NASA Satellite Animation of Hurricane Frances

[bluenix]

A friend of mine said, "It's okay, I drove 13 miles inland." I'm thinking that's not quite far enough.

 

Maestro, cue up the evil, pounding music, please.

 

http://anon.nasa-global.speedera.net/anon.nasa-global/Hurricane_Frances/goes_frances.mov

[Ignoto]

For those who have been in denial because they thought their "community" is as safe as an inland city in a tropical storm, here are some tips from the Miami Herald.

 

Getting into the bathtub underneath a mattress sounds like fun, even if there isn't a hurricane coming. I just wouldn't want to do it alone.

 

Some do's and don'ts for staying safe during the storm

BY FRED TASKER AND NATALIE P. MCNEAL

MIAMI HERALD

 

You've waited too long. You've awakened this morning to learn that Hurricane Frances will arrive in your neighborhood within hours, and you haven't done the first thing to prepare. No steel shutters. Not even plywood. No friend or relative away from the hurricane's path to whom you can flee.

 

Calm down. You're not off to a good start, but there are still things you can do, experts say. And things you can avoid. For example:

 

• Scour your yard and bring inside loose objects, from flower pots to lawn chairs, that can become missiles in high winds. Trim threatening branches, even if you have to bring them into the living room with you.

 

• Don't buy into the old myth that you should leave a window open to ''equalize the pressure'' of the winds. The winds you let in are more likely to blow your roof off.

 

• Prowl your house in search of possible shelters -- interior bathrooms, hallways, closets with doors, laundry rooms that don't share an exterior wall of the house. They also should be on the first floor, as long as they're above any possible storm surge.

 

''Typically, these rooms have only one door and no windows,'' according to Building a Safe Room Inside Your House, a publication by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. ''Bathrooms have the added advantage of including a water supply and toilet.'' Such rooms may survive even if the rest of the house is destroyed.

 

''In the worst-case scenario, get in the bathtub and put a mattress over your head. Even if you lose your roof, you'll be OK,'' said Eugenio Santiago, a structural engineer, chief building official for Key Biscayne and a veteran of every South Florida hurricane since 1961.

 

One of the lessons from Hurricane Andrew in 1992 was how so few people died directly from the storm, even though thousands cowered in closets and bathrooms as their houses literally blew apart around them.

 

''I saw Country Walk after the storm. It looked like an atomic bomb hit it. A lot of people should have died,'' Santiago said. ``But they didn't.''

 

BE FLEXIBLE

 

• Be prepared to move around, the experts say.

 

Robert Hopson awoke in his Perrine home, ears popping, in the middle of Andrew. He and his girlfriend ran from the bedroom into a hallway, sitting in four inches of water.

 

When the hallway door began to swell, they escaped into his daughter's room, where they rode out the storm -- hearing an explosive crash as a neighbor's tree fell into their bedroom.

 

''If we had stayed in the bedroom, we would have been chopped liver,'' said Hopson, 57, of Kendall.

 

• Don't waste time on that traditional ''X'' of masking tape on your windows. It's utterly useless.

 

Santiago recommends tying all interior -- not exterior -- doors open during a storm so that, if a window breaks in one room, the pressure can dissipate harmlessly through the entire house.

 

• The room you choose should be emptied of its contents, to make more room for you and your family, and to get rid of objects that might fly around in the storm.

 

ANDREW SURVIVORS

 

• Pull a mattress off a bed and bring it into the room with you. Many Andrew veterans have described how they survived by huddling in the corner of a closet with a mattress over them.

 

• Do not panic in the middle of the storm and try to escape to a shelter. Out on the streets is the most dangerous place you can be.

 

• Take a battery-powered radio into your in-home shelter with you, so you know when it's safe to come out.

[bluenix]

>For those who have been in denial because they thought their

>"community" is as safe as an inland city in a tropical storm...

 

You were arguing with Woodlawn, so I'm afraid I have to ask you to fuck off.

[eastbayguy]

To everyone in Frances' path, you are all definitely in my thoughts. Hope everyone comes through OK without loss of life, injury or major damage to your property. Talked to a couple friends down there today who are in the evacuation area. Both had safe places on higher ground to go to a ways inland.

 

--EBG

[bluenix]

>To everyone in Frances' path, you are all definitely in my

>thoughts. Hope everyone comes through OK without loss of

>life, injury or major damage to your property....

 

 

Take your smooshiness to your own thread.

 

Thanks in advance -

 

http://www.ezshots.com/members/blueman/images/blueman-45.gif

[Funseeker 22]

Well aren`t you a treat !!:+ :+

[bluenix]

http://www.ezshots.com/members/blueman/images/blueman-43.gif

[Ignoto]

>You were arguing with Woodlawn, so I'm afraid I have to ask

>you to fuck off.

 

Au contraire, he was arguing with me.

 

But I suppose it was unfair to respond to his allegations of my ignorance, since he will soon be without power and Internet connection.

[+ glutes]

Floridians and East Coasters in general, you are in my thoughts also.

This could be a repeat of Hurricane Andrew that hit Florida circa 1992. God forbid.

[Guest zipperzone]

>Floridians and East Coasters in general, you are in my

>thoughts also.

>This could be a repeat of Hurricane Andrew that hit Florida

>circa 1992. God forbid.

 

It's an ill ill wind that blows no good - perhaps it will blow Jeb Bush of the face of the earth!

[Guest zipperzone]

>Floridians and East Coasters in general, you are in my

>thoughts also.

>This could be a repeat of Hurricane Andrew that hit Florida

>circa 1992. God forbid.

 

It's an ill ill wind that blows no good - perhaps it will blow Jeb Bush of the face of the earth!

[VaHawk]

>It's an ill ill wind that blows no good - perhaps it will blow

>Jeb Bush of the face of the earth!

 

In your dreams! He will always have a "hanging chad" to wrap his pinkie around and save his sorry ass.

[VaHawk]

>It's an ill ill wind that blows no good - perhaps it will blow

>Jeb Bush of the face of the earth!

 

In your dreams! He will always have a "hanging chad" to wrap his pinkie around and save his sorry ass.