Let her know the shelters are taking pets with their people. Maybe she is just afraid that the shelter won’t take her pets.
Don’t be full of recriminations when you call. It will only make her dig her heels in deeper. Ask her if she needs help loading the animals.
If she isn’t all there mentally, and the breaking in to a hotel part makes me think this might be the case, don’t engage her in talking about her plans. Make it factual; you must leave now and your pets can come too.
Really? By the time the storm gets to New Jersey, it is projected as a Category 1 hurricane. But you can “almost guarantee” this woman will die? It’s a possibility, but the odds are pretty small. Evacuating certainly would have been a good idea, but that doesn’t mean OMG SHE IS DEF GONNA DIEEEE!
Really? REALLY?
Yes, the animals don’t have a choice, but do you think any of the ‘first responders’ (that is what Mayor Bloomberg keeps calling them) are sitting in a diner waiting for the next call? Do you think they really have the time and resources to go around saving her pets and finding shelter for the animals when the owner wants to commit suicide by storm? It is a shame the person wants to kill herself and her animals by a mixture of stubbornness and stupidity, but try to keep some perspective.
I’m of the opinion that anyone in a mandatory evacuation zone who chooses not to evacuate and has to be rescued be charged for the rescue AND prosecuted to the fullest extent. Why put the lives of police, fire, and other rescue services at risk unnecessarily. Mayor Bloomberg has already said that those who choose not to evacuate won’t be charged (really don’t have the resources right now to do so). I sure wish he’d add that amendment.
While I agree in principle, The Weather Channel was pointing out that it will be a Cat 1 hurricane with Cat 2 or Cat 3 level storm surge (as it takes at least 24 hours for the storm surge to subside from the highest level). That is the most dangerous part, and if she lives on a barrier island, it really lowers the odds of survival.
Thats my understanding to.
When folks think of storm surges they mostly think of Texas, Lousiana, Miss, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia getting hit. IIRC when hurricanes hit these states they are usually moving more slowly than when they hit further up the east coast. Also the geometry of the approach and local geography can make a difference as well.
Long story short, it is my understanding that a Cat 1 storm surge in the deep south is on average not as great as storm surge from a Cat 1 hitting high up on the east coast. And then, there is just the fact the amount of storm surge from two given Cat 1 storms can vary greatly due to all the other variables of the storm other than max winds being quite different.
[duh]What is a storm surge?[/duh]
ETA: The Universe Lashes Out, your username is eerily appropriate.
Storm surge: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ssurge/ssurge_overview.shtml
I see. Thank you.
If you scroll down that link a little further - Isabel in 1993 seems to be fairly similar in size and path to Irene.
Their description:
I would say getting the hell off of a barrier island is an excellent plan.
IMO here’s the problem.
I think people (on average) tend to OVER estimate the danger due to high winds. Unless you live in a trailer or crappy shack you will likely live through the storm. If you are a decent distance from the coast and are in a modern code building/house you will make it. It might be scary, windows might blow out and parts of the roof/building may peel off. Powere and water may be out for awhile after the storm. But as long as you hunker down and stay inside the chances are very good you’ll just have an exciting night.
On the other hand I think many folks tend to underestimate the danger of a storm surge. If your are in a storm surge zone where the storm surge hits you are likely fucked. Moving water is stronger than shit. And the water is going to be fucking cold. And its going to be FULL of all kinds of debris that if it hits you its likely to severly hurt or kill you right out. Then, on top of all that storm surge water is going to be hurricane driven size waves AND hurricane winds. Imagine the scariest day you’ve ever seen at the beach. Multiply that many times over. Make it dark or nearly dark. Fill it full of debris/shit. THATS what surviving a storm surge is like. If the building you are in goes underwater or is washed away by the surge you are most very likely F U C K E D.
There are plenty of stories of people surviving a windy scary night. The number of surviving folks surviving storm surges is much less. Hell, they rarely even find the bodies.
I thought the OP’s name/post combo was also quite appropriate as well. I guess the gravity of that woman’s situation (and potentially Sailboat’s as well, if he’d gone to rescue her) had us commenting on more weighty matters.
I grew up in Beachwood and attended Toms River schools, so seeing those two place names in this thread shook me (sorry) a bit.
Correct me if I’ m wrong, but wouldn’t the tsunami that hit Japan recently be akin to a storm surge? There was plenty of footage of that destruction…
Much different causes, and no one is expecting a storm surge of that magnitude.
A Tsunami is a series of waves, that emanate from a seismic event center like ripples in a pond when a rock is dropped it. It loses energy as it goes so the further you are from it’s origin, the better off you are. . It smashes against the shore as far as it’s energy can take it. It has no relation to the tides. It isn’t associated with local weather conditions.
Storm surge is a tidal condition that refers to the height of the water, not the size of the waves on top of it. Storm surge is water propelled by the wind of a hurricane that "stacks up"on itself and then, pushed by the cyclonic winds, gets higher and faster as it travels. It may have strong or weak waves on top of it, depending on the shape of the shoreline, but the surge itself has incredible momentum and is often still accelerating as it hits land, especially if the storm’s arrival coincides with a high tide.
This is a biggie. A storm surge hitting a long straight stretch of coastline isn’t that bad, a surge up a narrow inlet is very, very bad. An inlet or channel funnels the storm surge, intensifying both the height and speed.
Since it wasn’t mentioned in the OP…how many animals does this woman have, and of what type?
This. She will likely be just fine, but to be safe she should leave because she in on a barrier island. A one isn’t going to huff and puff and blow her house down and even if the surge is worse than predicted, she might have a little water under her house.
It is overreacting like in this thread that cause many people to ignore evacuation warnings when real hurricanes show up.
In 1938, we didn’t have weather satellites or radar. All you heard was incoming sailors talking about how “there is a big storm out there!” That could be a thunderstorm or a Cat 5 hurricane. This relative of a friend was unlucky. I’m sure that tens of thousands of people stayed during similar warnings and were just fine. Anecdote DNE data.
Bolding mine.
And its statements like that cause people to stay when they shouldn’t and get killed by the surge.
the '38 storm was smaller in diameter, moving up the coast at 50-70 mph, and a cat. 3. it was like someone throwing a fast wicked bowling ball and hitting a strike on long island, conn, and ri.
this storm is a big diameter, slow moving 10-15 mph (although she speeded up at about 5am to 25 mph), a cat. 1 with the baro pressure of a cat. 3. it was like a slow motion gutter ball, maybe touching the last pin on the side.
any news on how she weathered the storm, sailboat.
Yes… really. There are “first responders” (I think you might be conflating this with the 9/11 rememberance, but I don’t have a better term to offer) who specialize in rescuing animals during emergencies. They are prepared to offer shelter for animals, and some even patrol areas looking for unevacuated pets. A quick Google search found that the NYASPCA and the Pet Safe Coalition offer these services. I don’t know if they would actively confiscate animals from an owner who chooses not to evacuate, but I’d like to think they’d make a hard case for protecting those who can’t help themselves.
Of course, this all depends on if we’re talking a couple of cats or a farm-full of cows. Some animals are easier to rescue than others.
All moot now, of course, but I hope her animals made it OK.