Hurricane Dorian

@therealjrn yeah. We definitely use the “better safe than sorry” approach here in Florida. A lot of people don’t though and that’s what worries me.

@RiotDemon I do have a sister in Orlando. She’s always blasé about the storms. I think she doesn’t want us to worry. She preps though and is ready for whatever.

@therealjrn Generally, it’s the ones they think are just so so that do the real damage and when they hype them all up and everyone is well prepared in advance, it peters out so… hopefully… this too shall be a bust.

I don’t have a window AC unit though… That’s probably something I should get.

@RiotDemon Hell yes. No A/C would do me in.

@RiotDemon good luck!

@RiotDemon Yeah, do it now before everyone panics and buys up everything. Stay safe!

@RiotDemon @ybmuG It probably won’t be the last. Happy start of hurrican season. I should stock up too.

@RiotDemon I’ve heard that some walmarts are already clearancing air conditioners. Consider a portable unit instead of a window unit; no permanent (or semi-permanent) bracketing in your window, and easy to put away. Two-hose units better than one hose but also more expensive.

Depending on your window type you might want/need some hardboard or waterproofed cardboard to ‘fill gaps’ if the hose adapter is not large enough.

@sammydog01 @ybmuG on my way to the store in a couple of minutes. Hopefully it’s not crazy.

@RiotDemon @sammydog01

@RiotDemon @sammydog01 @ybmuG

@RiotDemon what am I missing? Aren’t we preparing for having no electricity? What good is a window A/C going to do? You need to hire a class of kindergarteners with the giant parachute to fan you.

@katbyter I think @RiotDemon has a gasoline powered generator.

@katbyter @therealjrn yep. Generator. Scheduled to be in the high 80s this week with all the rain. Not having ac gets miserable real quick.

@RiotDemon Are you on the east coast?

@lseeber yep. East of the lake. Luckily not in a flood zone. Not close enough to the ocean for that.

@lseeber @RiotDemon
But you can hardly help being in a potential “wind zone” I guess?

@RiotDemon

yep. East of the lake. Luckily not in a flood zone. Not close enough to the ocean for that.

Well, that’s something at least. Probably the times you’re glad you’re not beach front! lol.

@katbyter @RiotDemon To the person wonder “what am I missing” regarding Window AC’s with NO electricity.

That is what Generators are for…THEY CREATE ELECTRICITY!!!

@char2na What’s this ‘empty space’? We’re dining on steak and shrimp and the expensive stuff from the freezer, because Jim Cantore is coming to town. I’m in Jacksonville. Oh, just the NE quadrant, you say? Riiight. Fuckity, fuckity, fuck.

@carl669

@OldCatLady If you spot Cantore up there you better load that steak into a cooler and get the hell out of there!! Don’t forget the cats!

@duodec I don’t have one, but I do fill my tub just in case so I can easily flush the toilet.

Last time we had a hurricane knock out power, I borrowed a water cooler from my neighbor because I didn’t have an adapter to plug in my well pump. I ended up buying all the parts, making one, and no lie, I was outside getting ready to hook it up, the power came back on. The water cooler was easy to sit up on the counter so I could wash my hands. I think I had forgotten to fill the tub that time.

@RiotDemon Tub can’t be considered potable water though, just grey water even if you bleach and clean it before filling. And if you get any sewer backflow during flooding, even worse. Water Bob makes your tub a potable water store.

We actually used one of the ones I bought here when we heard that they were going to have to turn off our water for up to 30 hours in order to repair a water main. Our water was still ok when I filled it. We only ended up using about 15 gallons (3.5 gallon toilets and washing up) but still nice to be able to flush! We also had a boil order afterwards so kept the rest until everything was settled.

I kept cases of 1/2 liter bottled water for drinking then. Now we use several 5 gallon dispenser bottles that we refill at the store. A weeks worth of drinking and coffee and cooking water minimum at all times.

@RiotDemon sounds like you’re pretty well prepared. Hopefully it just “blows over”!

@OldCatLady where is gas that cheap???!?

@moonhat Sam’s and Costco. Gate etc. are 2.38

@OldCatLady wow! Good deal

@moonhat @OldCatLady It’s $2.08 where I am.

@PooltoyWolf Same from Tampa. Not our first rodeo. I’m stocked up

@llangley You have a giant inflatable wolf to snuggle, too??

@heartny

@heartny Here I am. Rock mew like a hurricane…

@RiotDemon I hope they are a reasonable manager like most boss’s.

@therealjrn yep. Leaving early today. Haven’t decided if I’m going to take all of tomorrow off or only half.

