Back when we were discussing 2015 Atlantic storm names, I think I threw in a note that “Ida” gave me a shiver. Mark that as a parapsychological miss; Ida piddled around in the middle of the ocean and blew out before ever reaching more than tropical storm status.
But her kid brother, Joaquin, is poised to make a mess. The track has it headed west for a few hundred miles, then bouncing like a ping-pong ball due north… right at the US northeast, with a slap at the Carolinas for sticking out so far.
This time next week could be somewhere between wet and wild. Time to check the generator and get all the loose stuff out of the yard…
Having just moved here from Earthquake Country, I have no idea how to feel about this. I mean, yes, there’s a part of my pea-brain that thinks, “It would be interesting to go through something so different from anything I’ve experienced before.” However, I realize there are problems with that line of thinking:
[ul]
[li]I am not fond of people losing their lives or property[/li][li]I have never lived through an extended period of time without electricity (I was only without power for a few hours after the Northridge Quake)[/li][/ul]
I don’t own a generator, have no idea how our new house would stand up to that kind of rain, and I’m generally clueless about any number of inconveniences that could be caused by a direct or indirect hit.
So, I’ll be watching with interest to see what happens, and hoping for the best.
Yeah, moving to the northeast, hurricanes were somewhere down around the zombie apocalypse on the “things to worry about” list. Then we got hit by two big storms in succession, then another hurricane a year later… and my casual habit of watching NHC became as routine as looking outside to see what the weather was.
Skip ALL the newsfeeds, weather services, etc. and bookmark www.nhc.noaa.gov on all your devices. The rest are just quoting (and puffing, and spinning, and glamming) that reporting anyway.
MD tends to be pretty safe, I think. Check with your local public safety officials. Storms tend to hit Florida/Georgia, the Carolinas, or swing up and catch the US under the chin across Long Island (and right on into here).
I think anyone in a disaster zone (which is most areas of the US, but spotty) should have at least a transfer panel and a generator pad installed. It’s about $1000 in work and it lets you use any generator you can lay hands on to keep your house safely powered and comfortable.
Family have our usual Sept-Oct vacation at the Outer Banks/Hatteras Island starting Saturday. We’ve been through 3-4 hurricanes, been evacuated, rode out one or two. Not too worried. We’ll get there Saturday before any problems. We may catch a day or two of not nice weather, but that isn’t always bad at the beach. That’s why you take books you always meant to read.
I can’t fault your experience, but right now the black dot labeled H is sitting on the point of the Carolinas on Sunday. I don’t know that I’d go out of my way to intercept it. :dubious:
NWS says the uncertainty in Joaquin’s track, speed, and intensity is huge right now.
But I’ve got a fun weekend planned in beautiful coastal NJ that’s looking real iffy right now. IMO folks would be silly to travel to the coast between the Carolinas and Long Island for this weekend.
Whatever happens wherever, it’s going to have much less than the normal amount of warning.
Asmovian, unless you are actually on the water or live in a near shore neighborhood, hurricanes in Maryland are an exercise in excessive rain with localized stream flooding. The heavy rain yesterday, the heavy rain expected tomorrow and Friday which precede the hurricane are the biggest problem.
These rains saturate the ground and weaken the tree root systems. The wind of any hurricane or tropical storm will find trees easier to knock over, therefore causing power outages. If you depend on a sump pump, plan for alternate power sources.
Furthermore, if the track of the hurricane does run up the Chesapeake Bay, or worse, parallel to the west, a large tidal push of water can move up the bay into low lying areas. Look up Hurricane Isabel on Youtube and elsewhere for an idea. Here’s video the day after in Annapolis.
Having worked a number of these (in news) over the years I can say from my view,* if current thinking holds,* it’s gonna suck. Especially inland flooding. My station is beginning to gear up for a rough week, just on the heals of the Pope visit.
Well, that’s the first thing I’ve heard that scares me a bit. We have an automatic sump pump. We’ve only been in the house for about five weeks, so I don’t even know if the sump pump works yet (though I assume that’s something an inspection would have tested? might need to go back and read that report), let alone how critical it is for our house. We were looking at it a couple of weeks ago to try to test it, had some difficulty getting the top off, and then got distracted and forgot about it.
Hey, Asimovian, I got this bridge to sell ya… :smack:
Actually, this morning’s update looks like we’re both going to get it. Here at the tag-tag end of a very mild season, we might be looking at another Sandy.
I admit, I really was curious about what a hurricane would be like.
I opened the front door and walked about ten yards into hurricane Sandy at full force. My wife shouted something at me (probably calling me an idiot), and I quickly retreated, with that particular urge satisfied for life.
