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In November of 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit our forested property near the Delaware River in New York. We had thought that since we lived a couple of hours inland and over 1000 feet higher than sea level, we were fairly safe. We have always made some preparations in case of emergencies but we had a lot to learn about being ready for a situation like this.
We knew the storm was approaching quickly and it was going to be severe. We had waterproof canoeing “go-bags” ready and we had a 625 gallon above ground water storage tank and a good non-electric water purification system. Even our dog had his saddle bags packed with his food and supplies. But we were not prepared for the intensity of this storm. Bugging out was not an option, at least by car.
When the storm hit, the winds kept getting stronger. Just when we thought that it was as bad as it could get, the wind picked up even more. Trees blew down and ripped out the power lines to our house. The circuit breaker box exploded. Several large conifers fell on top of our house, partially crushing the roof. Our daughter was watching the storm just as the wind hit and a huge tree blew down and landed directly on the roof above her room. An old garden trellis, made from large timbers took the brunt of the force and probably saved her life.
We gathered the kids to the center of the little house as far from windows as we could get. We had a few battery powered LED lanterns lit because the power was out.
Trees and down power lines blocked our street so we had to shelter in place and tough it out. I think there might have been a tornado along with the hurricane because some trees were twisted in half and not just blown down in one direction.
Once the storm passed, we had to assess the damage. No one was hurt thankfully. We made sure the propane tank was shut off and every appliance was unplugged. Clearing the driveway and property of downed trees and debris took several days. We had no intention of clearing the road of trees, it was too dangerous since the power lines crisscrossed everywhere. We were able to check on our neighbors and offer what assistance we could.
We had to stay in the house since the roads were impassable and dangerous. Since we have a private well and use an electric well pump, we had no running water. We had plenty of fresh water in the water tank, fortunately, and every drop of water we consumed went first through our counter top purification system.
After the house was rebuilt and the storm was mostly behind us, we made lists of things that we could have done better. The first thing we did was to make a plan in case we got separated. Perhaps next time an emergency struck, we might not all be home. We planned where we could meet and who we might call for information.
Over the next couple of years we invested a wood burning stove and a generator that could run on either gasoline or propane. Gasoline was scarce for weeks after the storm and rationed. 20 pound propane tanks were available, though. We also built a battery bank for backup power. Several deep cycle batteries connected to a power inverter. So we had two power sources. We now all keep a pair of jeans and sturdy slip on shoes next to our beds so we are ready to go in 5 minutes flat.
A few other changes we made to our preparations.... We got 2 camp type toilets, emergency nonperishable foods like freeze dried back packing meals, MRE's , canned foods, more lanterns and extra batteries of all types, a good quality am/fm and weather radio that runs on either batteries, a/c power or a crank/dynamo and we doubled the size of our garden. Some eight years later, we continue to improve our emergency preparations and refine our plans.
I have been through three major hurricanes that tore up my area of Virginia pretty badly. My first lesson learned was Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Isabel really messed our area up in the northern neck of Virginia. No power for 13 days. Nowhere to get gas or ice. I will never forget the howling of the winds and thinking this will this ever stop. Many houses were lost into the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers during Isabel.
My next experience was Hurricane Irene. A microburst (powerful wind) came right across the street. It looked like someone’s hand just cut a swath right through the trees. The sound of that wind! It creeps me out every time. No power again for 7 days.
Last year Hurricane Michael got us! No power for 5 days and many main roads washed out. Several roads were impassable until this past March! I DO NOT play with these storms.
Do not think just because you’re not taking a direct hit that it can’t be destructive!! Prepare ahead of time! Buy lots of water, fill up large buckets with water to flush toilets, buy batteries, charcoal to cook food, table sandwiches food like peanut butter and jelly will help too. Always have paper plates and plastic utensils. Get baby wipes for personal hygiene for everyone, not just babies. Fill your vehicles up with gas and remember your pets!! Get extra pet food, litter, etc. Get your prescription and over the counter medicines ahead of time! And don’t forget you need a NOAA Weather Radio when the power goes out to stay on top of things.!! Be prepared to be self sustaining for days because you will be without power for days and possibly stranded for days. Do not ever wait til the last minute to gather supplies and if they tell you to evacuate then do it!!
I remember the day Hurricane Ike struck Texas and Louisiana back in 2008. It was Friday night, September 12, 2008, in Houston Texas. I was 11 at the time and my mom and dad were sitting in front of the TV watching as Ike crept closer towards Texas. My dad went to Walmart and got some dry food, flashlights and batteries for the storm. I was really nervous because of the size of Ike (it was 450 miles wide!) and the damage it might cause overnight. I was walking around thinking the worse and even taking a long last look at my apartment complex with my neighbor’s friend!
It started getting windy around 6 pm (winds around 40 mph) and we got scared and ran home. Twigs from the 100 foot pine trees started to break off and leaves were flying everywhere. My mom and I were walking to Pops Supermarket to get some last minute things and the checkout line was long. When we were finally done, the winds blew open the door and everybody went silent.
