Zoeyann - I agree - I will be shopping tomorrow. However, I will have to limit food stuffs to dried pasta and high energy drinks/ chocolate etc. Also, I will have to make sure I dont take any scissors, knives and things like that - I don't think the airlines would be too impressed. I do hear what your saying about me wanting to head in the direction from where everyone else will be running. But you do have kids and they come first!!!!!
Hey, Hurricanedude - lots of beer I think will be needed!!!
A really big favour
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hurricanedude
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hurricanedude
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ChaserUK
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But do you have an aircraft on your driveway??? Seriously, just plotted the latest co-ordinates of Isabel and it keeps on coming towards Florida!!! WHat I am saying is this - if your serious and I reckon you are then I will book a flight tomorrow and get a flight for Tuesday next week and meet up with you. We can then position ourselves depending on the latest forecasts!
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Good luck man. I think you're nuts, but if you've got to do it, I guess you've got to do it. If that thing makes landfall as God forbid, a strong 4 or 5, it's going to look like an atomic bomb struck wherever it makes landfall. I'm not kidding. The pictures of the damage from Camille down here where I live look like a photo from a bombed out European city during WWII: huge hotels, homes, apartments, port facilities .... just rubble.
For GOD's sake, stay inland a few miles wherever you end up.
For GOD's sake, stay inland a few miles wherever you end up.
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opera ghost
- Category 4
- Posts: 909
- Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2003 4:40 pm
- Location: Houston, Texas
Okay- I admired you in the beginning- hey I always wanted to take a couple days off and treck off towards the nearest hurricane on the gulf coast to be there- to see it. Seriously. I'm desperate to see a hurricane- been begging for 12 years for one to hit me- Take me I'm yours sort of thing.
But things change when you get out of the minor hurricane phase and into the big leagues. You're talking about catching a flight into a hurricane that's possibly one of the worst to ever make landfall on the US. Once the NHC pinpoints a landfall location- every sane person within a hundred miles of it is going to pack up all thier things and get the hell out of it's way. Even the hardcore hurricane chasers aren't going to be out on the beach yelling Hurricane Party!
Untill the last few years I didn't really comprehend what a hurricane entiled- I'd been through an F2 and F3 tornado- I'd been in some of the nastiest thunderstorms the gulf coast had to offer. I've been through tropical storms and I loved it ALL. I wanted more more more more. I wanted a Cat5 to come ripping through my hometown just so I could see it blow.
Then I realized a few key details. 1) I'm not immortal. 2) I'm married- and suddenly I realize just how much destruction could come into that life.
Anyone in this Hurrcane stands to lose it all... and the dice are weighted against you. Allison (TS) blew through and I watched in horror as stories of people being blown into water and dragged down the Bayou's surfaced. Water comming into the basments of buildings which had never flooded before. I cried as I watched the bayou I live next to fill- and then overflow- right into my neighborhood. Most of the people there lost everything they owned. I sat in a minivan and FELT the wind nearly knock it over as we drove for safety. I stopped at intersections that had never been impassable- and realized that I was trapped from my fmaily, trapped from my own home. And that was just a Tropical Storm.
I drove through the remains of Grace as she drifted up between Hosuton and San Antonio- I could barely make out the tail lights of the van in front of me- I could not see the road. My winshield wipers were useless. I drove on faith alone that the car in front of me would not go off the road- and he drove on the faith that the car in front of him would not. The winds nearly pulled my mustang off the road... and this storm was easily 3 hours off the coast.
Imagine with me, if you will, winds as fast as a car on a freeway driving- 55-60 miles an hour. Have you ever put your hand outside the window as you traveled on a sunny day? Have you ever really felt the wind as it went over and through your fingers? I always through that was the coolest sensation- my entire arm being dragged backwards based soly on the drag from my palm. that's the speed at which the winds blow in a Tropical Storm. That was a kicking good time (aside from all the damage) in Allison. Imagine going through a rainstorm- the worst one you've ever experienced, with you hand still out that window. Less fun. The rain hurts. It's like hundreds upon hundreds of little cars beating against you untill you can't feel anything anymore. I was sore for days.
