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Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

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08/26/2009 – NOAA just upgraded the latest depression in the Atlantic to Tropical Storm Danny. This storm looks like it will bother a few more people as it is forecast to brush the coasts of NC, CT, RI, MA, NH & ME this weekend before making landfall in the Canadian Mairtimes.

So Nova Scotia gets to have a replay of “last” Sunday, “this” Sunday, except instead of brushing the coast, it’s forecast to come in the Bay of Fundy which puts Truro on the “windy” side.

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08/24/2009 – We just received a lot of wind and rain but not much damage in our area.

****something we failed to check before the storm****

We didn’t check the UPS’s – 3 failed to function proper.
One took out the phone system & it had to be reprogrammed before we had phones this morning. The other 2 were non-critical systems which just prevented backups to the GIS & AutoCAD servers.

Still lots of waves at Peggy’s Cove 🙂

http://www.peggyscovewebcam.ca/live/
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08/23/2009 – Noon Sunday….

It’s here….vertical rain and all.
Looks like it will touch Halifax this afternoon (60 miles from Truro)

For those interested in seeing some wave action, below is a link to Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse just outside Halifax. Set the refresh rate for 2s. The sites been coming and going, they’ve been getting some lightening strikes so they may have power issues.

http://www.peggyscovewebcam.ca/live/

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08/21/2009 – The US & Canadian Hurricane centers just put us under a Tropical Storm Warning & Hurricane Watch so I guess we’re not going to avoid this one.

The plan is to leave the servers up while we still have power. The remote sites (water treatment plants, etc) are “on their own” unless major damage happens at one of them, they all have generators to keep the systems running but we’ll lose data if we shut down our servers at the courthouse (the municipality’s office).

Two of us are within walking distance to the office (actually, that’s my “safe place” so I may be there anyway).

They are forecasting a storm surge at high tide. We’re at the end of the Bay of Fundy with the highest tides in the world & the highest tides of the year occur tomorrow during the surge…about 3″ of rain should be down by then with another 3″ possible after (can you spell disaster?).Flooding “shouldn’t” be an issue at the office but it is for me at home…I have a walking route that can keep me on “high ground” and the other person walks “from” high ground….just much further….we’re it for the IT dept. as the Network Admin is too far out of town, she can connect remotely if we have power.

The UPS is good for about 4 hours but no A/C power backup….our current temperature is 91.3 and a “feel like” of 112.6….tomorrow is supposed to be a little cooler.

Any suggestions from the people in the Southern US? (thanks Nick & jck, I read yours & it was helpful…do you have anything to add?).

And yes Sonja, my camera batteries are charged…I’ll get some before & afters….maybe even the TR flag flying “during”.

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08/20/2009 – Well the first “bad boy” of the season is planning to pay Nova Scotia a visit on Sunday, his name is Bill (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/)….right now they say the “best case” is winds of about 75 mph & 4 inches of rain….we won’t talk about the “worst case” right now, but it’s winds about 140 mph (I could race Scummy on his bike with a skateboard & a sail 😀 ) and a lot of damage.

So we do the normal things at home….have 3 20lb tanks of propane filled, lots of water, food, cash, etc.

At work, we make sure we get a full backup & put the tapes in the vault at the bank….we’ll shut down “non-critical” systems Friday before leaving work….everyone will have a fully charged cell phone. We have a disaster recovery plan that is up-to-date & we follow it.

What does everyone else do to prepare when you “know” a disaster is most likely going to happen?

Topic

I’m

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

digging a root cellar.

Purple started to dig a hole….now she says

In reply to I’m

she’s either going to my mother’s or my sister’s….doesn’t trust this place….I’ll have to be here to help bring the county back up(if needed).

you’re right

In reply to Purple started to dig a hole….now she says

i’m outta dodge darnit! might even consider going to Deb’s….

Purple just asked me to add….

In reply to you’re right

“let me edit that….I’m the F#@K outta Dodge” 🙂

She already logged out of her computer & I’m still in…..:)

Yeah, she’s pretty worked up about it….when Juan came through a few years ago it scared her pretty bad (me too)….we learned that you don’t mess around when they issue a hurricane warning.

Yeah

In reply to Purple just asked me to add….

Kinda like Joe’s 500-mile hike through the Rockies in another thread.

Screw the digital. Pay attention to analog.

I think Purple is one up on you.

wind storms

In reply to Purple just asked me to add….

…just plain scare me…over the course of the last 5 yrs we’ve had some bad ones…living in a trailer makes me nervous when they come through…wind can be so unpredictable…we had a bad one over the winter, it may as well have been a winter hurricane the wind was so fierce and it pulled the ice of the roof (didn’t hurt the roof grant you, but it sure was loud), downed power lines, it was just plain scary. Hurricane Juan shook everything and they’re predicting the winds from this storm to possible be stronger, it also tore the siding off a couple of the homes here and one place actually lost part of their roof…shudder…I’m getting outta here, going somewhere with stronger walls and a bit away from the brook at the end of the road (it flows to a river which flows out to the Bay of Fundy and the tide can push the water up that far)…so…that’s my story and I’m sticking to it

Wind storms

In reply to wind storms

get to me, too. I have two giant oaks in the front, either of which could take out the entire house if it came down ‘just right’. I get a yard full of kindling with every windstorm (accentuate the positive…).

