Hurricane Florence

Henry88 · Post by **Henry88** » Wed Sep 12, 2018 11:36 pm

Hey guys didn't see one so I thought it appropriate maybe to start a thread on the folks in the Carolinas.

Having caught the eyewall of Charley as a weak CAT 2, I knew last October, when CAT 4 Mathew headed my way I was looking at complete destruction.

Each forcast brought it further west until I waited for the final shift that never came. It passed less than 40 miles east of me.

My point is these people looking at their homes for the last time. What do you grab? Is there room for your granddad's Gibson Guitar, etc.

It is unimaginable what is about to happen, much like the folks in California, but they only had minutes in some cases, not hours.

Keep them in your prayers as they will need it

Post by **Mags** » Wed Sep 12, 2018 11:58 pm

Henry88 wrote: What do you grab?

What you don't have room for that is important, stuff into your gun safe and/or dishwasher.

Post by **ESquared** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:11 am

Thoughts and prayers for all of our friends in the Southeast.

Post by **RetiredSeabee** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:20 am

It seems that Florence is determined to make our cruise out of Charleston to Bermuda interesting.
We are still expecting to board on Sunday.

As for what to take when a storm is definitely going to try to squash my home. If it was a matter of days to prep, rent the largest trailer my truck can haul and load up everything that is precious to my wife. I will do my best to convince her that all of my guns and ammo are precious.

I think they are adorable.

By the way this storm is named after my maternal grandmother. She passed away in 1989 but I have been talking to her about this storm of hers. Apparently my request that she send it back where it came from went to her bad ear. But it seems she decided to drop it down from a cat 4.
Thanks Grandma, you were always a feisty old lady.

Post by **JEBar** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:11 am

adorable indeed .... the latest projections indicate your area is most certainly in a zone where you need to take this storm seriously ..... we are northeast of you, just south of Raleigh .... they are still calling for power outages, flooding, and downed trees in our part of the state .... thankfully, our place is high enough and there aren't any significant streams/rivers close by .... the local forecast has thrown in the words "scattered tornadoes" .... that's not unexpected but hate to hear it anyway .... hope the cruise works out .... above all, stay safe

Post by **PT7** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:17 am

My cousin and his wife recently moved to SC. He lives in the city of Blufton, which is located in the far southeast corner of the state. His house is in a low-lying area, and surrounded by quite a number of river tributaries. I ran a mapquest and found they are a short 8 miles from Hilton Head Island, which simply sits in the Atlantic.

He has chosen not to evacuate and remain throughout Florence's coming ashore. For how close he is to the ocean, I'd think Florence will be at his front door very soon.

As ESquared mentioned above, my cousin and his wife are some of the folk do need our thoughts and prayers.
PT7

Post by **BigAl52** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:50 am

I hope you're cruise comes off without a hitch Seabee. I also hope everyone else comes away safe.

Post by **clovishound** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 12:18 pm

Well, I live here in the Charleston area. Not sure if the cruise will make it. Forecast is for winds in the 50s on Sat. Slacking off the to 20s by Sunday. Right now I-26 has had the lane reversal, so no east bound traffic allowed. They will probably end that tonight. Many stores started closing Tues and most are probably closed today.

Bottom line, not a good time to be traveling in this area, although the worst should be over by Sunday. It may come down to the departure time as to whether they will go or not. Early morning, not so good. Late in the day, maybe.

Post by **GunnyGene** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 3:23 pm

Post by **ESquared** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 6:08 pm

PT7 wrote:My cousin and his wife recently moved to SC. He lives in the city of Blufton, which is located in the far southeast corner of the state. His house is in a low-lying area, and surrounded by quite a number of river tributaries. I ran a mapquest and found they are a short 8 miles from Hilton Head Island, which simply sits in the Atlantic.

He has chosen not to evacuate and remain throughout Florence's coming ashore. For how close he is to the ocean, I'd think Florence will be at his front door very soon.

As ESquared mentioned above, my cousin and his wife are some of the folk do need our thoughts and prayers.
PT7

Sending good thoughts and best wishes and prayers to your relatives, PT, I hope they stay safe. Eight miles from the Atlantic anywhere in the Carolinas is not a place I'd want to be.

