Hurricane coming my way

Tropical storm Katrina is heading directly for us and is forecast to become a Cat 1 or possibly 2 hurricane when it hits tomorrow night. We're prepared so I'm not too worried, and it won't be a strong one wind wise, I've been thru worse lately, but it's moving really slow so they're predicting severe flooding and widespead power outages for who knows how long. So.....this might be a good test for a flashaholic so here's my list /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

In my pocket as always is a 2 stage Fire~Fly 2 and a Photon Freedom, and I've got these flashlights out, loaded and at the ready. (lined up on the counter actually and I won a lot of "nerd points" for that)

Surefire - E2E w/KL1, E2D, M4, 8X w/beamshaper and 6 B90's w/AC/DC charger, G2
Tigerlight - 11" w AC/DC charger
Streamlight - TT3C (main long running light), TT2L, Scorpion, Streamlight Jr. LED
Nuwai - clone of TT2L (it's actually a little better IMHO)
Arc - AAA white and AAA turquoise
LRI - a bunch of Photon 3's in white and various colors and some white Photon 2's
PT - Tec 40
UK - 3 2AAA's
Pelican - 1 2AAA, 1 2AAA headlamp
Eveready - 6V floating halogen lantern, 2AA folding LED lantern
Mag - 6D, 3D, 5C, several 2AA's
Misc - a few 2D's and 4AA's, some nite-ize headbands that accept various small lights for headlamp use.

2 waterproof ammo cans full of fresh batteries of all sizes, 8 each Powerex AA and AAA NiMH's with Maha charger and a fully charged extra car battery for powering a little TV, and recharging phones and batteries.

Anything serious that I missed besides the fact that I don't have enough lanterns /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

I'm hoping you read Diesel Dave's posts last year and this on the subject. He's posted some pretty good infomation and I really hate to say, has become quite the subject matter expert on this preparation!

Fill all your gas tanks up.

Go get $2000 in cash from the bank.

You have a working chain saw?

Hammers/nails/tarps?

Generator for powering fridge/microwave?

If you don't want to buy a generator, you might get a LARGE inverter and run it off your car every few hours. A tank of gas in a car will run a looooong time at idle speed.

Good luck.

Got a little wind and rain going on here too. The Japanese don't name them, only give them numbers (tho I think the US military names them). Today is number 11.

Only thing I really worry about is the front windows, no storm shutters and they whistle like crazy.

-LT

edit: Mawar, how is that a name for a typhoon.

you guys on the coast get hurricanes, we get tornado's in the heartland.

a few years back near OKC, a F5 tornado hatched

Well, I'm taking a direct hit from the hurricane as I type this. The north side of the eye is passing over us now. As far as hurricanes go, this one is pretty weak. Mostly just some moderate wind and rain with occasional strong gusts. Some tornado warnings going out. I've been thru a number of severe ones, including Andrew, so I was prepared. I just felt like talking about flashlights while I waited for Katrina to show up last night /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Lunal tic, it seems like you get a lot of big ones over there.

Stingray,

We do get a few but so far I've been lucky. It's really strange when we get up to 17+ for the season. I guess just calling numbers makes it easier to remember how many there have been in a season. I think last year it was something like 22 and there was one or 2 outside the "season".

I just looked out the window and the river is really full but not as much as I've seen in the past. All the trains are back up and running too I believe.

Good luck with yours.

-LT

Duty expert arriving. Chime me on board.

To exhibit my domestic as well as international blow storm expertise I offer the following.

As a young boy my sister was delivered during a bad hurricane in Galveston, TX. It may have been Carla?

During 91 or 92 in Cherry Point North Carolina my wife had to ride out a pretty strong one with the kids, I was out of town. She rode out another one with me out of town in Pensacola in either 89 or 93, can't remember which. (Every time there was a storm I was on the hurrivac team and had to evacuate a plane. I finally got off that program for the two hurricanes we had in 95) I've ridden out two or three near misses over the past five years and of course got hammered last year. 2 months ago Dennis came close to taking us out and if you bet in Vegas you might think about putting money on Katrina coming here despite what the forecast says.

