seen a nasty one yet, but that's no reason not to be prepared in case.

[novasig226r]

Came to VA in November 2005, so I've not seen anything bigger than the fun thunderstorms that blow through NoVA. Occasionally we get a nice guster.

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. In addition to the usual preparations such as plenty of batteries, matches, propane, food in cans (Dinty Moore, yum!), I also have my trusty shootin' irons.

I'd also make a recommendation for folks to consider an amateur radio license, but that isn't gun related.

[ZeSpectre]

Okay, FINE....I'm going to buy a damned generator tonight. (I say that every year BTW)

Other than that and checking on the chainsaw, my house is in pretty decent shape with land features that protect us from high winds while keeping us well above the drainage basins

[allingeneral]

After Isabel hit and I bought my generator, I sent a claim to FEMA and they paid me back for about 90% of the cost of the generator! That thing cost me about $850 IIRC. Imagine my surprise when I received a check in the mail from FEMA for 90% of that!

[Dreghorn]

I'll get prepared for this season just like all the rest. Make sure that everything in the garage is at least 4 ft off the floor, get cinder blocks to set the furniture on, make sure my motorcycle has another place to live when the storm gets close (its already been under water once), tie a kayak to the back deck so I can evacuate when the water starts coming in the house. Oh wait a minute I have to do the same thing for a Nor'Easter, so I'm pretty much prepared all year long! Anybody want to by a house thats waterfront only during storms and exceptionally high tides?

[gatorbait]

Grew up in Miami beginning in 1928 Missed the biggie in 1926 (we hadn't learned about names in those days, so it's called the 1926 hurricane; clever, what?). That's the one that really blew the joint apart and spelled "finis" to the land and business boom until after the Depression.

Some storms were devastating and many were killed, as the '35 hurricane that killed hundreds of men on the Keys building a railroad. Most were simply one-night diversions, leading to a nice family night and the morning walk around the neighborhood lookinf for damage. In my little suburb of Coral Gables everything was built to code and the only structural damage I recall having seen was that the rear wall--shelves intact and still carrying their assigned burdens--had been sucked out because the building was too tightly closed.

Usually not a big deal unless someone was a idiot.

[GS78]

I could have sent a bill to FEMA too....but then I realized I was FEMA, so I didn't.

[wally626]

VA gets very few hurricanes but does get a lot of tropical storms. Isabel was a huge hurricane but was not really intense. The winds at my house in Yorktown were less than previous tropical storms. But in other spots there was a lot of wind damage and a lot of flooding, places that had never had water got flooded out. Generally in tidewater VA you do know if the area you live in floods but lots of people were surprised by Isabel. If you survived FL you will probably have no issues in VA, well assuming you do not live below 10ft of MSL, on a river flood plain or a neighborhood with lousy drainage.

When I bought my new house I got a generator installed and picked a neighborhood served by the only substation in the area that did not go down during Isabel. It is just frustrating to have no power for 8 days when a few blocks away they only lost power for 60 seconds. Only one outage since I have been here that the generator got a work out, we had a 6-hour outage when a car hit the only power pole between my house and the substation

[GS78]

I lost power for 14 days during Izzie.....