What Would You Do During A Hurricane?

I live in the Northeast US, so I have never experienced the pain of hurricanes since we already have snowstorms. I'm curious as to how people that have lived through hurricanes dealt with them. I am not familiar with the experience of rushing or packing your things and leaving your house during a storm. Unfortunately, you can't stay in your house during a hurricane (at least for the bad ones, you may have to evacuate). My sisters and I would be dealing with a lot of shock from the weather but also culture shock, I guess, because, in snowstorms, you get to stay nice and comfy. We wouldn't be able to deal with the impending traffic as we try to drive away from the impending doom, only to come back and see our house in tatters. It almost makes me cry.

 

Twice I've left states one day ahead of hurricanes.
Even at that I got caught in terrible thunderstorms with high winds,
torrential rains, and fierce lightning to the point that I hole up in a motel
'till the next day.
Been in two earthquakes.
One, a 5.6 magnitude in Ohio, believe it or not, and the other a 6.0 in
N. Carolina. Rare for N.C. also.
We felt them but damage was rather minimal.
I'd rather not experience another.
I've seen one funnel cloud but no tornado and don't want too.
Snowstorms?
Yes we get them in N.E. Ohio but usually not bad enough to close down
traffic.
Cleveland gets beat up with lake effect snows.
Buffalo N.Y. is notorious for heavy snows all winter.
The worse snow on the ground from one snow that I recall in N.E. Ohio was 2 feet.
Enough to cripple traffic.

 

ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Cyclone!
Very bad.

 

Probably grab all I can and drive the opposite direction

 

Very wise I think.
There are good reasons that roadways in hurricane country are clearly marked
"Evacuation route".
I think were I living is hurricane country I'd evac well ahead of the crowds
and even drive around prior to an emergency testing and getting familiar
with alternate routes.
AND carry water and emergency foods for at least 3 days in my vehicle.
Most grocery stores stock many ordinary foods that can be taken with
you if in a hurry.
Don't like sardines?
Too bad. I think one should try some and get over that.
Back in the day when I was younger and hunted all flippin' day long
I carried water in clean 20 oz soda bottles and a can of sardines.
At some Saltine soda crackers.
Better yet some hard tack.
Hard tack is easy to make.

 

3 times we had major hurricanes pass right over us. By the Grace if God we were spared while the surrounding areas were devastated. Baltimore, Philly, New Jersey, New York took the brunt of these storms. We didn't evacuate & we were lucky. Ironically if we did evacuate, we would have been forced to travel towards the areas that were hit the hardest. So evacuation at times can be as risky as hunkering down.

 

I was raised on the Gulf coast and still am less than a hundred miles inland. Hurricanes are mostly a pain in the butt for people with any reasonable intelligence. You have to understand, hurricanes don't sneak up on you. You have days and days of warnings. It isn't like an earth quakes or tornado or even a flash flood.

Unfortunately there are a lot of really stupid people out there that will literally sit in a hole and watch the flood come and drown them. This is called evolution in action. I have been through the eye of the storm several times. A lot of my life has been hall marked by hurricanes. My Daughter was born while Hurricane Allen, a catagory 5, was coming in. The hospital going to keep us there but we managed to get out and get home instead.

It is simple. If you live in a low lying area you leave. If you live in a mobile home you get out of it if a cat 4 or 5 is coming at you. If you evacuate GO INLAND. It is amazing how many people from Corpus Christi evacuated to Houston. ??? If you are in a solid house and well above any sort of flood then hunker down. That means that you have water and food and the things you need so that you won't be one of those fools out in the flood trying to go to the store. We have an old school metal ice chest with a metal latch on it that we keep our important papers and pictures in. This is so if for some reason we have to run it is already together and water tight.

We always have water stored. The bottom of our freezer is gallon jugs of frozen water. We always have plenty of food and fuel for cooking, heating and lights. Right now, every room in my house has an LED light hanging from the ceiling. If you make reasonable preparations and plans for a worse case scenario you don't have a lot to worry about as far as your life is concerned.

A lot of the deaths are always people that were begged to evacuate that wouldn't and then wanted someone to die trying to save them. They have gotten hard core on those idiots now though. They tell them that they need to take a permanent marker and write their social security number and names on the inside of their arms and on their chests so their bodies will be easier to identify. I kid you not that is what they tell them.

