Waiting for Hurricane Joaquin

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: the owlbear

Looking at the storm, it looks like its creeping. Down to 5 mph. I've seen slow moving hurricanes before but never that slow.

Yup.
Moving slow, building up steam.

Yeah...cat 3 by Sunday by most estimates.
Gonna keep an eye on it. Don't have a generator and our well pump doesnt have a manual...might be pissing in the wind, literally.

originally posted by: the owlbear

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: the owlbear

Looking at the storm, it looks like its creeping. Down to 5 mph. I've seen slow moving hurricanes before but never that slow.

Yup.
Moving slow, building up steam.

Yeah...cat 3 by Sunday by most estimates.
Gonna keep an eye on it. Don't have a generator and our well pump doesnt have a manual...might be pissing in the wind, literally.

I don't have a generator any more, so flashlights and candles will have to suffice.
I have 75 gallons of water for emergency use and we can cook on the gas grill.

All for naught if a tree comes down on the house though.

I'm heading to the outer banks this weekend...stay away, Joaquin!!! I'm taking water, food and flashlights, just in case. Oh yeah, and booze!!!

We are already on the second page of this thread and I see very little government "concernment" about this. Are they waiting to confirm Joaquin's path or timing a political move in elections time?

Do we have anything from FEMA or Washington, NJ, PA or NY Local Governments?

Sandy gave NJ a much-needed bath at the time. Are we going to get lucky & have Joaquin give DC a power wash?

One can only hope so.

originally posted by: Nyiah
Sandy gave NJ a much-needed bath at the time. Are we going to get lucky & have Joaquin give DC a power wash?

One can only hope so.

Do you wish a power wash that can make people homeless or kill them?

What a coincidence, the same day we are discussing Hurricane Joaquin in this thread ..........

FEMA is working with emergency management representatives around the nation to promote emergency readiness. Wednesday is declared National Emergency Preparedness Day.

www.wsfa.com...

We`ve had rain on and off for the past 2 days, we didn`t get much rain in September or august so a tropical storm will give us plenty of rain to make up for what we didn`t get in the past 2 months.

a reply to: Seeker Mom

That's the first time I've ever heard someone refer to Donald as smart. I have shoes smarter than he is.

it seems as though it's been raining just about everyday where I'm at (southwestern va) for a few weeks. yesterday I had a nice ride into town with rain pouring down I could hardly see for a good part of the way. The road I live on kind of loops around and back to the highway with really no place else to go, that I know of anyways. I'm real close to the first entryway onto the road, and there is what is usually a nice little relaxing creek across the street from us that flows under the road and goes on it's way. well, things didn't look that bad when I dropped my son off at school. Creek was high, had even broke the bank in one place and was draining into a field. but the road was clear and didn't see any problem.
well, went to leave to go pick him up an hour later and the creek was about an inch from laping over the barrier and flowing into the road. I hoped in my car to go and drove down the road and turned that corner and well, was met by the mail lady turning around, the road was flooded and she didn't want to go that way. So I turned around and went the other way to get out and well, it was fine for most of the way, but then it was flooded also, I just drove through it, since well, it's a narrow road and there was no way to turn around. I managed to pick up my son and headed home. The way I went to get out was impassible by then although the road crews were working at my end trying to get some of it cleared out.
We are supposed to get more rain tonight, and tomorrow, and well, that that hurricane is supposed to deliver us something like 5 inches or so. the Governor of Va has already declared a state of emergency, my landlady, who was here when the area flooding in 1985 says that if the rain had kept on like it was predicted to yesterday , we'd already be at about the same point as then. rain tomorrow and then the moisture from the hurricane. my home will more than likely be safe, my mailbox, by what I am being told might possibly be gone, but they are saying is that what is coming at us could be worse than it was in 1985.
so well, grocery shopping tomorrow I guess... hopefully there's something in the stores left.
and then it will be just wait and see what happens.

I understand why they "name" hurricanes...so they are easier to recall the specifics of.

Joaquin is being mentioned as following the path of Isabelle or Ivan. Meaning heavy coastal and inland flooding. Now Ivan heavily affected my area (SW PA) not with winds, but with heavy flooding and power outages from trees coming down from their roots being saturated. Ivan was in late October (most leaves off the trees at that time). What I find worrisome (inland) from Joaquin is that the trees are still heavy w/leaves so added weight, plus saturation (IMO) meNs more trees down, more power lines down, more days without power.

