Hurricane Irma

[Scot]

This just got posted by the local news.

This'll be fun.

 

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[Scot]

I'm spending some time on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic, and Irma came through on Thursday.
While the news headlines were all "Irma Pummels D.R" .. "Irma lambasts D.R" and such, it was nothing really serious.

A few trees here and there, a few tin roofs off and a little flooding.

I only look at what the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has to say.

The unfortunate reality is hurricanes and storms are a cash cow for news networks, so they sensationalize it as usual.

Some islands like Barbuda got hit pretty bad.
We'll see what happens in Florida. My guess it won't be too catastrophic, but better safe than sorry.

Are you from a hurricane affected place? I was young but I remember Andrew. The whole city of Homestead was leveled.

I had Frances and Jean make landfall on my hometown in 04. I watched peoples houses get destroyed and they were Cat 3.

Trust me, it's not being sensationalized. The local stations are busting their asses to give up updated info.

As a Floridian, I never get worried about hurricanes. But when you see Florida natives get worried, you know it's time to panic.

 

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[Aaron T]

Lots of Fastlaners in Florida.

My thoughts and prayers you all get out of harms way.

This thing looks like a monster.

Thank you MJ!

So far I am staying in my Orlando home because earlier it looked pretty bad for Boca Raton. Now I probably should have stayed there. However, safe and sound and family is as well. Going to enjoy one last good day at Disney and then wait it out. We appreciate all the prayers and thoughts from everyone and likewise I do hope all the fellow Floridians are safe.

I might have moved to Pismo Beach 6 months ago, but my heart and love is in Florida. Enough to come back and help my friends and family.

Just remember this storm is impacting a lot of people in a very negative way. If you have the means please do offer support and help. One thing that I would like say is if you a spare $20 dollars, please put it to good use in some sort of Hurricane Relief. If you only have $1 dollar, it could be the bit that makes a difference for a family, please help. If you have nothing, then we will take prayers and well wishes too. Everything helps.

 

[mikey3times]

My whole family is in and around Tampa. They are all worried, but also resigned to the fact that there isn't much they can do at this point. They've done what they can and now it is time to wait it out.

It sucks being far away. I'm sure the power will go out and the cell towers will go down. It is going to be brutal not being able to contact anyone to find out how they are doing.

Stay save everyone. Our thoughts are with you all.

 

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[amp0193]

Is that an inflatable dam or what? Pretty damn cool. I'll see myself out...

Aqua Dam, Inc., patent holders of the original water-filled AquaDam cofferdam.

 

[SquatchMan]

Is Tampa Bay still ground zero? It's hard to get pertinent info up here in New England....

Best wishes and prayers to all you folks in the path of Irma. Stay safe.

Possibly. The hurricane might make landfall a little south of Tampa Bay, but could pass over Downtown Tampa as a Category 3. There would be damage and lost homes (maybe the one I live in?), however homes built after 1993 would be mostly fine from Cat 3 wind. The bigger issue is storm surge, once Irma reaches north Florida the back winds will push water right up Tampa Bay.

I'm 5 miles from Downtown Tampa. Too anxious to sleep.

FYI: "Mike's Weather Page" on Facebook is a great source for storm updates.

 

[SquatchMan]

Hey, shoot me a PM.



And @G-Man I had enough of his shit too. Last thing I need is people telling me how losing my home is just a conspiracy from oil companies. Ironic how @Vigilante, a mod, is also in the path if hurricane. Hint hint.

Thanks man. I went to the office, can withstand a cat 5 and is in zone D, not sure if the house will make it though.

EDIT: Looks like this will be a cat 1 or cat 2 windspeed. Fingers crossed.

 

[throttleforward]

The hurricane-force gust fields and the number of tornadic cells all day (and continuing all night) is incredible. The mets I follow online were all suprised by how powerful and wide-spread the gusts have been.
If you're in Florida, especially on the east coast, pay close attention to tornado warnings tonight.