You do NOT have to have bought bottled water like so many seem to believe. Fill up jugs and fill your bathtub and have food and lights. LED lights are great. Candles and kerosene lamps are nice but all to often EVERY HURRICANE in my memory you will have people burned to death because they and especially their kids are not used to having a fire in the house and end up burning up. I have a lot of lamps but then I was raised with them and actually have wall mounted holders for them so they aren't sitting on tables where they can get knocked off.

All in all if you plan ahead and act in an intelligent manner hurricanes are not unavoidable disasters. If you live in a low lying area go visit friends someplace else. Go stay in a motel that is someplace safe or at worst cast they ALWAYS open shelters where you will be safe and they will even feed you there. The loss of property can be overcome and besides that is what you pay insurance for. Don't sit on your butt and drown. Don't go out in the storm and drive around. Don't wait to the last minute to try to buy supplies. Have all your vehicles gas tanks full before the storm. Have your valuables and important papers gathered ahead of time. It isn't rocket science.

 

In my experience living in Gulf Coast areas long ago, home is the best place to hunker down unless a mandatory evac is issued, or if I know I'm in a flood plain. I came across this article on the Prepared that breaks down good tips for all aspects of hurricane prep. Insurance is a no-brainer: https://theprepared.com/guides/how-prepare-survive-hurricanes/

 

The last Hurricane to hit here directly was Isabelle...it was a category 1..and while some areas where hit badly ...mostly close to the bay or rivers....most of this area got lucky.
There have been Category 3s and 4s to go through this area years ago. We are long overdue for a big one.


In an Approaching Hurricane decisions have to be made and quickly to stay and hunker down or leave.

One of the things I do for my elderly mother is to make sure her medications are filled well ahead of time. You do not want to be getting this done at the last minute. Also in line with prepping ...you need to have food stuffs put back..not only for hunkering down and riding it out ..but also if you decide to bug out and leave. You need to cover both positions should your decision making process take a quick turn.

Here....the procedure is several days ahead...while watching and observing the track...as many clothes as possible are washed and dried. Gasoline stores are checked and filled for all the vehicles and containers. In particular gasoline for the generators.

Also my batteries stored on the garage shelves ..the chargers and battery minders are put on line...these batteries charged up.

My Ham walkie talkies are charged up and so too the spare batteries I have for them. My spare emergency antennas are also checked out and ready to go in line as needed ..my antenna adapters too. I have long range and short range antennas ..roll ups for emergency uses.

After Hurricane Isabelle I was able to hoist up my 2 meter roll up J pole antenna and hook it up to my mobile two meter radio and run it off an olde car battery...I found out where in town they had electricity and were able to pump gas...from other hams. I did not have to burn up gas to find gas.

I had enough to run my generators for about 4 days. In addition to my jerry cans..I also siphoned gas out of my olde 67 Chevy with the 27 gallon tank which I try to keep full. Two cycle gas for my chain saws was made ready in 2 gallon ready mix cans...two each.
I ran my generator here at night and at my parents house in the daytime to charge up their refrigerator/freezer.
I stopped it only long enough to transport and change the oil. I also had oil pre positioned and planned for this oil change.
Many four cycle generators do not have oil filters...changing the oil is the only way to get clean oil into them after extended runs. When I put it back up into storage I drained out the tank and carburetor and again changed the oil.
I reach up and pull the starter chord occasionally to get some oil circulating while she is in storage.

Note: Do not store a generator long term with this 10 % alcohol in the carburetor. Cut the valve off between the generator and gas tank and let the carburetor starve for gas until the motor stops...quits running. Then disconnect the hose coming from the gas tank and drain out all the gasoline...then rehook up the hose after this is done.
Before a storm you can fill it with gas again and get it ready as you normally would.

Alcohol gasoline or ethanol in small gasoline engine carburetors does not store well long term and will give you starting problems...if you do not drain it between long uses.
Some people use this stuff called Stabil ..but I choose to drain out all the gas and also burn the carburetor dry until the engine starves and quits.

A generator is not an immediate priority for many people..but in a pinch and over some ten days of Hurricane Isabelle..it made a huge difference in our standard of living here...as I had friends staying with me ..none of them had such gear.

Water is a problem. We did not lose water here but the electricity went out for about ten days. Natural gas we had too and heated water on the stove and or took cold showers. I know how to manage without electricity.

