# Oh no! It's Isabel! She's coming right for us!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 11, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079 "2003-09-11T23:38:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/141 "2003-09-17T16:43:37Z")
It’s probably too late now, but I was browsing around NOAAs web pages and they were showing how to make the best of plywood shutters. (Let’s see if I can explain this properly) The boards were cut to recess into the window frame. Holes were drilled into the window frame parallel to the plane of the plywood, not perpendicular. They then added barrel bolts to the plywood, similiar to the ones you see on bathroom stalls sometimes. That way, the plywood is recessed so that wind can’t get under it and the thing is reusable, just undo the bolt and store it. As I proofread that I find it impossible to understand, so I just went and found [the website](http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/shutters/index2.html). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/142 "2003-09-17T17:16:55Z")
Isabel is still 400 miles offshore and we already have sustained winds approaching 20MPH. I’m not even going to try to speculate what it’ll be like in the morning! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/143 "2003-09-17T17:34:02Z")
Or not. Could be that National is having some technical difficulties. ---
**Author:** ![atticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/cdc98d/32.png) [@atticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atticus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/144 "2003-09-17T18:59:33Z")
> [@](#): > > For those down in the OBX area… what do you anticipate things will be like Friday/Saturday after the storm? I ask because Mr. Winnie & I have reservations for a long weekend down in Nags Head for our anniversary from this Friday the 19th - 21st. Our initial reaction was to cancel everything, but now we see that the bulk of the storm is hitting Thursday. Is it worth us going down there after the fact? All of Dare County (which includes Nags Head) is under mandatory evacuation now. You have to show proof of property ownership to even get on the Outer Banks. They are unlikely to lift this by Friday. Your reservation probably has an evacuation clause in it, so you shouldn’t lose money on your weekend if you can reschedule. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/145 "2003-09-17T20:16:07Z")
Looks like it’s moving onto the North Carolina coast right about now. Up here between DC and Baltimore it’s still sunny skies, though. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/146 "2003-09-17T21:28:59Z")
First band of rain has moved through [Portsmouth](http://www.weatherusa.net/skycamnet/showcam.php?state=Virginia&id=3). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/147 "2003-09-17T21:44:16Z")
Just remembered, we went grocery shopping last night at the [giant Giant](http://www.giantfood.com/store_dsp_detail.cfm?ID=108) and some fools had already _cleaned out the entire meat and fish sections_! What the fuck _for_? There is going to be a hell of a lot of spoiled food if their power goes out for a long time! ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/148 "2003-09-17T22:35:23Z")
I just started an [update thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=211919) in MPSIMS for those of you who want to post about conditions in your area. Not to detract from this thread, but I wanted to start another there. ---
**Author:** ![carimwc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac8455/32.png) [@carimwc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carimwc)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/149 "2003-09-18T00:51:16Z")
Our local Target is cleaned out of D batteries, flashlights, and manual can openers. Heh. The stores were mad today. My boy and I aren’t really worried. We’ve both been through hurricanes before. (Floyd was '96 I thought. We had a hurricane day my freshman year of college.) DC has already announced that the gov’t will be closed tomorrow for all non-essentials and Metro and bus service will end at 11am. I think that’s a wee bit much. But whatever. I’m not going to work anyway. They show the same update every 5 minutes. I’m getting tired of that. We’ll most likely lose power and I bet my street will flood again. Oh well. The media will make a huge deal out of this as always. _Loves watching storms_ ---
**Author:** ![hyperjes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df705f/32.png) [@hyperjes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyperjes)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/150 "2003-09-18T10:37:34Z")
**Jeff** , the store may have cleaned out those sections itself. They might have put the fish and meat into the freezer or something, in case they are unable to access the building or the power goes out. Just a thought. Looks like the wind here is picking up quite a bit. We’re beginning to have random showers as well. It’ll be pretty nasty come afternoon, according to our local weather channel. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/151 "2003-09-18T10:49:26Z")
I saw a photo on some site yesterday that accompanied a story about people stocking up for the storm. The photo showed a boy holding _four gallons_ of milk. The storm will pass thru the area in a day or so - _How much milk do you need for a day or so??_ People are weird. My husband is planning to leave work around 10 this morning and return to the boat to ride out the storm. I expect he’ll do what he did during Floyd - wander around the marina tending to other boats, periodically checking ours. All our fambly members are amazed that he’s staying with/on the boat. My mother thinks he should come stay at her house. His parents think he should go somewhere else. His coworkers can’t believe he’s going to be on the boat. He just chuckles about everyone’s concerns. I ordered him to call me several times during the day so I know he’s still alive. And I’ll see him tomorrow, so there’s that. It’s time to die, Isabel. Try to do so with grace and minimal damage… ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/152 "2003-09-18T12:32:42Z")
