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Category 5 Hurricane Irma Brings 180-MPH Winds to Bear on Caribbean Islands

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Re: Category 5 Hurricane Irma Brings 180-MPH Winds to Bear on Caribbean Islands

#71

Post by smelendez »

agumonkey wrote: post #44
S_A_P wrote: post #30

Having just lived through Harvey, I cannot stress enough that if you are in a position to evacuate, please do so. We were lucky to narrowly escape flooding in our home, but for 3 days we had no water, septic or power(need power for the other 2). The flooding had us stuck in our neighborhood but we were able to kayak out to safety. In addition to high winds(which Houston fortunately avoided) flooding is very dangerous…

I wonder how flat is the houston area. West indies are often volcanic islands. Meaning the high ground will probably be "safe" from flood, the lower parts on the other hands.. Somehow they're a bit used to storms so they're not going full noob on this.

Yeah, I saw the British Virgin Islands evacuated Anegada (which is a flat coral atoll), sending people to Tortola and Virgin Gorda (both quite hilly).

http://www.bviddm.com/emergency-arrangements-for-anegada/

Re: Category 5 Hurricane Irma Brings 180-MPH Winds to Bear on Caribbean Islands

#72

Post by maxerickson »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #70
cookiecaper wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reported price gouging to the AG last year after Matthew -- gas station charging over $5/gal. Months later, they sent back a form letter with generic information about the definition of price gouging ("it is unlawful to sell [commodities] for an amount that grossly exceeds the average price for that commodity during the 30 days before the declaration of the state of emergency"). Was not impressed with the enforcement…

Meanwhile in UK, for example, petrol (aka "gas") is $8.50/gal equivalent (£1.30/litre). >during the 30 days before the declaration of the state of emergency // How's that work. So if you hiked your prices and there's no state of emergency declared it's fine but if the state of emergency is declared 4 weeks later you're acting illegally? Seems like an unworkable regulation. Can you just give people a discount whilst t…

It looks like the law examines the "trade area":

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Displ...

So you just need one joker actually selling gas at market price before the storm and the whole discounting scheme falls apart.

Re: Category 5 Hurricane Irma Brings 180-MPH Winds to Bear on Caribbean Islands

#73

Post by _ea1k »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #64
importantbrian wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in South Florida and this nails it. My friends who have lived here a short time are already planning to pack up and leave. My friends who have been here for 10+ years are all just going to stay and ride it out. I think even if they issued mandatory evacuations many of them would still not leave. They all speak longingly of having neighborhood "hurricane parties" while they wait for the power to come back on. T…

Florida native here. They must not remember Andrew. It was not fun and games. The media plays these storms up, yes, but they really are nothing to joke about. Even inland, as much rain as they produce, it only takes that one gust to push over a 200 year old oak and it can destroy a house. People should take these storms seriously. First responders' lives are put into jeopardy because of foolishness like that. Not try…

The overemphasis on coastal areas is a real problem, actually. I have known people that evacuated away from the storm, only to get kicked out of the hotel as it started to flood (~100 miles inland).

The whole, "everything on the coast is about to be destroyed" trope that gets blasted all over the nation doesn't help with proper risk assessment and planning.

Re: Category 5 Hurricane Irma Brings 180-MPH Winds to Bear on Caribbean Islands

#74

Post by mchristen »

triangleman wrote: post #69
agumonkey wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how flat is the houston area. West indies are often volcanic islands. Meaning the high ground will probably be "safe" from flood, the lower parts on the other hands.. Somehow they're a bit used to storms so they're not going full noob on this.

You're thinking of Cuba, who are certainly not noobs at this [1]. West Indies unfortunately are routinely decimated by tropical storms. For instance Hugo in 1989 destroyed almost everything in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, leading to widespread lawlessness until President Bush deployed troops there [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba_Emergency_Response_System [2] http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/haw…

Store owners guarding their stores from the roof w/ AK-47s will do that.

Re: Category 5 Hurricane Irma Brings 180-MPH Winds to Bear on Caribbean Islands

#75

Post by KVFinn »

swasheck wrote: post #17

I know that this is slightly off-topic so feel free to downvote if you feel so inclined: There's a lot of money that goes into disaster relief and recovery. I think that's great and very worthwhile, thoughts on charity accountability notwithstanding. What I wonder, though, is if there are any organizations that provide pre-relief (prelief?) for disasters. For instance, the comment in this discussion about the airline…

>There's a lot of money that goes into disaster relief and recovery. I think that's great and very worthwhile, thoughts on charity accountability notwithstanding.

