Hurricane Irene is coming!

[MindyD]

Anyone in the path of Hurricane Irene? I'm in Charleston,SC so it's a maybe for us. If so, I'm getting out of here! I don't mess with hurricanes, but here's my poll question. Would you ride out a hurricane or get out of town?

[Mrs Mungo]

We are supposed to go to a wedding reception in Greenville on Saturday. I don't know if we should be driving down there. Driving between NC and SC could be a bad scene.

 

We are pretty far inland, so I am not really worried except that last time we lived here we lost power for a while due to one of the hurricanes. Oh, and we had some trees damaged that had to be taken out.

Edited August 22, 2011 by Mrs Mungo

[Parrothead]

I rode out Hugo, but I wasn't downtown.

 

Good luck and hold on tight.

[MindyD]

We'll be in Greenville if we decide to leave! It's where we're from, we just moved here about 6 months ago. I hope you make it, Greenville is a GREAT city! I miss it if you can't tell.

[chiguirre]

I voted Yes, if it's cat 1 or 2, but I'll expand that to say that I'd stay if I wasn't in an evacuation zone.

 

I live in Houston outside the furthest evacuation zone, so we're always told to "hunker down". This is actually very sensible advice because the highways are insane when coastal communities have to evacuate. You're much better off laying in supplies and leaving after the roads are clear if you won't have power for a while. Or just staying put if it's not too hot. We stayed after Ike and survived 2.5 weeks without power. It wasn't too bad, but we had potable water and natural gas.

[Brenda in FL]

Anyone in the path of Hurricane Irene? I'm in Charleston,SC so it's a maybe for us. If so, I'm getting out of here! I don't mess with hurricanes, but here's my poll question. Would you ride out a hurricane or get out of town?

 

We went out of town once - and swore never to do it again! Getting out and getting back was horrendous - and the hurricane ended up missing us anyway!

 

It's a difficult decision to make - I wouldn't want to go through another Andrew and you probably wouldn't want to go through another Hugo - but there's absolutely no way to know the actual path of the storm or to know the intensity. And even a Cat. 3 can cause more damage than you think possible.

 

If you leave and there is damage - then how will you get back to try to salvage anything - After the storm gasoline can be VERY hard to come by.

 

Of course - if we lived in a mandatory evacuation zone - I'd leave - but probably just inland to friend/family.

 

We still have a home in SFL - and family there -so I'm hoping the storm just goes up the coast - and stays over the water - never hitting land!

 

ETA - saw your poll after I was typing! I used to think - Cat 1 or 2 - no big deal. I think that's what they told us Wilma would be - it definitely ended up higher than that!

Edited August 22, 2011 by Brenda in FL

[Denise in Florida]

The latest updates on NOAA show Irene moving east before she gets too close to us. We will stay. We live far enough inland and high enough above the lake and river that we have always stayed in the past. We have taken some tree damage in the past and once we were without power for a week.

 

My only concern this summer is one of the tall oak trees in the front yard, it has taken some woodpecker damage and I am afraid that the inside is rotted. :glare: I'd love to bring it down but that won't be possible before Irene comes through.

 

Keep my house and family in your prayers.

[ZooRho]

act, I am not really happy about this storm we were headed to the OBX in NC this weekend, but now we don't know.

 

I survived hurricanes growing up in TX. Drove home in a CAT 4 hurricane fresh out of college, I know dumb dumb but I was young.

 

We were here during Isabel a CAT 1 or maybe 2, It is so iffy here. where we live on leaving. We'd have to leave probably Wed if we were going to leave and well that really makes no sense to do that. SO I doubt we will leave. That said, I'm not sitting here for 10 days with out power again either. I'll find something to do or some where to go if that happens again. It was a mess to live through that.

[jbemom]

 

We live in Florida, but on the Gulf coast. As of now it isn't set to impact us (but having lived here 10 years...I now how that can change) but we live in a non-evacuation zone so we wouldn't leave even if it did come our way. Praying that it stays out in the Atlantic and doesn't come ashore anywhere in the US!

 

 

 

[Upward Journey]

I voted Yes, if it's cat 1 or 2, but I'll expand that to say that I'd stay if I wasn't in an evacuation zone.

