Sunday, September 25, 2022

The Up Side to a Hurricane ...

... is that unless you live in a remote cabin in a swamp with no radio, television, Internet or human contact, you're generally going to have several days' notice that one is coming (or might be coming) your way.

I've been through numerous tornadoes and a few earthquakes (none of the latter especially major).

If you live in or near a town in a tornado-prone area, you might get a warning siren or whatever a few minutes before it's on top of you.

I understand the guys in lab coats are getting better at predicting earthquakes, but the first notice I've ever had of being in the middle of one was when things started shaking. That was California in the 1980s (and once, in the early 2000s, a quake I barely felt but instantly recognized in Missouri).

Here in Florida, you can pretty much count on 5-7 days of time to do things like:

  1. Think about whether to stay or leave (we thought about leaving for one storm, and fortunately decided not to, since it ended up going right to our likely destination, Tupelo);
  2. If you're leaving, make travel arrangements;
  3. If you're staying, start putting away stuff that can get blown around, start laying in bottled water, pick up any additional food that you think might come in handy, check/buybatteries for lanterns, charge up your power banks for phones, etc.
Here in Gainesville, we're working on (3) at the moment, and it seems pretty well in hand. Hurricane Ian's storm cone keeps shifting. A couple of days ago, we were right in the middle of it. Yesterday, it looked like we'd be northwest of the center. Today, it looks like the center will pass west of us. Hell, it may decide to vacation in Acapulco for all I know. But we're getting ready, and will decide whether to ride it out at the house or seek more sturdy shelter on, probably, Wednesday morning.

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