 

[scott.legendre]

3. People are looking for a plan. Give them one.

This this this this this this.

Dealing with Harvey over here. During the storm, there was more rescue efforts, trust, and help coming from the Cajun Navy and Texas Navy (volunteers with boats) than there were to the city, federal, and emergency officials. 911 calls were not going through because the lines were too busy while houses were being flooded and waters rising 2 ft+ in their homes. communications through facebook were going out to the boat rescuers. They worked their way from houston to port arthur to orange to wherever the hell the water was going next. Meet the volunteer 'Cajun Navy' saving lives in Houston

HEB, big texas grocery store, has an incredible reputation around here as a grocery chain and for their aid efforts. this explains why. Excellent read on execution.
The inside story of what it took to keep a Texas grocery chain running in the chaos of Hurricane Harvey

In the meantime, redcross is getting absolutely battered for such poor execution and because our own people are providing better help.

 

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[Iammelissamoore]

We all value money. Question is, do we value it more than our humanity? For some people, money is #1. We've seen it on this forum, bro-marketing, price gouging, etc.

Side question...

Has living through this hurricane changed your opinion on Florida? Tampa? Any place with hurricanes? After watching footage of apocalypse like behavior at the stores, traffic during the evac, I'm reaffirmed in my happiness to be stuck in the desert with the "dry heat."

I hear you loud and clear on this. Currently, I do reside in the Southern Caribbean, in the history of hurricanes, we have not experienced anything of this capacity; however, it doesn't make us any more special than anywhere else that experiences the effects of natural causes. Currently, I have been looking forward to moving from my country, this decision was solely because of the ability to change my scenery - get out of my comfort zone with the intention of creating more opportunities in getting ahead, in the midst of this hurricane, it has helped concretise my decision to move - preferably somewhere that doesn't have monstrous calamities - don't get me wrong, I know everywhere there are challenges, but as Vigilante mentioned we have choices.

4. The people that were the best prepared were the people that were prepared when there was nothing to prepare for.

6. There is no black/white, atheist/Christian, yankee/redneck in a crisis. We're all just people.

7. The better prepared you are on the front side, the more prepared you are on the back side to help your fellow man when the storm passes.

10. Cash is king, especially when there is no power.

11. Faith, friends and family are all that matters when faced with the loss of all else.

12. Physical possessions can all go away. I was sitting with a guy that was told to not come home because there was no home to come home to. Let shit go. It's just stuff.

13. You will take for granted other people's "storms" until and unless you have been through the "storm" yourself. This applies to hurricanes, but moreso it applies to life.

14. The sun comes up again the day after for anyone who was able to ride it out. Wait for the sun to come up again.

As with everything in life, there's always the opportunity to take away something valuable and I adore ALL your points raised, even for a moment, it's good to pause and see the valuable lessons that we can all learn from, regardless of where we reside or choose to reside.

I'm happy to see all our fellow forum members and their families are safe and sound and though this hurricane passed, we look forward - together - to that sun which comes up, to get ahead in still being our best and using our ability to help others see the best in themselves too.

 

[jpanarra]

Read the book One Second After... it highlights the US after a potential EMP. Money basically becomes useless and selling things at the same price to your customers even though you might never replenish your supply is just stupidity. It becomes a trade based economy. The new currency is still value to others, but your net worth is your knowledge and supplies.

Read that book a few years ago.. That was one fantastic book and might need a re-read sometime soon.

 

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[$pendi]

I'm chilling in Miami right now

 

[MattR82]

I live in northern vietnam at the moment, watch zero tv, don't have twitter and no longer follow any news on facebook. It's STILL the main thing I'm seeing.. can only imagine the hysteria they would be running over there.

If it's downgraded to cat 3 that is great news. Well.. you know what I mean. Fingers crossed that's the truth.

 

[Duane]

This hurricane is no joke, all my friends are boarding up their windows and getting ready to ride it out. I didn't board up my windows, but I'm pretty far inland, maybe 80-100 mph winds. I hope we all get through this unharmed.