On an even brighter note, at least one of them could take out the yard nazi’s house if it came down ‘just righter’. :^0

Just because our south facing 11′ X 5′ front window

In reply to wind storms

bows in about 3″ with a 50 mph gust you’d think she had something to worry about with a steady wind over 100 😀

I don’t care for it when it’s dark…you can’t see what’s flying through the air.

edited to correct the size….the window is not 11′ X 4′

what kind of roots

In reply to I’m

are you planting?

Not planting…

In reply to what kind of roots

< rolls eyes >
Root cellars are for storing foods, roots, jellies, canned goods, smoked meats…

http://www.hobbyfarms.com/food-and-kitchen/root-cellars-14908.aspx

Experience tells me they’re also great tornado shelters.

You can always put some

In reply to Not planting…

“roots” in the cellar….just in case they’re needed for a “stormy” day 😉

Hmmm — unless I decide to

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

change into 4th gear :^0
Well, for that race, I think I could stay in 3rd

Well actually…..

In reply to Hmmm — unless I decide to

Bill’s being predicted between a Cat 3 & a Cat 4….don’t know how that relates to the gears on your bike….but I do know there is no such thing as a Cat 6 😀 I think you have one of them on the bike 🙂

What do I do?

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

I dont pay attention until it hits. Then I dont gotta think about planning. However, there usually is no warning for an earthquake anyway.

Actually, I keep water and dried food in an emergency container. I have enough items to create emergency shelter when needed (outside, and in the garage). Everything I have in a power tool, I also have in a (ughh) manual tool. I have easy access to my firearms (1 is loaded) (unless the house collapses), and flashlights/lanters/blankets, etc..

Well see…I was thinking about you people out west too

In reply to What do I do?

I know there’s no warning for earthquakes….but geez….CA & BC get bad a$$ fires…..you know ahead of time when they are coming.

yeah, but there are other routes to/from

In reply to Well see…I was thinking about you people out west too

the bay area when a big fire hits.
Right now there are a few (or last I checked), hasnt slowed too many down.

Good point….we have nowhere to run….

In reply to yeah, but there are other routes to/from

The storm is about 400 miles wide…NS is about 100…..Boxy had the idea….dig a hole.

Nyah-nyah, missed us!

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

The coastal towns recommended staying out of the water because of possible rip currents, but that and the usual erosion will be our only effects.

I used to live closer to the coast, and used to be in the National Guard. Both caused me to pay close attention because of the potential personal damage and the possibility of civil duties. Now that I’m out of the Guard and living further inland, I still pay attention but it’s with less urgency. Most of my interest now centers on the possibility of impact to Wilmington, NC, where my parents live (and flee from to my house).

Yeah, but you get them far more often than us…

In reply to Nyah-nyah, missed us!

So, back to my question….I think we all know what to do from a “personal” standpoint…food, water, all that stuff….but what about at work? With something like a hurricane you have a number of days to prepare. I guess my problem is that too often we just watch the projected path & hope it misses us & we don’t really do much until the last minute or sometimes even during or after the fact.

This time it looks like it will most likely hit us (or we’ll at least feel the effects) and I expect the power to be out for awhile. In the past, we’ve always waited for the power to go out, and stay out for a couple hours, before downing the servers. The A/C in the server room goes out with the power so with the temperatures we’ve been getting lately (80’s & high humidity) we wouldn’t have much time before things overheat.

You’re down south & deal with this on a yearly basis I would think. What do you do at work to prepare when you know you’ll get hit?

Before Hugo (20 years ago next month)

In reply to Yeah, but you get them far more often than us…

We shut everything down in advance. Waiting until the power goes out requires hanging around, and I like to boogie as soon as the evacuation orders come out.

We shrink-wrapped a couple of DEC minis before Hugo. Shut ’em down, disconnected everything, used a fork lift to put each on a pallet, wrapped them in plastic, and stuck them up on a warehouse rack three feet off the floor. Maintenance shut down the power before leaving the building, twenty-four hours before estimated landfall.

It was four days before anyone could get back in the building, another before the plant manager brought in a recovery crew, and about two weeks before we resumed normal manufacturing operations.

It’s hard to believe Hugo was 20 yrs ago…

In reply to Before Hugo (20 years ago next month)

It sure doesn’t seem like it….that one totally missed us, it was too far inland by the time it was up here….one of the few to reach Ontario.

Hugo was a cat 4 or 5 when it made landfall in SC…I don’t think Nova Scotia’s infrastructure would survive that….when Juan hit us in 2003 as a borderline cat 1-2 we were without power for a week (some places 3 weeks)& the roads weren’t totally cleared for a couple weeks. We’re just not prepared for bad storms here….we’re too used to them being downgraded to a tropical storm or depression by the time they’re up here, thus the reason nobody up here really does anything until after the fact….sure, around home I’ll put the lawn chairs away & tuck anything loose that may blow around under the deck or something…maybe pick some of the tomatoes so the plants aren’t too heavy & snap off, but at work we probably won’t do much at all. What you did during Hugo was the proper thing to do in my opinion but you guys have experience with large storms….I think people up here would just stand there with a dumb look on their face not knowing what to do with a cat 5 sitting on their doorstep. I think the same could be said for most of the Northeastern states also.

Since I’m “only” a contractor,

In reply to Yeah, but you get them far more often than us…

disaster prep at my stores is not really my responsibility. I do make sure that my van is fully stocked and try to get some excess in case it’s needed.

Last year, when Hanna went through Myrtle Beach, I called my stores a couple of days before to make sure they were prepared. All were, they are very experienced at this and had done what they could. Their corporate made the decision to shut down the registers and kill power to the checkstands, but to leave the the servers and controllers up. Using the risk of flooding from storm surge, I convinced my supervisor and manager to stage 10 registers complete with peripherals (enough for a store!) in Atlanta.

