Ya know, unlike natural disasters like tornadoes & earthquakes,

[spacelady]

hurricanes give you a lot of anticipation time. We can prepare and we can sit here in dread of what is to come. Sometimes even that advance notice is not enough when the storm is so strong. We live just north of Mobile and went through Ivan, thankfully with minimal damage, but the sheer Anticipation is killing me.

[fishnfla]

1. The 3 stages, I call it

1. The pre-storm build up: preparation and war of nerves. Evacuate or not. Not knowing where landfall is
2. The storm itself: hanging on, hoping. Passing time in the dark. (during Frances, I taught the kids how to play poker)
3. The post storm mess. To me, the most dangerous time. The heat, the mosquitos. More shit than you shake a stick at

[spacelady]

2. That is a great analysis, could be helpful to remember in the

chicken with the cut off head phase.


just realized though don't know why, I assure you I meant chicken in the sincere use of the word.

[fishnfla]

3. be prepared is the key

if you are gonna evacuate,give yourself plenty of time. Have plenty of gas and a plan.

In the headless chicken phase, its best to keep busy and only check on the storm's progress every 12 hours or so( more frequently when it gets closer) Dont listen to the fearmongers on the TV, they pump the storm for ratings. Use the NOAA website

[nytemare]

6. Frances took forever to pass

Those rain bands kept coming!

[fishnfla]

8. Yeah, and our kids took me for 11 bucks

Charley caught us out early, with only 9 hours notice, Remember the turn?
Frances had us waiting 2 and 1/2 days to come, and then 36 hours to pass over

The rain from this one will be a problem for Central Florida, as for the gulf states, oh man, I hope it weakens

[nytemare]

9. I had to cut a vacation short to come home to prepare for Frances

And then it slowed down. Charley was gone in 40 minutes.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

4. You can't leave?

That sucks. I'll say a prayer for the coast and send some good vibes.
:hi:
Duckie

[spacelady]

7. Thanks for the support, yes, in theory we could leave, but staying

is the lesser evil in this case. No matter what you decide at this point, it's a crapshoot.

[spacelady]

5. Planning on just hunkering down--have pets & it's just too late now

We live in a great storm ridin' house but it's the oak trees I'm mostly worried about as for damage.