Escape from Hurricane Irene

[JFScheck]

"The Twinkie" as pulled by "The Green Manalishi" heads inland to my DC home departing her Ocean City residence & Hurricane Irene - earthquake at work in DC on Tuesday, Tornado in the RV Resort last month (with golfball sized hail) and now Hurricane Irene - Mother Earth has been busy over here in the Mid Atlantic states this summer...

BTW - I have a few "minor" enhancements to "Twinks" from last months hail storm, although it does add character and they aren't too noticeable - anyone know of someone in the Maryland\DC area that can remove these little dimples or can recommend a good "Paintless Dent Removal" shop in my area?

[Fly at Night]

If I were fleeing a hurricane or other natural disaster, I'd be grateful for the Airstream. Sure beats a cot in a high-school auditorium.

[Splitrock]

I called a couple of those paintless dent guys about my tree dent and they all said they work from the inside.

[Foiled Again]

Vacuum dent sucker - or TIME & hot sun. Both will reduce but not entirely erase the damage.

Paula

[Gene]

Paula, where are you and your Safari now? Last I saw the Safari was going west and you were going to come back to Va. Beach.

Gene

[Jack46]

Hope all remains safe for those of you in Irene's path. We left our AS parked in its usual spot in downtown Norfolk. As we "speak" we're still waiting for the primary bands. We've been OK through previous storms, so hopefully all will fine this time around. Now about those expected tornadoes..........

[pmclemore]

We are rocking and rolling here in eastern va - winds building out the the north all morning, which is the best for us. We've lost one maple - 30" diameter - and glad that it fell away from the house.

We have a huge oak behind the house that would be a home wrecker if it falls. That's our only real worry. But oaks have much deeper root systems than maples, so we feel ok. We filled the tub with water, filled the Airstream's tank and started the fridge. We are without power now, but maybe it'll come back on. The storm is supposed to get stronger until tonight sometime. It's a pretty good show now.

Pat

(btw - Paula reported that she got the rig safely parked in Appomattox.)

[Gene]

Originally Posted by pmclemore

(btw - Paula reported that she got the rig safely parked in Appomattox.)

Pat, thanks for forwarding the message about Paula's Airstream. I hope she didn't go back to Va. Bch. And I hope your oak tree stays upright.

I recall you will be at the Balloon Fiesta so I should be able to meet you in person.

Gene

[Silver Otter]

Pat, sorry to hear about your maple, but hope all is still well. Nice to hear Paula got her AS relocated. We are "in camp" at Misty Mountain here in Crozet with 8 other Airstreams from our Unit. We'd set up this planning meeting for the VA Commonwealth Rally and all decided to enjoy the rain together. Dinner last night was clear and fine, with all of us gathered around the campfire. Be Safe. Hope to see you in Louisa on 9/15 or in Albuquerque on Monday 10/3.

[urnmor]

Sitting just outside of Ocean City MD waiting on the worst of the storm to arrive. We did move our airstream inland about 30 miles but they are getting worse flooding then us at least for now.

Also had the neighbors over for a small hurricane party if nothing else we will sleep well.

[pmclemore]

Gene, yes - you're on my priority list for folks to meet. Greg as well, but that will take some extra planning.

Page and I have moved into the trailer; it has water and power - the house does not. We are rocking and rolling, but dry. Nice to be able to say that. I pulled the rig in front of the house for convenience, but I am thinking about pulling into the open field when we are ready to go back to the house to sleep. Did I say it was nice to have a rig that doesn't leak? Well it is.

My dad, who lives on a tidal creek in Hampton isn't so lucky. I spent Friday with him moving furniture to the second floor and blocking up what was too bulky to move. I talked with him an hour ago, and he said the water was about an inch from coming into the house. Two hours to high tide. Oh, well. Isabel got him in '03; before that the last time it flooded was the Ash Wednesday storm in '62 - the house was built later that year.

Such as it is, it is what it is. Pop said that he was not worrying about it, and was going to bed at bedtime. He'll be 88 in a couple of weeks. Maybe that's the secret.

Pat

[JFScheck]

How about some local Maryland "Paintless Dent Removal Love" thrown my way?

BTW - the Twinks is home in Woodbine "on new asphalt vice dirt" as seen in this new picture - sleeping soundly by now I'm sure...

[urnmor]

Just checked outside and found that although the water is over our bulkhead that it is no higher then in past years. The boat was fine however I wonder how our AS is doing in Salisbury. I moved there because it is inland and yet they got more rain and wind.

I believe we are now in the eye of the storm as the rain and wind are light.

May all of you be safe.

[JFScheck]

Hope everyone is safe, sounds like OC did better than Berlin or Salisbury...

[Gene]

It is hard to make sense of all this from 2,000 miles away. The media and some local and state gov't officials hyped this for day after day and now they have to prove that it was really, really bad.

Since the flooding has only started, there's a lot to learn yet. It seems the cable channels stationed all their people along the coast and there is hardly any reporting from inland.

Having lived through many hurricanes and northeasters, I am unimpressed this was any different or worse than any others. Flooding inland is usually the worst of it in the northeast as winds are usually less than in the south. Northeasters sometimes have higher winds than hurricanes.

