Hurricane Irene update!!!

To my friends at Daves garden,

Virginia Beach is on the path and we are waiting. Dh said it's another 4 hours but been raining since this AM. Wind is not bad yet I think it is around 30. DH cleaned the lower gutters , brought all umbrella into the garage, placed weight on all the patio furniture and brought other garden stuff that might be carried with the wind. I moved this years collections like the 90+ varieties of hens and chicks. The plumerias as well as the colocasia and alocasia are still in their tiered locations. My potted hosta collections I did not touch because they had survived the other northeaster.

Please pray for all of us who are in Irene's path that the damages will be minimal.

Church was canceled this weekend.

Will update.

Belle

Belle,

I hope you made it through okay. It wasn't bad here in Yorktown. It was much like a nor'easter. The winds really howled overnight, but I think our max gusts were probably 60 or so. We have been without power since noon yesterday, so the generator is getting a workout.

It took its toll on the garden though. 60mph winds and 8+ inches of rain is not good for tomatoes. Oddly, my hot peppers don't seem any worse for the wear.

Jeff

"Please pray for all of us who are in Irene's path that the damages will be minimal."
-----------------------

I certainly do. It's a big storm and I know there will be damage - I hope people will come through it OK.

But with that said, what's the MATTER with this country anymore? Politicians and the news media are hyping this storm and scaring people to death. Mayor Bloomberg in NY ordered 300,000 people evacuated and authorized the police to kick down doors if necessary to get people out of their homes. WalMarts and Home Depots are empty because of panic buying, the NY transit system has been shut down and won't even open for people to get to work tomorrow, some power plants have been shut down and millions are without power.

Lots of folks in NY don't drive and don't have cars - I wonder how many who need to get to a hospital will die because transportation has been shut down?

I read this morning that Gov. Christie in NJ says this storm will cost the economy tens of billions of dollars - but that's not from storm damage, it's from the actions government has taken. I wonder how much food will spoil in all those freezers and markets because power plants were turned off.

It's a big RAINSTORM, people. I don't live there, but I don't like the idea that I don't have enough sense to come in out of the rain, get to an area that's not flooding (duh, uphill?), and protect my family and property - that government needs to do that for me, even to the point of forcing me out of my home.

Right now is supposed to be the height of the storm in NY, and I just looked up the current weather in NYC. "Light rain, 9 mph wind, clearing by 7 p.m." We live near Joplin, MO, which got blown flat three months ago, and we have to hunker down under the workbench in my basement workshop a couple of times every year because of tornadoes. I've got to say I'm sorry folks on the east coast are having a big rainstorm that no doubt will cause damage, but I think there's been a big, BIG overreaction.

Just my $.02 worth, sorry about the rant.

I lucked out here, I guess. Just high winds, a few branches down, some power flickers, and very little rain. Folks east of me, closer to and on the coast have flooded roads, power outages, but not as much devastation as they might've had.

I haven't seen the latest news on up north yet. Could've sworn Irene was gonna reduce to a Cat 1 by the time it got to NY though. Will watch for updates later today.

Belle, hope you fared well.

Shoe

Update from Virginia Beach

Rained all day yesterday and wind up to 30 MPH late PM. Electricity not interrupted at all!! We were ready for the worse but it veered last minute and I think we got as much as 40 mph of wind. No TV, internet and tel. land line from 11 PM till 1200 noon today.

Our Gov as well as our Congressman was on TV late last night and I was very encouraged that there was a lot of concern and care.

We had small branches as well as tons of leaves in the backyard as well as the court but the men cleaned it in no time. Such good neighbors!!! My plants are all okay some planters toppled but that's about it. it must have been all the prayers!!!

I had not had time to watch TV how NY, NJ and New England did.