I was delayed going to Iwakuni, Japan by 5 days due to a storm there in the fall of 1991. We had a mild storm while I was there but nothing too bad.

I have no explanation as to why the storms follow me and I'm no expert at anything other than getting hit wherever I live. I may move to Montana they could use the rain.

...oh man, now that you've really opened up and admitted that you're a "hurricane magnet"...I was gonna' say something about visiting Alaska - but we already have "earthquakes" - "Don't need no stinkin' hurricanes!!" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Skip the rain dances, just call DieselDave. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

-LT

Dave, I know how you feel. I was hit with Donna as a child and remember seeing all our patio furniture fly off into the air and land in a lake a block away. I think I was 6 or 7 yrs old. I thought I was in the wizard of oz or something. I've put the shutters up and down probably 5 times in the last 2 years (no small feat) and 7 or 8 in the last 6. My girlfriend had a house in Milton (near Pensacola) when Ivan hit you. Right after that we had 2 come our way in south Fla and had to wait them out before we could drive up to Milton and check her house, it was pretty bad. I had to go up and cut down all the damaged trees in the back yard (single handedly, no small feat for a city boy from Ft Liquordale)and drag them to the curb and put tarps on the roof etc. We had to drive up with our own gas cans full because of all the other hurricanes happening at the time and no available gas. There was Charley that missed me but aimed right at my brother in Tampa and strengthened overnight from a 1 to a 4 or something, then took a sudden right turn and hit my uncle near Punta Gorda. My brother went and had transparent storm panels installed in his house after that one. My uncle survived ok. My brother in laws parents house was demolished in Orlando.

This little Cat 1, Katrina, is doing a lot more damage than anyone expected. Only 100 mph gusts but 50 yr old oak trees uprooted, several million people without power, 3 dead from trees falling on them, cement bridges destroyed, ruined the MTV award parties on south beach. And it stayed a Cat 1 the whole way over land so far. No weakening. The damage will surprise a lot of people tomorrow at daybreak. Hope it doesn't come your way, it's been a stubborn, tough little hurricane.

And to top it all off, power is out all over the place, and I'm probably one of the most prepared people in the city for outages and we never lost power. Oh well, it's hot and humid as hell outside anyway, so I'm glad to have the A/C.

AC, AC, AC, I loves me some AC especially after a storm.

At only 8 mph forward speed I bet the damage will be huge there in S. FL. even though the storm was small.

I am going to DEFCOM 4 this AM. I am leaving now to top off the fuel in the riding mower and will fill up my (8) 5 gal. gas cans this afternoon. My wife will fill up both vehicles this AM. I don't think Katrina will get this far west but I will not, repeat, will not ever get caught flat footed again.

My new philosophy on fuel and water (as of Dennis): Top off all fuel and stock up on water 72 hours prior if the forecast calls for the storm to come within 300 miles. This is because fuel and bottled water availability could run out 36 hours prior to landfall.

I just thought I'd post this... Rick Case Honda in Davie, FL has 200 or so generators in stock including 40 of the EU2000i generators that are highly praised in this forum. 954-364-3288 is their number. They said they wanted $1070 for them, which seems high to me, but I'm not sure how much these normally go for. Does anyone know where to get them cheaper? I'm in Tampa and have plenty of power for now, but starting to think that I probably should get a generator.

Regarding water & fuel, I didn't see any fuel shortages yesterday in Tampa, but Publix was out of water, while Kash N Karry had more than enough water.

I have a brand new Honda EU2000i (still has 2 year warranty, never had gas or oil added) that I will sell for $859 shipped UPS in the state of Florida. Please send a PM if interested.

