Tropical storm Irene approaches

Reba said:
Candles aren't recommended. Too much danger of fire, and no fire fighters available to put it out. Battery lights are safer.

After Hugo, all the local radio and TV stations were off the air because they had been destroyed. We listened to radio stations in Florida that relayed news to and from people in South Carolina.

Our land line phones continued to work. I don't know what people with cell phones only will do if the towers go out. Even with Virginia earthquake today, they said the cell phone service was overloaded and calls couldn't get thru. :dunno:

Like people on the Outer Banks, we don't have any "underground." There are no basements in the Lowcountry. Our water table is too high.

In our area, electric power was out from two weeks to two months. We had no water or sewer service for several days. Even when the water flowed again, it wasn't safe to drink right away. For weeks after, the water smelled and tasted funny because so many pine trees had fallen into the lake reservoir. Like Pine-Sol cleaner.

Traffic was weird after the storm because almost every traffic light was lying on the ground in the intersections. Everyone drove very courteously and cautiously, taking turns crossing. Street and store signs were all gone, so it was very disorienting. It was hard to recognize some locations or find addresses. Of course, lots of roads were blocked by fallen trees.

For hearing people, it was a strange sensation to hear no birds for several days, and to constantly hear the sound of chain saws cutting or power generators humming.
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copied and pasted from my cousin's FB status today (she lives in DC)

I'm good. The most alarming part of this has been learning how totally inadequate the phone system is. I still haven't been able to get through to Francisca, two hours later.

I COULD not reach my hubby via text after the earthquake so I had my hearing co-worker call him directly and both his cell and work landline were disconnected. I really did feel very nervous about that issue. I dont blame ya!
 
shel90 said:
copied and pasted from my cousin's FB status today (she lives in DC)

I'm good. The most alarming part of this has been learning how totally inadequate the phone system is. I still haven't been able to get through to Francisca, two hours later.

I COULD not reach my hubby via text after the earthquake so I had my hearing co-worker call him directly and both his cell and work landline were disconnected. I really did feel very nervous about that issue. I dont blame ya!
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Especially now, we are all so used to being instantly connected by phone or text. When we can't get in touch with our loved ones, it's a very disconcerting feeling. We take for granted how fragile the communication system can be.
 
shel90 said:
Same with my hubby and I cant understand ONE thing coming from the radio.

It sounds like this "WACI...chooo eeeehaaa oraaaaa bueyea buyea ettaa taaaaa"

That's the language I am getting from the radio. lol
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I can make out a lot of words from the radio after I got my CI but I never use the radio unless I'm driving the car. I never get 100% though.
 
shel90 said:
copied and pasted from my cousin's FB status today (she lives in DC)

I'm good. The most alarming part of this has been learning how totally inadequate the phone system is. I still haven't been able to get through to Francisca, two hours later.

I COULD not reach my hubby via text after the earthquake so I had my hearing co-worker call him directly and both his cell and work landline were disconnected. I really did feel very nervous about that issue. I dont blame ya!
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I was able to get in touch with my parents right after the earthquake but I sure would worry if the internet or the phone system is down. :hug:
 
I remmy when 9/11 happened, at the time texting wasnt readily available but the hearing people at Gallaudet were unable to get any signals at all all day. I was able to use AOL aim to contact my mom and let her know that I was ok. Yes, I was in DC when it happened so looks like today was a repeat with the signals in DC.
 
Now that is the part we haven't quite decided! Going up to our other home in Alexandria still keeps us in the middle of the hurricane. We might just go west to Rocky Mount or someplace for a couple days. Looks like Irene is fast-moving, so we would like to be back to this house (our Outer Banks house) asap to see if there was any damage. We might be back here by Sunday afternoon. Maybe.
 
safe travels, Beach Girl, hope you find no or little damage at the Outer Banks house!
 
We just now finally got in touch with our neighbor in VA. She said yesterday's earthquake knocked pictures off her walls, and broke some little knick-knacks on shelves. She walked around our house, said there was no damage to our roof or anything obvious outside, but she doesn't know inside.

