In the path of a hurricane?

[saltpoint]

Poll question: In the path of a hurricane?

This poll includes tropical storms and hurricanes of varying degrees and intensities.

In your comments, offer location, year, hour(s), the name of the storm if any, and attendant info of your choice.

Who needs Jim Cantore? We'll hold our own damn hurricane conversation right here.

= = = = = =

I have been in:

[SacredCow]

1. lived in south Louisiana all of my life...

Mostly in Baton Rouge.

[saltpoint]

6. Then you are right on the front line of a hell of a lot of storms.

We're with ya. And good luck down there.

[txwhitedove]

2. Less than a dozen, but 2 big ones. H.Alicia 1983, & H. Katrina 2005.

H. Katrina - Main St. & Beach Road in Bay St. Louis, MS

[saltpoint]

7. Two big storms like that almost count for dozens of smaller ones.

Katrina. You were in one of the storms of American history.

[txwhitedove]

13. Yes, and the greatest American migration since...., well since ever

I think. Our offices in Gulfport and N.O. were still standing,
but the owner, mgr., me and friends blown all across the country.
The offices opened back up within 2-months, but I had to move
back home to Houston to be with all my kids. I've posted a few
pictures, but none of them fully capture the enormity of this
catastrophe. Good to meet you, Old Crusoe. :hi:

[saltpoint]

16. Good to meet you, too, txwhitedove, and you stay safe down there.

Maybe keep a radio on for any new reports & just keep an eye out.

[txwhitedove]

21. Thanks, but not so worried here cause I'm 40+ miles from the

Gulf, vs. 2-blocks from beach in Bay St. Louis, MS, during H. Katrina.
I moved to Houston in time for H.Rita and couldn't get to work or
even near a highway ramp, so I will just stock up and hunker down if
a hurricane comes round again.

[saltpoint]

29. Well, then, forty miles gives you a little reaction time. And distance.

Good. I like your escape hatch there.

"Stock up and hunker down." Yes!

[Lady Effingbroke]

8. Hi, txwhitedove!

If you don't mind me asking, do you live in Houston? I am a naturalized Pasadeniac. :hi:

[txwhitedove]

18. Yes, ma'am, lived in Houston off-&-on since 1983, and consider

it home. Only been through Pasa-get-down-dena a few times.
Notice your screen name before and LOVE it! Very pleased
to meet ya'll tonight. :hi:

[Mutley]

3. Went through a few when I was a kid in

Virginia Beach, Va and Georgia. Most recently it was Isabelle in Maryland, though it was a tropical depression by the time it reached us — a little wind and a Whole lot of rain. I think it skirted NC as a Cat. two or three, though.

[saltpoint]

9. If you don't want to be in a hurricane, I hope they don't ever reach

you any stronger than Isabelle after it was downgraded.

Keep a weather eye out this summer for the forecasts. We're not even to August yet.

[Mutley]

12. We're doing well compared to last year, though.

There'd been something like 9 or 10 storms classified as a hurricane by this time.

[saltpoint]

14. True. The count is down some. It could be that the forecasters

over-shot the predicted number of storms.

Hard to say right now.

The water off the coast of Africa is pretty warm.

[CatholicEdHead]

4. Have not been in any (obvious geographic reasons)

but some winter storms during the 1996-1997 winter had air pressures of a Cat 3 hurricane, and I have been in the path of a Cat 1 hurricane that went south of the Big Island in Hawaii 6 years ago.

[saltpoint]

10. I hear you on those northern storms. And the Hawaii storm...

The Pacific storms can be very deadly.

That's an awful lot of water for a storm to wind up and kick hard.

[CatholicEdHead]

38. Here is the one I was referring too, classic North Dakota blizzard

http://www.rwic.und.edu/blizzard97/sur2/hannah.html

[saltpoint]

49. And in April. Is that common for your area? Plus the snowfall.

It looks like a humdinger. Thank you for those graphics. When a storm starts to form and move in the Great Plains, it can be deadly, but there's an incredible beauty to its movement, too.