@RiotDemon ALL of course, are you off Saturday?

@therealjrn technically, no. Depending on if we close or not.

(I work at a place that sells hurricane supplies.)

@RiotDemon Oh shit, well enjoy your half day

@RiotDemon @therealjrn uuummm so I guess that is good because you have access to supplies???

@therealjrn @tinamarie1974 yep. Super helpful if I need supplies.

This place is absolutely bonkers.

@PocketBrain Hi SEGA! When are you going to make the Dreamcast 2?

@PocketBrain if you aren’t going to stay home, freeze a container of water and put a coin on top when it’s frozen. Depending on where the coin is when you get back, you’ll know how long the power was out.

Have a few weeks of medicine available for you and any pets.

Pet food.

Extra water for your pets.

@aetris oh my., that really is a hurricane decorated cookie. How strange. I still want to eat it though. I had to stare at it for a while because I thought it was a mermaid trying to hug florida for a while.

@PocketBrain @RiotDemon Coin on the top- no power outage. Coin on the bottom - long power outage. Coin missing - Looting.

@PocketBrain @RiotDemon if you eat some ice cream it is the same. If you can still see where you scooped out ice cream your food is safe ,if flat it melted

@PocketBrain Coleman stoves- the newer gas ones can burn white gas [“Coleman Fuel”] or regular- much more versatile than our propane grill.
In the winter, our wood stove has a cook top we can cook on.
We keep some mildly chlorinated water in 5-gallon buckets with spigots [from brewing supplier] to put on counter for drinking and washing, and refill from water bob, and/or our well water [when we run the generator…]

@JT954 aww, I miss WPB. Didn’t have to weather a hurricane while I was there, though.

@OldCatLady love those discounts!. Unfortunately my neighborhood dispensary only gives to military or SNAP recipients. But they did a rolling sale in August so I got 25% off this week. I stocked up too

@OldCatLady did you get your delivery? Mine is delayed due to the storm…

@RiotDemon Any chance of getting out of town?

@sammydog01 I’ll be going south to stay with my brother and his girlfriend at her dad’s place. Apparently it’s a big, very safe house. I can bring my dog, which is great.

@RiotDemon Good luck!!

@RiotDemon @sammydog01 that sounds good RD! I’m so glad you can bring your dog. Keep us updated!!

@RiotDemon saying and sending positive vibes

@RiotDemon Good luck!!! The news about this storm sounds worse by the hour. Hope your damage isn’t too great and you don’t get flooded.

@RiotDemon what is the latest? Will it miss you?

@JnKL it’s almost stalled at 1mph movement to the west. The track still has it going up the coast, but we are still going to get hurricane force winds. I’m hoping the 11am update shows it turning. It’s worrisome when it moves so slow.

@OldCatLady yea!
/giphy oh yeah baby

@OldCatLady …just checked the NHC and they still show it raking the coast from N of Port Lucie to Jaxville. Hope your sources are the more accurate!

@chienfou @OldCatLady Look at the European models. They are much better than the USA ones.

@Kidsandliz @OldCatLady
Turn Baby Turn!

@chienfou yes, please! Keep turning!

@PlutoIsAPlanet They do it all the time. Cantore and his crew showed up in Mobile when big weather was expected there yr or 2 ago and it was a total bust (thankfully) because it totally broke up before landfall. They’ll just head home or move to the next potential. Generally, the locals have fun with him for a bit while he’s there tho.

@PlutoIsAPlanet Well I saw some photos and videos from the other year where the weather folks pretended to be in horrific weather and then were photo bombed by two kids causally walking down the road in shorts and t-shirts texting while the weather people were hanging on to dear life to a porch post in the driving rain (hose and fan I guess).

@jester747

Thx

@jester747 what about natural gas whole house generators? At least around here everyone has natural gas, and unless a tornado comes through and wrecks the gas line/generator it should run in just about any outage, I think.

@djslack If I had utility-grade natural gas I’d certainly consider DIY-installing a whole-house generator for a couple grand (they easily cost way more than that though).

But still, the little 1000 watt things are just so practical. About the size of three shoeboxes. And that way if your gas line ever does get compromised you also have worst-case-scenario backup beyond the whole-house generator. And if you don’t need it yourself during an outage, you can be a superhero to somebody that doesn’t have one. Plus, take it camping, tailgating, etc.

@djslack @jester747 I’ve lived several places in the boonies where everything is powered by propane due to the generator not working much below -5 degrees F. Stuff is run from a tank on the property (in the summer electricity, but winter lights, etc. are propane; needed refilled once every 3 or 4 months). A bit of overkill for a “what if” scenario though.