We went home quickly. Dad was in the bedroom with his hardhat on playing with the flashlight as he watched the news. There was a phone bank with citizens asking questions to Dr. Neil on Channel 11 about what kind of damage they could expect. I ran outside at 10 pm and the winds were still at 40mph but they started to gust past 50 and I was on my porch watching the palm tree near me sway in the wind. The tall pine trees were bending slightly as I heard them rustle in the wind. More leaves and trash were airborne now.
I couldn't stand against wind as I tried to go downstairs and the wind kept pushing me back. I gave up and went back upstairs once my folks told me it's no longer safe to be wandering. The wind was howling at the back window. My dad managed to use an old bed to cover the window and it was reinforced with the couch in his bedroom. I tried to fall asleep but the wind was howling constantly and gusts started to become a little more frequent. At around 11:30 pm, it was getting blustery outside and my dad tried to microwave a burrito (worst time for a snack!) and the lights started to flicker. We ran to the closet but we started to fuss when my mom didn't want to get in. She was terrified and we tried to calm her down but another loud gust blew in and the carport downstairs started rumbling.
The wind was starting to make squealing and screeching noises. We were silent for a couple minutes staring at the back window. I could see an outline of the trees whipping in the wind from the street light. Dad and I went inside and mom slept in the living room. For another 30 minutes the lights would flicker as we listened to Paul and Tom on the radio. I lay down on the floor and dad sat on his big tool box playing with the flashlight. Around 12:30 am, we lost power and he winds got louder. It sounded like a train one minute and a wolf howling the next second. The winds were probably between 70 and 80 by that time. My dad went out to get my mom but I remember my mom opening the door to look outside to get a peek. It was terrifying. In the sea of darkness the palm tree was bending back and forth violently. Water was falling from the roofs like Niagara Falls. The giant pine trees were bending at 45 degree angles with branches snapping off.
Mom closed the door and finally took refuge in the closet. She was crying at one point and we told her we were going to make it out. At 1:30 am the back window shattered and glass and rain started to come in. I flashed a light to help dad see and he had to get some trash bags to cover the TV and computer in his room and push the couch to push the beds that were covering the broken window back up but the wind kept pushing them down.
Around 2:00 am, the radio said Ike made landfall at Galveston and Houston and the surrounding area was being battered by high winds and heavy surge flooding. Dad took note of the sky looking orange when we opened the closet door to let some cool air in since it was hot inside the closet! I heard debris hitting the building and the wind was deafening. The winds were above 75mph around that time. All night the wind was screaming. We spent 10 to 12 hours in the closet until noon Saturday.
It was a mess outside. Shingles littered the floor and tree branches and twigs were everywhere. My dad’s old pair of shoes were still next to the door! The courtyard was even worse. Pine trees were snapped in half and entire trees were down on the ground. I helped our neighbors clean up the debris and clear the pathways. Dad went to get more food and water. We ate what we could and had to walk around to find some food and hot water. Mom and dad were upset but glad we made it out unscathed. We walked around the neighborhood seeing the damage. A lot of tree damage and some leaning power lines. I couldn't sleep that Saturday night with all the humidity. My mom and I were listening to updates from the mayor and city officials.
We were both scared out of wits and I cried but my mom reassured me that we made it and we are OK. By Sunday afternoon the power was restored and we started to learn about the true devastation Ike did to the state. I was thankful that we didn't lost our home or lives for that manner. Some areas along the coast were wrecked or wiped out from the storm surge. I remember the reporter on 13 trying to get a grip on his emotions as he went through the damage and ruins at Bolivar Peninsula. Watching the wreckage, it ran a chill down my spine but but it showed me the true power of these cyclones. Ike would cause me to take preparations more seriously and now I stock more supplies to prepare for every season. I know it's not much of a story but tropical cyclones are nothing to mess with. The story I will tell my kids one day!
I am a retired man who lives in Tampa Bay area and lost power for 73 hours as a result of Hurricane Irma. I slept like a baby for three nights and did not lose any food to spoilage. I took some common-sense steps to achieve those results.
As Member of Bellevue Hospital Medical center medical staff, I helped evacuate the Hospital during Huricane Sandy . I am a registered nurse , and with the help of all the staff and many city and governmental agency staff members, we evacuated 520 patients to area hospitals . When I say all the staff , that meant people from accounting , chaplains, medical residents , and even two brand new nurses. I was assigned to the 14th floor. I was instructed, because of my seniority, to guide the two new nurses during the huricane. Talk about trial by fire! We lost power the 2nd day, while the storm was raging. We ended up having to carry patients down from as high as the 22nd floor.
