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[TamerVirus]

Going to Miami to Hurricane-proof the condo!
Next week!
After the hurricane has passed through!
Yay timing!

[Folly]

Deleted- Wrong Thread

[Folly]

Sorry, wrong thread.

Though the hurricane may become politicized with Trump diverting disaster relief funds...

[Arx]

Dorian has changed course slightly, and is now expected to skirt Puerto Rico's east side today, then continue on to hit northeast central Florida as a Cat 2 Category 3 Category 4 Saturday Sunday evening/Monday morning!

It keeps gettin' bigger.

[Frumple]

As long as it stays out of the gulf things will probably be, uh. Less bad. Gulf's like hurricane pcp or some shit.

E: Nevermind, looks a lot like it's going to get in the gulf. If that even matters if it plows into the state as a cat 4+. Fuckshit we are not ready for this to happen again

[Greiger]

People losing their minds at dollar general, ran out of bottled water 2 days ago.  Came in in plain clothes to help out for a few hours and regretted it.  Yelled at by people for being out of bottled water twice in one hour, somebody bought out our entire supply of C batteries and was later found outside reselling them for twice what he paid for them and telling people we're out of all batteries (not just the Cs he bought).

People are acting like it's the goddamn apocalypse.  We've dealt with hurricanes before people!

[Frumple]

*scratches head* There's probably a fair few that haven't, in fact, dealt with a cat 4 dropping on top of their head, though. Which is where intensity forecasts on landfall are going.

There haven't been many of those over my (or my grandparents', for that matter) lifetime to hit florida, and I'll speak from experience a cat 1-2 coming to visit is more than a wee bit different from a cat 4-5 deciding to shit on you from on high. The former can be fun, the latter sends parts of your neighbors houses to say hello.

If your area is in the direct impact zone and it hits you in the upper reaches of cat 4, it's actually pretty damn likely you come out the day after to the scene of it looking like the apocalypse just happened. Like, they are probably panicking a bit much, but...

[wierd]

...

(Full disclosure: Lives in tornado alley)

Shouldn't they do what we do, and keep emergency kits with that shit in it, if they live in an area prone to this kind of weather??

It should have:

Wind-up radio/flashlight (so no need for batteries) (Also charges cellphones.)
Bottled water (at least 3 gallons bottles)
a bucket (If your shelter gets blocked, you need "something" for "hygiene.") with a lid
Food to last 5 days (per person)
Blanket & sleeping mat
First aid kit (should include scissors and gauze as well as topical antiseptic)
(and, smart but not strictly needed)
Shovel
crowbar
knife

[Frumple]

I mean, should, sure. Do? Different question, that. So's able, remembers to, so on, so forth

There's also going to be a lot of people who's going through things for the first time for whatever reason (visiting, first time under own finances, etc.), or trying to restock, or whatever. Iirc the logistics of how things play out with hurricanes (days warning, etc.) vs tornados (more localized, less warning, so on) leads rightly or wrongly to different prep profiles. Want to say the difference in geography plays into that; there's basically fucking no basements in florida, ferex, and if there were they'd basically be borderline suicide to shelter in (and questionable to store emergency stuff in) due to flooding issues. Having a storm kit is a good idea, storing it can be a different question.

Though the profile for a hurricane kit differs a bit. More food and water, mostly -- partially due to being further south, partially due to hurricanes tending to level much wider swaths of land. Can take longer for relief to reach you, more or less. If I'm not misremembering it, local news stuff is suggesting a gallon of water per person per day for a solid week or so though that's for more than just drinking.

E: It's also good to remember that florida has a pretty hefty population. Even if a relatively small fraction is lacking one thing or another, them flexing all at once in the face of an incoming storm can cause all sorts of logistics problems. Everyone in a tornado alley state might be able to fit in one grocery store but that don't work in these swamplands.

[wierd]

While it's less pleasant to look at, there are ways to have an "Above flood level" storm shelter.  (Basically, they install it on a concrete slab at surface level, then pile shitloads of dirt on top to make a hill.) While most people think this part of the country is totally pancake flat, there are areas that are chronic floodplains, and those areas still need shelters.  Other options are building flood control burms/dikes around the entrance, etc.. but those options would be less effective in hurricanes because of the rains.   

Tactfully-- the flooding issue is not unique to florida, though their situation would be "Flooding guaranteed";  It just means more planning and thought into the shelter's construction.

(See for instance, these above ground shelters, intended to be bolted onto heavy concrete slabs. (which IMHO, need Vaultec blue and gold paint.)
https://www.stormrooms.us/aerosafe-tornado-shelter/

And or-- this one that needs to say pulowski, and play a jingle every time you open it.


This kind is more what I am thinking though.  It's still "in ground", but installed inside an artificially made hill, and thus above flood plain level.


Also--

Tornado Alley states are more populous than you give them credit for.  We *DO* have major cities you know. 

https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&met_y=population&idim=place:4055000:4075000:4819000&hl=en&dl=en
https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&met_y=population&idim=sub_county:2079000:2071000&hl=en&dl=en

We aren't as dense as Florida, sure-- (since we aren't coastal. For some reason coastal areas are super dense), but "One store" is hardly correct.  Wichita has close to 6 super walmarts in it, and countless dollar general stores, for instance.  We get similar "Oh shit!" buyouts when things like ice-storms hit, and knock out power for weeks at a time in the winter. (Generators and such sell like hotcakes.) 

I would say that the big chain stores place stores at the same "effective population served" ratios, regardless of state. While you would have more stores, they would all be serving the same basic number of people per store, and so would sell out the same way.

[Frumple]

It depends a lot on what it does, yeah. My biggest worry is it plowing through the state (or possibly worse, not, and proceeding to the next step at full power), getting into the gulf, and then coming back around for Round 2, Fuck All Of You Boogaloo.

Also yes, the one-store thing was a joke.

...also everything about those shelters linked are mildly fucking terrifying. All my eyes can see is that one with the kid shut up, with the flood waters quietly covering it A fairly small artificial hill seriously wouldn't cut it in some of the worse flood zones around here. Neither would up-stairs or attic, assuming either meaningfully existed.

[wierd]

The area *IS* mostly flat here, so it takes quite a bit of rain to make deep flood water, but it does happen on occasion.

The situation there would just require the hill to be taller, and thus even more unsightly.  Not the same as impossible.

(And yea, the "Pulowski-esque" shelter looks like a total deathtrap, hence the tounge in cheek reference)

[scriver]

Be safe, Americans. Keep your towel handy and most importantly, don't panic.

[Iduno]

...

(Full disclosure: Lives in tornado alley)

Shouldn't they do what we do, and keep emergency kits with that shit in it, if they live in an area prone to this kind of weather??

So uh, you've never been to Florida then.

E: It's also good to remember that florida has a pretty hefty population. Even if a relatively small fraction is lacking one thing or another, them flexing all at once in the face of an incoming storm can cause all sorts of logistics problems. Everyone in a tornado alley state might be able to fit in one grocery store but that don't work in these swamplands.

Yes, but larger populations also tend to have more stores because they have the population to handle them.

[wierd]

Tornadoes are a yearly scourge here bro.  We get a whole lot more of them than you realize.

https://www.livescience.com/25772-tornado-alley-map-stats.html

If we were as dense as Florida, we would have to have FEMA here permanently.

Saying "Never been to Florida" is kind of a smug non-substantial dismissal tactic that I will call as bullshit.  Our severe systems may be smaller, but we make up for it in numbers.