Hunker'n down for Hanna and Ike and.....

I guess what is our concern is if either storm lands near the OBX.
In 2003 when Isabel hit the most severly impacted area was Hampton roads as far North as Richmond. The Tri-Cities was also impacted beyond belief. There were trees down all over the neighborhood and no power for close to a week. From what we've been told, our property lost 4 trees, the neighbors lost a total of 14 (that's 5 neighbors)Most of the trees were over 70ft tall as well.
33 miles is not a big deal when you're talking storm surge. Yet Katrina did impact as far inland as 50 miles with surge. Hanna is not as large at this time but that can change in an instant. But then I was never worried about storm surge especially since we're at 115ft above sea level at the top of our drive. Yet we do have tidal creeks as close a 2 miles so.......
Actually what worries me is that Isabel hit with sustained winds of 105mph. If Hanna increases to near that level and strikes the Outer Banks, we're gonna have issues plain and simple. There's no elevation changes to disperse winds between us and the coast. Plus factor in that we are up the Appomatix and James Rivers and you can understand why this area was so hard hit in 2003.

I will have to agree with you that Ike is gonna be the real deal to worry about.

Anyhow, the patio furniture is put up, the buildings are off the layout, the umbrellas are down and anything that can move is fenced in or in the shed so........ Fate favors the well prepared.

Joe,
Good Luck! In the '70s, I was stationed at Ft.Lee [Petersburg- 5 mi from Colonial Heights] when hurricane Agnes hit the area. The Richmond water supply/purification system got flooded out. My Army unit was assigned to provide potable water for Richmond, for two weeks, hauling water 50mi. in tanker trucks and dispensing it from portable fuel system supply bladders [new pumps, hose and bags]. I had the privilage of being the advance party OIC. The James River ran wild. Trees were down all over the place.

In a word..... Stock up with water, food, & batteries. Get a generator if you can. When the wind blows, stay away from windows - even if they are properly shuttered. Be sure you don't go into low-lying areas where there could be flash flooding.

Take care.... we care...
JimC.

About two hours ago we were issued the Tropical Storm Wind Warning from 2am-2pm tomorrow. Not much rain is expected only about 3-4" but the winds are expected to be an issue as well as 'naders. Still 65mph sustained winds are nothing to take lightly. Most storms that run through the area on a normal basis have caused sever damage with just 50-60mph gusts. Granted it's not a Hurricane but still some need for concern where we are, hence the Tropical Storm warning.
Did score a generator. Not exactly what I wanted but it'll make due if we need it. Wish we didn't have the foundation issues otherwise we'd be sitting good with a wholehouse backup unit. Guess priorities serve some sort of purpose./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blink.gif"

Winds are picking up and seem to be around 15-20 at the moment and we're still 12 hours from the storm. Have noticed the acorns are falling like crazy. Maybe this will help clear some out but then they also become projectiles with the winds.
There is still the potential for flash flooding but were 50 or so feet above the creek. Still we have issues with ground water runoff from the area behind us so wecould have possible issues.
Hope your train ride isn't too wet tomorrow Mark. Looks like the NE is in for a good soaking too
I don't know about some of ya'll in the area but I think it's about time to say hello to Uncle Jack right about now./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/whistling.gif"

Thanks for the info Jim. Between here and Beaufort we've sure heard some horror stories about storms. Just haven't experienced anything. We've been lucky. (if you can call us that. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif

Not as much wind as we expected early but the center of circulation is still (and directly) south of us hugging I-95 extending over into the Raleigh area. We'll see what that has left in it soon I'm sure.
So far a good amount of rain though. Seems that most of everything is or has been west of the coast and a good bit inland as they expected. I just looked at radar and it looked like Hanna has already moved clear of Norfolk (abour 60 miles by roads). The Charlottesville area (80 miles NW) seems to be getting a heck of a drenching as well as the DC area now.

Jim, If it keeps moving as quickly as it is the family should have no problems with weather in Baltimore but there may still be delays. Luck will have it that their flights will be probably be delayed long enough for things to pass.

Here in Cecil Co. MD, Hanna is just now moving out. We've been without power since mid morning, but not much wind until just recently. I went out and checked the rain guages, and they will hold 5 1/2" of water, both are overflowing, and they are out in the open where they can't get runoff from a roof or tree. We just got our electric back about 30minutes ago, but now we have no cable, so thank goodness for the internet!
I too went on the search for a generator, and the only one I could find was a 1000W, so hoping to be able to power the fridge (and not lose food like in Isabel), I brought it home, but it doesn't have enough umph to allow the compressor to run, but we at least could watch TV, that was until we lost cable.

I'll be getting a bigger generator once I find at least a 3500W, that should do me....I hope!


Any one up north, you're in for a real rain maker!

The small gasoline-powered generators are okay but if you really want live in your house with no power for an extended period of time then get a bigger unit, much bigger.

After Katrina and Rita damaged the power grid down here in south Texas we had a generator installed, a 25 kw natural gas fired unit. It can run the entire house, both whole-house AC units, both ovens, the dryer, all of the lights. Even my trains.

The generator excercises or runs every Friday for 12 minutes (but does not give us power to the house during this excercise cycle. If our power goes out(and it has a few times over the past 3 years), after 30 seconds the unit starts automatically. A transfer switch is mandatory which disconnects us from the grid, otherwise out generator could be energizing the line outside the house.