I thought I’d start a new thread on Irma rather than continuing this in the Texas thread. Hope that’s okay with everyone.
It is looking more and more likely that it will have a huge impact. This is very scary.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/05/us/hurricane-irma-puerto-rico-florida/index.html
For those of you living in Florida, what kinds of preparations are you making at this time, given that we don’t know which part of Florida will be impacted?
I am in north central FL and I have had plans to visit S and his GF in Houston this weekend but now I’m worried if I fly out of Tampa on Friday I may not be able to return on Sunday. Hoping some front pushes the storm out so that it doesn’t hit land.
^^^^@rom828, I do too!
Also should acknowledge that many people living on islands in the path of this storm are in danger as well. I hope as many as possible can get out before it hits.
Living in PA but feeling the stress for those involved in Harvey and Irma.
Fortunately my mom came up north last week and plans to stay through the Jewish holidays. Glad I don’t have to worry about getting her out of SFla this week.
It looks like Florida will be hit, and many islands. Will Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands be eligible for FEMA assistance? I don’t want them forgotten, they will likely be hit hard.
So hard to evacuate all those islands. Where do they fly to? Hopefully people have friends in Trinidad or somewhere else off the path that isn’t too far.
“The hurricane force winds in Irma are wider than Florida,” tweeted Bryan Norcross, hurricane specialist at the Weather Channel. “You won’t need a direct hit to get Wilma-type winds & storm surge on both coasts.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/09/05/catastrophic-hurricane-irma-now-a-cat-5-is-on-a-collision-course-with-florida/?utm_term=.1ba12548dd29
Re: the islands, the vast majority of people don’t leave but shelter in place. (Have relatives who have been through several - think lying in your bathtub for hours with your mattress on top of you) One advantage they have is experience with such events and much construction with hurricanes in mind. Disadvantage is relative lack of resources, difficulty getting help to come in for recovery efforts, and relative poverty to began with.
I suspect most people who live on those islands do not try to evacuate. They just find as safe a place as possible, hunker down and then rebuild.
I’m with @rom828. Really hoping Irma takes the least impactful track - out to sea would be best, but doesn’t seem likely. I don’t wish this on anyone but SC has now had natural disasters two falls in a row…flood and Hurricane Matthew. Would like a pass this year. We’ve just now (2 years later) had people moving into repaired/rebuilt houses from flood. The good news is we have warning and the bad news is that’s not always enough to protect people or property.
We need to have an honest discussion about where people should rebuild. Should insurance or the government keep paying people to rebuild in the same places that gets devastated (near the water)?
^^I agree. Especially along coast. Ones in our town being rebuilt were not all even in flood area or not designated as such when built. Most had to be rebuilt higher off ground or not at all. We also had some unregulated or neglected earthen dams break - which brings up a lot of other oversight, regulatory issues.
After Hurricane Andrew new regulations went into place regarding how roofs are built, down to the particular nails used and how they should be spaced. Some houses were blown to matches while others didn’t get damaged so badly and it really showed up the importance of building standards.
I don’t see why that can’t be done regarding flooding, whether it’s from tides or from rain. We could probably learn a lot from the Dutch… The problem is, there seem to be no “safe” areas. We have states of emergency going on now in several states for different reasons.
How is the following analysis wrong, though:
Flood insurance can’t be offered by private insurers. It’s too catastrophic. It has to be federally guaranteed.
We shouldn’t offer flood insurance for buildings in the most flood-prone areas.
People who live in the most flood-prone areas are low income, because people who can afford to move don’t live in areas that flood all the time.
THEREFORE
We should offer flood insurance to people of higher income, but not people of lower income.
I believe (1) and (3). I understand (2). But I don’t like the conclusion. I don’t know how to deal with this.
They could not rebuilt on the coasts (ocean front). But that doesn’t work because people want to live near the water. Rich people want to live ON the water in their big houses. John Stossel had a house on the water and lost it to flooding. US govt paid to rebuild. Happened again. John admitted that this wasn’t fair because if he rebuilt again, he knew and the govt knew that the house would be destroyed again and the govt would pay again, so he chose to sell his land and build somewhere else. However, another rich person just built on that lot, so the cycle continued.
North central Florida here too . . . moved out of SoFlo last summer and worried sick about in-laws down there, one of whom is a disabled elderly person with extreme needs.
Even in Gainesville the stores are starting to sell out of water, according to my son’s roommate (?). We haven’t been out yet but just made a big grocery run a day or so ago.
My sister-in-law in south Florida said there is not much left in the stores. I-95 is already filling up with people trying to leave.
We are debating making a run to south Florida to pick up SIL (5 hours one way), but I want to do it tomorrow if we have to.
No generator here at our house; we thought last fall’s 2 hurricane swipes were an anomaly. A transformer right behind us blew out so we were without power for about a day (?).
I’d say at least half our neighbors have generators.
My daughter’s school (space coast) said they will keep us informed. They did evacuate for Matthew last year, but in the end received very little damage. The school has a lot of international students who really don’t have anywhere to go. My daughter and friends evacuated for Matthew to Orlando, and Orlando ended up being hit harder than Melbourne. Some people evacuated to Georgia and that was hit harder, with a lot more flooding. The smarter evacuations would have been south to Miami, but no one knew that at the time.