Fla Keys visitors evacuated, more to come...What ever happened to the Emergency Prep Forum???

[NightWatcher]

This is the last time I'll ask because I think it's come up three or four times with multiple repsondents each time. I'll take my "survival posts" elsewhere if it's not wanted here. I think that rarely will you find a "progressive slant" on issues of survival and emergency prep on the web that doesnt venture into wackjob territory. I thought that DU could benefit from the exchange of ideas and advice.

Do we just not want an Emergency Prep Forum here?

[JeanGrey]

1. They are evac'ng for a tropical storm?

[NightWatcher]

2. yes because it might be flirting with cat 1. and it takes a day to get people out

[JeanGrey]

5. Over hype.

[NightWatcher]

9. ever been through a hurricane? better to be prepared and not have to act

[JeanGrey]

16. Prepared is one thing. Hysteria is another.

Yes I have. A cat 2

[kdmorris]

18. Do you live in the Keys?

Seriously, are you second guessing an evacuation order? Local emergency management officials do not take evacuating likely and I, for one, listen to what they say. They don't "over hype" storms. The media might, but the emergency management officials are forced to deal with these things with all the data that they have, not with a crystal ball that tells them exactly what is going to happen.

Yes, it might just turn out to be a TS with little rain, but what if it isn't? I think that Punta Gorda and Hurricane Charley are perfect examples of when people just get a little too complacent and think that every evacuation order is "over hype". After all, it was ONLY going to be a CAT 1 and it was going to hit Tampa, to the north.

Tropical Storm Katrina came this way and turned into a CAT 1 before she hit the coast of SE Florida. Find the pictures of how bad that "just a CAT 1" storm was.

Why would you come to a message board and start saying things like this if you live inland and have NO way to determine what information local emergency management has?

[JeanGrey]

24. I think people are gun shy because of Katrina.

Yes I've been through hurricanes and I've been through tornadoes. I would not care to ride out a BAD hurricane on the coast, but I'd take a Cat. 1 over a F4 any day.

[geomon666]

25. I agree that it's being a little overhyped....

but a little preparation wouldn't hurt either. Even tropical storms can knock down trees and send crap flying through your windows and cut power.

I wouldn't treat it like it's the end of the world though.

[malaise]

3. There's a lot of rain with the system

so that's not a bad idea since the wind is picking up.

[JeanGrey]

6. I doubt seriously it will be much of anything but a TS.

[malaise]

8. You may be right

On the other hand, the experts suggest a Cat 1 hurricane.

[JeanGrey]

22. The "experts" have called for horrible hurricane seasons the

last three in a row. It hasn't panned out. Weather is a lot of guessing. It just seems scary to me when people drain the grocery stores over a TS Cat. 1 and when a Cat. 5 is bearing down they ignore it.

[kdmorris]

31. Nobody ignores a CAT 5 bearing down on them

NOBODY does. Where are you getting that from?

[Dr.Phool]

13. And your credentials as a meteoroligist?

Remember, Katrina was weak Cat 1 when it crossed alligator alley. And the Florida Straits and the Gulf of Mexico are very warm right now.

Charlie was a Cat one when it passed the Keys, and turned into a Cat 4 killer unexpectedly, and turned into Port Charlotte.

I live 3 miles from the Gulf, in the Tampa Bay area, and I started getting ready yesterday.

[JeanGrey]

15. Apples and oranges. Katrina had a ton of water to cover.

If this one changes and goes into the Gulf it will probably be more. Right now it's a rainstorm. Which is good for us in Georgia :-)

[kdmorris]

19. NO she didn't.

She became a Cat 1 after being named in the BAHAMAS, which frankly, isn't much water at all. It was a depression in the Bahamas and a CAT 1 when it hit here. You have no idea what you are talking about.

[JeanGrey]

21. She went to a FIVE AFTER CROSSING THE GULF

Which was why NO got smacked. Who doesn't know what they are talking about? Good grief.

