Tampa: Board up the house?

[Greg]

Thanks, guys. I feel rather well prepared for the power outage, and the food, and the toilet, and the water, and the boredom, and the insanity of staying.

I feel like we've gotten a little off topic, so I will restate: Tampa: Board up the house? I have driven around and there is nobody boarding up their houses! Reguardless if you are staying or leaving, I would think there would be a lot of people boarding up (thats heat I mean by the neighbor thing). Therefore, I know I am not alone.

I think people are shrugging it off, perhaps until it's too late.

[tampastorm]

I live in Tampa and of guilty of not boarding up myself, also agree no one is either. Still have a few hours in the morning.... I hope!

[Greg]

Thank you nccoastalgirl. I appreciate the positive posts, and I'm sorry if i am getting a little cranky, but I see evacuation as pretty much a non-alternative for many reasons. At this point I am truly looking for ways to reinforce my home. Reguardless if I leave or stay, I don't want my house to be busted up. If Home Depot has materials for me to use, why not take advantage of it, as long as I don't use the slipshod construction techniques I am being warned of.

Perhaps you would not think that way if you had to ride out one of those things. Just keep your options open. The house can be replaced; you and your family cannot. If they tell you to get out, then git.

They are not telling me to get out. I do not live in an evacuation zone. That's for the people on the coast, and I think that's part of the problem. If they were telling me to get out, I would. I'm getting mixed signals I guess.

[derek]

Greg, for what it's worth, if your main concern is that your kids will always want to run from adversity, just take a drive through whatever area the hurricane hits after the storm (and after the emergency management types have gotten things back under control...don't add to their problems in the immediate aftermath.) That should explain things pretty well for them. There are times when the proper thing to do is get out of Dodge.

As for boarding up your place, the best advice I can give you is that if you want to do it, you can get the materials, and you have the time to do the job right, then go right ahead. If you don't feel confident in those three things, I would concentrate on securing at least one area in your house as a safe room (if you are staying,) or take the extra time it would take you to board up and get moving that much sooner.

The main problem with storms like this is they can intensify very quickly. Most of the time when a major storm comes in, we can watch it ramp up, so we have a good idea of what it will do. Charlie is one of those nasty buggers where the educated guesses are even more guesses than normally, and there is precious little room for error in the time department. It doesn't help matters that it looks like it is going to affect almost all of Florida, not to mention the rest of the eastern seaboard. Plan for the worst, and hope for the best.

BTW, there are alot of people (most, I expect) who think that since they've never seen a big one, they won't. They are idiots.

[Mello1]

Thank you nccoastalgirl. I appreciate the positive posts, and I'm sorry if i am getting a little cranky, but I see evacuation as pretty much a non-alternative for many reasons. At this point I am truly looking for ways to reinforce my home. Reguardless if I leave or stay, I don't want my house to be busted up. If Home Depot has materials for me to use, why not take advantage of it, as long as I don't use the slipshod construction techniques I am being warned of.

Perhaps you would not think that way if you had to ride out one of those things. Just keep your options open. The house can be replaced; you and your family cannot. If they tell you to get out, then git.

They are not telling me to get out. I do not live in an evacuation zone. That's for the people on the coast, and I think that's part of the problem. If they were telling me to get out, I would. I'm getting mixed signals I guess.

Well, from reading some of the other threads, this storm is now moving rapidly with a small, tight eye. The whole southern tip of Fla. is getting hvy rains right now. If evaluation is still an option, you may have to go now, vs. later. NHC says this will be a Cat 3 storm ~~ that's heavy damage, but if you think you got a sturdy house and you are away from the coast lines, perhaps you will be okay. I guess I'm a chicken. I would leave early just to avoid the rush, but that's me... Good luck anyway!

[bahamaswx]

No one boarding up? Wow... If Charlie manages to landfall that far north... Tampa is going to get owned.

[wayoutfront]

Thanks guys , I am beginning to understand why Insurance rates are skyrocketing.

[Janie34]

I feel like we've gotten a little off topic, so I will restate: Tampa: Board up the house? I have driven around and there is nobody boarding up their houses! Reguardless if you are staying or leaving, I would think there would be a lot of people boarding up (thats heat I mean by the neighbor thing). Therefore, I know I am not alone.

I think people are shrugging it off, perhaps until it's too late.

People have become complacent. Many of them have never experienced a major hurricane, or perhaps no hurricane at all for that matter. I would have boarded the windows, personally. Just because no one else seems to be taking all precautions doesn't mean it isn't a good idea. Your time is growing short now. Be sure your life and the lives of your family are protected. Material posessions can be replaced. You might be fortunate, Charley may not make a direct strike on Tampa. OTOH, it seems very unwise to bet everything on a roll of the dice. You still have some limited time before things really go downhill. Use it wisely.

