Back to the RV BOV idea...

Having grown up in L. A. (Lower Alabama) my family was always prepared for hurricanes (we never evacuated and the first one I remember was Camille that hit Mississippi). After running off and joining the Air Force for twenty years I moved back with family and built a house in 2004. We started preparing as soon as we moved in at Easter time and of course Ivan hit in September of '04. I'm 25 miles due north of Gulf Shores, Alabama and I feel I am fully prepared for another direct hit like Ivan. When Ivan was on the way I bought a generator and it made life so much more easier because the power was out for 7 days after it hit. I was able to run my water well pump, freezer, a few lights and the ceiling fans in each room. I hooked it directly in to my meter with the electrical head removed and no chance of electricity flowing back into the line.
I keep in stock two weeks worth and rotate out my gas, water, batteries, food, (and beer) and I have several cases of MREs left over that were distributed by our volunteer fire department after Ivan. I keep on hand two extra propane tanks for my grill and crawdad cooker.I had a GenerLink device installed into my electrical meter last month so that I can hook up my 7550 watt Generac portable generator into my house wiring. It cost a few bucks but it will be worth it when the power goes out after the next hurricane.I wanted to get the GenerLink installed to safely run my generator and necessities in the house to ensure the wife and kids were kept happy and comfortable (If momma ain't happy, nobody's happy!).
All of this preparation came in handy during Katrina, even though we did not take a direct hit. I do not evacuate because my wife is a nurse at a local nursing home and she must be there during every hurricane. My children and I batten down the hatches and ride out the storm. Hopefuuly this year will be like last year!! Nothing

"...crawdad cooker..."

Gotta love it!!!

Not here in Cayman Islands, and i'm quite sure not in Canada - could be wrong(engineer in old life and something like that would of stuck out in my mind). But down here, you can get a construction crew to build a hurricane safe rooms (for a nice price point), where usually your third bedroom or office is concrete block on all walls, floor (not sure of ceiling, but assuming it is), then usually a quite strong door with solid locks.

That's because we keep rebuilding the place for them & never make them change the design to seriously stand a chance of surviving a direct hit. The next time we rebuild someplace like the Gulf Coast it should be to seriously reworked building codes.

Edit.

It needs to require built in shutters on the coast & east sides among other things. IIRC some codes in FL require built in generators in new construction.

I work at a pretty young company. Most of the people are 20's and 30's. I tried to convince some of the friends I had, they should have a minimum emergency kit. Extra food and water. Mostly for electrical interruptions, or problems that could delay supplies for a day or two.

They felt they didn't need it. "The store is nearby". Every time I go shopping, they always seem to only have about 6 24 packs of water in the store. The shelves could easily hold like 50. They'll depend on the store and water from the indoor pipes.

I also mentioned skills like First Aid and CPR (not real useful in a disaster) to one person in particular. He told me "you have to be interested in that kind of thing" and he wouldn't take it. I asked him would he help someone who was injured? He said "yes". I asked, wouldn't you want to know what is the right thing to do? He said he'd do his best.

Scares me. The Good Samaritan law might just protect him.

I moved out of Florida to Connecticut, and I can already see the difference. Things are soooo much different up here. My "kit" has gotten bigger for a longer time without stuff.

Hope a CAT 3 or 4 hurricane never hits Long Island.

Maybe you should point out to your work colleagues the Long Island Express

From the Website



The results of a cat 3-4 storm if it struck New York would be even more catastrophic.

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20061024/



Edit - *** How Bizarre!! The main graphic showing the inundation of the New York Area has become just a cross since being first posted ***

yeah. That is the common attitude for most people. They just don't care if they get kill in hurricane. They think hurricane will just pass by in 1hr and why bother to prepare for it.

I had been asking for that I even asked DEMHS for Connecticut for something like it. They didn't have one. The do have SLOSH projections.

I did tell some of them that tens of thousands of people would die in the NYC if a CAT 3 or higher hurricane hit. They seemed surprised. Uh, with the density of the area, and already "normal" rush hour traffic. No one is going anywhere. I would think that evacuation times must be on the order magnitude of minimum 7 days or something. I mean, it takes people like 2 hours to get 50 miles during rush hour.

*shrugs* I'll do what I can to preach, but it's just like religion, if they don't want to be saved, they won't listen until it's too late.

Hi ki4buc,

If a Cat 4 hurricane struck New York, it would be one of the most catastrophic events in US history. 9-11 and New Orleans would pale into insignificance in terms of the death toll and property damage. The worrying thing is that the chances of this event happening even this year are better than not successfully playing Russian Roulette with a well oiled pistol.


Edit **I have found a new location for the New York Inundation Graphic SLOSH projection.**