[CatholicEdHead]

58. It was a very exceptional winter that year

blizzard after blizzard after blizzard. As soon as I dug out my car after being completly covered, it was blown shut again. There was even snow flurries in late May in northeast North Dakota in the spring of 1997 as the flood waters were receding in Grand Forks.

[saltpoint]

64. That's severe. I have to say, CatholicEdHead, that you must be one

sturdy soul to withstand wintertimes like that. I realize they aren't all that harsh, but still.

[Lady Effingbroke]

5. Definitely.

I live in Houston. Haven't received a "direct hit" from a hurricane since Alicia in 1983, although we have been through many tropical storms since then, most notably Allison in 2001 (40 inches of rain in 3 days). The Rita mess last year gave us a pretty good idea of what to expect in the sooner-or-later inevitable event of another hurricane heading this way. Many people here are making their own plans on where to go and what to do and are not planning on receiving much "official" help.

[saltpoint]

11. I'm always afraid a hurricane will come to shore in Texas with the eye

just southeast of that shipping channel. That would be a very bad thing.

Good for you that you're making getaway plans just in case.

Smart move.

[Lady Effingbroke]

17. I live 3 miles from the ship channel.

I have relatives in San Antonio and Fort Worth with whom I can stay in the event of a major storm (if I can get there).

I think it is going to be more difficult to get people to hit the road and evacuate after the Rita SNAFU. A lot of people I have talked to have said that unless Houston is faced with a direct cat. 4+ strike, they are just going to ride it out wherever they are. It is nigh-unto impossible for 2+ million people to evacuate a city in 24 hours, especially one with no public transportation.

Scary. :scared:

[saltpoint]

20. True. If somebody's in Houston and doesn't get a real early start,

they might as well hunker down and hope for the best.

I worry about the storm you describe -- one that's pretty strong -- and all that glass in the high-rise office buildings in Houston.

You live in a great city. But it's so close to the sea...

[txwhitedove]

26. Yep, if it came up through the Ship Channel, we're all screwed.

I'm not in a flood zone, not close to a bayou, and on the 2nd floor. Ya'll can come stay with me!

[saltpoint]

30. A generous offer! All 91,000 of us will be right down, first sign of

heavy weather.

[txwhitedove]

32. Uh, don't think I can fit enough tuna & spagettios under the bed....

:rofl:

[saltpoint]

35. LOL! And you nailed it with my favorite meal, too.

Tuna and spaghettios. Mmmm.

[bertha katzenengel]

15. Isabel was the biggest. There's been one more came through since

we've lived here but I don't remember which one.

[saltpoint]

19. Hey there, bertha katzenengel. Haven't said hi to you for such a long

time on these boards. I hope you're doing well.

I hope you escape any storms aimed your way as the summer goes on. Now and again I check in on the web at sites for hurricane tracking, just to see what's going on.

So far it's been relatively quiet and tame out there, but then again, this is only mid-July.

Stay safe.

[bertha katzenengel]

25. Hey, Bud. Maybe I'll do that now & then.

Can they forecast these things far off into the future? Like, 2-3 mos ahead?

Here's a funny headline from the Orange County (CA) Register. It's about a 1998 hurricane. My sister Bonnie (who lives in Huntington Beach, in O.C.) saved it:

Bonnie Slaps Virginia

:rofl:

[saltpoint]

33. That headline is a doozy. If they can run some fun with those storm

and weather headlines it's good, so long as the storm weakens and doesn't hurt people.

I wonder if some folks at newspapers wait years for a chance to use saved-up storm headlines. Seriously -- it's such a great time for them to be at their best with language, and everybody's paying close attention to a hurricane.

You hang in there. Nice to bump into you again.