@djslack @Kidsandliz Yeah, propane has some neat advantages… it burns extremely clean, hence why Zamboni machines and forklifts use it as fuel so they can be used indoors (cars can easily be retrofitted to run off of it or natural gas as is done safely in many other countries, and we have decades worth of the stuff in the US… so why oil?? That’s another discussion). Anyhow, it also basically keeps indefinitely. Common gasoline with ethanol starts to go bad after just a couple months I believe. Non-ethanol gasoline (available at a few stations, particularly those near boaters) can be stored up to a year. Propane… pfff… till the tank rusts out. Oh, and you can bury big tanks rather safely. Downside is that it has less energy than gasoline… so you only get something like 75-80% of the power that gasoline produces, and in my area a gallon of propane costs way more than gasoline (most of the world it’s the opposite, grrr).

@djslack @jester747 @Kidsandliz

In TX, a number of state owned vehicles are converted to run on propane or CNG. Official program of some sort.

Also, T Boone Pickens famously converted a number of his vehicles.
Some number of farm/ranch folk have done it.

I’m surprised it’s not a more popular option; I suppose people are afraid that if they go to the conversion expense, they’ll then have trouble fueling up.

Also, just about every rural building comes with a propane tank.

I don’t know about local costs v gas/diesel. I presume that if propane were widely used as transportation fuel, the price would become competitive.

@f00l newer homes have to meet the stricter hurricane codes. Most(if not all) new homes are CBS construction. Metal roofing is super popular where I live. Impact windows are more common, but not required. Impact windows/Shutters get you discounts on your homeowners insurance, so it’s worth it. Plus the new windows make the house super quiet and hold the ac better.

I watched a house be built around the corner from me. While the 1st floor was CBS, the second story was wood frame, but with a metal roof.

@f00l mixed answer:
Yes, they are being built (if you are willing to pony up the $$$)
No, they are not (yet) specified/required in order to meet the current building code.

@f00l In 2001, FL required all new houses to have roofs that can withstand 120 mph winds. My house was built in 2003. Irma peeled the shingles off, but the roof had no structural damage, and insurance bought new shingles. My neighbors have held off replacing theirs, hoping for the same result.

@Teripie On an unrelated note did you send your email to @zinimusprime?

@sammydog01 @zinimusprime How do I do that?

@sammydog01 @Teripie you actually just need to click on the link in the email I/ESPN sent you.

@therealjrn this is the joy of living in the south east.

@therealjrn just throw out everything but the European models and you’ll be a lot closer and less confused.

@therealjrn @ybmuG looks like someone shot Silly String all over a google map…

@RiotDemon We had some 79mph winds the other night. I can’t even begin to imagine what 180 would be like.

What are you following for your hurricane updates?

@Barney I just look at NOAA. Watching the news is too frustrating. NOAA just gives the straight facts.

@RiotDemon Thanks, I’m not too fond of the news sites either.

@RiotDemon
/giphy eyetwitch

@OldCatLady @RiotDemon except he was the fucker in charge during Hurricane Michael. LAST YEAR. WTF is wrong with this picture…

@carl669

@carl669 @mediocrebot nope, not this time!

@llangley @OldCatLady exactly! Seriously, wtf.

@carl669

@JT954 it’s usually for old lights. I did buy some fake candles that run on D batteries, but they are on a daily timer and last for what seems like forever.

@therealjrn lol, but when it shows up, watch out!

Is she still in Florida? Which coast?

@RiotDemon In the middle, in Maitland. I just got a text from her. She sent me a picture of that hurricane cookie. lol

@therealjrn it’s true. Trying not to get complacent when it’s so far away but with the models changing as much as they have it’s tough knowing what to do. I’m in Tampa so I’m staying put but if it doesn’t turn, we’re ALL in for some serious shit down here.

@therealjrn I was just at Publix again. I did not see the hurricane cookie.

@llangley @therealjrn definitely. This storm is super scary. I’m on the fence whether I’m driving south. The 8 and 11 updates will probably give me my answer.

@therealjrn yeah, a snapping turtle.

@llangley @RiotDemon @therealjrn

@RiotDemon

You are east of the lake?

So it is about prime time for you soon?

Keep us informed if you can.

@f00l yep, east. Sometime today. Meanwhile the last week we’d have huge rain storms. My backyard is already partially flooded. Not looking forward to the extra rain.

The track says it’ll turn North, but I’m still waiting…

@RiotDemon

Wherever you are, hang on tight!