There's a lot of opportunity to get out and help restore our communities afterwords though!

 

[Duane]

Seen this on my way home today. My neighbors are a trip.

 

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[throttleforward]

hurricane irma was category 5, the highest level, when it destroyed saint barth


quote from wikipedia :


"Saint-Barthélemy et Saint-Martin – qui se trouvaient sur la trajectoire directe de l'œil du cyclone et avaient été placées en alerte maximale (violette) ordonnant le confinement des populations – sont durement touchées à quelques heures d'intervalle par des vents soutenus à 300 km/h1 pendant plusieurs heures (et des rafales enregistrées jusqu'à 360 km/h)."

from Ouragan Irma — Wikipédia

english translation : winds arround 190 mph and gusts to 220 mph

They'll have to get a forensic examination to determine the actual surface winds. Often the surface winds are extrapolated from dropsonde data - the highest reported wind gust on the ground in Barbuda was 155mph, before the wind measuring device broke.

Of note, there were reports in the USVI of tree debarking, which is usually only found in strong tornados (EF-4 and above).

 

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[throttleforward]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGD1byu7gJc


Here is a good feed of Key West, which will likely bear the worst of the storm first among the continential US locations.

 

[MattR82]

The Normalcy Bias, or normality bias, is a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster and its possible effects, because it causes people to have a bias to believe that things will always function the way things normally function.

According to the normalcy bias, because Ebola in the USA, like most pandemics, amounted to very little, those who took measured precautions or monitored the situation "overreacted." Surely, this will always be the case. No pandemic will ever impact the USA, and anyone who takes simple precautions is a fool. This is why no one ever buys fire insurance for their homes or car insurance for their vehicles.

This is also why my sister isn't evacuating.

In her mind, she's been through this before, and it was no biggie. When her kids were in gradeschool, a hurricane was bearing down on them. Last-minute, she and my brother went to the store for plywood. They were out. So they spent their plywood money on beer and had a wonderful time, especially because the hurricane missed them. They had a good chuckle over that one. And then, a few years after that, she rode out a category-two hurricane. And it was fine.

So it will always be fine. Yesterday, I was urging her to leave. She said, "You DO know it's still sunny out, right? *snicker, snicker*." I said, "Yes, which means it's the perfect time to leave. You don't want to wait until the roads are flooded." She said, "Oh, we know which roads flood. If it comes to that, we'll be fine. We have a big truck. Stop worrying!"

Do I believe my sister will die in this hurricane? No. In truth, the odds are decent that she'll survive in her own home (or leave for a friend's house last-minute) and have a great story to tell someday. But why risk it? Why not take simple steps to protect yourself while you can?

But she isn't. Because of normalcy bias. It's always been fine, so this time will be fine, too. It's a great plan if the pattern holds. But every once in a while, the pattern breaks, and those who were snickering at "worry-warts" who "overreacted" get washed away or get to enjoy a nice, unique death by explosive anal bleeding. Why play the odds if precautions are relatively cheap and easy to come by?

(EDIT: I should add that my sister is in an "A" evacuation zone. This is the most-severe level. But hey, she'll be fine, because she has a truck.)

That is so frustrating to hear.

 

[Thoelt53]

I'll talk about whatever I damn well please. If I'm not mistaken this forum isn't sponsored by North Korea.

Some of us have respect for those less fortunate.

 

[Deleted50669]

Some of us have respect for those less fortunate.

When did I disrespect the hurricane victims? I was criticizing the media.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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[Scot]

Possibly. The hurricane might make landfall a little south of Tampa Bay, but could pass over Downtown Tampa as a Category 3. There would be damage and lost homes (maybe the one I live in?), however homes built after 1993 would be mostly fine from Cat 3 wind. The bigger issue is storm surge, once Irma reaches north Florida the back winds will push water right up Tampa Bay.

