The Emergency Preparedness Topic

[ColdWizard]

Complacency. We don't get major natural disasters here. The last earthquake was the 5.8 in 2011 which did almost nothing. Hurricane Isabel knocked out power to parts of the county in 2003. The last tornado in the county did less damage than the downbursts caused by the same thunderstorm. Pavement and concrete don't burn well. It's not summer so no heat. It's not winter so no rare blizzards. The last major power outage was overnight and probably lasted less than 6 hours, however many years ago that was.

We do have food and water for at least 3 days though.

[Lorizael]

Okay, so I've just been assuming that Monday will be a little wet. Am I supposed to be worried about this hurricane thing?

[Buster's Uncle]

I think it's too early to tell.  Probably ought to be watching the weather Saturday, though.

It was up to a Cat.4 this afternoon, but they don't even know within several hundred miles what track it'll take yet.  I guess a lot depends on how far inland you are.  They don't amount to much that far north, usually...

[Lorizael]

I'm 30 miles west of the Chesapeake and 100 miles west of the Atlantic, so that should be inland enough for anything less than an asteroid impact megatsunami.

[Buster's Uncle]

Yeah.  Watch the weather Saturday.   One probable course is heading up the coast.

[Rusty Edge]

I'm 30 miles west of the Chesapeake and 100 miles west of the Atlantic, so that should be inland enough for anything less than an asteroid impact megatsunami.

I disagree.

  I grew up in Central Pennsylvania. Hurricane Agnes in '72. Big problem. Some areas got 15 inches of rain. That can make a creek materialize on a hilltop. Along the rivers, where they like to build power plants for easy cooling, or rail or barge access to coal, because railroads followed the rivers rather than cut their own paths through the mountains, and population centers were built there when rivers were transportation- they had extreme flooding. Power plant immersion flooding. Some areas had no power for three weeks. NOT GOOD. People die. Stuff gets destroyed. Water and sewer plants go offline.

  Luckily, it happened in June when the weather was warm, instead of October at the end of the hurricane season. Most heating systems have electrical controls, or fans or pumps, and can't work without it. Most petro fuel tanks need electricity to pump out. So it's not as simple as saying- I have a generator. Does the gas station? Does the oil distributor? Solar to electric wasn't a thing then, but I can tell you even if you had it, when a Hurricane/tropical storm is parked off the coast- Ain't no sunshine. The people that lived along those sections of the river sort of adopted a camping lifestyle for a while.

You think of the intensity of the winds in a hurricane- because that's the defining characteristic. You think of the coastal storm surge- because it's so dramatically destructive. Or maybe the spin-off tornadoes. But the death and destruction can add up with the inland flooding, flash and conventional. Iirc, when I looked it up at the time Katrina, I think Agnes was still #4 in terms of adjusted dollars of damage.

I bet Buncle respects hurricanes, simply because his North Carolina kind of sticks out and gets hit by most of the north bound ones.

[Buster's Uncle]

It took several years to completely clean up after Hugo...

[ColdWizard]

Too much money/power/influence in the DC area for things to be messed up for very long for anything short of a catastrophe. Assuming Lorizael lives close enough to the beltway and not out in the boonies.

[Rusty Edge]

I agree with Cold Wizard about Baltimore/DC. They'd summon the aircraft carriers to provide power and water. I'm not trying to make anyone worry, I just want them to think a little more seriously about emergency preparedness. I'm not talking survivalist stuff. What would you do for 2 or 3 days if you couldn't leave your home or if you lost utilities?

Hurricanes are serious business. Don't blow them off.

Another problem we had in PA sometimes was blizzards. Too much precipitation, only in the winter. It would be normal to get a couple of big snows, about 18 inches, one during the winter, and one around the 1st of March when the air was warm enough to  hold a lot of moisture. Places get used to dealing with normal weather. The governor might temporarily close roads for a blizzard like that or larger, just to make it easier for the DoT to do it's job without traffic and tow trucks in the way.

Further south in DC, they become incapacitated with a lot less snow, because they don't have the equipment to deal with it, and drivers don't have any experience.   What would happen if one of those 18 inch snows hit 100 or 150 miles further south than normal?

Other stuff could happen that isn't a natural disaster. Disease outbreaks or prison breakouts could force people to stay home for a time.

When I get time, I'll tell you about my present situation , challenges, and preparations.



Do you think people would riot when their cell phones stopped working?

[Lorizael]

I have a lot of ramen for some reason. If I become trapped in my house, I can probably make a raft out of the noodles.

[Buster's Uncle]

One bit of emergency prep I just did fer realz in case of hurricane - I made a cigarette run a day or two early.

[Dio]

One bit of emergency prep I just did fer realz in case of hurricane - I made a cigarette run a day or two early.

Smoking is a nasty, expensive habit with negative long-term side effects. You should consider kicking it to the curb quickly.

[Buster's Uncle]

[Dio]

Why do you fear the truth? In order to see something, you have to open your eyes even if it is painful. I only mention this out of concern about the health of the individual. The above individual can ignore my advice if they choose since it is not my life.

[Buster's Uncle]

The assumption that you're not the 9,000th person to tell me something I've known all my life is both boring and insultingly boorish.  You will receive no further acknowledgement on this subject from me.