Belle

I remember when New Orleans was hit and no one except Texans helped That was a big disaster. I am grateful that someone took the trouble to make plans even tho they wer'nt needed.They very well might have been.
Tornados are small in area. Hurricanes are huge storms. I am thankful and proud of our disaster coverage.For any kind of disaster.I am proud of and thankful for the government that cares, National Guard.(Thank You Guys)For the Red Cross, The Salvation Army,and for goodhearted American neighbors who pitch in and help when the need arises.
Vickie

After this, it seems to me that the next time a truly dangerous storm is on the way, people may not protect themselves because they won't know whether it's real or if the hype is to get ratings and votes - again.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20110829_CATEGORY_FEH__So__why_the_big_Irene_blowup_.html

This message was edited Aug 29, 2011 8:13 AM

I would rather be prepared than sorry. It was luck for all of us who did not get flooding etc!! There was certainly a big big coverage so people will take it seriously and mother nature was very kind.We had several evacuation places but our place was not mandatory to vacate. We were prepared!!! I think they did not want another Katrina.

I had visions of throwing a lot of food from the freezer like 7 years ago but luckily our insurance paid some of it.

Belle

After living in South Florida for over 30 years, I've learned to take hurricanes in stride (we called them 'canes in Fla). I 'phoned my son who still lives in Palm Beach County, Fl and he said that apart from heavy rain, everything was fine.

Here in the city Charlotte, NC we had some wind, but nothing else. Not even a drop of rain, which we sorely needed.

I believe the forcasters of this 'cane were concerned that it might come ashore as a cat4 - which is a storm not to be taken lightly. Much better, in my opinion, to be over-prepared than the reverse.

Some cat-one storms can do as much, and sometimes more damage than more powerful storms when they move forward as slowly as Irene did. Which is why there was such a large area that flooded.

I'm glad this storm turned to be less than was feared. I remember what a man that flew ultralights told me once. He said it was much better being on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground. In this case it's better to find out after the event, you were over prepared than find out during the event you were under prepared.

This message was edited Aug 30, 2011 8:55 AM

Doug, I loved your example. Will probably steal it sometime.
Vickie

My 2cents worth: When Houston had its hurricane, be it Mike or Katrina, the so called government got their hands into the action, & closed all roads going out of Houston, except for l main road. Everyone leaving had to take that l road, & they were stranded in the heat, with no water or gas. People ran their cars out of gas because they were stranded on the freeway for l0 hours or more. Some had to sleep alongside the road that night. Some had to get water from houses along the way. What a nightmare. We fortunely knew of a country road that we used to get out & get to Dallas.

Another problem is that a lot of people have pets. One review of the handling of Katrina said that any plan that didn't include the handling of pets was doomed to failure. I know this isn't always the case, but it is many times. I know I wouldn't leave and let my 3 cats and dog fend for themselves. The dog is easy all I would have to is look like I'm leaving and leave the van door open. We could both sleep in the van for a week comfortable but the cats would be a different story. The two boys would be alright I think because they will sleep in the car or van if I leave the windows open but the girl would be another story. Speaking of Cat I think some of these people are just like cats when it comes to change. They would rather die than sleep somewhere else for a week.

I couldn't leave my little dog Chloe behind, either. Several months ago we had a tornado warning. I slipped her leash through the belt loops of my shorts and said: "Baby Girl, if we are going to die, we doing it together!"

[quote="Ozark"]After this, it seems to me that the next time a truly dangerous storm is on the way, people may not protect themselves because they won't know whether it's real or if the hype is to get ratings and votes - again.

Ozark,
You are right. People in my home town of New Orleans did this for years before Hurricane Katrina, knowing that "someday" the big one would hit, but with the attitude that, "well, it's never hit us yet, so we'll be ok."

I heard about Hurricane Katrina around 2:00 a.m. the Sunday night before it hit. Just happened to be watching late night TV, and the news looped around. I stood straight up when I heard a Cat 5 was heading directly for my beloved New Orleans. I had missed the news all week long, so I was stunned. Didn't sleep the rest of the night and, at first light, I called my sister.

Her first words to me were,"Sis, don't worry. We're loading up the cars right now, and the WHOLE family is evacuating the city. We're all coming to Houston!"

Well, I was stunned again. See, this is the sister who adamantly through the years resisted every attempt to convince her to leave when the storms were heading for NOLA. The same sister who stayed in the city with her daughter, and her 1-1/2 year-old- grand baby, when Hurricane Danny threatened within miles of the city, even after City officials declared that anyone caught in the city would be stranded, and on their own, because the Red Cross had promised they would NOT be available for rescue efforts to the city.