Then, of course, Hanna weakened to strong tropical storm; none of my stores sustained any damage. Now I’m going to have a helluva time convincing my boss that we need to do this the next time too.

And that is the problem…crying wolf too often

In reply to Since I’m “only” a contractor,

leads people to not pay attention…and I think that is the biggest problem here in Nova Scotia.

Every year we get the “tail end” of hurricanes and they’re really nothing more than a rain storm with a little wind (30-40 mph)….so when people here have a warning of a hurricane, it’s like it registers as a heavy rainfall warning. I was guilty of this up until a few years ago when I rode out a hurricane, as light as it was being a cat 2….well, I now get it….I pay attention now….but the people here that didn’t experience it still don’t seem to get it.

Then, getting warning after warning and having the storms constantly change course causes people to become complacent….they just stop listening. In your situation, if you didn’t suggest having enough registers to bring 1 store back up & something happened….well, then it would be your a$$….at least by suggesting it you’re CYA but it doesn’t change the fact that YOU will be responsible to get the store back up though….sometimes you just can’t win. 🙂

What I do

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

Run like hell!!! :^0

I live about 1.5 miles line of sight from the Gulf of Mexico. So if a hurricane is within 24-36 hours of landfall of me, I am out of the state.

Board up windows, fill the Kia with stuff I can’t replace, cover bookshelves and electronics with water-proof coverings (in case the roof leaks), etc.

Then, I head to GA or farther north out of danger.

No use staying in the line of winds that can pick you up and slam you into things…or worse…slam things into you…like cars.

“Run like hell!!!”…

In reply to What I do

That’s my wife’s thoughts also…But I don’t think we’ll get it very bad…it’s very rare for us to have over 100 mph wind here…plus, by the time hurricanes get this far north, they’re moving along pretty fast…they only last a couple hours.

Truro’s not on the coast so we get a little break from storms as long as they don’t come up the Bay of Fundy, then it’s like putting us at the end of a funnel with a big bullseye on the town….when we get a storm surge up the bay a good portion of Truro gets flooded….flooding is something we do know how to handle :D….it happens 2 or 3 times a year…usually in the spring.

storm stuff

In reply to “Run like hell!!!”…

Well, I live on the highest point within half a mile, so if the Cat 5 pushes a surge high enough, I’m the island in my neighborhood. lol

I remember when Charlie hit south Florida. It was a cat 2 trucking along. All the sudden, it slows down and starts creeping north-northwest at 4, and blows up almost to a cat 5. It was predicted to be headed right for my house.

Then all the sudden, it hung a right and went straight into Port Charlotte. It blew a canal right through Captiva Island. Insane.

Hopefully it stays away from everyone. I know someone from Bermuda, and I hope her family is safe.

The latest track puts it between Bermuda & NC

In reply to storm stuff

and staying out to sea until late Sunday when it will brush the tip of NS as a cat 1, if that holds true, then it’ll be just dealing with all the rain and local flooding with a few branches down. They were moving it away from us Wed & Thur but seem to be moving it back west today….that could be bad as it’d probably still be a cat 3 when it’s at the other end of the province…if it goes too far west, it’ll end up in the Bay of Fundy….that’d make me a little cranky as I’d have to do like you & pack up & get outta here ASAP.

Hope it doesn’t

In reply to The latest track puts it between Bermuda & NC

come up at ya.

Of course, one thing I’d point out being in FL and having learned a lot about tropical systems since living here.

The ocean temps are the highest in the 130 years or so of recording ocean temp history.

Tropical systems feed on the heat and water vapor from warm oceans.

I wouldn’t necessarily count on Bill going down to a cat 1 by the time it gets up there. With the rise in overall sea temps, I think the degradation line for cyclones is going to move more toward the appropriate pole for the hemisphere.

But, I hope for everyone’s sake it just sails right up into the North Atlantic and breaks up.

We’re also at what they call a “spring tide”….

In reply to Hope it doesn’t

It has nothing to do with Spring…it’s when you get the highest tides of the year, so the whole Eastern Seaboard well feel the effect of the storm surge, there’ll be a lot of coastal flooding….we’re getting a lot of warnings about staying away from the coast already….good for the surfers though 🙂

As for the water temperatures, yes, I saw that they’ve been running high this year….that’s another problem if it gets into the Bay of Fundy…very warm waters in there.

you’re right “buddy”

In reply to “Run like hell!!!”…

I’m outta here…think I’ve said that before though…maybe a couple times…besides, when I start seeing that front window bow in, I’m at the other end of the trailer in a hurry…I’m just gonna camp out in YOUR office with my cooler, air mattress, sleeping bags, a couple of Missy’s important things (and our little miss with teddy of course) and be done with…I’ll assess the damage when it’s all said and done…provided I can get over the river bridge and under the train bridge…

I’ve never understood ‘Hurricane parties’

In reply to What I do

When I was in the Guard, we had a name for people who held hurricane parties in evacuated areas. We called them ‘corpses’.

“Good afternoon sir. The governor has ordered a mandatory evacuation of Hilton Head Island because of the approaching hurricane.”
“You tell the governor I ain’t going nowhere!”
“No problem, sir. If you’ll just give us your name and the phone number for your next of kin, we’ll go on to the next house. Oh, and the power company is going to turn off electricity to the island at midnight.”

