Are you ready for Sandy?

westbranch

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

here is an interesting bit of fact about tides and possibly Mean Sea Level, makes one consider that the magnitude of the sum of Sandy's impacts/effects may somewhat be coincidental...
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2012/2012GL052885.shtml
maybe its time to move to higher ground for a while...

niel

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

"Being a scientist by training, one of my pet peeves is when the media takes specific findings, figures, etc from a scientific study out of context and makes unsubstantiated claims based on misunderstanding of the context."

mtdoc,
what you said here reminds me of a joke i was told long ago.

it was a scientific experiment on an intelligent frog. the experiment involved progressively cutting off its legs and telling it to jump each time. the frog obliged each time and did its best to jump as far as it could. the scientist marked each jump's distance down until it came to cut off the frog's last leg. upon cutting it off and asking the frog to jump he just sat there. this request to jump was repeated many times and he did not jump so the conclusion that was reached was that a frog with no legs can't hear.

i'll shut up now.:p

niel

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

westbranch wrote: »

here is an interesting bit of fact about tides and possibly Mean Sea Level, makes one consider that the magnitude of the sum of Sandy's impacts/effects may somewhat be coincidental...
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2012/2012GL052885.shtml
maybe its time to move to higher ground for a while...

i agree it's time to move, but how far? shall we tell them not to just compensate for the tidal and ocean level increases and as they are to be predicted to be in the next 100 years or so, but also the reach of the hurricanes inland? how about the reach of earthquakes not to mention bad winter weather and possible volcanic ash? no matter how much you try to get out of harms way it will reach you to one degree or another or in another way. the resent events are new to us at least in the last 300-400yrs or so or the buildings and such that have endured all of this time on the coast would've been gone much sooner. the seemingly miniscule things, like for example a general ocean rise and slight temp rise, tend to become additive.

i have to admit it is starting to look bad to be on the east coast anymore with a hurricane backed up by a noreaster aimed inland followed by a minor quake and will be topped off with another noreaster all in a week and a half.

ggunn

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

niel wrote: »

i agree it's time to move, but how far? shall we tell them not to just compensate for the tidal and ocean level increases and as they are to be predicted to be in the next 100 years or so, but also the reach of the hurricanes inland? how about the reach of earthquakes not to mention bad winter weather and possible volcanic ash? no matter how much you try to get out of harms way it will reach you to one degree or another or in another way. the resent events are new to us at least in the last 300-400yrs or so or the buildings and such that have endured all of this time on the coast would've been gone much sooner. the seemingly miniscule things, like for example a general ocean rise and slight temp rise, tend to become additive.

i have to admit it is starting to look bad to be on the east coast anymore with a hurricane backed up by a noreaster aimed inland followed by a minor quake and will be topped off with another noreaster all in a week and a half.

When Yellowstone goes off it won't make any difference where you are.

techntrek

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

Nah, the east-most 1/4 of the country will be ok. Covered in ash and demoted to third-world status, but ok.

Ralph Day

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

I thought that super-eruption was going to cause so much ash that we wouldn't see the sun for centuries. Only the survivalists with their own nuclear power station in an old mine will see Star Trek in real life (2300 bp)

Ralph

niel

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

i guess this brings us back to the original question. are you ready for sandy?

to anyone that was directly impacted along the coast the answer to that is most probably no. i did also see an area of homes on some video that was shot, i think in new jersey, and one home had pvs all over it. it was flooded. the pvs looked intact though.

techntrek

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

I was ready. I always have a food stash and keep at least 10 gallons of gasoline on-hand, usually 15. Multiple power sources. When storm warnings go up I just sit back and watch everyone else make a mad dash for the toilet paper and milk.

niel

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

techntrek wrote: »

I was ready. I always have a food stash and keep at least 10 gallons of gasoline on-hand, usually 15. Multiple power sources. When storm warnings go up I just sit back and watch everyone else make a mad dash for the toilet paper and milk.

i know you prepped and are better off than most in the country, but my point is that had your home been in the same place as the other home i saw with pvs on it that was flooded that you would not have been prepared enough to survive sandy. under the same circumstances you would not have survived there and it is possible that similar devastating conditions could occur where you are now if a disaster of this caliber would bear down on your directly. right, you are not on the ocean front, but flooding does still occur inland. this is, of course, only an example of what could happen even though one thinks they are prepared for you can't prepare for all that may come. i think this is another case of just increasing your odds much like we do when addressing lightning, which is another thing we prep for, but can't fully protect from.