Peter

Man....the damage is waaay worse than expected for a Cat1 hurricane. The flooding is terrible, which caused a lot of trees to get knocked down due to water logged roots. I have a lot of problems to deal with now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif At least we are all healthy and uninjured. A number of people died from trees falling on them.

The way I handle the bottled water shortages is by making my own. I bought a bunch of those 5-6 gallon plastic water cans at home depot a few years ago. They look like gas cans only blue instead of red. I fill them up with tap water right before the hurricane, so I don't have to go out and buy water every time a hurricane comes. I also have a few 1 or 2 gallon thermos jugs with taps that I fill from the big cans for easy dispensing.

Steve

[ QUOTE ]
LitFuse said:
I have a brand new Honda EU2000i (still has 2 year warranty, never had gas or oil added) that I will sell for $859 shipped UPS in the state of Florida. Please send a PM if interested.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a steal.

Looking at the 11PM EDT forecast I suggest members living in New Orleans take a look.

I'm not saying my mojo has worn off and the storm won't make an earlier turn to the north and get us but I'm wearing my tin foil hat and keeping a low profile in an attempt to make the storm think I'm out of town.

My Dad likes to call me and say, "Ya turn on the hurricane beacon again? I see one heading your way."

My WAG prediction, based solely on next to nothing puts landfall around Pascagoula, MS which is about 50-70 miles east of the 11PM EDT track, New Orleans. I will also go out on a limb and say the Sat. AM NOAA track will put the storm even further west than New Orleans. I think once it turns back toward the north and gets off this southwestwardly heading it will run north at a heading of about 320 by tomorrow afternoon it will be 340 by Sunday morning and heading about 010 when it makes landfall. My guesses are all based on the super slow forward speed which I believe is moving the track to the west now but will eventually bring the track back east a little. OK, it's now in print. I hope I am wrong and it goes into central Texas as a weak tropical storm that gives them much needed rain.

The lines for gas were large today and most stations are out of gas. I have all my tanks full.

The flood damage down south is amazing. Like one article I saw today said, "You can just about forget the old classification of "Minimal Hurricane". ALL hurricanes cause serious damage.

Hey Dave -- I'm in New Orleans and really sweating this one out. Will finish boarding up the last 4 windows on Saturday and have 2 more 5 gal gas cans to fill, then fill generator and refill that gas can. If direct hit at cat 3 or above, not sure any of this matters as New Orleans cannot survive that kind of punishment. Hopefully for us the actual landfall will be a lot farther west or somewhere to the east or even better would be for this monster to stay far south and go into the Yucatan (not likely but possible).

Don't like wishing this heartache on anybody else BUT, New Orleans is probably the worst area on the coast for a strong hurricane to make direct landfall.

Hopefully I will be back on CPF when the new and improved site comes up, however, if this thing hits close by, there is no telling when or if I will make it back. I will not be evacuating and things could get realy challenging around here. Don't plan on getting up early Saturday as I don't know when I will get restfull sleep again so CPF will likely be down by the time I do finally get up.

Wishing all those in the path of this beast the best of luck.

So long.

Rick

The direct hit on New Orleans concept has been discussed and feared for decades and decades. It is assumed the damage will be catastrophic due to it sitting below sea level. The most amazing part to me is with New Orleans location, jutting out in the gulf, it has never taken a direct hit. The 5AM track today looks like a worse case scenario with the storm forecast to pass just to the west of you and we all know the right side of the storm is worse than the eye. I bet the traffic on I-10 is brutal. Good luck and post when CPF comes back up.

Good luck to all of you back there....

Out here on the West coast, we're drier than a bleached Arizona cowbone.

People always get either way too much rain or waay too little of it.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

Good luck to all those in harm's way. Sit tight and hope you come out of it all right.

I suppose it's too late to make any solid recommendations, but a water purification system would be a really great idea. It sucks to have lots of water and yet nothing to drink. Water purification can also ensure that 'marginal' water becomes 'useable' water, and helps take the pressure off your bottled water supplies.