Okay. Now imagine with me- doubling that double nickle (the traditional speed limit here in Texas)- up to 110mph. At this point you're putting your hand- palm out on a sunny day in a race car- cars on this side of the ocean are rarely at this speed. My dad took me out once in a porsche on a racing oval- and we got up to 110 mph. The entire car shook with the effort to achieve that speed and it was a thrill- lemmie tell you- a true thrill. But I didn't stick my hand outside the window. Dad said that a piece of gravel popping off the track could impale my hand and do some serious damage. But I can only imagine my hand out in that wind- being dragged back against every effort to pull it forward. I can only imagine the rain as it came in on the wind- pelting and thrilling. That's the strenght of a Category *2* hurricane.
You're talking aobut walking into a hurricane with possible sustained winds of 155+. Well you actully wouldn't be walking- you'd be flying. We're looking at the equivilant of an F3 tornado (give or take). The difference between a tornado and a hurricane? A tonado can be the size of a field in width. It can be an awesome power of destruction. A hurricane, Isabel for example, is the size of an entire state- and we're not talking Rhode Island. We're talking she could be as large as Texas when she makes landfall. Texas is larger than the countries of France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland and Luxembourg combined. The swath of destruction is incredible- it's terrifying. It's INSANE to walk directly into.
Please rethink this- please. Pick a tamer hurricane. I'll put you up here in Houston and we can go 'Cane chasing when the next Cat1 or Cat 2 hits the Gulf Coast. But playing with Issy is going to get a lot of people killed- I'd hate to see someone who seems so bright and intellegient in her path.
But things change when you get out of the minor hurricane phase and into the big leagues. You're talking about catching a flight into a hurricane that's possibly one of the worst to ever make landfall on the US. Once the NHC pinpoints a landfall location- every sane person within a hundred miles of it is going to pack up all thier things and get the hell out of it's way. Even the hardcore hurricane chasers aren't going to be out on the beach yelling Hurricane Party!
Untill the last few years I didn't really comprehend what a hurricane entiled- I'd been through an F2 and F3 tornado- I'd been in some of the nastiest thunderstorms the gulf coast had to offer. I've been through tropical storms and I loved it ALL. I wanted more more more more. I wanted a Cat5 to come ripping through my hometown just so I could see it blow.
Then I realized a few key details. 1) I'm not immortal. 2) I'm married- and suddenly I realize just how much destruction could come into that life.
Anyone in this Hurrcane stands to lose it all... and the dice are weighted against you. Allison (TS) blew through and I watched in horror as stories of people being blown into water and dragged down the Bayou's surfaced. Water comming into the basments of buildings which had never flooded before. I cried as I watched the bayou I live next to fill- and then overflow- right into my neighborhood. Most of the people there lost everything they owned. I sat in a minivan and FELT the wind nearly knock it over as we drove for safety. I stopped at intersections that had never been impassable- and realized that I was trapped from my fmaily, trapped from my own home. And that was just a Tropical Storm.
I drove through the remains of Grace as she drifted up between Hosuton and San Antonio- I could barely make out the tail lights of the van in front of me- I could not see the road. My winshield wipers were useless. I drove on faith alone that the car in front of me would not go off the road- and he drove on the faith that the car in front of him would not. The winds nearly pulled my mustang off the road... and this storm was easily 3 hours off the coast.
Imagine with me, if you will, winds as fast as a car on a freeway driving- 55-60 miles an hour. Have you ever put your hand outside the window as you traveled on a sunny day? Have you ever really felt the wind as it went over and through your fingers? I always through that was the coolest sensation- my entire arm being dragged backwards based soly on the drag from my palm. that's the speed at which the winds blow in a Tropical Storm. That was a kicking good time (aside from all the damage) in Allison. Imagine going through a rainstorm- the worst one you've ever experienced, with you hand still out that window. Less fun. The rain hurts. It's like hundreds upon hundreds of little cars beating against you untill you can't feel anything anymore. I was sore for days.