I keep powdered milk and eggs on hand..if need be. Not the best but they do not need refrigerating...is their advantage.
Canned spam..the same ..does not need refrigeration until opened.

Before the storm arrived...all possible clothes were washed and the washing machine thoroughly rinsed out and filled with water. Final showers and or baths were taken and the tubs cleaned and filled with water. Special water jerry cans and five gallon water bottles also filled and covered with saran wrap and rubber banded to seal.

As much Ice as could be filled and maintained in containers was also done..just in case.


As a prepper you want to have most of your food preps in place before the storm...your batteries for flashlights and radios etc etc...ready to go. I say this because most of these items will disappear form the store shelves quickly with the news of a coming storm/hurricane. Certain foods as well...canned goods etc.

Best if you have these positions covered well ahead of time....and not be reduced to standing in lines or fighting other customers at the stores or for limited supplies. People will turn into two legged wildlife over limited supplies before a storm fighting for the last supplies..but they spent a lot of time getting ready for the evenings television program or going to see their team at the football game. Best avoid these people if you can by planning and purchasing well ahead.

Think it through...make a check list and keep it up...expiration dates etc. Get your supplies well ahead of time ...while the store shelves are full and few are thinking about a storm or Hurricane.

If you decide to bug out...plan more than one route to get out if possible.
You need to decide well ahead if possible to bug out or stay. I say this because most of the normal routes will be heavily trafficked ...perhaps even blocked off with foolish people who did not think it through...or suitably prepare.

If with a group decide where to meet if separated. Get everyone's cell phone numbers if possible.

If two way radios....agree on frequency to be used and monitored.

My Baofeng walkie talkies have programmed into them the GMRS/FRS frequencies as well as specific ham radio frequencies but also the MURS frequencies...five of them.

Hope this helps some of you,

Watcherchris.

 

I was raised and lived on the Texas Gulf Coast until I was about 40 years old. I had never lived anyplace that was more than 9 feet above sea level. I';ve been through the Eye three times and even now am close enough to the coast to get hammered by hurricanes like Ike, Rita and Harvey. Harvey dumped between 3 and 4 FEET of water on me.

The thing about a Hurricane is that if you live in Hurricane ally you need to understand them, how they act and what they can do. A lot of the "preparations" for a hurricane are actually always done. The bottom of my freezer and any spare room that I have in any freezer is filled with jugs of frozen water. This is both good for economical freezer operation and gives you ice if there is a storm. All of my important papers, familly photos, and a good sized wad of cash is always together and ready to go in a hurry. We always have enough food for a month or two minimum and when a storm heads this way I fill up everything I've got with drinking water.

Every room in my house has at least one battery powered led light hanging from the ceiling. They are just about all AA powered so I have a barrel full of those batteries at all times. (When you live in a forested rural area you lose your power pretty often. We were in the dark for about 4 hours last Wednesday night.) I also have multipal small radios and several battery recharge packs for my cell phone and kindles.

Storms come in categories. UNDERSTAND that a category 5 hurricane has the same wind speed as a F-3 0r F-3 tornado!!! Those people that died in New Orleans when Katrina ran by them committed suicide! As bad as it was the damn storm actually MISSED New Orleans. Had it hit them dead on and slightly to the west instead of well to the east you could have quadrupled the death count.

When it comes close you hunker down to ride through the wind of a storm. Especially if they are less than a cat. 4 as long as you are on high ground you just need to be in a solid place and you will probably be fine. You RUN from rising waters and if you are like those poor dumb people in New Orleans and live 12 feet BELOW sea level you need to run from nearly any storm.

A hurricane turns in a counter clockwise direction. As it approaches land the east side of the storm in the Gulf is coming off the water and is just DUMPING on you. The west side of the storm gets the winds after they have dropped a lot of their water and even slowed slightly. Understanding this is important because the winds on the east side of the storm are also pushing a big wave of water onshore. This STORM SURGE can be as high as 20 or 30 feet!! If you are on low lying land near the coast you need to LEAVE and do it well before it gets there. If you wait to long and then call for help you may get one of those talks where they tell you to write your name and social security number on your body and the inside of your arm with a permanent marker to make identifying your body easier! That is NO JOKE!

Storm Surges can do strange things. Katrina missed New Orleans to the East but New Orleans is on a sort of peninsula between the Gulf Of Mexico and Lake Pontchartrain. Pontchartrain is a huge lake and almost 20 miles across. The North winds off the back side of Katrina pushed the Lake over the dikes and inundated New Orleans. I have seen it almost tear up a huge dam on an inland freshwater reservoir doing the same thing.