[KamaAina]

22. Four, in four different places, none of them Hawai'i or NOLA!

H. Agnes 1972: not really in path but heavy flooding around Baltimore

H. David 1979: Naples, Fla. (grandparents') was under the gun 'til it turned north at the last minute, so just rain bands. Ironically, the eye of David later crossed right over Norwalk, Conn. next to where I lived, while I was still in Fla.

H. Bob 1991: edge brushed Norwalk (where we'd moved) the same day as a coup attempt in the Soviet Union; a few weeks later we took a trip to Newport, R.I., right in the path, where I saw TV aerials (!) bent at all kinds of crazy angles.

H. Floyd 1999: My employer in NYC announced an early closing about 1 that afternoon. I lived about twenty blocks away, and barely made it back ahead of it, it was moving so fast!

no doubt various and sundry other tropical storms, remnant lows and so forth.

[saltpoint]

27. You have scuffled with some famous ones, there. Hurricane David

really caught my attention. I was in the Midwest, but following the storm as the radio would give updates. I was listening to a local rock station.

The DJ came on after an ad and said, "And this one's going out for David." And then played Neil Young's "Like a Hurricane."

Keep dodging the deadly ones, KamaAina.

[saltpoint]

23. I'm re-reading Isaac's Storm, by Erik Larson. Do any of you know this

book?

It's an account of the most powerful hurricane in U.S. history -- the one that smashed into Galveston, Texas.

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/isaacsstorm/


I'm a storm junkie and this book has become a favorite of mine.

[cobalt1999]

24. ...waterfront home in Florida

and sat through Eloise, Opal, Ivan, and Dennis, and those were just the Cat 3 and higher. Ivan was the worst though, beside hitting around 11pm, it just kept going and going and going. They are very stressful and I nearly collapsed with exhaustion around 4am after it let up a little.

Tropical storms and Cat 1's are now just like a summer thunderstorm to me.

I will say the amount of energy in a hurricane is unimaginable, and the gusts that scream past the house and shake the entire structure are both awe inspiring and frightening. Toss in being surrounded by wild water (my house is on pilings), boats coming loose, and debris floating by...and you swear that next time you are evacuating (never do though).

[saltpoint]

28. cobalt1999, you are virtually IN the water, sounds like. On pilings, and

you survived Category 3 storms. Whoa.

Loved your description of how the storm rushes in and screams by. It is part awe and part terror. I'm guessing that there must be some point where you aren't getting local weather reports on the radio or tv anymore when the power goes down, and at that point you know what you're in for.

Here's hopin' your luck holds. You hang in there.

[pitohui]

60. trop storms are no joke to me

my house was nearly destroyed by a "mere" tropical storm, all that has to happen is that the wrong tree falls the right way

15 tons of oak tree on the house -- with us in it, my husband was actually brushed on the back by the tree falling through the house, if he had been a bit slower moving toward the front of the house he would have been killed in front of my eyes

they are all serious, but you just don't have time to evacuate for every tropical storm even if it's a direct strike

[nosillies]

31. The two places I've lived the longest? LA and FL

I'm doomed -- too many to count, for sure, when I think of all the "minor" ones.

Seven years ago, I was living in Palm Beach. I got a puppy two days before Irene hit. You've not lived life until you potty trained a chihuahua in a hurricane! Really strong winds + 1 pound dog = airborne rat on a leash. I wish I had video.

edit:spelling

[saltpoint]

34. LOL! "Airborne rat on a leash" -- terrific description.

No, I've never had the benefit of an experience like that. You must be damned resourceful. Puppies and hurricanes. Not an easily negotiated combo, is it? Well, I think you should be nominated for a Nobel Prize in ... something. Domestication of Animals During Adverse Climatological Conditions.

Did you name that Chihuahua after the hurricane?

[nosillies]

41. Male chihuahua, female hurricane, so no namesake

However, when he hikes his leg to pee, he still has this crazy 70 degree lean that you would think was physically impossible. I guess there were permanent repercussions.