Sigh. So looks like we will be driving all the way back up there to stay for a few days, check things out.

The annoying thing is that my husband had a doctor's appointment here on Friday which took him a long time to get, and now he will have to cancel that and re-schedule for who knows when.

One thing after another...
 
Something I have long wondered about. During evacuations can those that know the area very, very, well make better time using back roads (compared to designated interstates)? So many times on TV I have seen pictures of traffic backed up for miles and miles as so many try to take the same route.
 
Jane B. said:
Something I have long wondered about. During evacuations can those that know the area very, very, well make better time using back roads (compared to designated interstates)? So many times on TV I have seen pictures of traffic backed up for miles and miles as so many try to take the same route.
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yes. unless it's blocked by police.

police can convert both interstate routes into one-way evacuation route for several miles. many people are from out of town/state.

for any evacuation/emergency questions you have, you should contact your local police department. if they do not know for sure, they may direct you to Office of Emergency Management but you'll most likely get ambiguous answer because every emergency situation is different. Every circumstance changes.
 
Jane B. said:
Something I have long wondered about. During evacuations can those that know the area very, very, well make better time using back roads (compared to designated interstates)? So many times on TV I have seen pictures of traffic backed up for miles and miles as so many try to take the same route.
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It depends on the route. When we evacuated for Hurricane Floyd, we took the so-called back road route. So did a jillion other evacuees. We sat for hours, not moving an inch, on a two-lane road in the woods, overnight.

Also, there are some routes that eventually, you're going to have to touch the interstate at some point.

A couple years, during another evacuation (we stayed at home), people couldn't even get out of downtown Charleston much less get on the interstate or back roads before they either ran out of time or gas. Charleston is built on a peninsula, so there are limited ways off of there.

A little tidbit of trivia for evacuees:

When traffic isn't moving, and you're stuck in the woods overnight, there will be buses escorted by police whizzing past you who are allowed to cut ahead. Those are the prisoners evacuated from the jails.

The buses that are stuck in traffic with the passengers duct taped into their seats are the elderly people evacuated from nursing homes.

There sometimes is no easy solution.
 
Jiro said:
yes. unless it's blocked by police.

police can convert both interstate routes into one-way evacuation route for several miles. many people are from out of town/state.
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Yep. That's what they did here in the past, and will do again in the future if necessary. They also do practice drills every year. They block off the exits and flow all the traffic into one direction. No one is allowed to enter the city from the interstate. It's a weird feeling, driving down the "wrong" side of the highway.

Part of the logistical problem is timing. The governor has to make the decision to reverse the lanes early enough into the evacuation. Gov. Hodges neglected to do that in a timely manner, so the Hurricane Floyd evacuation was a nightmare. More people died from the evacuation than from the storm.

for any evacuation/emergency questions you have, you should contact your local police department. if they do not know for sure, they may direct you to Office of Emergency Management but you'll most likely get ambiguous answer because every emergency situation is different. Every circumstance changes.
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I know that in our area, evacuation routes are marked with blue signs, and are listed online.
 
Thanks Jiro

I probably should have said in my post where I first asked the question. I am in an area of Southern Illinois where evacuation for anything is unlikely. Head for a basement locally in the event of a tornado is the most likely.
 
Reba said:
Yep. That's what they did here in the past, and will do again in the future if necessary. They also do practice drills every year. They block off the exits and flow all the traffic into one direction. No one is allowed to enter the city from the interstate. It's a weird feeling, driving down the "wrong" side of the highway.

Part of the logistical problem is timing. The governor has to make the decision to reverse the lanes early enough into the evacuation. Gov. Hodges neglected to do that in a timely manner, so the Hurricane Floyd evacuation was a nightmare. More people died from the evacuation than from the storm.


I know that in our area, evacuation routes are marked with blue signs, and are listed online.
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I had a privilege to learn from this professor with extensive experience in this field.
 
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