The problem is that most people wait to the last minute and then panic. The highways are clogged by people that probably shouldn't be evacuating making it impossible for the people that really need to get out to go anywhere. They try to get the people in the low lying areas to go first but they wait and try to close up their homes and the people further inland are supposed to wait to let them out...NOT!!

It has been rough a few times but as long as you are high and in a sturdy building you are probably safe. Even when the storm tore the world up as Harvey did Houston you can do your evac after the storm is past. The big thing about all of it is to understand the forces that you are dealing with and have your plan of action in place and then if the situation calls for a move...DO IT EARLY!

After the storm here are a few tips for people that might need this, Even when you can't get a signal on your cell phone you can often text just fine. Right after a storm passes EVERYONE is on their phone checking on their friends and loved ones, reporting in the the same and/or calling for help to the various city and county services.

If you will leave your freezer closed the food in there will stay frozen for several days and even when it thaws it will be fine to cook and eat as long as the temperature in the freezer and items stays below 40 Fahrenheit. After Rita we had all our friends over and had a just huge BBQ and Shrimp Boil. I lit up the yard with Coleman lanterns and we all had a great time.

Use your grey water several times for washing your hands and such and then use it to flush your toilets. There is usually a lot of water in the ditches and this may be polluted but your toilet won't care.

If you can stay out of the flood waters. They are going to have nearly anything that you can think of in it. Where I live you also had better keep your eyes open for snakes, fire ants and gators. They all get displaced by the floods and aren't happy campers. Anywhere that they can find high ground may become a rather busy place. I had a customer that lives on a hill top in a river bottom. He said that when it flooded he would sit out on his raised porch and watch the show as his place was the only dry land for several miles around it would be covered with snakes, gators, rats and rabbits. There were a few deer but they didn't "play" with the other critters much.

 

Many years ago I got to the Biloxi area on my way to Keesler AFB for training after Boot Camp.

It was a few months after Hurricane Camille came through that area. What was immediately noticeable was the number of trees which were still leaning inland from the high winds. Remember ..this is months after the storm had passed.

The huge amounts of sand on the main road following the coast had been bulldozed. But the damage was clear and intense still when we went through some three months afterwards. I had been through typhoons in Japan but this devastation was much worse.

What Texdanm states about snakes is exactly what the fellows on base told us who had ridden out the storm and then went out to help with getting things stabilized. That snakes were everywhere looking for high ground...dry ground. You had to be very careful. These Airmen went off base in details to help the community and many of them were detailed to pull bodies out from rubble and downed trees wherein they had been caught up and stopped from being subject to further winds. They said the smell was terrible and often they tied them and dragged them out...after clearing up debris...watching always for snakes.

We went out a couple of weekends to a graveyard in Pas Christian...to clear up a lot of the debris which fell down and try to put some of the tombstones back up or in place. The wind and water were so high it blew over some of the vaults, tombstones and obelisks.
I remember this place because one of the tombstones said..."Here lies so and so...the illegitimate daughter of George Washington." One of those pieces of history about which most of us will never hear mentioned or taught.


I too keep several 40 packs of AA type batteries and try to purchase electronics with the common AA type batteries. This keeps one from having to keep track of different types of batteries.

I also keep several batteries for my cell phone charged up and put individually into plastic bags.
I have two spare cell phone batteries in my pocket now and also two in my Daily BOB.
Also I have six AA type batteries in my pocket right now. For my short wave set as well as my mag light.
Spare AAs in my BOB as well.

TexDanm's outline is correct about staying put or bugging out. Be prepared well ahead of time.

Thanks,
Watcherchris

 

This is what I do

 

I'd either never live on the coast (note that I live in a high valley area between mountains),
or
were I forced to live on/near the coast, my house would be made of concrete, concrete blocks held together via rebar and filled with high strength portland cement, the roof would be metal and held down to the concrete walls with metal straps. The 10ft-12ft first floor would just be garage/storage; the house would begin on the second floor. Windows would be plexiglass and along with the exterior doors, they would have massive wooden-beam shutters with heavy hinges and locking bolts. Due to the horrible costs of materials, this house would have to be smaller than one might wish. Temporary structures could be used when entertaining guests. During storms, the temporary structures could be folded and put away.