When I say all governmental agencies, we had Oklahoma city fire, Homeland Security and the US Army helping. I have to say everyone pitched in. There was an unbelievable sense of comradery . When New York City needed help in its most desperate hour, the Bellevue staff, and especially the nursing staff , answered the call for help and came to the hospital . We evacuated 520 patients with 1 birth , and 1 cardiac bypass, along the way . Everyone was safely evacuated.
Hi, we are Flood Victims from Hurricane Irma. We live in Jacksonville, Fl. Hurricane Irma hit us on September 11, 2017. Thank God we had some friends we were able to stay with who lived on higher ground. Thank God we got out of there and moved our van. I believe they said the Hurricane was a Category 5.
When we were allowed back in, we were told we had to move out within 7-10 days and that we needed to throw everything out. The river water was very dirty and it came up 2 feet. They brought great big dumpsters in and all of us on ground floor filled them with our furniture. It was the most devastated situation i have ever been in. I thought i was going to have a nervous breakdown. It was horrible! I wasn’t worried about our belongings but we came very close to being homeless. I am 69 years old and I take care of my 82 year old uncle. When we get older we don’t cope with things as well as when we were younger. Most of our family has passed away and the ones who haven’t are old and not able to help us. Most of our friends have passed away also, so we came very close to being homeless!
We moved two times and are moving again. This has been a nightmare!!! There is so much to tell but this kind of sums it up! Thank god we received some help from FEMA and from the country western singers who put on a concert to collect money. Truly we appreciate all the prayers, love and concern people have shown us! By the way they have a tentative date to move back in on July 20, 2018. We have a lot of work that has to be done as soon as we can get back in. No bodily harm and no lives were lost and we now can see light at the end of the tunnel!
I had never witnessed that level of destruction or devastation before. The eye of the storm hit around 10:30pm, so most of the guests (including myself) were sheltered in the hotel ballroom. What made this storm unique (and the reason it caught the Southern Baja Peninsula so off guard) was the fact that it rapidly intensified and changed course. It was originally forecast to head West and weaken as it went out to sea, but instead it made an almost 90 degree turn and headed directly for Cabo San Lucas as a Category 4. It was a Category 3 when it actually made landfall, but the millibars of pressure in the eye were extremely low for a Category 3, and the hurricane slowed and caused massive destruction.
Because of the initial forecast, people were not being encouraged to evacuate. Our hotel was prepared as possible and technically designated as a hurricane shelter with the ability of a Cat 3 storm, and had excellent safety procedures in place. But no one expected the storm to be as bad as it was. The hotel had a shelter set up in the hotel ballroom, but also told guests that if they felt more comfortable staying in their rooms then they were more than welcome to do so, so long as they kept the windows and doors completely shut and did not venture outside. (At the point of their original instruction, the hurricane was still not expected to be such a massive threat.)
My friends and I originally thought we would "ride it out" in our hotel room, and were almost poking fun at the evacuation room that was set up. We figured we would hole up in our room with food and wine and watch movies until the government formally shut down the power grid, as planned and mentioned in the bulletins they were sending us. Everything was going "as planned" for us until about 8:30pm. The sliding glass doors were shaking violently, and then all of a sudden a large portion of a palm tree snapped off and hit our window. It didn't shatter, fortunately, but the scare was enough for us to put all of our things in the bathroom, grab our passports and wallets, and make a beeline for the hotel ballroom. At that point in our room, there was water already starting to gurgle get sucked out of the toilet, and the shower was making a howling noise. It also took 3 of us to pull the hotel door open because of the low pressure suction. (The hotel hallways were partially outside and exposed to the elements.)
By the time we (safely... thankfully) made it to the hotel ballroom, the hotel staff were already running rescue operations to retrieve people from their rooms. They were taking attendance on the hotel room roster, and rescuing accordingly. There was an elderly couple being carried in with blood all over them from being cut by glass, and some other injuries. (None of them major, thanks to the incredible care and rescue effort of the hotel staff.)
The pictures on link below will tell the story of the destruction, but the main reason I felt that this was an important story to share is because Odile was a storm that took everyone by surprise... We were incredibly lucky to be in the care of the hotel workers who slaved away all night to keep us safe, but a lot of people were not so lucky and the widespread destruction over the Baja Peninsula was immense. So for anyone else who doubts the power of Mother Nature and doesn't take weather warnings seriously, just take some advice from anyone who experienced Odile. Weather forecasts can change in a heartbeat, so always err on the side of caution.
We were stranded in Cabo for an extra week because the airport was completely destroyed, there was no phone service, internet, or any other form of communication. Our friends and family feared the worst after they didn't hear from us for several days. Food and water had to be rationed. The Mexican military had to perform food drops for the local residents because all of the roads were washed out.
I could write a book about all of the experiences of that week, but I will let my photos do the talking. Needless to say, I made some lifelong friends during that week, and saw things that I couldn't imagine even in my wildest dreams. Mother Nature is beautiful and amazing, but give her respect before it's too late and she demands it from you. You can see my hurricane photos online.
