NC DU'ers: Are any of you "inland folks" Raleigh/Durham making exit plans?

[KoKo]

I'm getting very worried about the track of this storm, and remember the "surprise visit" of Hurricane Fran when i went to bed after watching our local weatherman say Raleigh wouldn't be affected and have it hit us. I was without power for 10 days.....I don't want to go through a "surprise" like that again.

I'm thinking of heading West to Winston-Salem....but wonder if that will be far enough West.. this hurricane is so much larger than Fran.......they say it's the size of Texas.

Any of you getting worried and don't want to stay this time? Maybe I'm over-reacting, but after the huge Snow Storm and last year's Ice Storm......I'm really worn out with this. Have had to remove so many trees and deal with broken fences and split deck rails..... and months of cleanup from all these storms that I just don't want to stay here for this one. Plus sitting through hurricane winds and watching trees bending, in the howling wind ready to fall......is just too stressfull.....can't deal with it........

If it comes into Wrightsville, I think it will track up to Raleigh the way Fran did...and even hitting the lower "Outer Banks" will still give us really bad winds.......

Anyone making plans to leave?

[phillybri]

1. I live in a pretty high area, so I should be ok....

Also, I only have one tree by my house, and it looks like Charlie Brown's X-mas tree, so that won't be a problem....

[supernova]

2. I'll be OK,

Weather happens.

I live in a pretty high area and there are no trees very close to the house. I won't evacuate unless the authorities say it's necessary. Say 24-15 hours out. I doubt the full hurricane force will be this far inland.

Re: the piling on of storms. I am however, getting tired of having no electricity for a week at a time on a regular basis.

[DemoTex]

3. I'll probably stick it out here in the highlands

I'm in the mountains west of Brevard. I've got a 9kW generator and plenty of fuel, food and water. If the phone lines go, I've got HF/VHF comm on the Ham bands. I'm more worried about the gravel mountain roads being washed out or blocked by fallen trees (I've got plenty of 50:1 fuel for my Echo chain saw, too).

However, I won't do anything stupid. If the storm tracks inland on a direct path towards us, I'll hightail it to safety. My insurance is paid up.

[Noordam]

4. Florida boy buys Goldsboro NC father gas grill with side burner

after a couple hurricanes went thru and he lost power for a couple days. Funny us Florida people expect canes and are more or less ready for then. But Isabel may do a Washington DC thing, and if so that will be interesting.

[DemoTex]

5. Propane grill or burner not a bad idea for total-electric homes.

Cold Dinty Moore beef stew gets old (kind of like C-rats). Might need to boil water, too.

[KoKo]

8. Bought a two burner camp stove. Worked great in ice storm. Had a fondue

pot with sterno for Fran! LOL's it didn't heat anything....so after that bought the little camp stove. That way could have coffee and lots of soups!

[Mel]

6. No exit plans

for me I don't really have anywhere to go I was in what I called 'Historic Firewood' after Fran that's really 'Historic Oakwood' :) am now in Garner and I'm preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

If you have somewhere you can go and it isn't going to cost you money you don't have go ahead for your piece of mind. Thing is are you going to still be stressed wondering what happened to your home? Do you have pets do you have a friend that can let you know your homestead is fine or not? I'm staying so if you need me for a contact you can pm me and I'll have your back. I have access to a cell phone so that should at least still be working?
I know you know this but people need to know to bring their pets in even if you think it isn't going to be bad....we in Raleigh didn't realize how bad it was going to be. I was lucky I did because I worked the late shift at the time so I got cars moved, candles, and pets secure. I know one person who lost their dog.:(
Sorry KoKo01 as you can tell from my rambling that I'm stressed too.

You know I really hate to see it hit our Outer Banks (or anywhere for that matter) I love that place it's so beautiful and peaceful!

[KoKo]

14. Thanks Mel....will PM you if I leave. My kitties go with me...so there's

no problem with that....and I can get them into a Residence INN in Winston-Salem. I am concerned if we leave that it could be days before we get back.....but on the other hand.....there's not much one can do for days with power out and the tree removal people tied up with emergencies.........Hard Call..........

[Abbalon]

7. Not Fran but Hugo

hit us here in Winston-Salem a few years before Fran. That storm tracked inland on a WNW course. Combined with heavy rains the winds caused much damage and left us without power for six or seven days.

The wet soil couldn't take anymore water and the sustained winds in the 40 to 60 mph catagory kept swaying them around until about seven o'clock in the morning. When the first trees started falling around my house, it took less than 10 minutes and it was all over but the rain.

Damage was tremendous compared to what we usually get.

