I hope everyone at DU now understands why those of us in the path of hurricanes and tropical storms

[malaise]

take them very seriously during the lengthy hurricane season. The storms are getting bigger and more dangerous and we'd better be prepared.
Stay safe all - the death toll is rising.

[Stinky The Clown]

1. I agree. Too often the "smart-ass" brigade think they're oh-so-clever with their snark.

[malaise]

5. Sp true. We'd better put climate change back on the agenda

I'm guessing that even more people are going to be killed after the water recedes.
They'll be talking about this one for ages.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Yup,

And this one is reaching worst case

For the record, for us it is wild fires.

[CoffeeCat]

3. I saw video of high water...

...rushing through the streets. It reminded me of the horrifying tsunami a couple of years ago.

Yes, we get it and I don't blame you for being scared. This is serious business, and climate change is creating crazy super storms.

Stay safe!! I hope you have everything that you need.

[malaise]

6. I saw a lot of scary stuff today and the worst part is that

there are new dangers when the water recedes. Among the worst dangers are streets without traffic lights. No power, no traffic lights - that is a recipe for fatal accidents.
Fires are another post-storm threat.

We're great - completely recovered from our brush with Sandy

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Now I get why people are so rude

the bad behavior has been given a new PC term... wow. I am not being sarcastic. Not really surprised by rude jerks, because I keep meeting them in Meta D. Call it what you want snark, rude, it's just insensitive bad behavior. Peace. LMSP

[HangOnKids]

14. With 4 hidden posts in 2 months you now feel compelled to call other DUers rude jerks?

Really? Not getting your outrage.

[littlemissmartypants]

21. Not what I said and I am not outraged.

Sorry you read it that way. But now I know what snark means.

[HangOnKids]

53. That Is Funny! LOL!!!!!

Really, very FUNNY!

[BainsBane]

7. I think cable news coverage contributes to it

Showing those idiotic reporters blowing around in the wind is ridiculous. I lived through four hurricanes in Fla, and I never watched cable news to stay informed. The only decent coverage on storms is local. The national reporters make such idiots out of themselves, it may contribute to trivializing stores.

[malaise]

8. Good point but links to experts should not be compared with

M$Greedia and their quest for ratings.

[kentauros]

11. I've watched a local reporter

get literally blown out of the frame, and the rest still go and stand in water in order to tell people not to stand in water.

Maybe it's different in Florida, but in Houston, they're all far more sensationalized than even the cable networks. I'd say that's where the cable networks learned to do such stupid "reporting" techniques


This graphic is old, and set up for our local media, but you can still use it pretty much anywhere that gets hurricanes:

[BainsBane]

13. I've found that the more serious the storm

the less sensationalism. When I first moved to Fl, a huge hurricane was due to make landfall but ended up turning out to the ocean. A couple of years later, two hurricanes made landfall right on us, and the next year two more. The more hurricanes, the less sensationalism and better the information. Cable is always the first thing to go out, so local news did simulcasts on radio. There was one local station in Palm Beach county that provided excellent local news during storms, so I always listened to them. It was the only way to know where exactly the storm was, if you were in the middle of the eye or if the storm had passed, and the status of restoring electricity and other services after the storm.

[kentauros]

15. Maybe the local media there is just better at reporting real news.

Here, they've been sensationalized for decades. I only watch some of it with hurricanes or tropical storms coming at us and a finger quick for the mute button. All too often, it is exactly like in that humorous bingo card.

[BainsBane]

16. Well, there is a lot of that

but some good info too.

[kentauros]

19. yes, they do report good info.

The problems arise when you have to sift through all that filler and other crap just to get the few minutes of useful things like road closings, and so forth. That's why I tend to go online instead

[BainsBane]

24. When you're without electricity for two weeks

Online is not an option. I think you probably haven't been hit as often in recent years as S Florida has.