Okay. Now imagine with me- doubling that double nickle (the traditional speed limit here in Texas)- up to 110mph. At this point you're putting your hand- palm out on a sunny day in a race car- cars on this side of the ocean are rarely at this speed. My dad took me out once in a porsche on a racing oval- and we got up to 110 mph. The entire car shook with the effort to achieve that speed and it was a thrill- lemmie tell you- a true thrill. But I didn't stick my hand outside the window. Dad said that a piece of gravel popping off the track could impale my hand and do some serious damage. But I can only imagine my hand out in that wind- being dragged back against every effort to pull it forward. I can only imagine the rain as it came in on the wind- pelting and thrilling. That's the strenght of a Category *2* hurricane.
You're talking aobut walking into a hurricane with possible sustained winds of 155+. Well you actully wouldn't be walking- you'd be flying. We're looking at the equivilant of an F3 tornado (give or take). The difference between a tornado and a hurricane? A tonado can be the size of a field in width. It can be an awesome power of destruction. A hurricane, Isabel for example, is the size of an entire state- and we're not talking Rhode Island. We're talking she could be as large as Texas when she makes landfall. Texas is larger than the countries of France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland and Luxembourg combined. The swath of destruction is incredible- it's terrifying. It's INSANE to walk directly into.
Please rethink this- please. Pick a tamer hurricane. I'll put you up here in Houston and we can go 'Cane chasing when the next Cat1 or Cat 2 hits the Gulf Coast. But playing with Issy is going to get a lot of people killed- I'd hate to see someone who seems so bright and intellegient in her path.
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ChaserUK
- Category 2
- Posts: 630
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I do hear what you say and I really appreciate your detailed thoughts and experiences - I really do. Thing is I have waited five years and if I wait for a tamer storm I may wait another five years. I know this is well risky and if things get too bad I will stay out of her direct path for sure. However, she could always weaken or not make landfall at all either way I think that I need to give this a go. I will probably end up just booking the flight and end up with a really nice sunny holiday on the beach! Just don't know.
I will wait a little longer and see how things pan out I think.
Matthew.
I will wait a little longer and see how things pan out I think.
Matthew.
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Well, if you REALLY want to see it, book a flight to somewhere in the Southeast and make sure you rent a car...once there is some certanity about where it is going to hit, drive there. If it hits as a Cat 4 or 5, your going to be in trouble, so stay away from the coast...I'm not sure about this but the hotels may close if they know there is a Cat 4 or 5 coming at them...maybe people in the Southeast can confrim this for me.
This being said, I don't think you should go to the direct path of a Cat 4 or 5...it is risking your life and also the lives of the rescuers who may be called upon to save you if you get injured or trapped somewhere...but its your decision.
This being said, I don't think you should go to the direct path of a Cat 4 or 5...it is risking your life and also the lives of the rescuers who may be called upon to save you if you get injured or trapped somewhere...but its your decision.
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stormywind88
- Tropical Low
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Sat May 31, 2003 11:33 am
- Location: Kannapolis, NC
Chaser,
I admire you for your adventure. I have to agree with Agua please stay inland. I live 15 miles east of Charlotte about 200 miles from the coast and when Hugo came through things here were a nightmare. I would never try a cane at the coast. I wish you well and keep in touch with the board.
Stay Safe
I admire you for your adventure. I have to agree with Agua please stay inland. I live 15 miles east of Charlotte about 200 miles from the coast and when Hugo came through things here were a nightmare. I would never try a cane at the coast. I wish you well and keep in touch with the board.
Stay Safe
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ChaserUK
- Category 2
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Thanks everyone - just checking out some flights and prices now but I do plan to stay away from the coast when things turn ugly. I have to agree I have thought of flying to somewhere in the Southeast and travelling to near or close to the expected landfall area but not right underneath or where the E/W portion of the eyewall is expected. I also understand the burden placed on those people who have to perform the rescues I will just have to be careful bigtime! Am revising my plans all the time but I will be staying in touch!
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KeyLargoDave
- Category 1
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Watching or fleeing, even for a storm nut
An excellent post about the power of hurricanes and the terror and destruction they can cause.