For those concerned, you can follow the meteorologist's discussing the storm at americanwx.com... in the MidAtlantic forum. spaghettimodels.com... has a lot of good information too.

It's Thursday and it's already Cat 3!

Will be going to cat 4 soon.

Reminder: weather is unpredictable. Like when Sandy suddenly decided to turn left I to NJ. So be ready for any sudden changes.

I personally want to greet this storm at the east coast with open arms

Well hello there Joaquin!! Looks like he's hit Cat 3; goin' for 4 maybe??

Hurricane Joaquin got down to business on Wednesday afternoon, vaulting from Category 1 to 3 status in a mere six hours. Joaquin’s top sustained winds zoomed from 85 mph in the 21Z (5:00 pm EDT) advisory from the National Hurricane Center to 115 mph in the 11:00 pm EDT advisory.

Source:WeatherUnderground
Note: At 2AM EDT he's rocking at 120mph.

Charlotte area chiming in - we've had rain and more rain, but it's been a good thing since we've been in a major drought; lots of long drizzyly soakers. But, this guy Joaquin has our local wx geeks in a tizzy 'cause they don't know quite what the devil he's gonna do --- go back out to sea OR pull a "left turn Clyde" right in to the Eastern Seaboard. Noticed ol' Cantore on the TWC was in a tizzy too this AM. Seems the models are divergent to say the least.

Per NOAA w/in the next 24-36 hrs he's expected to top out at 140 mph- which puts him at a Cat 4.

Gonna be an interesting next 36-48 hrs.

So, for me it's:
get batteries for flashlights, canned goodies, and DVDs, b/c even if we don't lose power I know my Dish Satellite will go out at the most interesting point of a TV show b/c of the rain.
Make sure got gas for vehicles and chain saw in case it does get dicey
Find the tarps & have them handy in case a tree does come down
Find the alternate cell phone charger thingy
Oh yeah - Keep fingers crossed!
Cheers

a reply to: dawnstar

I came back to Virginia in 1986, and they were still talking about the 1985 flood. The way some of the folks I was working with at the time described the event, it sounded almost apocalyptic.

I'm in Central Virginia right now on a business trip. We got an emergency alert on Tuesday concerning flooding and it was still flooded in a lot of places Wednesday morning. With the ground as saturated as it is, I'm concerned that we may indeed experience a flood that may exceed 1985, if Joaquin does impact us.

These days I live down in SW Virginia. I'm planning on heading home today (Thursday) to get ready. I'm sure my basement is totally flooded already.

-dex

Hmm, I guess the leaf peeping season this year is gonna be up for grabs. From the reports the leaves at the higher elevations are all ready starting to change. Looks like the Yanks up north have already started to change also.
If this thing comes in like they say it's gonna shred peeper season to bits, both North and South. That's sad, 'cause it's my favorite time of year, besides Spring. Source NPS
Source: Foilage map


Couple of years ago we went leaf peeping on the Blue Ridge around Linville Falls & had to make a detour b/c a stalled tropical storm during the summer had dumped 14" of rain in the area and wiped out parts of the Parkway with rock/mud slides.

I noticed on our local news they are already having trouble with failing saturated retaining walls in Boone, NC.

Still keeping my fingers crossed!

I guess it will be wise to remove the AC from the windows.

Last Monday bottled water was 3 packs for 11 bucks in Kmart. I'll pass by today after work.

Still don't see authorities talking to the people. Is it good or bad?

I just looked at NOAA's storm track cone of probability.
The center of the cone would have Joaquin coming right up the Chesapeake Bay.
I know it is too early to tell what will happen, but a hurricane traveling up the Chesapeake Bay would create incredible flooding, with the storm surge pushing up against the flows of the Susquehanna and Potomac Rivers.
If it entered the bay at high tide, that would make it all the worse.

We'll see. Keep an eye on it, and be prepared. Right now, it's still pretty early. There is a lot of time for it to do everything else.

Give you an idea of the far reaching effects a hurricane can have:

I'm here in SC, quite inland, and even though the projected track of the eye is no where near me, or the coast of SC, they are still predicting about 4.65 inches of rain for us on Saturday.

We'll see if that happens.