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How bad it gets depends a lot on how far into Cuba it goes before exiting it. It if barely takes the eastern tip of Cuba and emerges into the Atlantic, it could be a Cat. 3 before skirting up the coast and from what I see it appears that this might be likely. I am waiting for it to finish what it is going to do with Cuba and then see how fast it rebounds after getting back into the Atlantic before I get jumpy. But I am getting my kerosene lamps filled up and I think I will start getting other things like water, canned foods and the like together. On that note, here are some things to take into consideration:
1. Prescription drugs-call your physician for refills at least by Wednesday if you will not have a week's supply by Saturday (the 1st.)
2. Be sure to have bottled water. If you live in the country without city water, fill your bathtubs so when the power goes off, you can put the water in the back of the toliet so you can flush it. City water people won't need to do this but it never hurts to have some water in the tub for clean up.
3. Try not to use candles as they may catch on fire if knocked over by pets and children. The safest thing is these battery operated lights I bought that you merely attach to the wall and push on. After that, consider kerosene lamps with oil. Generators are almost a necessity for people with respiratory problems. The lower the barometric pressure drops, which is going to happen in a strengthening hurricane, the more breathing problems a pulmonary patient will have.
4. Be sure you have a tank of gas per vehicle and cash on hand. Charge cell phones, laptops and a battery operated television or radio are nice to have on hand. You can even get battery operated DVD player for the children. Just be sure to charge them before the power goes out.
5. Most of the worse storms we have had in the past few years to Greene County (inland about 50 miles from the Pamlico Sound region and NW inland about 90 from Wilmington) have come inland through Wilmington. This particular storm seems to be on that heading as well. What will determine how bad it gets here is if it makes another landfall between Florida and South Carolina after Cuba and how far inland it goes into Cuba. Once it has passed Cuba, it would be a good time to start watching this thing closer.
6. Be sure to have some bread, canned foods with a non electric can opener on hand, things like pop tarts, crackers, canned soup. What I usually do is make a pot of soup or a container of chicken salad and that is what we eat off of. Once the storm is gone and if you have no power, the grill is the place to head to. Instead of letting thawing food go bad, start grilling it. You will have to make do with vegetables and the like. But you can wrap a potato and cook it right on the grill with your meat. We have a fireplace and if worse comes to worse, we fire it up to heat things with.
7. Stay off the roads. Although you might be tempted to explore, don't. There is probably power lines down, trees down, and other debris that can turn a normally 5 miles trip into a nightmare on trying to get back home. Stay out of the way of emergency personnel.
8. It probably would be a good idea to take pictures and videos of your home now before the storm hits. Inside and outside film is good. That way if you have a crack that the insurance agent is saying was prexisting, you can pull out that picture and say "See it wasn't here before the storm."
9. Taping windows is a complete waste of tape and time. If you are close enough to the coast to board up, use plywood.
10. The Weather Channel has updates at 11, 2, 5, 8. and 11 and every hour at :50 past the hour they have the hurricane update. I have used them for years but when it really gets close, I do use the local stations as well.
I hope this helps you some and if worse does appear to be coming to worse, don't hesitate to ask me or anyone else that has been here a long time.
Oh and if you are told to evactuate, don't argue, try now to formulate an evacuation plan and get out early. Take all important papers with you as your home owners insurance policy/renter's policy, proof of residency/social security cards for all the family members. Make arrangements for pets and remember a lot of places including shelters don't house pets. If you plan to stay, put important papers in a safe place like a safe. I wrap mine in a plastice baggie and store it in the freezer. Take a household inventory including serial numbers can save you a lot of confusion later on. Be sure you have children's immunizations records with you and your own medical history as well as there. Special information such as pacemakers should be where you can find it as well as emergency workers. I also placed pictures in water tight bins with Fran and Floyd. I didn't actually have needed to done it but Floyd was horrible. 3/4 of the county I live in flooded and they lost everything including precious pictures and the like that couldn't be replaced. And be sure you get batteries for radios and other small appliances or battery operated item now before we get the word that it is actually headed this way. Once the warnings and watches go up, you can forget buying batteries.
If an enormous Category 5 made landfall in Charleston or Georgetown (completely destroying the SC coast) and made its way north to the Charlotte area (or Waxhaw), it would probably be a cat 1 or a cat 2 by that time.
This is information from the NOAA Nat'l Hurricane Center website: Category One Hurricane:
Winds 74-95 mph (64-82 kt or 119-153 km/hr). Storm surge generally 4-5 ft above normal. No real damage to building structures. Damage primarily to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery, and trees. Some damage to poorly constructed signs. Also, some coastal road flooding and minor pier damage.
Category Two Hurricane:
Winds 96-110 mph (83-95 kt or 154-177 km/hr). Storm surge generally 6-8 feet above normal. Some roofing material, door, and window damage of buildings. Considerable damage to shrubbery and trees with some trees blown down. Considerable damage to mobile homes, poorly constructed signs, and piers. Coastal and low-lying escape routes flood 2-4 hours before arrival of the hurricane center. Small craft in unprotected anchorages break moorings.
Category Three Hurricane:
Winds 111-130 mph (96-113 kt or 178-209 km/hr). Storm surge generally 9-12 ft above normal. Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures. Damage to shrubbery and trees with foliage blown off trees and large trees blown down. Mobile homes and poorly constructed signs are destroyed. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by battering from floating debris. Terrain continuously lower than 5 ft above mean sea level may be flooded inland 8 miles (13 km) or more. Evacuation of low-lying residences with several blocks of the shoreline may be required.
Category Four Hurricane:
Winds 131-155 mph (114-135 kt or 210-249 km/hr). Storm surge generally 13-18 ft above normal. More extensive curtainwall failures with some complete roof structure failures on small residences. Shrubs, trees, and all signs are blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Extensive damage to doors and windows. Low-lying escape routes may be cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of structures near the shore. Terrain lower than 10 ft above sea level may be flooded requiring massive evacuation of residential areas as far inland as 6 miles (10 km).
Category Five Hurricane:
Winds greater than 155 mph (135 kt or 249 km/hr). Storm surge generally greater than 18 ft above normal. Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. All shrubs, trees, and signs blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Severe and extensive window and door damage. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less than 15 ft above sea level and within 500 yards of the shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5-10 miles (8-16 km) of the shoreline may be required. Only 3 Category Five Hurricanes have made landfall in the United States since records began.
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