Ideas seen on web:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/hom...t-your-home-against-tornadoes-and-hurricanes/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070619155735.htm

https://www.forbes.com/sites/hilary...of-bulletproof-concrete-with-few-competitors/

http://www.businessinsider.com/cubicco-hurricane-proof-homes-florida-caribbean-2016-10

http://www.preciseforms.com/concrete_homes_stormresistant.html

 

Coastal living doesn't require all the heavy duty building materials. The nice thing about hurricanes is unlike earthquakes, flash floods and tornadoes you have a lot of notice that one is coming. If you plan ahead and have insurance you will be fine. Houses on the coast are built with special building rules like hurricane hangers to attach your rafters and joists to the headers making the roof a lot stronger. Also we always had pre cut plywood that we would put over the outside of the windows. The thing that you HAVE to understand is that if you are in a regular frame house even if it has a brick veneer you can't stay in it if you are looking at a category 4 or 5 hurricane. In a case like that you either leave entirely or go to a local shelter that is designed to stand up to something like this.

There were sadly a lot of people that didn't understand all of this. The thing is that you don't have a hurricane every few years in Texas. When we go 10 or 20 years without a cat 4 or 5 hurricane people forget and get massively stupid. They assume that since their beach home had been through several tropical storms that it will be fine through a hurricane. Their beach house is 12 to 20 feet off the ground and they figure that they are safe. They never find the bodies of a lot of these fools.

Even inland you have to know when to run and when to hide. a few miles sometimes can make all the difference! The East eye wall is a lot fiercer than the wear side but the West side can throw tornadoes all over hell. A dead on hit is wild. Frist the winds blast you from east to west then it stops and goes quiet. Inside the eye FEELS strange and the barometric pressure falls to totally abnormal levels and you can feel this. Everyone goes outside and looks around. What you had better understand is that the first side that hit you started with lower speed win ds that picked up as the wall approached. When you pass through the eye when that back side hits it starts of FULL BLAST from the west now going to the east. Trees that had bent one way are now pushed the other way SUDDENLY and lots of them that mostly survived the front break and fall when that second wall moving from the other direction slams in.

LOL, I never remember being the least bit afraid in any hurricane. I have always been in a home that we prepared and knew when to hold em and when to fold em. Knowledge and understanding is important. I used to go out to Los Angeles for a week a couple times a year and I was always as nervous as a long tailed cat at a country line dance!! Earthquakes happen without warning and the ground can open up and EAT YOU!!! Then if it rains the freaking hillside can break use and bury you in MUD...OR the hills side can catch on fire and fry your butt before you know what's happening. Give me my hurricanes ANY TIME!! OR you can go to Australia where it seems like EVERYTHING wants to bite you and/or eat you and most of them are NOT mosquitos!!!!!

I think that most people are comfortable with what they know. Heck I get nervous everytime I through New Madrid Missouri and their big earthquake happened over a hundred years ago.

 

Many people do.
You just hope for the best.

 

Unless there is some sort of rapid shift in weather patterns I'm unlikely to suffer any damage from storms, hurricanes or tornados.
My house is at an altitude of 150 meters cut into the leeward side of a hill with a flood plane to the South of me. There isn't any chance of being flooded out.
The main risk for me is damage or death from falling trees or wind driven debris.
Each year people in the UK die unnecessarily as trees fall on their cars or they get washed away as they try to drive through floodwater. (Death by stupidity)
The U.K. is usually a very gentle environment but the weather can change suddenly because it's actually a relatively small island and you're never more than 72 miles from the sea. Extreme weather is still a bit of a novelty here so most people fail to take it seriously and use their good sense. They go to the coast to watch the big waves, newscasters stand in dangerous places for a sensational backdrop or idiots take selfies on cliff tops. Bad weather isn't trivial in Britain but there is no need for it to be fatal.

 

I would suggest sending a PM to RICHFL. He is a new member here, and a true expert on surviving Hurricanes. He has been through several, and has the preparation down to a science.

 

Ignorance or sometimes stupidity is the real killer no matter what sort of natural disaster you are talking about. If you live where hurricanes are prevalent you do NOT build your home in a hole that is 12 feet below sea level and expects to ride out a hurricane if any size in your house. If you are on a coast you never ride out anything above a Cat 2 or 3. A cat 5 hurricane has the same wind speeds as an F3 tornado except it is a thousand times bigger and longer lasting.