 

I live in Houston outside the furthest evacuation zone, so we're always told to "hunker down". This is actually very sensible advice because the highways are insane when coastal communities have to evacuate. You're much better off laying in supplies and leaving after the roads are clear if you won't have power for a while. Or just staying put if it's not too hot. We stayed after Ike and survived 2.5 weeks without power. It wasn't too bad, but we had potable water and natural gas.

 

This. If I was on the coast I would board up and evacuate, but we're enough inland that we shouldn't flood. Even if it gets up to a 3 I think we'd be better off just riding it out in our house or at my parents. We have a well, a generator and pets/livestock. We'll lose shingles for sure.

 

Unless a tree came down on the house the hardest part for us would be having no AC:tongue_smilie: We've done it before and it was h*ll. It felt like it was raining in the house it was so hot and humid.

[Trish]

Yes, we're in the path, and yes, we're staying. The worst place to be during a hurricane is ON THE ROAD, which is where a lot of people end up when they make a late evacuation decision. We live in Central Florida. I remember back in '04 my husband wanted to evacuate to Orlando to get out of the path of hurricane Charley. Fortunately we didn't, because the hurricane made a last minute direction change and HIT Orlando. But if I were on a coast I wouldn't stay. We're inland.

[MindyD]

I'll add to say that we have lots of family and friends in the upstate to stay with, and my dh's job will provide for travel expenses and a hotel if we need to leave. We're enough inland that flooding isn't a problem, but we're completely surrounded by trees. So the thought of falling trees and tornadoes worries me. I also don't want to deal with the possibility of a longer power outage with the kids. If we're going to leave, I'll decide on Wednesday. I think that's when they'll have the best idea of where it's going to hit.

As for salvaging our stuff, I'll bring the most important things like documents and pictures with us. We can replace the rest if we have to.

[NCJessieRN]

Anyone in the path of Hurricane Irene? I'm in Charleston,SC so it's a maybe for us. If so, I'm getting out of here! I don't mess with hurricanes, but here's my poll question. Would you ride out a hurricane or get out of town?

 

We are in Charleston too! We will probably stay. We have hurricane shutters and a generator. I was here for Hugo also. When Floyd was supposedly coming, we tried to evacuate and it was a nightmare! Don't think I want to do that again. However, we do not live downtown. Our decision could be different if we did.

[Chris in VA]

We went thru Andrew, a Cat 5.

Pretty scary.

 

We also went thru Isabelle, here in Washington area--lost power for a week! But it wasn't that bad.

 

However, I will never go thru another storm like Andrew. We just didn't have anywhere to go.

[ChristusG]

Last night we were wondering if FL was going to get a direct hit. I'd probably stay for a category 1. Category 2 is getting iffy. We are not on the beach, but further inland. So I'm not actually worried about the hurricane itself. I'm more worried about the tornadoes spawned by the hurricane.

[Wyndie]

We're in Charleston too and plan to stay. We're prepared to leave if we get freaked out but we REALLY don't want to and believe it would be best to stay unless it gets really REALLY bad.

[Rhonda in TX]

We went through Hurricane Ike a few years ago. We stayed, but we are about 75 miles inland. We were still shocked at how bad it was, even by us. Some houses in our neighborhood were completely destroyed by trees falling on them. Then there was the 2 weeks without power. We may leave next time.

[Jennifer in SC]

Another one from Charleston. We'll stay if it is a CAT 1 or 2. Anything more and we'll head to the upstate to stay with family. I was here for Hugo and will never stay for one like that again.

[meggie]

I was a young child when Hurricane Hugo hit in '89. My dad stayed, but my mom took the four of us to Florida. She said a neighbor was making fun of her for leaving, but when she got back he was so sorry and said it was a good thing. Since we moved to Colorado in '90, that is the extent of my hurricane knowledge. Colorado doesn't get too many of those ;). Anyway, good luck, I'll keep you guys in my prayers :grouphug:

[Denise in Florida]

We're in Charleston too and plan to stay. We're prepared to leave if we get freaked out but we REALLY don't want to and believe it would be best to stay unless it gets really REALLY bad.

 

Watching the horrendous (spelling?) traffic for Hurricane Flloyd convinced me that I do not want to try to evacuate. That was the first year we lived in FL (we are from AZ where they DONT HAVE HURRICANES :lol:). I asked the neighbors and they all said hunker down so we did. The traffic reports scared my silly, I had a 7 and 5 year old at the time and could only imagine what it would be like stranded out on the highway.