[kdmorris]

27. I know what she was in the Gulf

But the poster you were replying to mentioned how quickly Katrina went to CAT 1 before she hit the coast of FLORIDA. You replied with "she had a ton of water" and no, she didn't have a ton of water to cover from her naming to the time she smacked Florida.

Granted, the Gulf Coast was hit a lot harder than we were because of the time that she spent in the Gulf, but that wasn't what you replied to.

[JeanGrey]

29. She didn't do a devastation number on the coast of Florida;

that was the whole point.

[kdmorris]

32. Katrina didn't do the damage here that she did on the Gulf Coast

But she did a lot of damage, still. You cannot compare every storm that comes to Rita and Wilma and Katrina. Are you saying that, if it's not as bad as they were, or Charley was, that we should ignore it because it's hype?

[JeanGrey]

33. I am saying that hysteria over something that isn't even a

hurricane yet is foolish.

[kdmorris]

34. And I'm saying there is no hysteria

Just people doing things to prepare for the worst. They didn't evacuate all the keys, just the tourists, because there is a chance that they will get stuck there.

Katrina was not yet a hurricane when she hit here and many people didn't take her seriously. And they were sorry for it afterwards.

All I'm saying is that it's not hysteria to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best.

[Sancho]

20. A no-name TS put a 17 ton oak tree into my house in 2001!

BTW, it took a couple of years, but I got permits to take out some big trees a couple of years ago.

I just got the boat tied up this morning...but you can't go by the overall storm rating. Even "small" hurricanes can produce tornados and surge that coincides with the tide.

It's easy to get complacent, and some things can't be planned for, but most of us down here routinely pay attention to the warnings. I'm going out for gas for the generator today.


NO drilling in the Gulf would be best. Sooner or later, one of these storms will cause a major spill that will make the little boat leaks like Exon Valdeese look minor.

[JeanGrey]

23. Yes I know. But when you look at the tornado season we had

this year, and the fact that we've had straight line winds with just a bad thunderstorm, I guess you prepare as much as possible but I think hysteria is not good (which some people do). Then a Cat 4 or 5 is bearing down and people don't evac.

I was in Jacksonville for a Cat. 1 a couple of years back, it was a lot of rain, loss of power, a lot wind but truthfully I've been in worse Georgia thunderstorms.

I do believe in keeping prepared though and watchful eyes!! May you do well and have no damage!

[cwydro]

26. I live in Key West

and yes they are evacuating the tourists.

Any of us who have lived here any amount of time think it is stupid.

Dead calm right now, though it will get nasty tomorrow. But we have storms with cold fronts in the winter that are every bit as bad as these tropical storms. We don't evacuate for those.

They are not evacuating residents as yet and I don't think they will. May reach Cat 1 status, but that is it. (knocking wood here just to be safe, lol).

It is all to do with the out of control development down here.

[JeanGrey]

30. It's too bad that the alarmists don't hear you.

[ixion]

4. I love it when they evac the tourists...

much more quiet. :)

[JeanGrey]

7. I bet you pay for over hype! LOL

[ixion]

12. lol... well, the weather hysteria I can live without...

thankfully, I have no cable, hence no exposure to hysteria. :rofl: :hi:

[ensho]

17. agree :)

nt

[Fla Dem]

10. NOAA has it as tropical storm for the duration. See link......

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at1+shtml/093226.shtml?5day#contents

Living in Fl we track these things pretty close.

[Dr.Phool]

14. Look at that link again.

Projected hurricane at 8:00am Tuesday, in the Port Charlotte area.

That's the latest 11:00am forecast, which strangely is posted at 10:30am.

[IDemo]

11. I think they may have decided there are enough forums to administer already

I proposed a "Book and DVD Exchange" forum a while back (that now has been locked??). It received what I thought were enough positive replies to submit it for approval, but never got a reply back, despite three emails.

I would recommend trying the peakoil.com Planning For The Future forum for survival/emergency prep discussion, even if you don't agree with the Peak Oil concept.

[Baclava]

28. wobble wobble....looks like it's headed to Tampa now

But, we'll know more on where it pops out after Cuba

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT06/refresh/AL0608W_sm2+gif/032728W_sm.gif