Other Benefits to MC Ownership

I have just finished getting ready for Irene's arrival, scheduled for Saturday. The bike battery tender is a great way to keep the batt on the generator charged up and ready to go. Heidi, Hilda, and Pennsy are all fueled up giving me an additional ~18 gal of siphonable gas to what is available in the gas cans and the '65 Pontiac. Have you ever tried to get gas out of a newer vehicle? Plus, Pennsy gets such great mileage, I can toodle around on her for weeks without having to add fuel.

Sounds like you are prepared. Good Luck!

Storm Prem

Good luck Jim !

Welcome to what we have way too much experience with in Louisiana. Using the MC as a fuel storage is smart and I have done that in the past. As you are probably referring to, newer vehicles have tank systems designed to foil siphoning thefts, and it is very difficult to route a hose into many of them, so car tanks are not always a reliable source of fuel. It is usually easier to find the fuel line at the engine and use the electric lift pumps in most cars to get to that gas.

Here are some suggestions I just sent to friends in North Carolina who have never experienced a major hurricane:

1. The weather will deteriorate rapidly and heavy rain and street flooding will occur quickly without any warning at times. If you are in a coastal flood zone you need to get inland immediately or you can become trapped by the storm surge. Surge comes onshore very rapidly and surprises many people.

2. Based on the projected path, everyone should expect high winds and occasional unexpected extreme winds from the northeast, then clocking from the north as the storm center is abeam (90 degrees or due east in this case) , then as it moves north, it will clock over from the northwest.

3. All loose objects, garbage cans, pot plants, hanging baskets, lawn furniture, bird feeders, etc. should be tied down on the ground or brought close to or inside the house or buildings. Be sure to remember to remove lawn umbrellas from picnic tables outside. If you have wood fences and have time to do it, brace them on the south side to avoid blowdown that will occur due to wind loading over an extended time.

4. Plan on loss of power for at least 4 days and get batteries for radios, lamps etc. to cover that. Food should be able to be used without refrigeration or cooking, so ice chests are probably a very good idea. Bottled water is appropriate as it is not uncommon for trees falling over to break water lines all over the place. ATM Machines do not work without power and likewise credit card readers. Get some cash. Fill your vehicles with gas in case you need to go inland at some point after the storm for groceries, gas, air conditioned rooms etc.

5. Pay particular attention to the location of trees close to the northeast and north sides of the houses. The hot weather and dry conditions of this summer will cause a lot of trees to be blown down because they are stressed and the ground cannot hold them up. If the house is in the fall radius of a tree stay away from those rooms during the high winds. Considering the damage that we took around Baton Rouge with the same storm setup a couple of years ago, I would say that power outages of up to a week or more can be expected from the damage to the power grid that will occur, so plan food, water and ice chests accordingly.


6. Anyone with a generator should be careful to not run it inside a closed space attached to the home to avoid dying. We had at least 15 reported deaths from improper generator use last hurricane we had.

7. For those with a small generator of at least 2500 watts, a small window air conditioner is a godsend, because it will be very hot and humid after the storm passes, and it is miserable without one. That is why I invested in a whole house natural gas system after the last storm; a week without air here is horrible when it is 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity.

Good luck to everybody, and stay safe.

Doug,

Thanks for the tips reminders. Living right on the Chesapeake Bay, we get these storms on occasion, but not with the expected impact of Irene. Isabelle crippled this area several years ago and taught a lot of the transplanted locals a lesson. I was 1 of only 2 with a generator on my street which I purchased not due to summer storms but due to an ice storm a couple of years previously when we lost power for 4 days. We ended up being the local coffee house. We will see how many come out tomorrow.

In addition to the carbon monoxide issue, during Isabelle there were deaths resulting from house fires where folks attempted to refuel their generators while running and close to the house. A little gas splashing, hitting the muffler ...

Off to make final preps.

Darwin needs to work

Every time I see a laundry list of "things to do", I wonder what some of you have against natural selection.

ka5ysy said:

Good luck to everybody, and stay safe.