What has changed during my lifetime is the constant barrage of how dangerous everything is. I have lived through many blizzards and major snows and always managed to get around. Yet the media hypes 2" of snow like it is a major blizzard and screams "black ice" and "treacherous driving" and such every time it snows. After a while I stopped listening to them and looked at the forecast and made my own decisions.

Snow, ice, wind, rain, floods are all dangerous, especially if you are dumb or helpless. For the rest of us, common sense and some learning allow us to make our own decisions. I notice many people do not evacuate because they have learned they will not be allowed home for some time. This happens where there are floods and it happens where there are forest fires. While the officials are evaluating safety, a leaky roof goes unfixed and the home is ruined by the next storm, not the hurricane. Officials, afraid that one person may do something stupid (I guarantee more than one will do something stupid), close access to thousands. And some officials and police seem scared of everything, something that was not so true generations ago.

If I lived in the east and I had a house that I could move out of harm's way, I would, even though the risk may be small, and a road trip can be fun. If I had a movable house and one attached the ground, I would assess which is in more danger, what I could do to protect each, discuss it with Barb, and do what she says. I might do what Urnmor and Paula did—move the movable one and come back to watch over the rest. I can see how Paula's business was in danger and the services she provides are very important for people's health. Nonetheless, the predictions for her area sounded like storm surge would be very serious. I hope her business survived unscathed. If I had a brand new Airstream, I might move it and go with it. Not being there, I can't know what is best for everyone.

Then next hurricane that aims at NJ, NY and New England will be received by skepticism by those who feel this one fizzled. Those whose properties are flooded by storm surge, rivers and streams will feel differently.

And part of me wanted to immediately drive to NJ and NY and experience the storm just like I did in 1960 for Hurricane Donna. Dangling powerlines, waves crashing, beach sand blasting at the coast, flooded underpasses, torrential rains, 100 mph winds, what a blast! In 1960 it was a 100 mile trip and I was a lot younger. And, Barb didn't like the idea.

I hope all is well for you in the east. I hope Pat's oak is still standing, Paula's servers are functioning and Urn's brand new trailer is fine.

For me, I am hoping for a major blizzard here by November (some time after I have winterized the trailer). I am also hoping Barb will enthusiastically embrace the snow blower. What a blast that will be!

Gene

[Goal15]

Gene

could you arrange to have that major blizzard come through Dallas on the way to your place? Like, perhaps, next weekend?

d

[Foiled Again]

power went out last night at 11:30 pm after the worst was past - the whole block is out. Im on effen laptop with the keyboard that I hate which always makes me hit the arrow key and write over something I just typed.
Our NOISY Honda 11000 generator is keeping the essentials going barely. the portable air conditioners are losing the battle. I'm going to look for another one and will run it off the splurge 3000 Handi I bought.

on the MAIN grid in VB and 15 hrs without power is getting old. i need a shower!

Oh, and my toilet supply lline at the office sprung a leak. it just came loose at the connection ,,, so Im blaming the earthquake for that one.

Im grumpy and stinky and tired and am going to find a bar with electricity and go for a frozen margarita. /but first a cold sponge bath in the sink.

paula

[urnmor]

For many of us it was alot of hype and clearly the media, IMHO, did an overkill. One local station showed nothing but it for hours to include a count down on when the Tornado warnings were going to be over.

As for Berlin it was not bad. The flooding was know worse then what I have seen in Northeasters and I believe the damage was less. We all can be thankful that it was not was expected. I also just picked up my AS and it survived. Will do its inaugural voyage next week end

[richinny]

gene, i hear you but you have to remember that these days common sense is becoming a rare commodity. while the city seems to have fared pretty well, upstate ny now has rivers where little streams once were. constant building in every open patch of land is causing runoff to overwhelm the systems. the 100 year floods are becoming 10 year floods. tree cities are causing lots of downed power lines from their beautiful aging trees. folks need to learn to chill out and learn to airstream :-)

[Gene]

Ricky, maybe it is just the ravings of an old man. When I was a kid we walked through 10' of snow everyday, even in June, blah, blah. And the weather was always worse when we were kids or now, depending on what argument I want to prove.

We have 100,000,000+ more people than 50 years ago and they all need places to live and the result is more runoff as you say. Climate change promised more severe weather and we are getting it. I never watch local TV news because it is all fires, auto accidents, any visual disaster, crime, freaked out anchors chosen for their hair, but lots of people do watch. If you hear about disasters all the time, you start getting scared of everything and I guess now everyone is scared of something. Americans used to be optimistic, not anymore.

There are real dangers. If they are hyped too much, people stop believing the hype. I've seen the results of hurricanes that passed through Pa. and NY and how high the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers got. As a result, my rule is never buy a house near a flood plain much less in it. I'd love to live on a coast, but high risk plus it usually is really expensive to buy there.

Paula, I wish you a drink and a shower.

Dana, next blizzard is months away and we will use it all up here. Seems like Dallas has Phoenix weather now and I hope that isn't a permanent change.

Urnmor, you new baby has had quite a break in period. Any leaks?

Gene