 

Now I think to myself, either leave early or don't leave. :001_smile: I remember feeling terrible for the folks after Katrina, everybody kept saying they should have left and I kept thinking I would not have gone either.

 

Maybe the hive can do a prayer group for those in the path.

[MindyD]

So how early should we leave if we're going to? I'm thinking Wednesday, but I'd hate to leave and it come to nothing. It's looking more and more like it will miss Charleston at least and hit a little further north.

[Truscifi]

Yes, we're in the path, and yes, we're staying. The worst place to be during a hurricane is ON THE ROAD, which is where a lot of people end up when they make a late evacuation decision. We live in Central Florida. I remember back in '04 my husband wanted to evacuate to Orlando to get out of the path of hurricane Charley. Fortunately we didn't, because the hurricane made a last minute direction change and HIT Orlando. But if I were on a coast I wouldn't stay. We're inland.

 

Wise choice. Charley was the first hurricane headed our way after ds was born, and my hormones were still crazy. I insisted we evacuate. We were on the road in Orlando when it hit. Never again. We then sat out Francis and Jean - we were out of power for about 10 days at one point, but that was nothing compared to watching the funnel clouds form on the turnpike.

[ravinlunachick]

I'm in the Upstate. Our Girl Scout Troop is supposed to have our big sign-up cookout Saturday afternoon. :( I remember the tornadoes that came through up here when Hugo hit. If I were in the Lowcountry, I'd find some excuse to leave before any evacuation orders. I-26 will be a mess once that happens.

[lmrich]

My MIL was once in charge (from the health department's view) of evacuation. I would leave after hearing her stories. The medical staff is so over worked; I would not want to add to their burden. I can afford to leave to visit my family out of state, so I should take myself and children and pets out of the way.

[Berta]

I'm in the Midlands but we are supposed to leave Thursday out of Charleston for a cruise to Bermuda. We should be far enough out to sea by Saturday that it won't affect the cruise. My car might be underwater at the dock in Charleston and my house might blow away, but we should be safe LOL..

[laurad1125]

I voted "No Way, I'm outta here", but then my house is about 2 miles from Galveston Bay and we're usually a mandatory evacuation area anyway....

[Susan in TN]

I would respectfully request that Irene mosey on back out to sea and avoid the Philadephia area entirely. Our reservations are non-refundable.

[kahlanne]

It depends. We live near Baton Rouge, LA and we stayed for Katrina. We had some friends over to ride it out with us. They live within walking distance. We set in our sunroom and watched the wind tear apart our shed until the Windows were bowing in around us. The shed and a few limbs were all we lost. Power was out for only a day. Everyone else's was out for over a week. With Rita we left because Katrina scared us. We were out of power for a week but everyone else had it after a day. We didn't get any damage from Rita.

[Joker]

I just don't know. In our few years here in the north eastern part of FL we've only really had Tropical Storm Fay and it seemed bad to me. Dh was off work for three days and our schools started almost a week late. Many of our trees went down, we lost power, and if it hadn't stopped when it did our house would have been flooded. We had packed and moved things higher in the house in case we had to leave. An actual hurricane scares me. I don't want to get stuck on the highway either.

[pdalley]

If it doesn't turn out to sea I really think I will have a nervous breakdown.

 

My mother is having emergency radiation on a tumor that threatens to paralyze her. (breast cancer that has spread) I have an elderly grandma I'd have to evacuate plus my three boys and three dogs and I just. cannot. take. one. more. thing. I truly cannot.

 

I'm starting to think I'm God's cosmic joke. This is just the icing on the cake. Right now the darn thing is headed right for us.

[Serenade]

We are far enough inland that I don't have to worry about anything stronger than a Cat 1 or possibly a Cat 2 passing overhead. I used to not worry about hurricanes at all -- until the eye of Hurricane Fran went right over my house. We've now moved a tiny bit north westward, so our chances should be even less now, but Hurricane Fran taught me to never say never. That said, if I lived closer to the coast, I doubt I would ever ride out anything greater than a predicted Cat 2, and even that is doubtful.