When Fran came my older sister who lives in Raliegh got an even biger mess and like you was without power for ten days or more.

Be careful. Most of our fatalities were during the storm clean-up. Those limbs and twisted trees have lots of pressure waiting to be released. To many towns folk also decided to remove their own stumps and trees.

Remember that many of these trees that go down are huge and over a hundred years old with upturned rootballs ten feet tall. Handling these monsters takes a backhoe, bulldozer or loader to be safe. Many homeowners are reluctant to pay the price(extra two to three hundred dollars) and use crews without machinery for trees they are not able to safely handle.

One child was behind a large Red Oak stump rootball playing while his father and friends were cutting the stump from the tree. Senseless stuff like this can happen when there is unknown or unrecognized danger.

I had lost my job at AT&T(downsized) and had bought a Dump Truck with my stock money. I teamed up with another fellow and worked for several months around Winston. Hardest, most dangerous, work I ever did outside of steel hanging.

I can not emphisize enough the need to use insured labor for removing trees from homes and property. And for heaven sake don't let childern run around the yard while removal is in progress.

The child that was crushed under a tree stump really affected me. It happened a few houses down from where we were working near the Baptist hospital. The family had made a party out of the lack of power and the clean-up.

SUPERVISE YOUR CHILDERN AND YOUNG ADULTS. THEY DONOT HAVE THE EXPERIENCE TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGER.

Please let men with experience get those very large trees and those that are a jumbled up with stored energy.

The inconveinece of no power pales in comparison to the danger during and after these big storms.

Stay safe.

[Mel]

9. Good advice!

nt

[supernova]

10. People who didn't grow up in the country

get stupid around machinery. It's sad; I hope more people take heed this time.

We will probably get a lot of trees down this time, because the ground is again so wet.

[KoKo]

17. From the latest storm updates....I'm not sure going West to W-S is a good

idea. They can't predict how far inland it can go....at this point, anyway. I made a reservation.....so I can hosld off a bit....

You have good tips about removing trees. People get frustrated and break out their chain saws.......but so many people have been hurt.....it's better to wait. In some cases, though the wait was so long because of so much damage that people had to do something....just to be able to get out of their driveway and get to work.

[bowens43]

11. I live several miles SE of Raleigh.

I'm NOT making exit plans but I am stocking up on canned goods, candles, batteries, propane, charcoal,water etc. I was also here when Fran came through and it was bad but not THAT bad. Two weeks without power in my neck of the woods. We were pretty stinky most of the time but other then that we were OK. I'm going home and firing up the old chainsaw tonight in preparation (had over 100 trees knocked down the last time!).


We're not going anywhere (unless we blow away ;-))

Good luck to you and yours whatever you decide!

[Mel]

12. for the stinky

get you some wet wipes...I have :)

[supernova]

13. I go to my health club

about 5 minutes away. They're in town and usually get the power and water turned back on sooner than us out in the boonies.

[KoKo]

15. That must be a really "Power" health club! What kind of connections does

it have?? LOL's...... Although I was told by one of the power crews in Raleigh during Fran that their first priority is to get the businesses up and running before the homeowners. Their feeling is that at least if the businesses have power homeowners can get back to a normal live and get groceries, supplies, and even get out to work.......so I can understand that. At least after 5 days our Burger King came back online and so we could get a cup of hot coffee in the mornings....instant coffee from a "fondue pot"with sterno doesn't really do the job!.

[supernova]

18. It's across the street from Duke

Hospital. So yeah, they don't screw around with that neighborhood! ;-)

[nannygoat]

16. I'm in Chapel Hill--I'm not planning to go anywhere, KoKo01

Keep safe, everybody!

[KoKo]

19. I'm finding News Channel 14 good with updates....better than Weather

Channel (what's happened to it lately.....total commercials and features....:-() I've tried the onlines and hey are okay but not as good as hearing it, for some reason. The onlines aren't talking about the "front" that might deflect it so that it stays closer to the shore rather than coming straight inland from Wilmington or the lower Outer Banks. They are doing every ten minute updates, which is sort of the same thing....but at least it's local..... Makes a difference to have our own "Local News" in times like these. Take Note Michael Powell........if we had to rely on the "Weather Channel" as our only source of weather info....and the internet....it would be pretty bad!

[supernova]

20. Greg Fishel is very reliable

Hell, he gets off on this stuff! I'll have to be sure to watch WRAL evening news this week to see what he's up to.