[kentauros]

30. No, but Hurricane Ike knocked out my neighborhood for three weeks.

I was lucky as our apartments are connected to the nearby power right of way, but the place was a ghost town. The few that remained had power cords snaking across the roads to other houses. If something like Ike hits here again, I'll probably also evacuate to Austin until the power is back.

Now, we didn't evacuate for Hurricane Alicia in 1983, and so lived without power for a week. Sure, no Internet, but without power we also didn't have access to the news in any form other than hearsay from neighbors. We had to catch up later.

[BainsBane]

34. radio with batteries

was my method. Lots of batteries and a little weather radio with a flashlight I could crank. Hurricanes suck. So glad I'm in MN now.

[kentauros]

42. Have you ever used a solar battery charger?

I've often wondered if those were worth getting for my rechargables...

[BainsBane]

25. plus cable is always the first thing to go out

and I got internet through cable.

[kentauros]

31. I was impressed with my Dish Network system after Ike.

The dish wasn't knocked out of alignment at all! When the power came back on, I could watch all stations, like normal. And my Internet is through a DSL modem over the landline I still have. It never went out

[BainsBane]

36. stockpiles of batteries

Because of problems getting batteries after hurricanes, I stocked up with tons of them. When I was moving back to MN, some family members came down to help me. They wondered why in the world I had so many batteries, but I had them in case another storm hit.

I hope Houston stays safe the rest of hurricane season. I went to UT Austin for grad school and remember it fondly.

[kentauros]

44. Thanks!

You never know with hurricane season, so having a "surplus" of batteries is a good idea. I seem to recall one storm in the last decade that formed out in the Atlantic in December! Either that, or it was late November, which is still damn late. The weather is changing, and some places are getting prepared for it. Others, not so much. I think Florida is better prepared than most of the rest of the states, possibly due to how they can get hit from either side.

My parents actually live out west of Austin in the country, which is where I'd go for an evacuation. Hopefully things have wetted down enough there that they won't have any more wildfires in the foreseeable future.

[malaise]

50. I think you're correct

Local media have way more at stake during weather crises

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. I need to modify this fer wild fires.

[kentauros]

22. That should be interesting :)

I haven't seen news reports for areas like that, as we haven't had them come close enough (yet.) Should be fun!

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. Toothless guy who stays behind

Check.

For example.

[fizzgig]

27. footage of aircraft dropping water on the fire

[nolabear]

26. That's actually pretty funny. And it's DR. Neil Frank to you, Buddy.

[kentauros]

32. You'll have to correct the people at The Houston Press for that goof

They came up with this gem

[obxhead]

48. I watched Al "fall on his face" roker on TV tonight.

Dumb fuck (yes, he was being a DUMB FUCK) standing in water getting blown over crying about the wind.

No shit, get into the building 25 feet to your left, then report to us.

Then again we get this BS. Skip to 0:35 in the video.

[malaise]

51. That's very good

[sheshe2]

43. I'm one of the lucky ones!

We lose our power and I don't have to watch those IDIOTS! I am in Mass. and lost power. I sure missed my computer....news broadcasts NOT!
Shout out to NSTAR! only down 8 hrs. They were prepared!

[BainsBane]

45. 8 hours is fantastic

Good for them. Stay safe.

[nolabear]

9. Amen to that. Second guessing means nothing. Just lend a hand.

[madokie]

10. You all have hurricanes

we have tornadoes. With a tornado one can go below ground level and survive but that option is not there for hurricanes.

[awoke_in_2003]

47. tornado's damage paths...

are pretty narrow. Yes, they are scary as hell, but they do not compare to things like this.

[rightsideout]

12. The wind has been persistently heavy today

In Maryland we've been averaging between 50 to 60 mph winds the entire day with gusts up to 70 mph that have shaken the house. We've been told to expect 60 mph overnight.

Schools have been cancelled for tomorrow. But it should all clear out by Halloween.

Just saw on our local news, a tree in our neighborhood fell between two houses onto some power lines.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

17. Some people feel the need to always add their 2 cents on every subject.

People that downplay disasters are right up there on the "Most Fucking Annoying" list.