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you forgot the part about putting a big X on your picture window with masking tape.

true story: my family emigrated to the US from Germany in the 30s, being on the wrong side of the politics. They were sponsored into the US by Baron von Collier, of Collier County in Florida, which is essentially the Everglades. My grandfather was the city manager of Everglades City (today still a wide spot in the road).

That year, the storm of the century ran right over Everglades City, and that made a big impression on my dad, who was 4 years old at the time.

Fast forward 30+ years and Hurricane Donna. We lived in Hollywood, just bought a brand new house. To prepare for the storm, my dad went and bought a bunch of 3/4" plywood and made a whole system of shutters for the house. They could be easily installed, removed and stored in the garage.

The neighbors, as they used masking tape to make big X's in their windows asked my dad "don't you think you're going a little overboard here?"

Two days later, as everyone was picking up the glass and sweeping the water out of their houses, my dad and i took off the shutters and put them into the garage.

Moral of story: don't ever take hurricanes lightly.

ian

JDOCKERY132445 said:

Every time I see a laundry list of "things to do", I wonder what some of you have against natural selection.

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If she was running about 80-90 miles to the west, you might be able to tell us.

Ian, good story about your dad.

The "X's" made with masking tape does only one thing: putting glue on the windows that will have to be removed with solvent if they are still intact after the blow. Masking tape has absolutely no structural strength to avoid a glass blowout.


As far a Darwinism, hopefully everyone will take heed and stay safe. I have, over the years, done way too many recoveries from these things that were absolutely unnecessary deaths.

ka5ysy said:

Ian, good story about your dad.

The "X's" made with masking tape does only one thing: putting glue on the windows that will have to be removed with solvent if they are still intact after the blow. Masking tape has absolutely no structural strength to avoid a glass blowout.

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oh, ha... i thought they were to keep the broken pieces of glass together after a coconut or other very solid object goes flying through them.

Yorktown

Jim Rogers said:

If she was running about 80-90 miles to the west, you might be able to tell us.

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It seems that Youktown, VA is set to receive the same weather we are having. does this mean you are evacuating?

I think you should go down to the Pier at the Golden Sands, sit at the Tiki Bar and take some video for us. You may have to serve yourself.

Jerry,
Becky and I finished all the prep at her place yesterday of which the most significant was putting the boat on high ground and testing the generator.
Today we pulled the crab pots off the dock, made a nice crab salad for lunch with a good white wine and took a nap. Hope you and Barbie are having a good party up there.
At the moment all we've seen are a few rains bands only 1 of which had enough to interfere with satellite TV. I'm betting we won't get more the 50ish here and probably not enough water to even endanger the dock. Looks like a 2 AM or so peak for us but not near what we've seen in a few of the past ones re intensity.

For those not in NC or some other place like the Gulf Coast where these aren't rare- locals rarely get very excited about anything that isn't a high end Cat3 escept very close to the ocean which doesn't mean some folks originally from elsewhere haven't put a house where even a modest breeze could blow surf into it. Our biggest issues are always flooding due to flat ground and that requires a storm hang over our heads ( or upstream from us) for a long time. This one isn't going to do that. Still it could be a nasty Sat for our neighbors on the more northern beaches and a mess to clean up- but the folks well north of NC with no experience will be the ones getting the big shock if they get anything over 50 mph driving the rain- few of them have ever seen the wind drive rain through the cracks in a brick wall or had their chimney act like a pipe organ, for example.

Our friend from LA noted what is typically the most annoying to many of us- no A/C for a while in very hot/humid air unless you've got your own means to power it.

No amount of govt or press overhype will protect the idiots from themselves and this storm is most assuredly overhyped. As a professional biologist I know all too well nature won't be denied a few prizes but none of my friends is stupid enough to be one of them. Listening to talking heads decry those who aren't evacuating but its for sure these same heads won't be apologzing for being panic mongers tomorrow. 1 idiot broadcasting to CNN is hyping what barely quailifies as a moderate rain while he's on I 40 driving toward the beaches of Wilmington

Friends in Savannah and Charleston reporting this is very modest as it goes past a few miles out. Only 1/2" rain in Savannah.