I'm 5 miles from Downtown Tampa. Too anxious to sleep.

FYI: "Mike's Weather Page" on Facebook is a great source for storm updates.

Hey, shoot me a PM.



And @G-Man I had enough of his shit too. Last thing I need is people telling me how losing my home is just a conspiracy from oil companies. Ironic how @Vigilante, a mod, is also in the path if hurricane. Hint hint.

 

[Aaron T]

If there is anything good at all in all of this is that the latest 5PM news update discussion shows Irma significantly weakening faster than originally thought. It is still a dangerous hurricane, but the faster it weakens the better for everyone.

 

[Mattie]

Hope everyone is okay in Florida. I'm on my third day binge praying for everyone. Hope my friend is okay in naples. Haven't heard from him for five hours. Hope everyone in Fastlane is safe.

 

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[Mattie]

This is sucks right now having your best friend in being hit bad right this very moment. Not in a good spot in naples and with the surges. I hope he some how makes it out. I hope everyone in fastlane makes it out of this. So sucks having people we know in there.

 

[throttleforward]

Crazy! While the sustained winds might not be "that" high, the widespread heavy rains and hurricane-force gusts are likely to cause a lot of damage across the entire state.
Also, Charleston, SC is slated to get their 2nd worse flood event in their history

 

[Wealth-Seeker]

Back to cat 5?! I know everyone knows how big it is but cat 5 is insane. Things are gonna get flattened. Don't know why they don't put a cat 6 category.

I have always heard there is no cat 6 because after a cat 5, there is "nothing left"

 

[TKDTyler]

Tampa Area dodged a huge bullet with that one; glad it has settled down from the cat-5 winds.

It sucked having most of my extended family living in Tampa and not being able to get in contact with them during the blackouts. Seems like everybody is safe, glad that all the FL members are safe as well.

On a side-note. It was interesting seeing the media reaction vs the public reaction via Snapchat. The Snapchat stories portrayed the hurricane over the weekend with people cracking jokes and making light of the situation.

 

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[Kak]

They have a RIGHT to screw people, but the community also has a right to repudiate, expose, and marginalize them.

Totally agree, rights all around.

I might argue no one who takes part in a capitalist exchange got "screwed". They valued what they purchased more than their money.

I'm not arguing in favor of these dickheads going around buying up supplies and holding them hostage. What I would say however is that skills like building and demolition do become a lot more valuable in a shortage of this type of labor. Just like certain supplies.

Read the book One Second After... it highlights the US after a potential EMP. Money basically becomes useless and selling things at the same price to your customers even though you might never replenish your supply is just stupidity. It becomes a trade based economy. The new currency is still value to others, but your net worth is your knowledge and supplies.

This is why someone who wants to haul cases of water from 3 states away and charge accordingly is actually helping the situation not hurting it. What he might not account for is competing with churches giving them away for free.

So yeah people holding things hostage from victims are cunts. But so is the attorney general of Texas for getting all the South Park characters of Houston panties in a wad over $2.29 gasoline "price gouging". Price gouging laws, not hurricanes, are what empty the shelves and create shortages in the first place.

 

[ZF Lee]

EMP. The real danger of a North Korean nuke that no one talks about. Detonate that over the U.S. in the atmosphere... lights out.

Sounds like an interesting read, will check out.

Better hurry and read...
These days the North Koreans are doing provocative missile tests (one flew over Japan) and the US forces are doing anti-ballistic missile drills.

On the North Koreans, it seems they are trying to piss off everyone. Their ambassador even got kicked out of my country for some slandarous statements....although we aren't hostile folks generally lol.

 

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[arfadugus]

I too tend not to overreact and believe MSM media hype. However if this graphic is true, I'd compel me to say "Uh, nope, I'm outta here!"

IRMA is slow moving, like 13 mph, the TIME OVER is what is scary. Hope u have shelter underground.

Local news says that winds will top out at 110 mph