If you live in places that have earthquakes you don't build multistory buildings without any steel supports like they do in places like Haiti. If you live in places that have a lot of dry weather you don't let brush grow wild almost right under your home. The list is endless and people seem to LOVE to play a sad form of Russian Roulette with Mother Nature.

As our populations grow the number of people killed in natural disasters is going to grow. Part of the problem is that we are a much more mobile population than we used to be. That means that people are moving into areas all the time that don't grasp the dangers of the natural problems of that area and many think that the locals are just stupid alarmists.

Before the last spat of big hurricanes, Texas and the Gulf coast hadn't had a major storm in a decade or so. A bunch of people had moved right onto the coast and built all manner of stupid homes there. A house set on the ground is not going to even be there after a Cat 5 rolls in. They had experienced a couple of tropical storms and maybe a Cat 1 or Cat 2. They had NO idea what the difference is between those and a Cat 5. It is like an earthquake scale. I don't know much about earthquakes but I do know that a 6 on the Richter scale is NOT just twice as strong as a 3 on the Richter scale.

In the next few decades, I expect that there are going to be a bunch of nearly apocalyptic natural disasters with death tolls in the tens or hundreds of thousands. This isn't because nature is going to do anything new or even much worse than it has always been doing. The problem is that we as a people have insanely built HUGE cities right in the path of these disasters. The death scale is going to be unimaginable. If for example, Pompe were to blow up just as it has several times in the past the number of people living in the areas of total destruction is now measured in the millions.

In the US how many people live right on top of the San Andreas fault zone? Both coasts of the US are eventually get hit by a tsunami. If New Orleans gets actually HIT by a major hurricane the death toll will be in the TENS of thousands. Katrina MISSED it totally. the flooding was caused by the back wash and yet we rebuilt it right back in the same holes.

As the number of people worldwide grows and the number of people that crowd into the many certain death traps the size of the disasters in human suffering will grow GEOMETRICALLY. It isn't that Mother Nature any more destructive than ever...it is that people have gotten stupider and more short sighted...

 

It's good to have you back Keith.
Building on flood planes is also cheap, having to cut into hillsides to build on a slope is expensive...in the end it's all about profit margins.

 

People did that during Hurricane Hugo.
The Hurricane followed them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Hugo

People who evacuate run the risk of not being able to get back home when they want.

 

LOL, I have actually known a couple of people that "ran" from a hurricane and failed to remember the main thing. GO INLAND!! I knew one lady that left Corpus Christi running from a storm and went to Houston. Then it turned North and she ran again East along the Coast to Beaumont where it caught her. She should have left Corpus Christi and gone inland to San Antonio or at least when she left Houston head North to Dallas. If a storm is coming and you are in a low lying place go INLAND.

If you are not in a low lying area don't leave. simply move to a safe place and hunker down. Riding out a hurricane in a car stuck in traffic can be as dangerous as hell. Run from rising water and hide from the wind.

 

And, just when you think it is safe to take down the plywood down from the windows....then wham! Back up again!

Remember this one? Loop de loop! All of South Louisiana was like, "Say, whaaaat? And Texas was like, "I thought that one was long gone!"

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/atlantic/2004/Major-Hurricane-Ivan

 

Usually, I watch hurricanes on television. One visits coasts. One does not live on coasts unless, say, you are in the trawler / fishing business or in the ocean transport business. Navies need coastal ports. Again, I'm not living right on any coastline anytime soon.

Oceans slosh. Geophysical events cause oceans to slosh. We call the resulting waves "tsunamis". In the not-too-distant future, ocean volcanoes, underwater mountain landslides, and horrific earthquakes are going to cause tsunamis that will kill tens of millions of humans. Witness the megalopolises built on the coasts of the Pacific Ocean. The "Pacific Ring of Fire" has been acting-up. This will continue and at some point, something of mind-numbing proportions is going to happen.

The 2011 Tohoku tsunami in Japan only killed 16,000 people. The 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami killed over 200,000 people. Real tsunamis are on their way.

When the Hilina Slump in Hawaii lets go, a tsunami between 300 and 800 ft. tall will crash into the American west coast. Americans will kiss L.A., San Fransisco, Seattle, and all the smaller cities on or near the Pacific coast good-bye. In America alone, millions will die. The coastal cities of Hawaii will go away and depending on numerous factors, cities on the Asian coastlines will also be annihilated. Many economies will collapse.

