I feel that if someone chooses to live in an area that has a high probability of being struck by hurricanes and/or floods, they should be required to build something that will withstand the threat. Otherwise, they should move out of harm's way, even if it requires government aid. Insurance companies and taxpayers repeatedly paying to rebuild these areas is foolish and it is an unnecessary burden on all of us.

I wonder if we had a threat map, like the 100-year flood maps, that included hurricane, tornado, flood, whatever, how much of the country -if any - would be free of such threats?

I'm sure I detected disappointment when the media reported the storm hand been downgraded to a Category 2. I know that hours after it had been downgraded, one network was still reporting it was a Cat 3 when it "slammed" into the coast. It seems there is a fair amount of acting when the reporters are standing in the wind trying to report and getting blown all over. Maybe I just don't have an eye for un-biased reporting...

Probably not much with tornadoes included. Hurricanes and floods cause damage on a large scale and it's fairly easy to predict where they are most likely to occur. A tornado, while very severe, is much more limited in the amount of geography that it covers.

Wildman800,

We to (Old Hammond hwy, Flannery road in Baton Rouge) suffered little damage, minor roof issues,turbine blown off, fence downed, One Tree toppled,lots of tree limbs in yard etc.

We lost power for about 4 hours, have lent standby generator to friends still without power (hope this turns out to be a good choice).

Several hospitals are still without power, stores are mostly closed, ones that are opened are largely bare, what's left people are waiting in long lines (we have lots of stores,food,water,tons of stuff including various BOB's and kits).
Have two battery powered TV's, which on February will be useless as digital broadcast is mandated.

Maybe we will buy yet one more generator, (can't have too many backups right?)
Fuel can be a problem unless you store several days to a weeks worth (We do).

Cell phone (voice and text messaging) has been somewhat spotty, I have both a personal and work cell phone on two different providers (ATT & Verizon).
The voice has been weaker on Verizon, but Data weaker on ATT.
Line lines also have a fare amount of call can not be completed.
Internet not available on either of my two networks for 6 hours yesterday (DSL & Cable).
Note: I did not make excessive calls for personal use, mostly work, related to Oil and Gas infrastructure.

Gustav was reported to have greater winds than Betsy (which I remember as a kid), but the damage seems to be lighter.

Funny thing about Wind damage; one yard has nothing, the next a tree down, shed destroyed etc. Could be elsewhere in Baton Rouge damage is more extensive.

All and All not as bad as Katrina for local impact.

Oh well several more chances to test our prep, this is the most active part of Hurricane season.

One additional observation, before the storm really had the wild eyed look of panic, the media really hyped the downside potential (Cat 3 maybe 4), statements by Government about the same, it really gives a good feel of how people cope with emergencies. It certainly gives a person some comfort and serenity to have prepared (years ago and constantly) with equipment and training, also reading ETS makes me feel less like OC/OCD, even wife no longer complains.

Blue Skys and stay dry.
MarshAviator

I do not agree with that. What would be the criteria for determining a probability of flood or hurricane? That could include much of the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida and Florida north to Virginia. Are you saying all these people should move because of Hurricanes?

Thunderstorms can be very bad... Not many sounds as scary as the Tornado Warning Siren going off!

Uh, in spring a "severe thunderstorm" passed through my area with 60mph straight line winds and small stream flash flooding; about 20 miles east several tornados set down. The news coverage of that area was wild. The video showed a single traffic lane cleared on a suburban street lined by downed trees stacked about 10 feet high waiting to be hauled away.

It's a local event but very important to the people who live in that area. I would almost prefer a hurricane, because you have days to decide what to do - we had a couple of hours at most with this.

Anyway, my 3 mile normal commute took me about 1 hour 30 minutes to traverse with my vehicle. It was almost 30 minutes before I could get off base - all three exit roads were blocked with trees and/or power lines. The one road block not including power lines was cleared pretty quickly. Once on *city limit* streets, after trying 3 of 4 reasonable alternate routes, I had to wait another 30 minutes for a tree to be cleared.

It turned out, I was out of power for about 3 days over this thunderstorm, and I live withing the city limits. The ground was saturated before this happened and this storm brought down mostly huge old oaks. One of the trees that took my power out had a 4 foot diameter trunk at the base. It took them more than a day to clear a 1 mile stretch of road which my power line ran along. Obviously, I could have walked home, but didn't what to leave my truck if I didn't have too.

I did find out that Petzl headlamps are great items. I used a Petzl some and an Everyready to go around the house and read with. The Petzl had this pretty white light while the Everyready had this really annoying yellow spot in the center.

I also found that a cheap aluminum messkit was garbage after almost melting it over a propane stove burner. Also, I can't cook eggs without a good non-stick skillet.

-Tommy

A chance of an event is always the same for each event, unless some new information comes along say the likelyhood of an event changes.

If you're going to say that Florida "keeps getting hammered" or the Mid-West is always getting flooded, then maybe you should start saying "all large congregations of people are terrorist targets". With that thinking, everyone in the country should be dispersed.

Or, a novel idea, you could just try and mitigate the threat and just live life.

Being from earthquake country, I have to say that earthquakes (and terrorists attacks for that matter) don't happen all that often. Hurricanes, on the other hand, do indeed hammer the SE corner of the country each and every year, numerous times in fact. I don't know how you do it.

But just living on is the only way to go. Sticking your head in the sand just doesn't work...

Greetings,

Baton Rouge's electrical infrastructure has suffered major damage with lines AND poles being brought down by falling trees. The northern 1/2 of BR residents will have power restored in a week. The southern 1/2 of BR residents will have power restored in 4-8 weeks. LSU is closed "until further notice". The supply situation in BR is good. My DD2 & her BF have now Bugged-Out of BR so they can stop living as refugees in their powerless apt.

Power is out but being rapidly restored around the Vidalia, Ferriday (Concordia Parish) area. Many cell towers were knocked out and still are out.

Power is out in Scott, La.

Power is rapidly being restored in the New Iberia area. Landline service is being restored rapidly as well. Cell phone service has been restored.