JDOCKERY132445 said:

It seems that Youktown, VA is set to receive the same weather we are having. does this mean you are evacuating?

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Not yet. I am about a mile from the flood affected area even for a Cat 4 (13 to 18 ft storm serge) and about a mile and a half from the flood zone for a Cat 2 (6 to 8 ft), my wife is a still working as a Deputy Sheriff and will have to work, and they are asking those not in flood zones to stay put to ease the traffic congestion for those that have been ordered out. I still have contacts in the Sheriff's Office (I spent 10 yrs as a road Deputy (regular cop) and I have the tools and knowledge to provide citizen assistance to the Office if needed and they are ready to call if necessary. And, I have taken the necessary precautions, many many of the items listed in Doug's posting, to prepare. But, if I lived in Poquoson, Sandbridge, some of the lower areas of Hampton, or the OBX, I would have already been gone.

Party time

We started with the party this afternoon. We took the truck down to the rocks at Ft. Fisher to watch the big waves crash in; then down to the end of Highway 421 to see how the river was looking.

So far we are good here. I am standing watch on all the houses whose owners decided to spend the night in a motel in Wilmington.

We just finished dinner; cubed steak, gravy, potato pancakes, green beans, homemade break and strawberry shortcake.

The lights have flickered a few times; but no outages yet.

I suspect we will lose power around midnight; but we are prepared for that too.

Preparation is the key.

Wind gusts around 50mph.

I am off to have another scotch. i will call you in the morning Paul. Hope you guys are having as much fun as we are.

Jerry,
First high tide here a few hours ago was only 18" above normal with no wind to speak of driving it up the intercoastal. I think the high tide just before this passes will actually be lower but that's a bit of a tricky guess on the inside.
We've seen gusts in the upper 30s as of 9 PM and am still not expecting anything over 50. As I'm sure you know, Wilmington weather radar still has the center of this storm too far offshore to register and the rain bands are moderate and evenly spaced without the super heavy stuff that contributes to short term floods. At least in southern NC this has no chance of putting enough water down to be a serious problem, now or later. I've done rides in worse weather.

We had a pork roast, some rosemary garlic mashed potatoes and a nice pinot for dinner and watched a movie. No power outages and no rain even enough to block the satellite TV. Working on some fresh peaches in cream for dessert as I type this. Hope you guys are continuing to enjoy the evening.

What is being lost on the jokers at CNN is that this storm has no hard center, well defined and is rapidly losing anything resembling real punch here. Be interesting to see if it pushes much water further north but I suspect the dire forecasts for NY will prove as overblown as for here. The center is moving a bit east and will hit land at least 30 miles further north than guessed a while ago- probably north of Okracoke and not down below Morehead.
Edit- finally at 9:30 CNN found a professor smart enough to inform them this storm is moving too slowly to be really big up by NY but will still push some water into the corners there. Last time I got a seriuos update they'd pulled it down to about half the surge expected a day ago- eg about 6 ft.

Power is back

I was close on my prediction on [power loss; it went out at 2AM, but was back at 8AM.

Minimal damage and I still have lots of beer left.

The most dangerous thing about the "weather heads" is that when there is a REAL threat, no one will listen.

Already two deaths here. Both from falling trees - one a 10 yo who was crushed as it came through the roof of the house, one man hit by falling tree as he was out caring for his animals. Lot of house damage, trees down, and flooding, boat damage, ~400K without power. Seems like most of the folks around here did listen or it might be worse. We still have 6 to 8 hrs to go. Keep on talking 'weather heads'.

I park my bike on an old table type motorcycle lift Grazia, I believe. I keep debating whether having the lift up or down would be best. About 40 some inches up.

I figure up since if flooding occurs I might stay above it. If the garage gets destroyed and the lift falls over it wouldn't add much to the carnage.

any other thoughts?