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View Full Version : Looks like I might be riding this one out...



bamachem
08-27-2008, 12:47 PM
GUSTAV. Ivan and Katrina's little cousin. Looks like he may be a nasty little booger.

http://icons-pe.wunderground.com/data/images/at200807_5day.gif


yesterday, i bought 20 sheets of 7/16" ODB (Lowes @ $6.18 each - not bad) to start cutting on them to make my window and door hurricane shutters. the thing that kills me are the plywood hurricane clips. 20-clips at $30 a bag? ouch. i'm needing 3 bags. uff.

picked up a pristine coleman 5250watt generator today that a guy bought after Katrina and never used. the subaru 13hp engine purrs, and it has good power output. i picked it up for $300. new is $600. he just finished up the install on a whole-house generac so he doesn't need this one anymore.

this afternoon, i'm looking at two used 5000BTU window units close by that i can probably pick up for about $100 total.

between being safe w/ the windows covered, having power after the chaos to keep the fridge and freezers going, the lights on, and having a few creature comforts like fans and at least SOME AC after the fact, hopefully we'll be OK.

tomorrow i'm stocking up on gas. i'll top off my (6) 5-gallon gas cans and go put at least another 20-gallons in the boat as reserves.

me and the boys are going to ride things out here. my wife has to go into work and stay at the hospital once things are immenent, so i'm just going to stay close. our house is new, built under the new building code, so i really don't have much to worry about. my parents house (about 10-years old now) went thru ivan as a direct hit (eye wall passed directly over the house) here and only lost one piece of vinyl siding. they were without power for 8 days though, and w/ two little ones, that would be enough to drive us crazy for sure.

i also just went to HD at lunch - boy that was a mistake. picked up a 16" chainsaw "just in case", some extension cords for the generator, some misc stuff along with the $100-worth of ply-clips.

can you tell i was a boy scout? moving back down here sure can be expensive... just getting all prepped up will run me about $1k after it's all said and done even with the "smart shopping" i've been able to do, but i'll be ready NEXT TIME, and that is damn-near priceless.



T minus about 4 days before hitting this:

http://www.fixapcfault.co.uk/panic%20button.jpg

:D wish me luck!

oly884
08-27-2008, 12:50 PM
Best of luck Andy, be safe.

04 Rocko Taco
08-27-2008, 12:53 PM
Best of luck Andy!!! Hope it isnt as bad as it looks!! Sounds like you are ready though.

DHC6twinotter
08-27-2008, 01:00 PM
Wow...hope you all stay ok! Riding out hurricanes has given me some fond memories. Our family rode out some really strong typhoons when we lived in the Philippines. I think they are kinda fun, as long as it isn't too violent and there isn't any major flooding. :hillbill:

We rode out hurricane Fran back several years ago down in Fayetteville, NC. By then, the winds were down, but it was still a category 1 storm (IIRC). We lost 2 trees and power for 2 weeks. All the neighbors were on well water, so since the electricity was out, they had no water either. Lucky for us, we were one of the only homes on city water in the area, so the neighbors came over with buckets. :D Fun times.

gilby4runner
08-27-2008, 01:12 PM
Good luck and we will be praying for the best....

garrett
08-27-2008, 01:19 PM
:pics:

mastacox
08-28-2008, 07:38 AM
Good luck :drink:

Don't forget a satellite phone with internet access so you can browse UltimateYota even if all of the power lines get ripped out of the ground.

bamachem
08-28-2008, 08:03 AM
Good luck :drink:

Don't forget a satellite phone with internet access so you can browse UltimateYota even if all of the power lines get ripped out of the ground.


lol... funny you should mention that. my high-speed connection at the house is via DirecTV, and w/ a generator, i'll have full power for it and the laptop... :thumbup:

mastacox
08-28-2008, 08:49 AM
lol... funny you should mention that. my high-speed connection at the house is via DirecTV, and w/ a generator, i'll have full power for it and the laptop... :thumbup:


Don't you need a working telephone line for upstream data? From what I understand the satellite part of a satellite internet connection is only download, and upload is though the phone line.

neliconcept
08-28-2008, 03:57 PM
hope everything works out for you andy and no damage is done

bamachem
08-28-2008, 05:33 PM
lol... well, DUH!

i just checked... the DSL is definitely on the phone line and not the satellite. we have our satellite, internet, phone, and cells all bundled in the same package for payment (and sweet discounts), so for some reason i was thinking that our internet was sat based...

all our phone lines are underground in the neighborhood and fiber-optic underground just outside it. it's been fine in the area for previous storms, so i'll keep my fingers crossed.

i went and filled up the runner, the gas cans, and the boat (31 gallon tank for generator reserves) today... $263. :D dang, that one hurt.