I hear the Louisiana NatGuard told people to write their names and contact info on their forearms in magic marker, since the bodies might not be found anywhere near the house.

I suspect you’ve been through a couple of these…

In reply to I’ve never understood ‘Hurricane parties’

any advice?

If you’re still on line

In reply to I suspect you’ve been through a couple of these…

Not much more than what’s already been offered.

When I was in the Army we used to keep computers cool by placing damp towels over them. Obviously you don’t want anything that’s dripping water, but the evaporative effect has some value.

Crank the A/C up full blast now, and drive the temperature down as far as you can before you lose power. Electricity isn’t going to be the problem; you’ll run out of ‘cold’ long before you lose juice.

Yeah…but with the temperatures we have right now

In reply to If you’re still on line

once power is gone we’d lose the cold to the servers in half an hour or less(about enough time for me to walk there & shut them down).

I think I have everything addressed….we should be good for power until noon or so tomorrow….if you think of something, send me a message….we’ve only done this a couple times in the past…you’d have more experience with it.

Good thing you put “don’t reply”…lol

In reply to If you’re still on line

Yeah, we’re okay so long as it doesn’t decide to shift about 100 miles to the west…that would put it in the Bay….worst scenario…I don’t even want to consider that…we’d get the wind too!

Right now it’s the rain….but the rivers are low…that’s good also.

We survived three days without power

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

During the great blackout of 2003.

We have a BBQ and a camping stove that run on propane. I always have one full 20lb tank and one partial (in use at the BBQ)

I know enough to insulate my freezer with sleeping bags so it will last longer.

I always have a pantry full of food that can be quickly heated, and some that needs no heat at all.

Thanks to TR, I have a cell charger that works on AA batteries, and thats one thing that failed last time.

We go camping often for 2 and 3 days at sites without elctricity, so we are used to the drill. We have lots of flashlights and candles.

Last night we used them, as we lost power. A tornado touched down about 10 miles away.

James

I saw the reports of tornados in Ontario on the news…

In reply to We survived three days without power

you don’t get much warning for them….you might be able to keep an eye out for them when the weather becomes favorable for their development but that’s about it…they can do serious damage!

We’ve had a couple spells of over a week without power (once in the winter…brrrr) so we’re pretty good there too…I have 3 20lb tanks of propane I rotate so I always a 2 full plus whatever is in the 3rd.

We used to do a lot of camping also, so we have all the cooking equipment etc also. I got one of those “crank” LED flashlights as a gift last year, it has an output to charge a cell phone….I thought that was neat…I have a cable to fit my phone but haven’t tried it yet.

So, are the tornados still kicking around again today there? They make me nervous…we don’t get them here much…maybe an F1 every couple years in all of NS….never been one in Truro that I can remember.

2004 here in FL

In reply to We survived three days without power

I remember when Charlie, Frances, and Jeanne all marched through Florida that year.

People in parts of central Florida were without power for 17-20 days. The power companies contracted crews from 7 other states to come down and get things back on as fast as they could.

That was a scary year.

I am the same way, though. I have 3 cases of bottled water at all times.

I keep a spare fridge in the garage with 2 litre bottles filled with water and frozen as icepacks/potential drinking water.

I keep batteries and canned foods that don’t spoil at all times.

The only thing I have to get before a hurricane is cash. And, I have 6 ATMs within a 5 minute walk of my house.

The Ice storm of 1998

In reply to 2004 here in FL

Kinda the worst case scenario for many. It was three icy downpours in a short period. Some people were out of power for more than three weeks.

Toronto escaped the hard stuff, but Montreal and Ottawa got hit hard.

They actually used rail locomotives as generators at some places. Many of the big electrical transmission towers were destroyed.

My father had retired about 5 years earlier, from a 35 year career as a lineman, he was tempted to go east and help.

The big hazard after the ice itself was fire. People depended on woodburning stoves, there were chimney fires, and some blockages causing some deaths from carbon monoxide. Firetrucks had to move slowly and in many cases there was no water pressure.

When I got a job a few months later it was clear a lot of Y2K scenarios were as a result of the effects of the ice storm. People learned how to cope with extended loss of power, and even businesses.

James

Yeah I remember that

In reply to The Ice storm of 1998

I even saw a documentary on it.

My friend lives in Ottawa and works for the Canadian government, and he told me stories about it.

Of course, I remember being in Minnesota as a kid with 12 foot snow drifts against the building and my dad digging a tunnel down to get to the street. Or, going to Des Moines Iowa and seeing the snow plow/frontloader piles on street corners 2-3 stories tall.

I can’t imagine living that far north. There’s enough issues living down here and getting 2-5 storms. Living through months of continual cold below -10C would kill me I think.

Unless I got me an Inuit woman! :^0

It was the year before that we got pounded

In reply to 2004 here in FL

It all started March 31, 2003….we had this massive rain system that moved in & melted all the snow….then the ice started to jam in the rivers…what a mess! You’d really have to see it to believe it. Below’s a link to a picture of the Tim Horton’s about 300 yards from here.
http://www.novaweather.net/Flood_2003/Flood_Truro1.jpg

Then along came hurricane Juan in September….because of all the flooding a couple months before, the trees didn’t have a chance to get solid rooting again…there were giant elm trees down all over town…it was another mess.

Then some say a nor’easter we had actually started the 2004 hurricane season you mentioned. In February, we had a blizzard that was just crazy…it dumped 3′ of snow in a day and wind gusts around 95 mph….there were 20′ drifts everywhere….they brought in these big snowblowers they use up north to clear the roads. People dubbed it “White Juan” because it really was like a hurricane in the winter.