I am in Fort Lauderdale, about 80W 26N. If a Cat 1 or 2 is coming, I'm shuttering my place completely and hunkering down. If there are storm chasers in the area, I'll let you know if I can offer my place to ride out the storm. I'll keep in touch through this forum.
If Isabel is a 3, I'll be thinking seriously about evacuating. If it's a 4 or 5, and the core is predicted to be within 80 miles in 2-3 days, I'll be packing. I'd probably go to a hotel about 100 miles away, somewhere at least 10 miles from the coast.
I would like nothing better than to gather with dedicated (and informed and prepared) storm nuts and have some help and company to ride this out if it ever comes. But we'd all have to think very very very carefully -- and plan reinforcements and major supply stocks, including a generator, chain saw, and so on -- before considering staying in anyone's home for a direct hit from a storm with winds sustained above 120 mph.
Matthew: Have you thought about what kind of structure you need to be in to survive a Cat 4 storm, in case you do end up getting right in the path as you plan?
What does anyone else think about structural requirements for surviving a hit (within 30 miles of the center) of various hurricanes? For example -- Cat 1 -- need some protection from breaking windows.
Cat 2 -- possible loss of roof without steel shutters on all openings.
Cat 3 -- possible loss of walls unless made of reinforced concrete, probable loss of some or all roof covering.
Cat 4 -- Only poured concrete roofs and very sturdy, low-profile structures can survive without damage. Roads completely clogged with debris afterward, mass destruction, loss of all infrastructure, government, police. Total survival mode afterward (and it's hot and sunny).
Cat 5 -- Only bunkers survive, and you don't want to be in the area afterward. Possibility of no escape from the zone for up to 10 days afterward. Epidemics, riots, wild animal attacks and other unimaginable bad effects. Martial law, if you're lucky.
After Andrew, people painted pleas to President Bush on their houses because no one had shown up to help (except hundreds of exceptional locals) for three days. The emergency manager for (then) Metro-Dade county nearly broke down in tears and cried out "Where the hell is the calvary on this one!" at a press conference in Miami when everyone realized that late in the week, it was chaos in South Dade. Brian Norcross has said in interviews that people thought government might have to completely abandon an entire section of the county where hundreds of thousands of people had lived.
And Andrew was a TINY though nasty storm...
Just some stuff to ponder.
I am in Fort Lauderdale, about 80W 26N. If a Cat 1 or 2 is coming, I'm shuttering my place completely and hunkering down. If there are storm chasers in the area, I'll let you know if I can offer my place to ride out the storm. I'll keep in touch through this forum.
If Isabel is a 3, I'll be thinking seriously about evacuating. If it's a 4 or 5, and the core is predicted to be within 80 miles in 2-3 days, I'll be packing. I'd probably go to a hotel about 100 miles away, somewhere at least 10 miles from the coast.
I would like nothing better than to gather with dedicated (and informed and prepared) storm nuts and have some help and company to ride this out if it ever comes. But we'd all have to think very very very carefully -- and plan reinforcements and major supply stocks, including a generator, chain saw, and so on -- before considering staying in anyone's home for a direct hit from a storm with winds sustained above 120 mph.
Matthew: Have you thought about what kind of structure you need to be in to survive a Cat 4 storm, in case you do end up getting right in the path as you plan?
What does anyone else think about structural requirements for surviving a hit (within 30 miles of the center) of various hurricanes? For example -- Cat 1 -- need some protection from breaking windows.
Cat 2 -- possible loss of roof without steel shutters on all openings.
Cat 3 -- possible loss of walls unless made of reinforced concrete, probable loss of some or all roof covering.
Cat 4 -- Only poured concrete roofs and very sturdy, low-profile structures can survive without damage. Roads completely clogged with debris afterward, mass destruction, loss of all infrastructure, government, police. Total survival mode afterward (and it's hot and sunny).
Cat 5 -- Only bunkers survive, and you don't want to be in the area afterward. Possibility of no escape from the zone for up to 10 days afterward. Epidemics, riots, wild animal attacks and other unimaginable bad effects. Martial law, if you're lucky.
