Hey Capnfun!

[Uncle Deedah]

I expect you're getting a shipload of hurricane hype just about now, welcome to Florida my friend. The weathermen here just absolutely love hurricanes, it's their moment in the sun, so to speak.

If'n ya wanna know the real scoop about what to expect, just ask us old pros.

Happy hunkering!

[capnfun]

Yo! Unk!

Naw bro, I ain't hunkerin' one iota, though I have seen that mentality here as of today...reminds me of the rumor mill with snowstorms in Ky and Tn, absolute madness.

I keyed in on the hurricane tracking websites long before I moved down here along with the prep info as well, it's kinda Y2K'ish ya know : )
So I'm prepared or can be, quickly, as most things are allready in place...BEER, BEER, BEER!!! LOL.

Adios the Adios...... seems like this cane is heading into the Gulf and likely straight towards Nawlin's, God help'em cause it could be one nasty mother if it has that much time to pick up momentum, not to mention the size that it appears it could become. The odds of it doin' a dog leg and headin' to the Cape look very remote, knock on wood.

But......... just in case......what's the land addy [img]eek.gif[/img]

Thanks fer the checkin' on moi chief!

[Uncle Deedah]

Hey Chief,

Beer is good. I'm sure yer all set, but a word of advice from someone who has seen it way too often. If you don't have hurricane shutters, get some plywood and have it all cut to size, screws and washers and the like all in place and ready to go, it's about the best thing you can do for yourself. Plywood of any shape or size is the one thing that disappears pronto once a storm looks like it may head anywhere even remotely near you.

Having been there myself take my word for it, you do not want to be fighting against the tide of the last minute plywood zombies. The wood-undead are a sorry crew, noted mostly for piling 15 full sheets of plywood precariously on top of a '72 Vega and tying it down with sewing thread. Beware laddie, beware!

Bottled water zips off the shelves too, but I reckon you wouldn't mind too much if ya had to brush your teeth with beer, although bathing in it seems a waste.

[img]wink.gif[/img]

[Lon Frank]

Cap't, heed what Unk says about the plywood. I've sat out one little one, and a couple of near misses, and he's right about that and water and batteries (that's what the TV says to get, so.....).

I think the worst thing to watch out for is the folks who wait and wait and wait, then decide to panic. The weather channel guys are already straining at their leashes over this one, and if it turns your way, you'll get to see a lot of craziness.

It's been raining for a week here, and we're so soggy that a heavy dew would flood half the houses in the the neighborhood. We sure don't need that storm comming anywhere near, but we are long overdue. My house is pretty high, but a good storm surge will let me fish off the porch, and we loose power whenever someone in town turns on a toaster and hairdrier at the same time.

[capnfun]

Plywood....check.

Plywood cut to fit.......check.

Plywood labeled for quick install.......check.

22+ gals water fer drinkin.

22+ gals water fer misc.

Food, beer, vino, emergency equipment/supplies.

Satelite internet will have to wait.

So far so good yaw'll?

Lon, I hope this bad girl turns west for ya, sounds like you're already saturated to the max.

[Uncle Deedah]

Attaboy skipper! You're actually quite organized, impressive for someone who looks so much like a half-crocked Capn Hook. Ever hear a gator with a clock in it's tummy?

(edited for awful speeling)

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 20, 2002 11:14 AM: Message edited by: Uncle Deedah ]</font>

[big kumara]

One morning, about 5 am, I was awakened by rain hitting me in the face. I got up, closed the window and went back to bed. Then the wind and thunder really got going. Hubby wakes up.

Hubby: "What's that?"

Me: "Hail."

Hubby: (grunts, rolls over)

(there's a strange flapping noise that's getting louder and louder)

Hubby: "What's that noise?"

(he and a friend had just pulled the shingles off the dormer over our bedroom and they had it covered with a tarp)

Me: "Tarp. How'd you guys fasten it down?"

Hubby: "Uh...some staples and a few bricks..."

(thump-thump-thump-thump-CRASH!)

Hubby: "What the hell was that?"

Me: "Brick."

(thump-thump-thump-thump-CRASH!)

Me: "Another brick."

(thump-thump-thump-thump-CRASH! BANG!)

Me: "How many bricks did you put up there?"

Hubby: (groans, pulls pillow over face)

(BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!)

Hubby: "Now what?"

Me: "Sounds like the shed doors."

(we had recently moved a 50 x 28 ft machine shed into the yard--the center bay had 12 foot high sliding/hanging doors)

Hubby: "Shit. I better go tie 'em down."

(I got up and looked out the window, just in time to see one of the doors lift up, twist off the track and go cartwheeling across the dooryard)

Me: "Uh, don't bother."

(the other door followed a few seconds later. It bounced over the pick-up and imbedded itself in the side of the barn, about 80 feet away. Power finally went out about then)

Me: "We should go downstairs."

Hubby: (groans, mutters something, doesn't move)

(lightning hits the pole light 20 feet from the house. House shakes violently. Hubby flies out of bed. We go down to the living room and I watch the storm through the windows while hubby tries to sleep on the couch. Another shed door ( 8 footer) becomes airborne and lands in the elm tree by the barn)

Me: "We should maybe go to the basement."

Hubby: (groans and mutters)

(RRRRRRRRRRRRIP! CRASH! CRASH! BANG!)

Me: "Barn roof."

(hubby and I race for the basement)

Eventually the storm ended. I called the REA to report our outage, then went outside to inspect the damage. Hubby was sleeping again. The steel roofing on the north lean-to of the barn had peeled off in one piece (60 feet long) and was in a twisted pile in the middle of the yard. The last shed door to go had hit the truck-- on both sides. Tree limbs and shingles everywhere.

The whole east side of the house looked as if it had been sand-blasted--not a speck of paint was left. Half of the old shingles were gone--which was okay, because we were taking them off anyway.

Now the machine shed had been hooked up for electricity before we had it moved. The movers just wound up the cable and left it hanging on the front of the building, ready to be hooked up to our pole when we got around to it. The wind had unwound it and it was laying on the ground.

I was rewinding the cable when the REA truck came by. The driver slammed on his brakes (he freaked when he saw me handling the cable), skidded on the muddy gravel road (we'd gotten over 4 inches of rain) slid into our dooryard and nearly ran me over.

Me: "It's okay, it wasn't hooked up yet."

REA guy: "Oh."

(he looks around the yard)

REA guy: "Damn. Everybody okay?"

Me: "Yeah..."

(horse walks up and sticks his head in through the truck's window and head-butts the REA guy)

Me: "Guess we need to fix fence."

(REA guy rubs his nose and nods, pets the horse, then goes off on his merry way)

What a mess that was...