And, so, my ENTIRE family of relatives left before that catastrophic storm devastated New Orleans.

I wish that our City Officials had beat on doors and forced more people to leave. I wish that our City officials had provided buses and vehicles to help transport the poorest of our citizens, who depended on the city transit systems to move them on a daily basis. Many stayed because they had no ways to leave. I wish that the sense of urgency that was conveyed to the people of New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and the Carolinas, and which got millions of people panicked enough to leave, would have moved my people from the city...

After my sister had been in town awhile (they stayed from August to November), I asked what made her leave this time? She told me that someone we know had met with some City Officials in a secret disaster meeting. When the meeting was over, a call was placed to my sister. The caller said, "Annie, you gotta leave this time, baby. This is no joke." 'The city has ordered 30,000 body bags."

She hung up and started packing...

I'm glad the city of New York listened to the hype. I wish more of my people had listened, and been helped to leave...

Linda

"I know what it means, to miss New Orleans...."

Well, I sure don't want to minimize the pain and damage caused by Hurricane Irene. Lots of people lost property, there's heavy flooding in places, and far too many people died from various causes associated with the storm.

But, ya know, they're gonna point the news cameras toward something that's washing away and not toward the 99% of the town that's still OK. I don't know how many times now we've seen the film of a river carrying away the SAME covered bridge in Vermont. Gee, folks, it's a RIVER - when there's a big rain, water runs downhill, ya know?

Our oldest daughter lives in CA and every time there's a weather disaster around here we'll get a panicked phone call because the news she gets out there gives the impression that half of Missouri got washed away, or blown away, or something. "ARE YOU OK?" "Uh, yeah. Why?" Then we make the same phone call to her (and get the same response) when we hear California has an earthquake or brush fires!

I'm just saying that news services get their ratings by hyping dire predictions and pointing the cameras at sensational things. When that's done over and over and the people who lived through it know things weren't that bad - then they may not evacuate from some future disaster when they really should.

Bee,
I'd have gone down with Chloe, too! She's just too adorable to leave behind!

I didn't miss on the track of this hurricane...again. Forcasters were saying it was going to Fla....I said no, to my hubby. It was going to the east coast and up. So far I have only missed once on my trackings of hurricanes. Guess it is just built into me.
We lived in Fla for 14 years, and I never missed one then either.The last one in Florida, I told my hubby we need to get out of here ASAP. Gut feeling was , one was fixing to come there. It did 2 weeks later. We were selling our home at that time, so I said leave it, lets get out!
That hurricane hit our house there and took it all out. It is a empty lot now. It's the year they had 4 in a row. Weird that the last bad one thay had in that area was also my name..
I felt really sorry for all the people along the coast. I knew it wasnt going to be really bad, not a Cat 3 or 5....but still....
They do the same thing as others do, head for the roads when it is basically a bit late. Then you are stuck ON the roads, going nowhere. Not good. Florida is basically flat and nowhere to go.
New Orleans, well...when you see a cat 3 or higher coming, it's time to leave. They have had a history all along for hurricanes. people can actually get sandblasted. New Orleans will always have the problem of hurricanes. And I think in the future, they will become worse. There is no way I would live there myself.
People seem to forget hurricane Andrew in 92. It was a cat 5 when the gauges blew out. You never hear much about Andrew. People in Fla. just pick themselves up and go on. What else can you do?
Anyone living in coastal areas need to be prepared always for one. Because, eventually it WILL happen.

I'm glad you still had some of your garden left, and did not get hit hard.
People in natural disasters DO need to have help from time to time from neighbors and friends.
It is what makes us human.
And yes, prayers DO help!

P.S.
I forgot to add...
The winds are not the major problems in a hurricane usually. It is the surge waters that do the most damage in most cases.

yes, I wondered about the animals. Sad. Most people don't stop and consider what will happen to them. My animals will go with me wherever i go.
They showed a bunch of small newborn kittens that were actually floating around. They made it. it was sad for me to see that someone had left them all alone to deal with it.
My animals are family.

I hear you gardenfan. I won't leave mine either. They are all I got. Where is Peel ARK? Ozone is in the northwest Ozarks.