After Andrew, people painted pleas to President Bush on their houses because no one had shown up to help (except hundreds of exceptional locals) for three days. The emergency manager for (then) Metro-Dade county nearly broke down in tears and cried out "Where the hell is the calvary on this one!" at a press conference in Miami when everyone realized that late in the week, it was chaos in South Dade. Brian Norcross has said in interviews that people thought government might have to completely abandon an entire section of the county where hundreds of thousands of people had lived.
And Andrew was a TINY though nasty storm...
Just some stuff to ponder.
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wolffeeder
- Tropical Low
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2003 10:39 am
- Location: Delray Beach, FL, USA
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roads
If you are planning to drive, keep in mind that when evacuations are ordered the highways might turn into one way roads. So, if you delay too long, it may be impossible to drive the way you want to go.
I live in Palm Beach County, on the SE Florida coast. There are basically only two real highways leading north, and the way I understand it there are plans to make them northbound only in case of an evacuation. So the only way south would be by smaller highways/city streets.
Don't get the impression that most people will evacuate. With so many people that is a physical imposibility in less than two days. In fact, here, they tell people who are not in evacuation zones to please stay put. They have also talked about designationg some sort of shelters of last resort for people who are stranded on highways trying to get out when a hurricane hits - just strong buildings, no particular staff or supplies or anything. Now how stranded motorists know where these building are is anyones guess.
Also, keep in mind after the winds get to a certain point (which I forget exactly what it is) no emergency vehicles will go out - no police, ambulances, fire trucks, nothing. Everyone will be completely on their own for a while.
I might consider letting you stay here if Isabel heads this way, but I found out yesterday that if she does hit I am now in an evacuation zone for strong hurricanes. They changed the rules, I didn't used to be. If my house was on the other side of the railroad tracks, just maybe 20, 30 yards west, I wouldn't be. So, if men with guns come around and tell me that I absolutely must leave I guess I will - and go four blocks west to my friend Becky's house if she will let me, which I think is kind of pointless. But, at least I will be able to get back over here quickly. Otherwise I have to go way inland (~ 20 miles) to mom's house.
I live in Palm Beach County, on the SE Florida coast. There are basically only two real highways leading north, and the way I understand it there are plans to make them northbound only in case of an evacuation. So the only way south would be by smaller highways/city streets.
Don't get the impression that most people will evacuate. With so many people that is a physical imposibility in less than two days. In fact, here, they tell people who are not in evacuation zones to please stay put. They have also talked about designationg some sort of shelters of last resort for people who are stranded on highways trying to get out when a hurricane hits - just strong buildings, no particular staff or supplies or anything. Now how stranded motorists know where these building are is anyones guess.
Also, keep in mind after the winds get to a certain point (which I forget exactly what it is) no emergency vehicles will go out - no police, ambulances, fire trucks, nothing. Everyone will be completely on their own for a while.
I might consider letting you stay here if Isabel heads this way, but I found out yesterday that if she does hit I am now in an evacuation zone for strong hurricanes. They changed the rules, I didn't used to be. If my house was on the other side of the railroad tracks, just maybe 20, 30 yards west, I wouldn't be. So, if men with guns come around and tell me that I absolutely must leave I guess I will - and go four blocks west to my friend Becky's house if she will let me, which I think is kind of pointless. But, at least I will be able to get back over here quickly. Otherwise I have to go way inland (~ 20 miles) to mom's house.
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KeyLargoDave
- Category 1
- Posts: 423
- Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2003 4:03 pm
- Location: 25 05' 80 26'
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wolffeeder, if it's Cat3+, you should evacuate even though you're on the edge (US1?) of the evac zone. Even four blocks could make a difference, 'cause you know the surge could be the worst thing at the coast.
I'm about 30 miles south of you I think, just outside the evac zone (east of US1 and I-95).
In any case, good luck!
I'm about 30 miles south of you I think, just outside the evac zone (east of US1 and I-95).
In any case, good luck!
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