you can only say in retrospect that given what occurred in your area that you were prepared enough.

firerescue712

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

It is the same with any disaster. The intensity, location, and type is rarely known before it is upon us. Any attempt to prepare is better than none at all. The tragedy I see constantly is fire. Many are not prepared. No smoke detectors. Dead or missing batteries in smoke detectors. Smoke detectors are not tested on a regular basis. No fire extinguisher(s). No training in how to use a fire extinguisher. No plans on how to evacuate a structure in the event of a fire. Poor housekeeping (clutter) which leads to obstructed egress or attributes to the rapid fire spread. Improper storage of flammables and the equipment that uses them. Etc, etc, etc. Some preparations are simple, just overlooked. Others get in the way of lifestyles. I see too many times a fire could have been prevented or the fire loss reduced by easy and simple measures taken beforehand. Preparing for nature? Impossible to be ready for everything. But be willing the accept what tragedies happen, and move on to the recovery stage as quickly as possible. Instead of waiting for help, become the helper. In the old days, communities banned together to help those less fortunate. Why not restart this humane reaction when a disaster strikes? I wish the best for those that are being impacted by the current weather along the East Coast. Be safe, my friends.

techntrek

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

I've prepared for fire, too. Full size extinguisher in each vehicle, behind my bedroom door upstairs, one downstairs and one garage. Chain ladder in my bedroom, soon to have knotted ropes in each kid's room (tied to the bed and stored underneath) now that they are old enough to egress themselves. One type of smoke detector in each hallway and the other type in each bedroom. Added those arc-detection circuit breakers to the bedroom circuits. When I can afford it I plan on having residential sprinklers added. I'm a Floor Warden at work for evacs and SIPs.

Any other suggestions?

inetdog

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

techntrek wrote: »

IWhen I can afford it I plan on having residential sprinklers added.

Any other suggestions?

Don't think it ever made it into the codes, but about 20 years ago the Palo Alto fire department was part of an experiment/investigation on using standard PVC pipe for residential fire sprinklers.

Since the goal in residential, unlike commercial, is just to slow the fire down enough for escape rather than to actually protect property, the fact that the pipe would eventually melt was just not an issue. Reduced the cost of the plumbing to something almost reasonable.

firerescue712

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

It may sound corny, but plan and practice fire exit drills. We are creatures of habit. On numerous times we have found bodies beside a window or door, and they had time to escape. They were heading towards the normal way they leave the structure. I am guilty of this. I will bypass a door that i rarely use to go out a door that is frequently used. Residential sprinklers are a great idea, but there it too much political uproar to get it passed. Just like alarm systems, insurance companies will give discounts for a properly installed and certified sprinkler system. Some problems are low water main pressure and freezing pipes. There are ways around these, but they add to the cost of the system. Change the smoke detector batteries every time you change your clocks, or twice a year. Test the smoke detector monthly. If there is a fire at night, do those in bed know what to do? Drop to the floor, do not jump up. I could ramble for hours. Thank you for being proactive.

techntrek

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

niel wrote: »

i know you prepped and are better off than most in the country, but my point is that had your home been in the same place as the other home i saw with pvs on it that was flooded that you would not have been prepared enough to survive sandy. under the same circumstances you would not have survived there ....

I completely agree, which is why we have a plan for evacuation too. A shame that more people on the coast didn't evacuate, they did have 3 day's warning.

niel

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

they now have a snow storm in the areas that were hit hardest. a few areas are already near 1ft. so they come back to try and clean up and recover and this happens. this may be a very interesting winter. i sure hope i'm wrong that it's gonna get ugly as i'm not prepared yet.

Organic Farmer

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

We got an inch of snow overnight.

ggunn

Re: Are you ready for Sandy?

niel wrote: »

they now have a snow storm in the areas that were hit hardest. a few areas are already near 1ft. so they come back to try and clean up and recover and this happens. this may be a very interesting winter. i sure hope i'm wrong that it's gonna get ugly as i'm not prepared yet.

The timing of the storm was lousy, that's for sure. Earlier in the year it wouldn't have had the nor'easter to collide with and there would have been time afterward to recover before winter set in. My guess is that there will be lots of folks displaced for many months before things get back to "normal" for them.