[LanaTron]

I voted to stay if it's a Cat 1 or 2. But Ike was a Cat 2, with a storm surge more like a 3 or 4. Apparently they are now rating hurricanes by windspeed (Cat 1, 2, etc.) and predicted storm surge as two seperate things...so even if it's a cat 2, if the storm surge was predicted to be greater than a cat 2, I'd leave. I live right on the border between the Cat 3 and Cat 4 evacuation areas, BTW.

[Hypatia.]

Oh yes, same here with Hurricane Fran! I was in college in Raleigh and it came through just a few days after my 21st birthday. I had an exam on my birthday, so we held off on celebrating until the night the storm came through, which meant hurricane preps (or even paying attention to the storm at all) was the last thing on my mind! :blushing: Let's just say I've always been prepared for storms since then, and we still keep emergency preps even though we aren't in hurricane country anymore.

 

We lived in Charleston for 5 years. The only storm I evacuated for was Floyd, only because of pressure from my family out of state. Man, that evacuation traffic, what a debacle. :glare:

[FrogMom5]

If we're in the path of a hurricane, we're leaving. We live on the gulf coast, 1 mile back from the beach. Right now, Irene is not predicted to touch us. Of course, that may change and we may get the edge of the storm.

 

My mom, brother and neice live in Jacksonville and they will get hit. Tomorrow I may be going to get them and bring them here. They'll call in the morning to let me know what they've decided.

 

My prayers are with everyone in the path of Irene. Stay safe everyone. :grouphug:

Denise

[LanaTron]

Want to also say I particpated in that nightmarish evacuation for Hurricane Rita, and I was quite traumatized by the whole thing. Since then, if I think I may want to leave, I go way early. For Rita it was 30 hours to get to Austin--normally a 3-4 hour trip. For Ike, I was in Temple in 3.5 hours (normal time).

[TKDmom]

I'm on the east coast of FL. It's looking less likely that it will hit here, but if it does we'll stay. We have a concrete block house with steel hurricane shutters, so I feel pretty good about staying. We evacuated when I had a nursing baby (and the thought of no a/c was unbearable) but now I don't want to go through the hassle. If I didn't have a house that was up to hurricane codes, there's no way I'd stick around.

[Sandra in FL]

Lived through Hurricane Andrew (cat 5) when it hit S. Fla. I thought our roof was going to go - we were making plans to run across the street to our neighbor. Totaled my rental house completely. Boy, was it miserable afterward - the heat, lack of food, traffic, construction.

 

This should be a breeze after Andrew - we now have shutters.

[Serenade]

Oh yes, same here with Hurricane Fran! I was in college in Raleigh and it came through just a few days after my 21st birthday. I had an exam on my birthday, so we held off on celebrating until the night the storm came through, which meant hurricane preps (or even paying attention to the storm at all) was the last thing on my mind! :blushing: Let's just say I've always been prepared for storms since then, and we still keep emergency preps even though we aren't in hurricane country anymore.

Same here to the bolded. I was working then, and we had a bunch of people coming from out of town, and we told them all, you don't need to worry about a hurricane in these parts. I was so wrong. I went to bed that night with the winds howling and earplugs in, because we had a big, important meeting the next day. My DH woke me up around midnight, or maybe 1 am, and I told him to leave me alone, because I had an important meeting the next day. He told me there would be no meeting, as the power boxes exploded left and right. I reluctantly went to a safer part of the house, but he was right, we didn't have our meeting the next day. Even the place that never closes for any reason closed that day, LOL.

 

We lived in Charleston for 5 years. The only storm I evacuated for was Floyd, only because of pressure from my family out of state. Man, that evacuation traffic, what a debacle. :glare:

Floyd didn't affect me, directly, although I lost the contents of a storage unit in Greenville (NC) where my mom lived. I lost my high school yearbooks, among other things, but I guess on the bright side, I got rid of a lot of stuff that would have otherwise been hard to toss.

 

I'm on the east coast of FL. It's looking less likely that it will hit here, but if it does we'll stay. We have a concrete block house with steel hurricane shutters, so I feel pretty good about staying. We evacuated when I had a nursing baby (and the thought of no a/c was unbearable) but now I don't want to go through the hassle. If I didn't have a house that was up to hurricane codes, there's no way I'd stick around.

Surviving a hurricane was one reason we opted for a concrete block house for the house we just built, although here in central NC, it is really hard to find someone who could build it. They are not very common here, and I don't understand why.