I felt out of the loop by not going out and stocking up on bread (I have enough), water (I always have a 3 gal container in the fridge), and TP, so I went out to see if I could find a camping lantern to go with my flashlights. No dice, Wal\*Mart was out of all portable lighting devices. No lanterns, flashlights, and almost out of candles… I’ll make do with what I have. ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/153 "2003-09-18T12:55:59Z")
People do buy odd things. I worked for over 10 years at one of the big supermarkets in our area and for us ‘snow panic’ was always a big thing. Forcast 2 inches of snow and people shopped like the blizzard of '78 was coming back at us! I’ll never forget one storm in early January. I was on an express register with a line way back down the aisles and the whole store was a zoo… most people had milk/bread/water/popcorn type items so they could spend a day or two watching movies while the plows dug them out. One guy had a Valentine card. Another woman had 2 bags of sugar free candy. The mind boggles at why they waited in line almost half an hour for these items. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/154 "2003-09-18T14:14:13Z")
I’ve been stockpiling too, despite the fact that I live a couple of thousand miles away from anywhere that’s going to be affected by the weather. I have put the “quit smoking” thing on hold and purchased two packs. I have a thermos full of espresso ready to go, and a bag of throat lozenges. 16 pints of Guiness are standing by as a form of post traumatic therapy. When the wireless phone network goes down it seems to cut out everybody’s ability to call anywhere but my desk. Ah well, at least it’s going to be the nice laid back people of the East coast calling. Good luck to all in the path, and I’ll be by on my coffee break to personally erect a tower and generator in your back yard so you don’t miss any calls. All you have to do is ask with the proper tone of righteous hysteria. Swearing will, as always, get you priority on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/155 "2003-09-18T14:20:15Z")
Water, canned food, battery powered radio, flashlights, candles, fire, duct tape, plus games and intoxicants for the boredom. That’s a simple hurricane list that should get you through. Some other things which would be cool to have: gas generator, walkie talkies. Or, life jackets and a raft if you seriously miscalculated staying. ---
**Author:** ![juliuslizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dec6dc/32.png) [@juliuslizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/juliuslizard)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/156 "2003-09-18T16:37:59Z")
I’m just mad because everyone and their freakin’ mothers have at least one day off, and I’m stuck here at work. No fuckin’ fair dude. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/157 "2003-09-18T17:02:56Z")
When I got to the store, all that was left was wadded beef, creamed eels, and corn nog. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/158 "2003-09-18T17:13:23Z")
You should have gone to the Harris Teeter out on Glebe near the Ballston mall. Went there last night and they still had everything. Picked me up a top sirloin and some bacon. And some milk for my cereal. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/159 "2003-09-18T18:21:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hyperjes \* > **Jeff, the store may have cleaned out those sections itself. They might have put the fish and meat into the freezer or something, in case they are unable to access the building or the power goes out. Just a thought.** I thought of that, or a combination of the two. But on Tuesday night? We have a friend who works for Safeway; Giant being out of fresh meat and fish sounded odd to him, too. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079/160 "2003-09-18T18:34:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairyChatMom \* > **I saw a photo on some site yesterday that accompanied a story about people stocking up for the storm. The photo showed a boy holding _four gallons_ of milk. The storm will pass thru the area in a day or so - _How much milk do you need for a day or so??_** Not to weigh in on the side of hurricane hysteria, but I could understand getting four gallons of milk in some situations… say if you live in a semi-rural suburb and have several kids. It’s not just a matter of getting through the storm itself. You have to consider whether you’ll be able to get out of your house or neighborhood for a few days afterward. If the storm is particularly bad, your store may not have power, or the delivery trucks might not be able to get to it. If I was looking at Isabel coming ashore here in Louisiana, I’d probably plan on roads may be impassable for at least two days post-storm. We in Baton Rouge only caught the western side of Hurricane Andrew, but some major streets were still blocked 48 hours later, and parts of the city didn’t get power for up to a week afterward. In the smaller surrounding towns, it was worse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-its-isabel-shes-coming-right-for-us/201079.md?page=9)