[Kurovski]

28. K&R

Yes.

[Floyd_Gondolli]

29. I live in tornado alley

So I get it. Difference is we get tornado outbreaks, floods and wildfires rather than hurricanes. None of them are any fun.

[malaise]

52. I'll take hurricanes over tornadoes

Any day of the week

[Floyd_Gondolli]

54. They're both horrifying

I guess if there is a difference it's that in a tornado you have minutes to seek shelter rather than days.

[OldDem2012]

33. I live in what's called "Dixie Alley"....

...we're close enough to the Gulf Coast to get some of the effects of hurricanes, and we get a lot of tornadoes like the April 27, 2011 outbreak. Twenty years ago we had two severe weather seasons capable of spawning tornadoes, one in the Fall and one in the Spring. Now we seem to be subject to severe weather most of the year.

I'm afraid global warming is here to stay.

[rad51]

49. I live in SE KS. From ages 5-20 we saw 1 twister nearby. The last 10 years

I've had about 3 affect my farm. I'm lucky the house has been spared, but barns, fences, and animals are another story. Things are changing.

[liberal_at_heart]

35. I respect those who evacuate and for those who can't

I respect those who get to where they will be safe and stay there. But I'm sorry some of these yahoos that get out in it and end up on camera just look ridiculous. I hope those of you who are taking it seriously and even those who aren't stay safe.

[Skip Intro]

37. Been through several. One major cat 4.

Hugo.

Didn't leave, rode it out.

Should have left.

Still, I must say few things are as tragic as the faux concern of tv newscasters and pundits and politicians. Sheesh. This isn't about you, you know?

Having said that, I wish everyone in the midst of this storm well. (I wish everyone well, in fact)

[silvershadow]

38. Gusts 40+ here in Indiana...Wondering when the coast moved this far inland. Stay safe!

[ErikJ]

39. Nature bats last.

[DollarBillHines]

41. Bingo!

All of this hand-wringing don't mean a thing...

Because Nature Bats Last.

[femrap]

40. And the same can be

said for all of those in heartland who endure drought, floods, tornadoes, and the incoming high winds/rain/snow from the hurricanes off the Atlantic.

We went for nine days during 100 degree temperatures over the 4th of July of this year with NO ELECTRICITY. So yeah, we know all about the CLIMATE CHANGE. But no one seemed to pay any attention to that.

Once your food prices go astronomical after the first of year will we hear complaints. Buy canned stuff now and prepare. We've treated Mother Nature like crap for too long and she is ready to kick some ass!!!

I heard the NYSE was under water...made me smile. Mother Nature smacks the rich dudes upside the head. Hope it's true.

You're singing to the choir. But it seems like Climate Change only matter when it hits the East Coast....and by the way, get ready for the big EQs on the West Coast....only a matter of time.

I think possibly the Mayans were right....the paradigm is going to shift. No more competition, just cooperation.

We'll see.

[obxhead]

46. I'm on the southern edge of the path.

Louisa VA here reporting in.

We got very lucky with this storm. From my layman estimate of what happened, the storm sped up beating high tides and now has the jet stream forcing dry air in behind the storm.

Here in Louisa we were expected to get 4 to 12 inches of rain depending on who you listened to. We're sitting on 2 inches at this point, verified by 2 personal rain gauges. There might be another 1/2 inch of rain left for us, but I doubt even that.

However, I really think it's far too late to avoid the climate change we've forced. It's a fact of life that we must adapt. Our only hope at this point is to have the social programs that support life during the coming disasters in place.

All I really know is I run out of fingers counting the 100 year storms over the last decade. When will we start calling them 25 year or 10 year storms. We already should.

Thankfully temps are what they are. 10 degrees colder and we would be seeing a 3 week freeze out with 2 to 3 feet of snow in a region (country) that lacks the equipment to handle it.