[KoKo]

22. Supernova, I had a hard time forgiving him. He's the one that said Fran

would miss us in Raleigh, the night that it hit. He was the last person I watched before I went to bed that night and then woke up about 2:00 a.m. and the winds were howling and trees were cracking! LOL's ......Everyone said he was the best and still is......but he really missed that one! I wouldn't watch him for a year after that......

But, he has been good with the snow storm and the ice storm....maybe he's learned to be more cautious.

[KoKo]

21. Progress Energy bringing in crews from Florida and Western NC!

1,000 extra people. They say they will be more accurate in restoration times now. I haven't heard anything from Duke Power, yet and I know many people in Durham/Chapel Hill have them..and they were criticized during the Ice Storm.

[short bus president]

27. Duke Energy

will stand by their usual policy of hiding their thumbs, while putting "intractable phone menu loop B" into action. They SUCK SO BAD!!! :mad:

[short bus president]

23. I'm at least preparing for this one

bought a generator this AM, and THE LAST GAS CAN IN NC. Tomorrow is foodstuff stocking day. And "figure out how to wire the generator to backfeed my well pump" day, too. Watch this thing now miss NC entirely...

[KoKo]

24. Just got the last 6 D-Batteries in my area! Bottled water is gone and last

bag of cat litter. People are taking this really seriously. Good for you with your generator. I'm cleaning my frig out tonight and going to buy ice...although that doesn't really work......it makes me feel better.

[short bus president]

26. eh, it works to a point

if you're talking hours or days without power instead of weeks. Unfortunately, par for the course out in the sticks here seems to be weeks. A lightning strike taking out a tranformer can be days. Gee, THANKS, Duke Energy!!!

Big test will be to see if the state can clear the roads before the rednecks with trucks do. ;-)

[KoKo]

28. Short Bus! We owe alot to some Upstate NY'ers who cut our fallen trees so

we could get out of our driveway during Fran.......They came by in a "pick up" and we were so desperate we didn't do the whole deal of asking "Are you Insured" to get an insurance waver......We were Desperate...I'm telling you...it was at that point 8 days without power or media in 90+ degree heat......and we didn't care if they sued us if they were hurt....we wanted the damn tres out of our driveway so we could get the hell out of the house and feel normal again!

Without those "independent crews" from "out of state" we would have been in big trouble! Our neighbors are Repugs......if you died in the middle of the street they would let the scavengers eat you.....Me, Myself and I.....is their motto!

People on our street who had power (some areas had it and others didn't in the 10 days I was without) people who had power ignored us.......and we could see the lights in their homes as they watched TV with their air-conditioning on.......and all the comforts of home......while we sat in the dark.....with minimal food....nothing but a battery radio....and sweating without even a fan.

Kind of turned me off.....but then, that's what happens in a Repug neighborhood. Each man for themselves.

I GOT MINE!......Now YOU Get YOURS!"

That's what I remember of our last NC Hurricane........

[KoKo]

25. I'm trying to keep this as a "running thread" in the Lounge....is my

ambition......dead.......do you all want to say "Fuck you! who cares about your Damned Hurricane...you are just a minority?

I don't know....have we said everything here.....or should this thread "stay alive" in the lounge as a resource to us NC DU'ers who are facing such potential "trauma?"

This doesn't fit in GD or elsewhere.......I thought this is where you come to do "casual, feely, posts."

Help for those of us with Hurricane PTSD's! :-)'s

[inthecorneroverhere]

29. kick

I'll keep this one alive. I'm in the Carolinas but pretty far west and south of the projected track.

I noticed that Isabel hasn't really made that strong NW turn yet, so I'll be watching closely the next day or two to see where it goes.

If it goes south of track and comes in via Charleston and goes across SC inland, then I gotta think about the odds of a tree falling on the house and about living without power for several days. We got the snowstorm last winter but it wasn't really that big a deal. I just snuggled in for a couple of days.

I'm a little more concerned about a hurricane (if it stays at hurricane strength) than a snowstorm because of the possibility of uprooted trees falling on roads, houses etc. We didn't get an ice storm like some other parts of the state did, however.

I filled up my gas tank today, just in case, and have a week's worth of food in the house.

The soil is quite saturated, even up in the western Carolinas, so folks are concerned about trees possibly being uprooted.

Was at the grocery store today - there was a shipment of water at the store but no major buying. There are lots of streams in the area, and also lots of outdoors people like mountain bikers, hikers etc., so many may have purifiers.

[KoKo]

30. Well as of Tuesday Morning...Tropical Winds will extend to Winston-Salem!

Latest 5:00 a.m. forcast has it tracking further West so Winston-Salem will will be on the far side of the windes.........but wil stil hace heavy rain and some wind. Well, there's always Ashville.