That was a bad year….I don’t want to do that again.

I can imagine

In reply to It was the year before that we got pounded

I remember when I was helping my father finish moving to his last assignment with the US government. It was 1993, and we were racing to beat this blizzard that had dumped several feet of snow and ice across N. California, Utah, Colorado and Kansas. We got him to Missouri, then started home and got tired about 3:30am. We stopped in Springfield, Missouri for the night. Went to bed about 4am. Woke up about 8am, and there was 4 inches of ice and 3 inches of snow already and it was still falling.

We got onto I-44 heading west, and there were tons of cars and haulers all in the ditches. We were doing 25mph all the way to the west side of Joplin before it cleared and we could do 60mph.

I never wanna do a blizzard again. Well, unless I can get snowed in with a nice, pretty woman and a few cases of select drinks and firewood for a fireplace.

And, a guitar and piano. lol

Power’s not a problem

In reply to 2004 here in FL

You can always get a generator. The problem with the power being out is it makes it impossible for the water supply system to function. No filters, no pumps, etc.

You can have a generator on stand-by in the garage for years, and siphon gas out of the car if you get desperate. You can only store so much water, and you really don’t want to drink it after its been in storage for more than a year.

Fill the bathtub

In reply to Power’s not a problem

Our water supplies have backup generators intended to support the system for an hour or so. If we think its going to be a long one we fill up the bathtub.

I’ve thought about getting a rainbarrel hooked up to the downspouts, that should be able to hold a significant amount.

We would drink the bottled water first, using the bathtub or rainbarrel water for flushing toilets(if its yellow…), washing etc. If we get desparate we can filter the rainbarrel through the Brita.

James

Local university had a couple of fountains.

In reply to Fill the bathtub

Like you said, I wouldn’t drink it but it would flush the john and rinse out our clothes.

I’d boil it first

In reply to Fill the bathtub

to kill all parasites, bacteria etc before I’d filter it.

Never can be too safe, well unless you want to spend quality time on the potty.. ]:)

Lost power for 2 days in the last ice storm here (2004?)

In reply to Fill the bathtub

Slept in the living room with the fireplace and still froze my buns. But I got a hot shower each morning! 😀

Love my gas water heater… B-)

We are all electric.

In reply to Lost power for 2 days in the last ice storm here (2004?)

So when we have no power, we have no comforts.

You know that non-sealed fireplaces actually make the house colder right? Mythbusters did a segment to show the effects. They don’t burn efficiently, they draw in alot of air, and that means sucking outside air in.

James

Not a sealed fireplace

In reply to Lost power for 2 days in the last ice storm here (2004?)

Not even a damper in the flue, though. Just tile cap and a screen across the top of the flue to keep the squirrels out.

If you were within about 4 feet of it, it wasn’t too bad, but anything more than that, even with the living room closed off from the rest of the house was noticeably cooler.

Considering investing in a 5KW generator so I can power the gas pack when SCE&G can’t.

Yeah, 2004

In reply to Lost power for 2 days in the last ice storm here (2004?)

The house I was in at that time didn’t have a gas water heater, but it had a gas fireplace! When we moved to a new house later that year, I specified the logs as part of the construction. Plus the cat likes them a LOT.

Water

In reply to Power’s not a problem

Like I said, bottle it and keep it in a fridge/freezer.

In the freezer it doubles as icepacks to keep the freezer cold longer.

You can get water purifying tablets too, in case you have to catch rain water and keep it pure.

No warnings

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

Living in the middle of the country, there’s not really any risks associated with Hurricanes for us. However, last year 2 of them came our way after landfall and they were no longer hurricanes and dumped massive amounts of rain. We’re on top of a mountain, so we only have to worry about flooding if the damn breaks. If that happens, we’ll have a 30 minute warning to get up to at least the 4th floor.

About the only thing we have advanced notice on is ice storms. We’ve had about 8 in the last 3 years. Being a hospital, we don’t shut down, and actually need more staff to handle all extra patients that we get. The ortho unit gets pretty full.

So, our prep is to get volunteers to stay in hotels (most staff live in the boondocks) so they can come in. That backfired when several of the nurses and essential support staff broke bones trying to get from the hotel to the hospital.

We try to have several IT people on staff to handle any issues that come up. There is no such thing as shutting down systems as they all run medical systems. Other than that we’re always prepared… Weekly generator tests, monthly shut downs of primary systems to check that the secondary systems can take over, etc…

Yeah, that’s a whole different work environment.

In reply to No warnings

After Hugo part of our National Guard duties was to provide and service generators for clinics, police substations, VFDs, radio stations, and other essential activities. There are a ton of necessary activities that depend on the Guard for generators in emergencies; it’s not worth them having a generator on hand that will only get used every three or four years.

As opposed to those who thought their activities were essential, like the guy who wanted us to provide a gen so the meat in his freezer wouldn’t rot. He made the mistake of asking a sergeant who was on duty while his wife dealt with the tree through their roof. On the other hand, the local steak house and ice cream shop called the armory and Civil Defense and told us to come get the meat / ice cream before it rotted / melted. Every dark cloud…

But you still get warnings on the ice storms…

In reply to No warnings

and it does seem like the hospital takes action, wich I would hope they would, being a hospital & all….it’s rather important to keep things running there if you know what I mean 🙂

I suppose we would be considered an essential service being the municipal government and all….plus we have about a dozen remote locations we have to keep connected & running such as waste water treatment plants & things like that….they all have generators that kick in automatically when the power goes out but we supply their connection to the outside world from the office & we don’t have a generator to keep us going….doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me.