The Hilina Slump is known. Dozens of catastrophe-generating geologic situations just like or worse than the Hilina Slump are out there and we know nothing of them. In all likelihood, one of the others will go before the Hilina Slump goes.

Many / most people on Earth will be shocked to learn that a few hundred million people just died.

I'll not be shocked. I may grieve, for I know people living out there whose lives could be lost.

No one listens. It is going to take a few apocalypses to wake up the people of this planet.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/traces-of-an-ancient-mega-tsunami/411970/

https://rense.com/general13/tidal.htm

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/14/us/tidal-waves-called-threat-to-east-coast.html

https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mgs/hazards/tsunamis/index.shtml

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/aug/10/science.spain

 

What I do if a Hurricane is coming is: # 1 MAKE COFFEE # 2 MAKE MORE COFFEE # 3 MAKE SOME FOOD

 

These three had a great time making life a misery for people in Southern Florida.

 

Old Geezer, the thing is that there have to be cities on the coasts. Shipping is the only way to move mass amounts of freight across oceans. Before the modern era, the only way to move stuff from the west coast to the east coast and such was by boat. To some small extent now there are other options but moving oil and grains across the ocean by anything we currently have would be economically impossible.

You are right though; it is just a matter of WHEN not IF the east or west coasts get smashed. Let's face it the West Coast is past due for several massive disasters and they are packed in the death zone like sardines in a can. When that San Andreas fault cuts loose nearly anything is possible.

 

Or not:

 

The monkey trap involves placing nuts into a gourd. The monkey can get his hand in, however after grabbing the nuts, he can't get his hand out. The monkey is too stupid or greedy to let go of the nuts to obtain his freedom.




But the money is made by the risk-takers. Every so often, there's the big pay-out.

What a mind-numbingly dark sense of humor it is that God possesses.

.

 

Well said. As a fifth generation Floridian I agree. Just use common sense. I have ridden out numerous storms during my lifetime....only evacuated during one.

 

It depends on the category. Cat one, do nothing except be away from areas of possible storm surge or low lying areas. Cat 2? see cat one. Cat 3 go inland at least 50 miles from coast. Cat 4&5 GTFO of dodge.

 

Some things about a hurricane can't be predicted. those are the ones that can bite even the well-prepared people right on the butt. Harvey was a good example of that sort of hurricane. It got people that were "theoretically" in fairly safe areas. There just isn't any way to prepare for 5 feet of rain in a matter of 48 to 72 hours. The problem was made many times worse in that Houston is a big city in a low lying area so water doesn't run off very fast and a swamp doesn't soak up much. Then throw in the 3 feet of rain that we had 60 to 70 miles north that did run down fast and you have a flood of unprecedented proportions.

It was a "perfect" storm much like Katrina. Katrina missed New Orleans to the East but the back side winds coming at New Orleans from the North pushed Lake Ponchartrain over the dikes. Normally you don't prepare for a Hurricane storm surge that comes from INLAND. In Houston, you don't expect the major flooding to be on the inland side of town.

The good news is that even in this sort of disaster if you use common sense it isn't really all that dangerous. If you live in a hole 12 feet below sea level GET OUT OF THE HOLE. If you live in a trailer house you might think about going to a shelter. Have your important stuff packed all the time so if you have to run you can just grab and GO.

Years ago a friend of mine had an experience that changes the way I do some things. In the middle of the night, his house caught on fire and went up in flames in a hurry. they were fortunate in that they all 4 of them got out uninjured. He escaped in his tighty whitey underwear and his wife got out in a very short T-shirt. The kids at least had on PJs. He lost everything. The biggest immediate problem, once someone had loaned him some pants was that he had no money, no checks, no credit cards, no ID and no keys to any of his cars! None of these things are fast to replace.

Since that night I never go to bead until I have my pants loaded with my stuff and hung on a peg beside the bed. I may not have time to put them on but they are going out the window with me!!! To some extent, this is how you prepare ahead of time for hurricane season. We have the food, water, lights and battery powered things covered and plenty of alternative cooking plans. We also have our papers, bank checks, cash and such together and ready to grab. I always have go bags that will shelter us and make food and water and cooking fairly easy. We also keep our vehicles filled when there is a storm in the Gulf. For many years I had a truck that was set up as an escape vehicle. It had a camper that was alway fully stocked on it and three gas tanks that all together held a little over 55 gallons of gas. Now that I am a little more inland that sort of running ability isn't as necessary.