I do want to stress that there is a big difference between standing up for onesself and being foolhardy. Being able to defend yourself or being able to speak up for yourself is very good. Taking your chances with a major hurricane because one doesn't feel it is "manly" is a questionable policy at best. Foolish at worst. I'm not flaming you, its just good advice.

[Guest]

Dont forget your garage doors. Fiberglass cant handle the stress.

[soonertwister]

I'm afraid if anyone hasn't boarded up already their chance is over, unless the materials are on hand. If I were the owner of any business I wouldn't be open on this Friday out of consideration for the safety of my employees. Open businesses will be few and far between.

God bless and may he protect those who are in harms way. I'm feeling very sad for the plight of those on the Florida west coast today, as this is likely to be a major disaster across large portions of that coast.

I hope that all persons there are thinking first about the safety of themselves and their families, and rushing all preparations to completion at this time, if they haven't already.

Right now there are mild winds from the south in Tampa Bay, but those winds will rapidly become difficult this morning. In another few hours conditions may reach tropical storm levels ahead of Charley, and from there it will rapidly deteriorate.

Goodness gracious, I wish I could feel positive on a day like this, but I'm feeling terribly gloomy for the folks there right now. It's going to get really ugly today.

[wxman57]

Dont forget your garage doors. Fiberglass cant handle the stress.

Great point! Many houses are totally destroyed when the weakest point, the garage door(s) blows in. There are reinforcement kits for the bottom of the door to prevent this. But you could just get a 2x4 and attach it to the floor inside the door to prevent the bottom from blowing into the garage. Once your home has an opening, it's likely to be destroyed even with sub 75mph winds.

[ColdWaterConch]

Hi Greg:

Some people are being a bit harsh, here. Perhaps they don't realize that not everyone in the US understands what a hurricane really is. For example, I am from FL so I know hurricanes inside and out, but now live in Pittsburgh. People here do not know the difference between a hurricane and a tornado....and they have no concept of a hurricane b/c they have never seen one.

I lived through Andrew, so I'll give you my tips. Your idea for boarding the windows is sound, and is the best way to do it. If you have the materials, go for it.

Try to create a safe room, but understand that if you are unfortunate enough to be in the eye wall, that your house is going to suffer damage. In Andrew, we lost all of our windows (oddly, many just popped out of the tracks and walls), garage door, and most of our roof. Once the roof goes, there is not much you can do but hunker down and try not to get hit by debris.

Today, you need to gather canned food, water,and propane. Lots of everything. Trust me, you can't have enough of it.

While this isn't Andrew, after Andrew we had no power for 46 days. Before Andrew we would have never dreamed of needing that much in the way of supplies.

[Scott_inVA]

Gee, I hope I never in my lifetime see a "6x8" sheet of plywood fly. I think I'll stick to the usual 4x8 sheets, and cut it down to the size of the window, inset with 2x2 framing and concrete screws into the stucco, as many plans for this type of shutter depict.

I think I will create a safe room where one room is boarded up and leave the rest to nature. In Illinois, at least we could go to the basement for shelter. One boarded up room will at least provide a safer place to be.

Wow! sounds like you have a busy day of carpentry and mason work. Good luck with that.

Scott

[Miss Mary]

Greg - SeaBrz_FL started this thread, if you haven't seen it already, of what to do now if you're staying put:
http://66.98.251.192/phpbb2/viewtopic.p ... 5fbe5198b9

I agree with CWC, some of the replies you've received here have been harsh. People are on edge. You're a new transplant to Florida. The West Coast hasn't had a direct hit from a Hurricane in decades. So people on that side are complacent it seems. The fact that most of your neighbors have not boarded up their windows shouldn't matter. If you can find plywood in stock today, buy it, install it. If not create the saferoom that was mentioned here. Read the other topic link I provided - it mentions stocking up on water, even tap - fill every bucket, jug, bathtub, etc.

I liked Linda's approach best. Up here in the Midwest we have the threat of tornadoes. I've often thought I need to put all of our important documents in a folder/container, with pictures of the house (not stored on the computer!) printed, insurance policies, etc. I was starting an emergency supply closet just prior to our invasion of Iraq, 2003. When we were instructed to buy plastic sheeting, duct tape, bottled water, non perishable foods, in case of chemical attack. Perhaps we all need to prepare like this again. If it's never needed, that's the best scenario. If you need it, it's all there.

Hang in there and if you can update us today on how you're doing. Let's prepare you for the worst, but hope for the best.

DT - I just didn't like your comments to Greg, he's not enough of a man b/c he didn't prepare for this storm? He's a recent transplant! From Chicago! He's used to winter storms, not Hurricanes. People procrastinate. Think it won't happen to them. Cut him some slack. Making him feel like c*&p in the wake of Cat 3 Hurricane isn't helping at all!

Mary