Seanz0rz
08-28-2008, 05:41 PM
best of luck to you and your family andy. you are a braver man than I.

RunnerUp
08-28-2008, 10:03 PM
i dont know how bad this one is going to be, but hurricanes are the biggest pain in the ass living in the south east, hopefully you guys fairwell for this one, as they always tend to pull back east, which could result in a direct hit for you.

a couple years ago we bought a big generator(not a house one though) and always keep atleast 5 days food in the house. i want to get a gas tank and fill it with up to 100 gallons though. of course thats a pipe dream...

either way, be safe, and be sure to stock up on water

4runnerchevy
08-29-2008, 07:03 AM
Good luck with that Hurricane. Having been through Iniki the hurricane, in Hawaii and Loma Prieta the earthquake in Santa Cruz, i'll take an earthquake any day.

04 Rocko Taco
09-02-2008, 07:49 AM
Any word about, or from Andy?

I texted him on yesterday but never heard anything back from him.

RunnerUp
09-02-2008, 10:56 AM
alabama seemed to fair pretty well this time, though pretty much the entire gulf coast got a hard hit, so he might just be without power.

04 Rocko Taco
09-02-2008, 11:06 AM
thats what I assume, which is why I texted him, but I suppose there is a decent chance that there may be little or no cell service down there right now either. WE shall see.

bamachem
09-02-2008, 12:21 PM
lol... sorry chris. you're probably texting to my personal cell number. i don't carry that one, but i carry my blackberry business phone. my personal calls are forwarded to it, but the text messages don't transfer.

anyway, we didn't get much at all other than some 30MPH gusts and rain here. not bad at all. our power flickered only once for about 1/2 second and that was it.

from what i can tell so far, it wasn't really as bad as they were expecting anywhere. south louisiana got some bad weather, but not nearly as bad as was forecasted. coastal MS got some 12' storm surges in some places, but that's less than half what Katrina gave them, and the wind was barely 70-ish during the worst part of the storm for them.

anyway, we fared very well. i spent this morning (off work) just cleaning up and helping my dad w/ some stuff at his house.


pics of the worst our area had - slightly high water - about 2' above mean high tide:

high water at zundel's landing, south of the grand hotel, mobile bay. the damaged piers in the background were remnants from Katrina

http://4rnr.net/hurricanes/gustav-10.jpg


east side of scenic 98 at the grand hotel

http://4rnr.net/hurricanes/gustav-11.jpg


one lane covered on scenic 98 at the grand hotel

http://4rnr.net/hurricanes/gustav-12.jpg


high water in the marina at the grand hotel

http://4rnr.net/hurricanes/gustav-13.jpg


high water in the marina at the grand hotel

http://4rnr.net/hurricanes/gustav-15.jpg


high water in the marina at the grand

http://4rnr.net/hurricanes/gustav-16.jpg


high water on the golf course at the grand

http://4rnr.net/hurricanes/gustav-14.jpg


roof damage to the store at pier st and mobile st, fairhope

http://4rnr.net/hurricanes/gustav-17.jpg


pier street boat ramp, fairhope

http://4rnr.net/hurricanes/gustav-18.jpg





so far, i've only seen a couple trees down and that one tin roof torn up.

4x4mike
09-02-2008, 09:31 PM
Glad to hear all you had was some rain and 30mph winds. Hell we had winds that hard the other day here.

Seanz0rz
09-02-2008, 09:48 PM
very very glad to hear you are ok. got a little worried about you for a while there...

04 Rocko Taco
09-03-2008, 07:22 AM
Im sure thats what it was Andy! Glad to hear things went as well as they did, now buckle down and get ready for the next three. :)