Hurricanes aren't very sneaky so it really isn't hard to be prepared for them. With just a little thought and effort you are safe from them and can limit your loses to replacabe things in a worst case senario.

 

S.O.L; Excellent point on the frequently neglected - surge - .

I ask to add something to clarify.

The Europeans have a better hurricane reporting system than the US uses. They use the Carville system. It incorporates the surge during the progress of the hurricane. We use winds, with a few adjustments allowed.

The real clarification was made by the first FEMA director. He was a state judge in Arkansas; appointed by Clinton to the new FEMA. Going before Congress with a routine report, he said: "As we all know, disasters are very political events".

 

If I ever have to worry about a hurricane in my neck of the woods the whole planet will be a serious mess.

 

So where do you live now...Virginia, by chance ???

 

AND that is why I have little faith in the government making realistic plans or decisions. Disasters are REAL serious problems and the resolution for these problems is real and reasoned plans. NOT appoint a committee to discuss the political ramifications of the situation.

If your car is in a wreck, if you are a normal person you contact a body shop to get it fixed. If you are a politician you put together a committee lead by someone that knows nothing whatsoever about cars or repair work to do a study on the situation. They will get opinions from hairdressers, chefs, other politicians, Nobel Prize-winning Poets and carpenters. Then, based on their extensive research, they will advise that you have a new car built from scratch with individual parts bought new from auto parts houses. It will only cost you a quarter of a million dollars and should have you back on the road in no more than two years.

PS: I have a rather twisted sense of humor and this post is in no way a serious...or not totally...a comment on the government efforts and FEMA work...

 

I do recognize your writing style with its humor. I appreciate reading your posts.

Much has changed since the Civil Defense Act of 1950. The new underlying concept of a Federal disaster response is the bottom-up approach of local and then state response. This change still has some problems; a little too off subject for our readership here unless working disaster survival at the "macro"-level.

For light reading and explaining much, survivalists have a good time with:

Marvin Olasky's "The Politics of Disaster", 2006, ISBN: 0-8499-0172-3. A brief excerpt:
"...they found a correlation between disaster relief dollars and the number of representatives a state has on the two major Federal Emergency Management Agency oversight committees in the House of Representatives: ...".

ROFL

 

No hurricanes in my part of the world. Forest fires, earthquakes, rockslides, blizzards. I have been in parts of the world experiencing category 5 typhoons, which I believe is the same as a hurricane. When the plane landed (blowing sideways on the runway) we hunkered down in the hotel and hoped for the best, not the best of strategies but the only option at the time

 

Gulfport Mississippi - Katrina

 

Gulfport Mississippi - Katrina

 

I have to say, speaking as a person that has lived in coastal areas for virtually all my life, that of the many really bad types of natural disasters Hurricanes are the least deadly to people that have some sense. They don't, nowadays, sneak up on you without warning like an earthquake, tornado most floods or even a volcanic eruption. You know for weeks in advance that it is out there and get an hour by hour report on its progress.

The deaths and loss of life from a hurricane are mostly people that are sadly just too stupid to survive or people that want to hang around and loot. People these days just don't seem to be able to deal with real problems in a realistic way. If you sit on the coast at or near sea level and watch a cat 1 or 2 hurricane roll in you are stupid. If it is a cat 3 or above you are suicidally insane.

In every hurricane, there are shelters opened up well before it gets there that will allow those that can't leave for one reason or another to have safe shelter. If you are smart you already have your must have things prepared and just load up and go inland for a couple of days to a motel or visit family. In the case of my wife's family that lived 3' or 4' above sea level their important papers, guns, camping gear and travel food and water stayed sort of gathered and ready to roll. They could load up lock up nail plywood over the windows and roll within about an hour.

If you have good insurance and make plans that deal with your needs realistically hurricanes should not be a life-threatening thing. I have only known one person that died from a hurricane and that was probably more the result of a tornado. Hurricane spawns off a lot of tornadoes and a tree came down on her bedroom and killed her. That sort of thing is a sad unforeseen accident.

I find going down into Houston traffic a lot scarier than a hurricane.

 

Beaumont Texas - Rita

 

Beaumont Texas - Rita

 

Beaumont Texas - Rita