Tropical storm Ian

In reply to Slippery :

Do you want to sell it? Might be a good project for the kids and I. 

DrBoost said:

In reply to Slippery :

Do you want to sell it? Might be a good project for the kids and I. 

I don't live in hurricane alley, but do live in Ice Storm Alley, and can confirm- a Generator is a MUST HAVE in the garage.  I'd do it for sure. 

We had several big saves during this storm aside from no injuries, no flooding and no damage to the house.

A big one: Even though a friend suffered roof damage, she still came over to help clean up. What's that about many hands making light work? 

Also, a few days after the storm–while we still didn't have internet or even cell data–my wife happened to check the window sticker for the Chevy Tahoe sitting in our driveway: "Hey, it says that this thing has a built-on hotspot."

And even though our cell phones could barely make contact with the outside world, the hotspot worked well enough that we could check messages.

In reply to David S. Wallens :

sometimes you use what you got. This is my super sweet setup featuring the cooler full of ice I needed to drag home and....an undisclosed large corporations internet, just so I could do some E36 M3posting on Reddit. 

For a while there, we had zero internet while cell data only seemed to work at 3 in the morning. I could text a little–like enough to chat with my brother and let him know that all was okay.

Then I had a thought: I wonder if I can actually use this phone as a phone.

My mom picked on like the second ring. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

These are phones?

Mndsm said:

In reply to David S. Wallens :

These are phones?

I realize it is shocking; but yes, they've managed to miniaturize a telephone and cram it in alongside your pocket computer. I never would've thought it possible, myself, but here we are...

In reply to Recon1342 :

Wow, we are truly living in the future. 

Totally. By the way: PC = pocket computer. 

My Daughter in Tampa got through her first Hurricane with only a potted plant tipped over. 
They did lose power for a day though. 

In reply to frenchyd :

Good way to get her feet wet, so to speak. 
 

(yes, it was intended, no, I'm not sorry.)

They're starting to pick up our debris–got through part of the pile next door before filling up the truck. We still have a lot of trees down in the neighborhood. We're lucky, though, in that I don't see blue tarps on roofs. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

My phone was a brick from 3 pm Tuesday to Saturday morning. Then it was really spotty until sometime Monday. Now it's pretty close to normal, thank god. I'm even using it as a hotspot for my laptop so I can post here....I mean work. Now, if I can only get power and water, I'd be back in the 21st century.  
They are still clearing roads down here, and it seems like 50% of the roofs are tarps.

Welp, that was quick. The truck rolled up at 7:30 this morning. (Yes, my wife already decorated for Halloween.)

Now on my 8th day without power.  Strange, because several of the hardest hit areas, with poles down everywhere, already have power.  It's fun to sit near my front window, catching what little breeze blows through it as the sun goes down, and watch the major roadway that runs north-south through the city, two blocks away, bathed in light from the street lamps...

For Charlie, power was out 2 days, Irma, it didn't even go out.  Ian was the first one I ever stayed in my house for.  Don't think I'll ever do that for a three or up ever again.

At least it hasn't rained since Ian.  I was getting tired of having to mow my yard every five days...

CrustyRedXpress said:

Stampie said:

I have a lot of thoughts about that.  First is that they should have evacuated way before. 

They should have. When we get the final death tally I think we'll be surprised at how many are in their 70's and 80s. It's harder to evacuate when you're maybe losing a couple of your marbles, probably don't get around as well as you used to, possibly don't want to drive as the winds pick up, etc, and have been through X number of hurricanes in the past 60 years and managed just fine thankyouverymuch.

"Of the 87 people for whom an age or approximate age has been released so far, 61 were at least 60 years old. Eighteen of them were in their 80s, and five were in their 90s."

From: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/07/us/hurricane-ian-victims-drowned.html