[saltpoint]

43. LOL! Well, he's a cutie in that photograph. You say hi to him from

all of us storm survivors out here. Of course most of us presumably had the advantage of already being potty trained when we rode out the storms.

So that little dog is a champ!

[Jamastiene]

36. They are damned terrifying if you ask me.

I've lived through countless hurricanes. I live off the coast a little but hurricanes come right through our area every time. I have heard people pick on "trailer trash," but until you ride out some hurricane force winds in one, you don't realize what guts of steel those people must have. I do not have the guts those people have. Therefore, either I brick this place when I get the money, or move when I get the money. Either way, this place ain't as strong as the cardboard box it came in. Even windy thunderstorms make it make noises that cause my innards to shift around in fear. I cower on the floor during hurricanes.

[saltpoint]

37. But dammit, Jamastiene, you've survived them all. Respect for the

raw power of unmitigated force like that is not cowardice. It's respect, and common sense, and smart living.

Bricks? You betcha. Pile 'em up high and thick. I don't blame you one bit.

Good luck where you are, and no more apologies for a proper response to powerful storms.

[Jamastiene]

39. Wow, that was so poetic...

and you are so right. I have a deep respect for the shit kicking Mother Nature can do. She doesn't play. And yes, I will be piling the bricks high and thick. I heard of a new type of construction that uses concrete filled with more concrete that is supposed to be damn near tornado proof. I want THAT kind of protection.

[saltpoint]

40. And you deserve it. Stack 'em high!

[RFKHumphreyObama]

42. Not sure whether it was a hurricane or a cyclone

But it tore through the Northeastern US and Canada in about September 2003. I was visiting from Australia and was in Toronto at the time and quite scared -and some of the newspapers were beating it up. The relatives whom I was visiting told me not to worry -it'd only be minor -but I was still concerned. In the end my relatives proved right -it was nothing more than a wet and windy day which was overcast

[saltpoint]

45. I kind of like the way you were tuned to it as a potentially dangerous

storm.

Ok, this time your relatives were right. Not to slight them. But at times none of us knows how strong a storm will be. With hurricanes, the best instruments we have are still not exact. They're usually big, even the compact ones are pretty expansive, and they pack a punch.

I think your reaction was just right.

[flamingyouth]

44. None at all - just tropical storms.

I feel for the people who live in the paths of hurricanes. :(

[saltpoint]

46. I guess there are people who have been through tropical storms only

and they live along the southern coastal states, and they've never been in a hurricane.

And coastal areas that haven't seen a really strong hurricane for many years.

A friend's law firm in Tampa secures the files in her office whenever a tropical storm is forecast a day out in the Gulf of Mexico. Several offices in Miami lost their records completely when Hurricane Andrew blew through, and he didn't even strike head-on, but veered a bit south of the city.

[outofbounds]

47. Brunswick, Ga.

We have the remnants of several storms every year. Not many dead on hits, thank goodness. The ones that have hit here put us have 5 out of the top 30 deadliest storms on record. And we are I think the most west point on the east coast. The storm of 1898 wiped away an entire Island. It was Campbell Is. that once sat between Jekyll and Cumberland. The real scare starts in a little over a month. Though we don't have the population of the Gulf Coast, this place would be wiped clean with a direct hit.

http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/usdeadly.asp

[saltpoint]

51. Hi, outofbounds, and thank you for that link, and also please accept

a belated welcome to DU.

It sounds as if you have been relatively lucky so far in your immediate area. But it's an environmentally vulnerable area, too, isn't it? -- and I hope you are never in the path of a Category 3 or 4 storm.

Do you have an evacuation route established and a weather radio going for August and September? I liked your description of the months for hurricanes -- "The real scare starts in a little over a month. Though we don't have the population of the Gulf Coast, this place would be wiped clean with a direct hit."