Storm Update….

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

Sunday should be a “fun” day….still calling for it to be a bit offshore but they put the rain up to 6″…urg…Truro floods when people perspire too much!

Bill’s apparently the size of the Gulf of Mexico…that’s pretty big…no running from this. They’re talking 20′ “breaking waves”…it should be cool…I’ll get some pics for Sonja’s next TROLOV…maybe some of what’s “left” of our garden 🙂

Maybe my cat flying through the air trying to catch her treat bag 😀

Misty?

In reply to Storm Update….

your cat? i don’t think so ;)…it wasn’t you out there in the pouring down rain digging behind the wheel well of your car rescueing her cute little black self :P…my kitty…yeah, that crawls all over me first thing in the morning…

I noticed you said “your car”….

In reply to Misty?

that’s not what you called it back then….hummmm?

ummm yes it was

In reply to I noticed you said “your car”….

it was the old dark blue cavalier…i don’t think i ever drove that one… ;)…I will grant you, it would have been kinda tough for you to get down there anyway having just gotten out of the hospital like 2-3 days before that…
edited for content

re: “i don’t think i ever drove that one”….

In reply to ummm yes it was

you mean the one with the plate on the front with your name one it?

edited for….oh yeah…that’s right…you wouldn’t drive that car…you stole the “other” caviler (the one I’m now allowed to drive).

smacks Darryl in the head

In reply to re: “i don’t think i ever drove that one”….

cause i can…the old one…not the standard one…geesh, give your head a shake

Spousal abuse….you’re all witnesses (nt)

In reply to smacks Darryl in the head

correct (nt)

In reply to re: “i don’t think i ever drove that one”….

hmmppffff…DA

In reply to re: “i don’t think i ever drove that one”….

😉

The worst is…

In reply to hmmppffff…DA

she really did “smack” me! That’s the bad thing about having a computer in the same room as your wife’s 😉

You mean like this?

In reply to hmmppffff…DA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_KmbW7TiB0

Why don’t you two just get a room?

In reply to hmmppffff…DA

Geez, do we have to put up with these ‘domestic disturbances’?

Y’all stay safe. Keep us updated if you’ve got power and connectivity.

re: get a room

In reply to hmmppffff…DA

lol…

we have a room….and always “kiss & make up” before bedtime….you only see the “online” stuff….wait until you get to experience it at a TR gathering that we show up at & you get to see it in person…you’ll be running to get a couple strait jackets for us 🙂

So on line you two are Bert and Ernie…

In reply to hmmppffff…DA

…but in person you’re Alphonse and Gaston?

Or should that be Laurel and Hardy?

:^0 :^0

lol

In reply to hmmppffff…DA

we do spar quite a bit…but it’s most normally all in good fun 🙂 i think we both consider ourselves pretty lucky for the most part..besides…he’s my voice of reason when i just wanna “freak out”… 😀

Nick…I think you have us pegged pretty good…

In reply to hmmppffff…DA

on the other hand…she says I’m her voice of reason when she “freaks out”…geez…what do you think causes me to “freak out” 😀

where’s my ruby slippers?

In reply to Storm Update….

I wanna go home, I wanna go home…lol…needless to say we’re watching intently… NOAA from the U.S. and the Canadian Hurricane Center…after reading through all this during the morning, we’ve make a discovery of sorts…now remember, we live right at the hub of the Bay of Fundy (world’s highest tides) so…about the time the tidal bore is to come up (high tide) is roughly the time that we should start getting storm surges and it’s the time of year that the tides are supposed to be what’s called a “spring tide” highest and lowest of the year and then there’s all the rainfall expected as well with anywhere between 50-110 mm…I’m beginning to wonder if I should start building an Ark!

Naw, we don’t need an ark….

In reply to where’s my ruby slippers?

We live in a trailer…I’ll just strap pontoons to the sides….then I don’t have to do any packing B-)

Edited for:

You were reading the weather report…it says 50 – 110 mm (2-4 inches). I quote from the Hurricane Center:
“Rainfall guidance shows
A wide swath of rainfall amounts in the 75 to 100 mm range for
coastal Nova Scotia with local areas nearing 150 mm.”
150mm (6″) in 5 hours? Like I said…pontoons….no time for ark building 🙂

Tornado warnings and you

In reply to Storm Update….

On the first Wednesday of every month at noon, the tornado sirens are tested. Without fail. I think of this as a good thing because we were in the broad path of a tornado on Memorial Day last year and I can live without that again.

Broad path means that the funnel itself touched down three miles from us. The damage path was around five miles. The entire exterior of the house had to be repaired. And we got off easy. The neighborhood that took the direct hit was slammed bad. One family lost their little boy and their daughter is still recovering from traumatic brain injury. Not a happiness.

This year the tornado season was remarkably light… until the last couple of weeks. As I was leaving the hospital one night, the sirens were going off. I literally drove into the garage as the storm settled in. Timing is everything. I took the SO to treatment on Wednesday in a pretty good rain. I dropped him off so that I could run an errand and by the time I got back, there was nowhere reasonable to park, the sky was absolutely black and rain was falling at a rate that caused me to wonder if I could retrofit oars on my Saturn. So I parked somewhere convenient and listened to the sirens. And the radio. About fifteen minutes later, it was all over, he was ready to leave, and the sun was shining when we pulled into the garage.

