Suddenly my 5/8" plywood seems flimsy.

-Blast

For a look at my hurricane preps go here.

-Blast

And then half the people that bought supplies at the last minute return them after the storm passes. The home stores get all kinds of "defective" generators.

I HATE people who do that, no matter that the purchase was...

Yup. I saw a coconut go thru a roof (think winds were north of 200 mph at that point). Keep in mind, it was a old caymanian house with a tin roof, but still a sight nevertheless!.

After Ivan (things on this island are refered to 'Before Ivan' and 'After Ivan'), all this new construction took place, hurricane shutters are almost standard on new construction, and proper windows, etc.

If I had the money, i'd go for the steel shutters that roll up, and are controled electronically (like garage door) for every window and door. But the wife frowns upon things that are ugly on the house!!!!

But that experience taught me about how I would build my home if I go back to north america... Have a concrete safe room at least 15' above ground, don't need a basement, and jack that house UP (flooding can happen any time from anything), the house will be concrete (canadian company does poured concrete walls for homes inbetween two forms that eventually become part of the house), etc. I can go on and on... and on... ;-)

Hear Hear!!!!

Blast...Don't you live North of Houston?

I have the plywood, water, tons of food, beer, wine and extra propane, gasoline and a plan to leave if necessary.

Talked with a guy from NOAA and he live within a mile of me and he indicated that if the right storm hit Galveston Island we would have 4 to 8 feet of water in our houses. He said he was more worried about the winds since we are less than 20 miles from the Gulf as the crow flies!

My house has the hurricane straps and storm doors and window; not sure how much help any would be in a cat 4 or 5 storm.

My company is preparing by moving all computer equipment/servers offsite to a secure location away from the coast. We are within blocks of Galveston Bay. I think lots of people are preparing but not nearly enough.

See, my Burt Gummer philosophy works in many, many different scenarios...

And I wonder what percentage of folks here in NYC are prepared? I have plywood for my big glass doors in stock, but not for most of my windows - I live 3-4 miles inland, 98 ft above sea level... Water, food, Power, etc are taken care of, but...

Mr. Drysdale,

Yep, by Old Town Spring. It's about 70 miles to the coast so storm surge isn't a problem. Tropical Storm Allison dropped 39 inches of rain on our neighborhood but our house remained above the flood waters. Flooding isn't a concern but wind and tornadoes are.

-Blast