[outofbounds]

55. Thank You Old Crusoe and yes

we have a plan, learned just how ridiculous it was on the Floyd evacuation. The way Florida evacuates gridlocks our streets. Really only 2 ways out Hwy 82 west to Waycross and Hwy 341 north west to Baxley. It took over eight hours to get 40 miles. Everyone was frustrated as you can imagine. People taking 2 and 3 cars, boats, things that could be replaced it was a nightmare. Now the talk when the E word comes up is leave early or late. Yeeee ha. And nary a breeze blew at home.
The feeling in your heart when you kill the power to your home of 12 years has a power I can't describe.

[saltpoint]

59. You described it to the bone and blood. I had not realized how

connected Florida's evacuation is to yours there in Georgia. So it's a fast departure or wait-it-out, at least for many, I guess. "The E word..." Very nice. Well, I hope you're stocked up with some beer and flashlight batteries and plywood for this August, but I hope you can enjoy the beer under full electric power and very little wind.

The safest of those storms are the ones that hook northeast before they ever reach continental shores.

[outofbounds]

62. Bottoms up and be safe nt

[HysteryDiagnosis]

48. What the hell does Rick

Santorum have to do with hurricanes anyway???

[saltpoint]

50. I'm sorry, 4MoronicYears -- you lost me. Santorum... ?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

52. Just making a feeble play on Jim Cantore.... really really feeble and

a stretch even for me. My humblest apologies.... hope you aren't stuck on that island for the duration there... :)

[saltpoint]

53. Oh. My fault. I missed it completely. No, I'm ok -- but in the past

I've had to ride out some strong storms. The weakest wind-wise was Hurricane Bonnie in 1986 -- all rain and lots of it, seemed like, but I was driving right into the damn thing along the Gulf Coast. Not pleasant.

And several in Florida and a handful at various places along the eastern seaboard.

They're alluring to me because they're both deadlly and beautiful. Beauty raised to the level of danger.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

54. "Beauty raised to the level of danger" wow.... nature's way of taking

the wind out of an administration's sails.... sure did it last year. Caught with their pants down around their ankles they were.

[saltpoint]

57. Very well put and a very good point. Dubya must have made the

decision that brush-clearing was more important than responding to a huge American city being slammed into by a Category 3 hurricane.

It's REAL hard to see where he's comin' from on that.

"You're doin' a heckuva job, Brownie." I watched CNN's footage of Bush saying that to Michael Brown on the left side of the screen and on the split-screen right side, CNN ran footage of corpses floating in the canals.

Heckuva job alright.

[CatholicEdHead]

61. He has been pushing to partially privatize the NWS

by forcing the public to go through AccuWx and similar private companies for forecasts while the government still maintains all the data acquisition equipment (radar, satellite, etc...), computer models, and warning liabilities. Yet if you want a public forecast you have to cough up money to some private forecasting company. Accuweather is based in State College PA and is a big Santorum donor.

[saltpoint]

63. Ah. There it is. I lost the trail at the drive-through grocery. Sorry.

[pitohui]

56. oodles of em

good lord, i couldn't possibly remember them all

[saltpoint]

69. That many.... I'm trying to guess your location, then.

Key West?

Galveston?

Puerto Rico?

Mobile?

[Fox Mulder]

65. I've lived in Minnesota all my life...so guess how many?

;)

[saltpoint]

67. Probably not so many hurricanes, but I bet quite a few blizzards.

[DawgHouse]

66. Charley slapped us very hard.

Then Frances and Jeanne. Charley caused the most damage to my home. :(

[saltpoint]

68. I went down to Punta Gorda shortly after Charley blew through and

saw first-hand what you're talking about.

That was a serious storm, no matter how they stack it.

And those FEMA trailers off to the east of I-75... are they really still there?

[DawgHouse]

70. The people have to pay rent for those now

They have moved a lot of people out but yes, the trailers are still there. I found a link. http://www.npach.org/24mar06.htm

[saltpoint]

71. Oh boy. That's a long time, seems like. A long time to live in a kind

of displaced mode. It seems as if everything would be disrupted, or feel that way.