I presume the roads are currently passable?

@f00l yeah. Luckily where I’m at, they’ve upgraded the drainage. There’s actually several retention ponds right around the corner from me.

It’s just my backyard is right on an easement with a wall for the development behind me. Those houses are built up. The easement tends to flood and that creeps up into my yard.

@RiotDemon

Not to worry about right now…

But … you and your neighbors might have a future cause of action against the development. If it’s a big deal problem.

Usually it’s a big no no to alter existing water flow and redirect it onto another property, esp in a residential area.

Around here over the years a few developers would up being fined by the city/county and having to pay damages to other property holders and redo walls/fences.

Take pix and document observations and incidents.

Also if you think that at some point you might have to take action, get testimonials and contact info from people who have been in the area a long time. Esp landowners.

(FL law may be quite diff from TX law of course.)

@CaptAmehrican I’m afraid to see what happened there.

@CaptAmehrican It isn’t going to be good that is for sure. I hope they are OK and get phones back sooner rather than later so they can contact you to let you know. When we used to sail there it seemed like so many of the houses, even if up the hills, were flimsy. Painted pretty colors but stick built and basic. I can’t imagine how they’d survive that wind, almost makes the spring tide issue seem minor in comparison.

@Kidsandliz during the eye reports were bad. Houses leveled, roofs off, 15 ft storm surge, boats and cars everywhere. So far no known casualties. However, the people who are able to report are at the highest and safest locations. Those in the lower or outter areas are not going to be able to report for a while. They are the most vulnerable.
Anyone who wants to donate
Hopetown Volunteer Fire Department is the emergency services for the Abaco and they are taking paypal as they start search and rescue .

@CaptAmehrican I read on their website that they are having a meeting this morning and then going out searching. I hope they post often about what they are finding.

@f00l ooh, love this one! Thanks.

Sorry, edit window got me. The story is here.

He hasn’t opened any sites yet, b/c the storm is stalled. The detailed plans are flexible. If one facility is destroyed, they use whatever kitchens are available. Awesome.

VAN GOGH! MANGO! TANGO! AWESOME!

@RiotDemon which makes the cone of uncertainty even more uncertain

@CaptAmehrican @RiotDemon Just clicked on the Weather Channel map on the current location and the pop-up of current stats says:
Winds: 140 mph
Gusts: 175 mph
Moving: Stationary at 0mph

@CaptAmehrican @ybmuG yeah. Was 185mph winds (220 gusts) before it stalled. I feel terrible for everyone that is stuck in it.

I remember being in a hurricane 10ish years ago and it sat on us for several days. Scary as shit.

@CaptAmehrican @RiotDemon It’s like being in a giant F-3 tornado for hours!

@CaptAmehrican @RiotDemon @ybmuG

Stationary for most of the day. Ugh.

This is what happened to Houston, for so many days, with Hurricane Herman. The Stu term just stalled.

So the rain just kept coming. And Houston is mostly flat and mostly 20-40 feet above sea level.

And the rain was record serring: hour after your, day after day. So, all that flooding.

I hope Dorian doesn’t do that.

@CaptAmehrican @RiotDemon @ybmuG the current satellite photos are a bit freaky - you can see down through the eye to the greenery of the bahamas below it. That thing is just parked there …

@CaptAmehrican @RiotDemon @stolicat And it’s growing. Weakening, but widening. I’m glad it looks like the most devastating winds won’t hit Florida head on, but the flooding could be huge.
/giphy hang on to your buts

@CaptAmehrican @RiotDemon @stolicat Well, Tron wasn’t what I suspected, but I’ll leave it!

@CaptAmehrican You heard from any of your friends?

@Kidsandliz all of my friends are alive .All of their homes and boats are gone.

@CaptAmehrican I’m glad they made it. Sorry about their homes and boats.

@CaptAmehrican @RiotDemon It does tend to recalibrate your priorities.

@CaptAmehrican That’s awful! Maybe you could set up a gofundme for them and publicize it here? We’ve contributed to other funds here. They certainly need anything they can get.

@CaptAmehrican ps I realize right now there is no way to get them the money (and probably nothing there to even buy) etc. but once there is it could at least help a little bit.

