Do I stay or do I go?

[nissangirl74]

As of tonight, Hurricane Earl is 520 miles SSE off Cape Hatteras. It is a category 4 storm with winds in the 140 mph range. The only mandatory evacuations are to 30,000 residents on Hatteras Island, on the Outer banks. People all up the eastern seaboard are making the inevitable decision to stay put and ride it out, or move inland to safety. The 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina was just this past week and although Earl is not expected to be anywhere near as devastating, there could be some major damage if the storm doesn't turn as predicted.
I was wondering, if you lived in a hurricane-prone area, would you stay put or would you evacuate? Would it make a difference if the hurricane was a category 3 or a category 5?
Personally, I am a big chicken and tend to err on the side of caution. I would head for high country.

Discuss.

[Bwana]

For me it would totally depend on my position. If I lived in a well built, well situated house I would have no problem with staying there. If on the other hand I lived in a cheap apt in a low area, I'd be long gone.

Too many variables.

[nissangirl74]

For me it would totally depend on my position. If I lived in a well built, well situated house I would have no problem with staying there. If on the other hand I lived in a cheap apt in a low area, I'd be long gone.

Too many variables.

If you had lived in coastal Louisiana or Mississippi and saw the weather reports before Katrina hit, would you have left?

[Jesda]

I tend to have a bold attitude toward weather, especially growing up with tornadoes. I actually enjoy and get excitement from them.


But if I could receive warning of a tornado touchdown well in advance like a hurricane, you can be damn sure I would GTFO ASAP.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

I would hurricane proof my house with enough food and supplies/generator gas for weeks. Then, once everyone leaves, rob them blind.

[flohtingPoint]

We were forced to evacuate the Panama City area by our base commander when Ivan rolled through in '04. The best way of thinking about it is that you're not hurting anything by evacuating.

[AppleBonker]

I was wondering, if you lived in a hurricane-prone area, would you stay put or would you evacuate? Would it make a difference if the hurricane was a category 3 or a category 5?

Having just returned from another vacation out that way, I can say for certain I'd evacuate from the outer banks. Check it out on a map, you don't want to be there when a hurricane rolls through. There is no high land and it's all one long island. If the ocean gains even 10 feet of depth, you wont be able to see any dry land at all. It really doesn't take much of a storm to destroy that area. Additionally, most of the people on the outer banks right now are vacationing there. Around this time of year, I wouldn't be surprised if 85% of the population of the island was visiting. If I was one of those people, it would be an even easier decision.

Now, if I was inland just slightly, my opinion might be altered somewhat. I'm with Jesda in that I usually look for tornadoes when the warnings come out. But with the destructive force (over a much larger area) and the advanced warning of a hurricane, I'd probably bail if there was a good chance that I was going to get hit hard. The inconvenience is worth not dying, IMO.

[GrilledCheese33]

We bored up and stay put lol. Although I do live slightly inland from the coast, about 5 miles.

[Dattebayo]

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://s0.i ... JIpW3JtzKQ

^ First thing I thought about, with the title and all...

Anything category three and below, I'd stay just so I could pick up all the sh*t after the storm ASAP. Cause you KNOW your fence is gonna be all torn up and your garage flooded... But you won't lose your entire house to something like that. If I had a weather-proof generator it would convince me more...

[Bubba1]

As of tonight, Hurricane Earl is 520 miles SSE off Cape Hatteras. It is a category 4 storm with winds in the 140 mph range. The only mandatory evacuations are to 30,000 residents on Hatteras Island, on the Outer banks. People all up the eastern seaboard are making the inevitable decision to stay put and ride it out, or move inland to safety. The 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina was just this past week and although Earl is not expected to be anywhere near as devastating, there could be some major damage if the storm doesn't turn as predicted.
I was wondering, if you lived in a hurricane-prone area, would you stay put or would you evacuate? Would it make a difference if the hurricane was a category 3 or a category 5?
Personally, I am a big chicken and tend to err on the side of caution. I would head for high country.

Discuss.

To me it would depend mostly on my location, the severity of the storm, and the strength of the facility I'm at. If I'm at a sbeachfront place especially on a barrier island like the Outerbanks NC, or Long beach Island in NJ, or flood prone area, I'd leave. If the place is not hurricane proof, I'm outta there too. But if I'm on significant incline from the beach and the place is hurricane proof, I'd think about staying if its a tropical storm or Cat 1. For a Category 3+ definately head home. Everything will be closed anyway.

