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I remember before Hurricane Ike (Houston) I was at the used book store getting a few new paperbacks to keep me company. There were a few people in line with the same idea. The lady behind me said she has extended family staying with her and their pets. They went to the liquor store and stocked up. . .
There is a weather section on this forum. There is a good thread about preparing for a storm, tips from other people. There is also a thread on Hurricane Florence. Last year I kept an eye on the Harvey thread and it helped a lot to see others post. Even though you know the storm is coming, there's still a lot of uncertainty. https://www.city-data.com/forum/hurricanes/
I think people are greatly underestimating this storm.
Our local (Houston) weather team I watch say Florence will be a lot like Harvey. A slower moving powerful storm that will be a rain event. Thankfully with Harvey we never lost power. We were home a solid week, never left, but could watch the news and get on the computer. So often you lose power and you have no idea where the city is setting up drop sites for water and relief supplies.
I'll also mention that from Harvey, the floodwaters were toxic. If there is a choice between walking in them or not, I'd say not. It's not safe and if you have a compromised immune system, it's life threatening.
The big motto here is, "Turn around, don't drown." They post that on our highways after the warnings of a hurricane and 'be prepared.'
Our local (Houston) weather team I watch say Florence will be a lot like Harvey. A slower moving powerful storm that will be a rain event. Thankfully with Harvey we never lost power. We were home a solid week, never left, but could watch the news and get on the computer. So often you lose power and you have no idea where the city is setting up drop sites for water and relief supplies.
I'll also mention that from Harvey, the floodwaters were toxic. If there is a choice between walking in them or not, I'd say not. It's not safe and if you have a compromised immune system, it's life threatening.
The big motto here is, "Turn around, don't drown." They post that on our highways after the warnings of a hurricane and 'be prepared.'
I think that's worth mentioning about the toxicity of the rain water. You never know what type of toxins might be getting into our water systems by this storm. Sometimes the supplies are as much needed for after the storm has come and gone as it is during the storm itself. After all, the storm itself should last no more than, what, a couple days? The brunt of it, at least? It's dealing with the aftermath. My hope is, power stays on and the storm winds up not being as bad as anticipated.
If your area drains quickly, the storm should pass in a few days. During Harvey we had down times where we didn't have rain but when it did, it poured. Part of the problem with Houston and areas around here is the area is so flat. We're not much higher than sea level. There are many rivers that flow downstream and out to the Gulf. So the rain poured and dumped, rivers overflowed, and rivers flowed downstream to the areas that were saturated with rain. There were rivers overflowing their banks.
We had rain from Harvey way before it landed, from the outer bands. I asked my husband about the reservoirs in Harris County and he told me they were bone dry before the storm. The Harvey Storm thread can show you - the final pages more about the impact. https://www.city-data.com/forum/hurri...2017-a-23.html
Good article on toxic floodwaters: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/h...amination.html
"The results of The Times’s testing were troubling. Water flowing down Briarhills Parkway in the Houston Energy Corridor contained Escherichia coli, a measure of fecal contamination, at a level more than four times that considered safe.
In the Clayton Homes public housing development downtown, along the Buffalo Bayou, scientists found what they considered astonishingly high levels of E. coli in standing water in one family’s living room — levels 135 times those considered safe — as well as elevated levels of lead, arsenic and other heavy metals in sediment from the floodwaters in the kitchen."
Best thing to have are those waders. Here in Houston we had gaters, snakes, and fire ants in the water, too.
I know this is a little Kate for this storm but try to order some WaterBobs which are bladders that fit in your tub and can store up to 100 gallons of water.
Thinking of everyone there in NC. Be safe.
-Your friends from the state of Iowa.
Thanks for your kind thoughts.
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