I admit that the first time I heard a tornado siren, I panicked. There should be a warning stamped on this state so that us transplants understand what is going on. Twelve years later, I hardly notice them. Personally, I think that is because I grew up in a state where the earth moves under your feet on a whim. At least with tornados you get a siren.

I will keep you and Purple in my prayers. Hopefully it won’t get you too badly. (((hugs)))

Sirens, Tornados, & Earthquakes….

In reply to Tornado warnings and you

I’m some happy we only get very weak tornados here…Purple can’t handle it when they have a “watch”…and at that, we usually only get an F0 or F1…I can’t remember one ever touching down in Truro!

As for the earthquakes…naw, I wouldn’t handle that very well either…we are only about 10 miles from the “major” fault in Nova Scotia but if that thing goes, we’ll experience a 4.5 at best….we get little 2’s every so often…I read it in the news & never feel them 🙂

The sirens I understand! I was very young at the time, it was in the early 60’s…..air raid sirens…oh geez….don’t I remember getting under my desk at school & expecting to be bombed time & time again…I’ll remember that forever. They removed them from Truro about 30 years ago….they scared the sh** out of me every time they went off.

I think Purple & I will be fine…the tip of the first outter band brushed NS earlier this afternoon & blew open the front door & blew a few things around inside but it’s pretty calm right now….just incredibly hot for us…the feel like temp has been over 110 for most of the day, we’re not used to that at all! Our biggestconcern is the flooding, Truro’s pretty close to sea level, if the Bay goes over or breaches the dykes we’re in a world of hurt…it happens every few years so we know what to do…this one just looks like it has the potential to be a little worse.

I’ll send a BIG {{{{{{HUG}}}}}} back at ya because I know you need it more than us….right now we’ve been playing the “waiting” game on the “other” front but things have been good lately.

thank you TiggerTwo

In reply to Tornado warnings and you

muchly appreciated…plan on keeping my head low 🙂

You’re on the western side of the storm!

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

That’s good. First, that’s the weaker side; the northeast quadrant is always the strongest. Second, it means the counter-clockwise winds will be blowing from Truro down the bay and against the tidal flow.

The 5:00 NHC forecast shows you out of the range of hurricane force winds, but in the 50+ mph region.

I missed this post earlier….

In reply to You’re on the western side of the storm!

I replyied to you here…. http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-1009-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=315714&messageID=3145483

And they’re saying the wind from the NE…that’s good for “me”…the front of my place faces south.

Just watched the latest update….

High tide @ 10:45 am…surge @ noon…5-7 hours of rain starting at 10 am…about 5-6 inches…Truro will flood but probably not a big deal….we get it 2 or 3 times a year anyway.

They had the wind a little higher…sustained @ 120 kmh (75 mph) & gusts to 150 (95 mph)…not bad, I can handle that from the NE for the trailer….the trees won’t like it with the leaves on it though (we get worse than that in the winter without leaves during a nor’easter).

but

In reply to I missed this post earlier….

i’m still jumpin ship darn it!

I told you…no arks or ships…

In reply to but

we have pontoons I’m strapping to the trailer.

Geez…women….just never listen do they. 🙂

alright…

In reply to I told you…no arks or ships…

then i’m getting a canoe :p

It’s arrived – live wave action at Peggy’s Cove

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

For those interested in seeing some wave action, below is a link to Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse just outside Halifax. Set the refresh rate for 2s. The sites been coming and going, they’ve been getting some lightening strikes so they may have power issues.

http://www.peggyscovewebcam.ca/live/

Thanks

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

for the link Darryl. Some of that spray is almost to the top of the lighthouse. It looks like pretty wild weather up there at the moment. You and Purple take care.

They said the waves are supposed to stay large

In reply to Thanks

at Peggy’s Cove for the next couple days.

3 older teenage boys got a little too close (dispite the warnings) after the storm passed and got washed off the rocks….one guy went under but they got him out & all were okay.

There’s usually one or two deaths there each year….people just don’t listen….it’s usually tourists trying to get pictures, the locals know better.

Truro survived pretty well….we had our power go out a couple times at home but the longest was only about 30 minutes….very little flooding or damage around town….most everything was contained to the coast.

At work was a little different story, there was an extended power outage so the servers were taken down, a couple UPS’s failed to function proper and didn’t shut down thier systems proper but that was about it….Everything was back to normal within an hour of arriving this morning.

Good to hear

In reply to They said the waves are supposed to stay large

that things are mostly ok for you two. Has Purple come out from under the bed yet? 😀

She was ready to pack up and leave around 5 pm

In reply to Good to hear

yesterday….

Around 7:30 pm, once our power came back on (and stayed on), she started poking her head out from under cover 😀

lol

In reply to She was ready to pack up and leave around 5 pm

:p

yes

In reply to Good to hear

couldn’t stay there too long…one of the kids’ beds…too much junk under it 😉

Glad y’all are okay.

In reply to They said the waves are supposed to stay large

Have Purple and the cat returned yet?

we didn’t leave

In reply to Glad y’all are okay.

just tucked my head under the covers so to speak til it stopped…keep in mind though, someone went off to have a nap when the worst winds went through (not me)…and thank you 🙂

Darn wind woke me up (nt)

In reply to we didn’t leave

I checked

In reply to They said the waves are supposed to stay large

the webcam at Peggys Cove last night before bed and the waves seem to have receeded a bit. There were a few people wandering over the rocks. This morning when I checked there were people everywhere and the waves seem pretty steady. Just glad that there wern’t too many casualties and that you blokes are all OK. I didn’t know about the tin lids or I would have included them as well. Alls well.