Post by **PT7** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:37 pm

Appreciate that, ESquared.

Interesting what I learned today from my cousin. I had called him and his wife three times, and he did return my call late this afternoon.

Based on the strength decline of Florence, and the point of entry on the SC coast, the govt officials in his town (and for the surrounding area) rescinded the original evacuation order. Most people there are doing "life as usual." He does have his house boarded up with steel shudders, was considering to evacuate, but when not required and most all of his neighbors remained, that was their choice also. He told me there are no water or gas shortages, and the town is normally active.

So I'm most relieved to hear it "from the horse's mouth." It sure is a different perspective from the serious weather reports I watch on the tv, which I'm certain carry validity within those warnings. And I'm glad of that in this case!!

I'm good with and trust my cousin's decision, although I was pretty concerned at first.

Thanks for your note. Sure do continue to pray for SC folk that are more impacted by Florence....not a good event at all.
PT7

ESquared wrote:Sending good thoughts and best wishes and prayers to your relatives, PT, I hope they stay safe. Eight miles from the Atlantic anywhere in the Carolinas is not a place I'd want to be.

Post by **CT_Shooter** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:39 pm

In CT and maybe everywhere else, Hurricane damage is not covered by homeowner's insurance unless there is an added Hurricane rider. If a Hurricane is downgraded to a Tropical Storm by the National Weather Service before it hits the shoreline, you're covered by your generic homeowners policy; otherwise, nope. The last Hurricane to threaten CT was downgraded within an hour of hitting the state. Lots of folks were thankful, but totally unaware of how it effected their insurance coverage. We added the rider to our policy as soon as we learned about it.

Post by **JEBar** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:31 pm

most unique Hurricane Florence related picture that I've seen so far ..

.. no details with the picture ..

Post by **CT_Shooter** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:37 pm

JEBar wrote:most unique Hurricane Florence related picture that I've seen so far .. .. no details with the picture ..

The wind as forecast won't likely be strong enough to take the roof, but the forecast for rain would make those stakes useless if it was.

Post by **PT7** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:39 pm

Jim,

Those straps look quite similar to mobile home tie-downs I had used years ago in southern IL (tornado belt). They actually went over the roof of the mh, and laid against the exterior walls. Kind of noisy in an everyday strong wind. The anchor was a metal auger about 4-feet long that you twisted into the ground. In later years, mh manufacturers built this tie-down system with the straps inside the mh walls and roof. The metal tie-downs would then not be augured into dirt; rather, there would be concrete pads or columns used to secure them.

You're right. Kind of a unique way to prep a house for protection against the force of Florence.
PT7

JEBar wrote:most unique Hurricane Florence related picture that I've seen so far .. .. no details with the picture ..

Post by **JEBar** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:41 pm

the forecasters are saying that in our area we have a 100% chance of rain for the next 3 days but that tomorrow will be our toughest

Post by **BrokenolMarine** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 10:27 pm

We prepared as best we can.
We have food and water.
The propane tank is full and we have the whole house genny.
Plenty of ammo in case we need it for any reason.
The house sits on a ridgeline, if we flood, those around us are under fathoms of water.
We good.

Post by **clovishound** » Fri Sep 14, 2018 1:13 pm

From the current predictions, Blufton should be fine. We are about 90 miles closer to the storm and are predicted to get a little under 30 mph winds and about 7" of rain.

Retiredseabee, I see that the cruise is still tentatively scheduled to depart Sunday afternoon. Whatever you do, be safe. Lots of wind and rain in NC and upstate SC today and tomorrow.

Post by **JEBar** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:04 am

its hard to believe the eye of Florence is well ashore in SC and even though it has weakened considerably, we are still getting bands of heavy wind and rain .... Florence has to be the slowest moving such storm ever .... it is causing major flooding in our are .... about all we get is standing water .... contrast the first 3 pictures taken out of our front door today with 3 taken during Hurricane Matthew back in Oct 2016 .... scattered power outages are all around us .... 2500EU Honda generator purchased after Hurricane Fran in 1996 as been running at the home of our youngest son's in-laws for the last 30 some hours .... no clue when they will get their power back .... all in all, things are going as well as can be expected