[Trish]

So how early should we leave if we're going to? I'm thinking Wednesday, but I'd hate to leave and it come to nothing. It's looking more and more like it will miss Charleston at least and hit a little further north.

 

By the time the answer is clear, it'll be obvious to everyone else, so they'll be on the road with you. Still thinking of all those out-of-gas cars during Hurricane Rita. (not to mention the bus that caught fire...ugh!)

 

Hey OP, is your name really "Wyndie?" Or is that just for this thread?

[Trish]

Wise choice. Charley was the first hurricane headed our way after ds was born, and my hormones were still crazy. I insisted we evacuate. We were on the road in Orlando when it hit. Never again. We then sat out Francis and Jean - we were out of power for about 10 days at one point, but that was nothing compared to watching the funnel clouds form on the turnpike.

 

Goodness! Glad you made it through safely. It feels like all three of those hurricanes went directly over our house.

[alpidarkomama]

We have lots of friends we can stay with inland, so we'd do that. Any excuse for a visit to dear friends! :) It's been 20 years since one touched down in Savannah, though, so it's a long shot.

[Donna T.]

We live on the coast of Alabama. We are about 50 miles from the beaches. We will stay for categories 1, 2, and 3. We will leave for a cat. 4.

[Sasharowan]

I'll stay put. I would rather be caught in my house than trapped on the highway with no way to move like what happened a few years back.

[AK_Mom4]

DH tells me we would stay - apparently there just aren't many hurricanes in our neck of the woods. He did offer to drive us to the top of the mountain to watch the fun!

[Truscifi]

Goodness! Glad you made it through safely. It feels like all three of those hurricanes went directly over our house.

 

We were very lucky. And actually, Charley is the only one of the three that didn't go over our house - it turned and made landfall well south of us, or at least of our house. We didn't even have any branches down!

[serene]

I've lived in Florida most of my life, and we've never evacuated. We've just always prepared as much as possible, then rode it out. We've lived without power for more than a week ('04), and that was *far* worse than any storm. In 2004, we had hurricane fatigue. Between Charley, Frances, Ivan & Jeanne, it was hard to get worked up about any of them after Charley. There was just a general groan of 'nooooo, not again, not so soooon!'

 

I'd be more apt to leave after the storm has passed, if we were to lose power again. We have a generator, but I can barely stand the heat with the a/c working!

 

On a positive note, we'll get to try out our water bob this week. :D

[Jennifer in SC]

I'm in the Midlands but we are supposed to leave Thursday out of Charleston for a cruise to Bermuda. We should be far enough out to sea by Saturday that it won't affect the cruise. My car might be underwater at the dock in Charleston and my house might blow away, but we should be safe LOL..

 

We went on that cruise this past April. It was wonderful! Bermuda is gorgeous. Have a great time!

[TheReader]

Before Brazil, we lived on the TX Gulf Coast.

 

A 1 or a 2, we'd ride out (especially since they so often, in the gulf at least, turn at the last minute anyway). Anything larger than that, we'd leave.

 

We're fortunate to have friends/family who're far enough inland that we can visit if we need to evacuate. Well, if we'd needed to evacuate (and sometimes we did). Here in Brazil it's not a problem for us anymore ;)

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I had lived in Louisiana all my life and stayed through every hurricane, whats a little wind was our Southern thinking. So when Katrina was on it's way we did what we always did...buy supplies and hunker down. NEVER! EVER! AGAIN! Praise God we lived through it. While we still lived in Louisiana, when they said evacuate, we packed up and left. I would not risk it again. So my advice is go, go, go!

[ZooRho]

I've lived in Florida most of my life, and we've never evacuated. We've just always prepared as much as possible, then rode it out. We've lived without power for more than a week ('04), and that was *far* worse than any storm. In 2004, we had hurricane fatigue. Between Charley, Frances, Ivan & Jeanne, it was hard to get worked up about any of them after Charley. There was just a general groan of 'nooooo, not again, not so soooon!'

 

I'd be more apt to leave after the storm has passed, if we were to lose power again. We have a generator, but I can barely stand the heat with the a/c working!

 

On a positive note, we'll get to try out our water bob this week. :D

The water bob thing looks weird. is it just a one time use? Did you look at just buying a water filter. We still have ours from when we lived in Uganda.