And the unknowns

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

I happened to be on the roof of my building on Thursday about 4:30. Looking off to the west (towards my house 25 miles away) I could see some ominous clouds forming.

I left work at about 5:30. It normally takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get home. The last leg of my journey on divided highway that splits my community (Brampton) from Vaughan. Traffic was a little slow, and as we approached Vaughan/Brampton it got very heavy as the rain started and the sky looked ominously dark. It looked like the clouds that should be high in the sky had come to earth.

Luckily my exit came and as I drove over and got a better view of what was down the highway I kinda shuddered.

Just about that time, about 3 miles a funnel cloud formed. No one was killed or even seriouly injured thankfully, but a number of houses were seriously damaged.

One child was killed in a tornado earlier that day, some 100 miles away.

Tornados are not unknown in the general area, but they generally havent’ hit the city itself before, usually developing in the rural areas.

A number of homes have been declared unfit for habitation. But it could have been worse.

I think the thing is, there was no warning. I saw the sky an hour earlier but I couldn’t tell a tornado would form. You have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

James

They said in the news (CTV) that more developed

In reply to And the unknowns

on Saturday but didn’t say much more about it…..they did say it was in the same gerneral area as Thursday but didn’t give any details.

Glad to hear you’re all safe

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

I saw what it did in Maine to that poor little girl.

Glad you all got away relatively well-off.

I just fear what’s going to happen now for us here, and across the pond in Europe. Seems the North Atlantic hasn’t killed Bill off and it’s gonna have near tropical storm force winds when it hits Ireland.

Wonder if what I was thinking is spot on: storms are, with the rising ocean temps, going to start having prolonged strength into farther north latitudes.

Scary though.

thanks

In reply to Glad to hear you’re all safe

and i agree with you…it seems the storms are more frequent and definitely stronger than they used to be…in my 43 yrs, i never seen anything like Juan and since then, we’ve had quite a few storms that have put me on edge. Living in a trailer makes it a little scarier too…

From a trailer in NS

In reply to thanks

Wouldn’t Ricky and Julian help you out? Come to think of it though, Daryl does look like Mr. Lahey. With Bill threatening I worried about Bubbles and the kitties.

Does any non-Canadian (Oz not included) know what I am talking about (Shell doesn’t I don’t think).

James

Hey….I was in the movie!!

In reply to From a trailer in NS

I was a convict….lol….plus, they did filming in our trailer park & I set up an Internet drop on my front deck for the director to use with his laptop B-)

We have lots of pictures….plus, the stunt driver for Bubbles’ go-cart took our wedding pictures…..they’re all really nice guys!

oh wow

In reply to thanks

Yeah, I would say so.

I had friends who lived in mobile/manufactured homes in Oklahoma, and we called them “tornado magnets” there. Seems 7 out of 10 tornadoes would hit on or near a trailer park and kill someone.

I really hope you all have a safer second half of the season. I know how scary it is, from the storm standpoint.

jck, I don’t know if you noticed, but

In reply to Glad to hear you’re all safe

NOAA has another one developing & 50% chance of being a TS within 48 hours….it’s a little lower than Bill but is moving NW at about the same speed as when Bill developed….this one is low enough to get the top of FL or GA…keep an eye on it, I know I am, it could turn towards us very easily.

Edited because I don’t know my A’s from my L’s

Roger on that

In reply to jck, I don’t know if you noticed, but

Heard about it this morning. If this front across FL stays stationary, it will help shear off some of the power from it since it has a dry line of cooler air behind it.

I hope it doesn’t come your way either. I just wish they’d all go into the North Atlantic and die a cold death without hitting anyone.

Even more reason for me to leave Florida; get away from these darn storms.

The water is a lot warmer than normal up here

In reply to Roger on that

this year….I expect the Canadian Maritimes & New England States could have a rough season this year.

yeah here too

In reply to The water is a lot warmer than normal up here

They said that the Atlantic waters this year off the coast of FL are running 1-3F warmer than normal, and the Gulf of Mexico is running about 2-3F warmer.

Might not seem like a ton, but 1F is a LOT of potential energy for a storm to drive off of.

I sure hope you guys don’t start getting it like we’ve had here in the past several years. We had 2 years running where it was not promising. And, 7 of the 12 years I have lived here I’ve had tropical storms or worse hit me.

At least I’ve been lucky and not lost more than some screens on a pool enclosure at the old house. The house I have now hasn’t suffered any damage. *knocks on wood*

Well, Danny is on his way up the coast, you lucked

In reply to Roger on that

out again I would say. They’re predicting a pretty sharp turn to the North @ the Bahamas before brushing along NC, CT, RI, MA, NH, ME on the way to us for the weekend….if it doesn’t turn in time, FL will get it.

Twits on the news

In reply to Preparing for a hurricane – home and office – Round 2

Saw a number of idiots on the news, who were determined to get close to the shore and close to the action.

I wish we had rules like UK where a rescue would come out of their pocket.

As someone else mentioned, three of them did get knocked down and dragged out by a wave, fortunately they managed to get back in.

Does this make anyone else’s blood boil? I don’t like to see situations where people risk their own lives, cause then police/fire/ambulance feel compelled to risk their own lives saving them.

James

no accounting for

In reply to Twits on the news

common sense eh…unfortunately, you’re right emergency workers to feel compelled to go out and save them putting themselves in danger to do so…makes you want to grab those silly people and give them a good hard shakin

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