[frapjap]

I grew up just a few minutes from the atlantic in Florida. My family didn't leave for anything less than a 4. Flooding, downed trees, blocked or washed out roads, and no power are eminent. But if you prepare properly- board or shutter your windows and doors, fill your bathtubs with water for boiling, fuel up (2 propane tanks for the grill and gasoline in the car tanks and 10-15 gallons for the generator(s) lots and LOTS of beer and booze) you can ride it out.

The aftermath is FAR worse than the storm. The storm is actually kinda fun to experience in a sick way.
I rode out Katrina when I lived in Destin, FL and was without power for 21 days. Water came back after 11 days. Gas stations couldn't pump and those that could were sold out or gouging so badly it was chaos. Looting was everywhere, no one was working, and even Walmart had no power. But I gotta tell ya, it was like camping- roughing it if you will. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Taking a step back from the day to day life and making survival your only goal for that period of time is riviting. That, and hurricane parties because there literally isn't anything else to do after you clean up for the day. You can also make some big bucks helping the city clean up the mess since 90% of their workforce is gone.

So would I leave? Yes if I was in the barrier islands. But if it were anywhere else, unless its a 4 or greater, I'm not going anywhere. Again, given that I don't live on an island or I'm living less than 800 yards from the beach. For those people who do run and then find out that their homes are without power, water, etc after the storm- they find themselves with a HEFTY hotel bill and ABSURD amounts of traffic both leaving and coming back- and thats IF they can find a hotel while evacuating. There isn't any sense in coming back if you don't have power and water, ya know? As for the hotels while you're evacuating, those bishes fill up SOOOOOO quickly! You drive, stop, drive, stop, drive, stop and no one has any damned vacancy. I only know because we ran from Andrew, rightfully so. My logic for staying put is adventure, hurricane parties, saved cash, and enjoyment.

[Dittoz7]

The aftermath is FAR worse than the storm. The storm is actually kinda fun to experience in a sick way.
I rode out Katrina when I lived in Destin, FL and was without power for 21 days. Water came back after 11 days. Gas stations couldn't pump and those that could were sold out or gouging so badly it was chaos. Looting was everywhere, no one was working, and even Walmart had no power. But I gotta tell ya, it was like camping- roughing it if you will. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Taking a step back from the day to day life and making survival your only goal for that period of time is riviting. That, and hurricane parties because there literally isn't anything else to do after you clean up for the day. You can also make some big bucks helping the city clean up the mess since 90% of their workforce is gone.

YES!

But we never had a generator. So it would the whole neighborhood block came together, and made a huge bbq for everyone. Since the meet would probably spoil with out electricity. It's like camping on easy mode with a house. I really do feel like kinda forces people together, around this busy as bees world we live in. Feels good man.

[93coupe]

I would leave. No question. Why do i want to stay and risk my life and goods. I taking my ish and heading inland!

[AppleBonker]

Afraid of the water? There's a shocker...

[93coupe]

Afraid of my s*** getting washed away! Besides, it's an excuse to travel.

[Mr1der]

I'd stay for the party.

[Gold Digger]

While our typhoon season isn't Katrina level power, it's nothing to scoff at at times. Granted, I live about 20 miles from the closest coast line in Tokyo, but we still get some pretty severe wind and rain during a typhoon. Not sure how they are rated though.

About 4 years ago, when I was still in the apartment, we had a nasty little typhoon come to shore. We had about 100km/h winds sustained for about 3 hours with rain. There is a park about 200 feet down the road from the apartment we lived in that had some really nice trees. Needless to say, several good sized branches were broken off and strewn about the neighborhood. Hasn't really been that bad since.

Had we lived in Okinawa, well, it may have been a different story. But, if I were any closer to the coast, with what we get here, I would stay put. Japanese people tend to over-react with bad weather...shutting down train service with anything more than 30kmh winds.

[krimsonviper]

I'm with Dave. Anything 3 and lower, I'd stick it out. Just make sure my place is boarded up pretty well, and I have some fresh supplies. That is if I live in a house. If it was a first floor apt or condo, I'm gone like Do-Do birds.

[troskinatior]

Im going to the beach when earl gets here

[numbnuts240]

governor rell declared an emergency in ct today. all i've seen is drizzles and i'm sitting in my room drinking beer. if it somehow manages to get nuts, i'll be on the front porch watching the show.

[Jesda]

governor rell declared an emergency in ct today. all i've seen is drizzles and i'm sitting in my room drinking beer. if it somehow manages to get nuts, i'll be on the front porch watching the show.

And take pics.

And vids.