@Kidsandliz
Should anyone be moved to donate to help the Abaco people the place to do it is any of the below links and only these places. All benifit hopetown volunteer fire and rescue. They are the boots on the ground local people who are making sure people are ok and helping restore basic needs. Please donate below

www.htvfr.org

Matt Winslow GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/f/hurricane-relief-for-elbow-cay-amp-marsh-harbour?fbclid=IwAR1CxdAJx38zW4LTdzxuBVPczAsdxbCrns9gkjS1HMjOCyTPkEvUSoklPno

Patrick Davis Songwriters in Paradise GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/f/Hope4HopeTown?rcid=r01-156738042946-2c3f242cf19c4a9e&pc=ot_co_campmgmt_m

*When U.S. citizens are donating to HTVFR please remember that you can make your contribution of $250 or more tax deductible through PERC. https://www.percabaco.org/

@CaptAmehrican Your friends getting any aid help yet and/or have they left that area for somewhere that still has buildings?

@Kidsandliz all my close friends were American citizens and thus have been evacuated. Acquaintances are not all American and thus not getting evacuated.
Two of my close friends are still in hospitals in Florida

@CaptAmehrican @Kidsandliz

OMG re your friends.
So terrible.

I hope they come out ok and I hope their situations are recoverable

@CaptAmehrican I hope your two hospitalized friends will be OK in the end.

@RiotDemon And they’ll be the ones complaining that they don’t get rescued next time because they didn’t leave with the evacuation order and the storm hit them head on…

Hey, @OldCatLady, you all right?
I saw a forecast for gusts up to 130 mph at Jacksonville Beach.
I hate windstorms!
https://weather.us/forecast/4160023-jacksonville-beach/ensemble/euro/wind-gusts

Edit: up to 80 mph now.
I still hate windstorms!

@kdemo We’re fine, thanks for asking. I had zero damage, my neighbor has a small dead tree to cut up. Like @PooltoyWolf, I brought my big wind chimes inside, but didn’t check for critters. One small frog jumped out when I rehung them. It’ll be interesting to see whether any are still in the house. The cat will find them, and share any catches with me.

@OldCatLady @PooltoyWolf - Thanks for the reassuring update, that’s great news!
Interesting that a frog would want to live in wind chimes. Do frogs have ears?

@carl669 add another one to the count

@PooltoyWolf So where it the link to this video?

@Kidsandliz It’s on my Twitter, here:

@PooltoyWolf You’d think the chimes banging/ringing would drive those things nuts. Wonder how they managed to get in there. Are they in there a lot or was this a one time thing?

@Kidsandliz Tree frogs have sticky pads on their toes that allow them to climb straight up walls. We usually have some frogs sleeping in the chimes during the day to avoid the heat, but this was more than usual, so we figured they sensed changes in the weather and wanted to hide.

@PooltoyWolf heh. I saw that on Reddit. Someone reposted it.

@PooltoyWolf omg, they are so cute!!

@Kidsandliz @PooltoyWolf hahaha! Cute!

@Kidsandliz @PooltoyWolf I’ve occasionally found things in mine… more often than not… damsel flies nests (those mud things) and I would imagine with a heavier frog, they aren’t going to clang too much generally. Obviously, with hurricanes that would be much different.

@PooltoyWolf Wow. That totally broke the internet. Congrats. Did any news agency call to talk to you about your frogs?

@PooltoyWolf Wow. Congrats on your 15 minutes of fame. Don’t let it go to your inflatable head.

@medz @PooltoyWolf Too late!! But, seriously, congrats!!

@llangley @medz @PooltoyWolf That’s a totally different Asian inflatable than I would have thought.

@RiotDemon Apparently it was on the front page! I wish I’d seen that ;-;

@Fuzzalini I have been featured on the websites of TIME, Newsweek, Mashable, Yahoo, and a few others!

@medz I have been called an airhead in the past…

@PooltoyWolf Front page of what?

@Kidsandliz Reddit, of course!

@PooltoyWolf Now if you could only monetize that fame with all those hits!

@Kidsandliz I’ve licensed the video to one company!

@PooltoyWolf Cool! Was that hard to do?

@Kidsandliz They contacted me, so not at all haha

@PooltoyWolf Can I borrow 20 bucks from you until next payday?

@PooltoyWolf Hope you are going to be paid well for it. Was it a well known company? Pretty cool. Hopefully they will now follow you there and see what else you post that they might like. Who knows. Some day you may be a famous pool toy wolf and we can all say we knew you before your head got so big it blew up (snicker). Seriously though, congrats.

@Kidsandliz Aw thank you! I’m not expecting much but I didn’t pay anything, so it’s profit any way you slice it.

@therealjrn Inflatable wolves don’t carry wallets!

@PooltoyWolf @therealjrn

Only Bitcoin?

@PooltoyWolf No wallet because of… inflation? (snicker)

@Kidsandliz I sense a connection somewhere