This is from the forecast discussion of Major Hurricane Florence from this afternoon. As a meteorologist, when I saw this, my heart sank. They don’t use wording like this for every storm.
Florence is going to be a devastating. There will be huge amounts of flooding, both from inland rain and from costal storm surge. Winds are going to be some of the strongest you can get from a hurricane. People within the path of this storm could lose everything.
If you know anyone who lives on the North or South Carolina coast, tell them that if there’s an evacuation ordered, they need to get the hell out. Do not take chances with this one.
Reblogging again to add a list of things/essentials from a friend who lives on the NC coast and has weathered hurricanes and other bad weather:
– toiletries (paper towels, toilet paper, baby wipes for “bathing” in case power & water go out)
– water, 1 gallon per person for at least 7 days (err on the side of caution if possible); more if you have animals!!
– non perishable food items, if you get canned food make sure you have a can OPENER
– pet food & supplies, if you’re really worried about flooding it may be beneficial to get life vests for your pets, also find a way to put identification information on them!
– batteries
– flashlights
– battery packs for cell phones charged up in case of loss of power
– filled cars with gas & filled gas can(s)
– get all essentials like passports, important docs, and cherished items together & ready to go
– just in case, determine a way to get onto your roof safely
– fill bathtubs with water so if water isn’t available you can refill the toilets to keep flushing and keep waste to a minimum
– if you have dogs look up how to make a makeshift potty, you can use a hard baby pool and some sod potentially
– check your prescriptions and get them refilled now if necessary
– if you’re taking insulin and lose power, fill a separate cooler for your insulin than the one you would use for food. Insulin > food
If your place begins to flood get the hell OUT of the water!!! There is no telling if you have a live electrical charge in there!
Do not cross any water you cannot see the bottom of the ground in. I’m serious.
Read up on flash floods and common safety tips.
The last two paragraphs can be ignored
Zello is great but do not rely on it as your only form of communication during an emergency. It’s as useful as messenger/discord/slack/line/hangouts. It’s VOIP not magic.
A dishwasher is waterproof on the inside only! It’s better to stick valuables higher up than close to the ground! For phones that aren’t water resistant get one of those waterproof beach bags/containers.
If you are going to be anywhere near this thing and plan on staying put, buy a large Anker Portable Battery. In Florida during every hurricane we have some people who are lucky and stay with power but 70+% of houses tend to lose power; some for weeks. Obv other brands work fine too, but personally I’ve never had an Anker battery fail on me and I’ve owned many for years. Ingress/Pokemon Go players swear by it.
If you have any chairs/pots/trash bins outside and plan on leaving, bring all that inside and leave it in your living room. It keeps it from flying into your windows or left-behind cars.
If you don’t have shutters and are leaving your house, lean your mattress against any large windows or windows that are close to important objects. It can potentially protect your things from a single brick or large object that flies through your window. There will still be rain and wind coming through if this happens, but a brick smashing through a window and a TV is worse than a brick flying through a window and then pushing your bed against a TV.
Once again if you plan on staying, get yourself an extra tank of gas a few days before the hurricane hits. In FL, the entire week before one hits, the gas stations have lines down the road at all hours of the day AND night. My dad has waited two hours for gas after getting in line at 2AM.
If you plan on staying, clean and fill up your bathtub with boiled water and leave it plugged. If the water pipes get contaminated from damage or something, you have a bit of drinkable water at your disposal.
I can’t think of any more at the moment but definitely flee if you’re too close guys. Y’all don’t know how often I get to see pictures of my parents house before and after hurricane Andrew. We’re used to hurricanes and we know that even the lower Category ones can leave us without power for weeks. Don’t let yourself get caught unaware!
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