>What I wonder, though, is if there are any organizations that provide pre-relief (prelief?) for disasters.

Future Aid: Why Prevention Efforts in Humanitarian Aid Often Fail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZwFG63TNxQ

http://aid.works/2016/10/billions-spent-why-isnt-haiti-ready...

>Humanitarian response is reactive, in part, because funding is reactive. Giving is emotional and irrational. If people can’t see the problem, it isn’t likely to garner support.

>Disaster preparedness is too abstract for people to take out their wallets. Even when someone says, “Hey, if you give $5 now, you’ll save more lives and money in the long run…” people just aren’t inclined to do it. Consider the slogan, “Build Back Better.” The emphasis is on what is already broken. A more pragmatic slogan would be, “Build Better.” It’s not likely to catch on.

Re: Category 5 Hurricane Irma Brings 180-MPH Winds to Bear on Caribbean Islands

#76

Post by cvsh »

triangleman wrote: post #69
agumonkey wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how flat is the houston area. West indies are often volcanic islands. Meaning the high ground will probably be "safe" from flood, the lower parts on the other hands.. Somehow they're a bit used to storms so they're not going full noob on this.

You're thinking of Cuba, who are certainly not noobs at this [1]. West Indies unfortunately are routinely decimated by tropical storms. For instance Hugo in 1989 destroyed almost everything in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, leading to widespread lawlessness until President Bush deployed troops there [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba_Emergency_Response_System [2] http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/haw…

>You're thinking of Cuba, who are certainly not noobs at this. West Indies unfortunately are routinely decimated by tropical storms.

This isn't really true anymore. For example, 95% of homes on St. Martin were destroyed by Hurricane Luis in 1995, because everyone lived in wooden houses. From that point on, the law mandated concrete buildings, and now all but the very poorest people live in houses impervious to hurricanes.

The exceptions are places like Haiti, where folks are simply too poor to afford basic hurricane mitigation. But where people can prepare, they have prepared.

Re: Category 5 Hurricane Irma Brings 180-MPH Winds to Bear on Caribbean Islands

#77

Post by fma »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #64
importantbrian wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in South Florida and this nails it. My friends who have lived here a short time are already planning to pack up and leave. My friends who have been here for 10+ years are all just going to stay and ride it out. I think even if they issued mandatory evacuations many of them would still not leave. They all speak longingly of having neighborhood "hurricane parties" while they wait for the power to come back on. T…

Florida native here. They must not remember Andrew. It was not fun and games. The media plays these storms up, yes, but they really are nothing to joke about. Even inland, as much rain as they produce, it only takes that one gust to push over a 200 year old oak and it can destroy a house. People should take these storms seriously. First responders' lives are put into jeopardy because of foolishness like that. Not try…

Florida native here, too. What op is probably referring to are those who haven't been decimated yet. I've lived in Ft.lauderdale a for a while and went through Andrew. We evacuated inland. The place we evacuated to lost power, where our house didn't. Ironic, isn't it.

Ft.lauderdale wasn't near the eye. It was Miami/Homestead. Anyone who has lived in Ft.lauderdale has probably not faced a damaging hurricane. Andrew was 25 years ago. I do not recall any hurricane after that that caused as much alarm. Just a few days off school.

Re: Category 5 Hurricane Irma Brings 180-MPH Winds to Bear on Caribbean Islands

#79

Post by MaxScheiber »

erobbins wrote: post #67

I have been through 5 hurricanes in south florida, and always stayed put. Wilma was a strong 2/weak 3, and it was no joke. Afterwards there were trees uprooted everywhere, concrete power poles snapped like toothpicks. This storm's winds have 2.5x the energy of Wilma's currently. I would GTFO for this one, it looks really bad.

I second this. Wilma's eye passed over us, which was my first time ever experiencing the eye wall of a hurricane. I vividly remember watching our house's patio enclosure get destroyed from my parents' bedroom.

I wouldn't stick around for this one if I were still in Florida.

Re: Category 5 Hurricane Irma Brings 180-MPH Winds to Bear on Caribbean Islands

#80

Post by rdtsc »

S_A_P wrote: post #30

Having just lived through Harvey, I cannot stress enough that if you are in a position to evacuate, please do so. We were lucky to narrowly escape flooding in our home, but for 3 days we had no water, septic or power(need power for the other 2). The flooding had us stuck in our neighborhood but we were able to kayak out to safety. In addition to high winds(which Houston fortunately avoided) flooding is very dangerous…

What do you think of city mayor's decision not to order a larger scale evacuation. NYT seems to think it was absolutely (their word) the right thing to do. Being on the ground there, would you agree?
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