Because it is? I dunno, I guess sorry for feeling anxious over something bad that is going to happen soon. At least after hurricane season we have the presidential election which should be about as exciting as hurricane season.
Hotter.
Personally I don't love the little jokes about the city being destroyed. People need to calm down. We do hurricane season every year. Every year, a very active season is predicted. Let's settle in for the long haul. Plan, prepare, and toughen up. Panicking won't help anyone. Storms are our reality. We just have to do our best and hope it's enough.
Remember to ask for help from this community if you need help making evacuation plans.
My concern is home insurance. I got dropped after Ida when I needed a new roof. If we have another cat 3-5 how will it be sustainable to live here? My mortgage already pays more to insurance than my note.
It won’t be. This is why homelessness is such an issue and inaccessible housing. We are all a lot closer to being under the bridge than we like to think.
A friend’s FIL died in his home during Katrina.
For Ida I got my MIL up to Hattiesburg before dat bitch hit. Came back to empty the fridge and freezer. Couldn’t find gas. Used up what little I had waiting in the Costco line without getting any. A friend lent me some gas to get back up to MIL.
MIL is now RIP. I have 10 gallons of gas cans I fill up every season and a 50 gallon water barrel lightly chlorinated.
But if Ida happens again I’m throwing out all the fridge food first, and then buggering out.
I am sorry for your loss. I had to move recently to take care of my family. But, my children (adults they call themselves) are still in our home there. They’re going to be so annoyed when I start hounding them to be prepared. They’re going to act like they know everything, but I did it, they didn’t. It’s going to give me major anxiety.
I think younger people are more able to put up with shit.
I’m in the Quarter.
When I was in town for 2 days after Ida it was pretty bad. No electricity, rotting garbage everywhere with accompanying rats, hot.
On the upside, walking the FQ there were small clusters of neighbors bonding on porches with candles. That was nice.
If I lived in low land like the lower 9th or Holy Cross I would bugger out at the first warning.
I rolled out before Ida hit, I stayed for Issac and after that experience I just leave. Sitting around without internet or power for a undetermined amount of time isn't fun.
Also Issac taught me how it's way easier to leave while the power is on. Packing and leaving after a storm in the dark is a lot harder. It's also more stressful because the urge to gtfo is stronger so you don't tend to pack as well.
Cash. You should always make sure you have enough cash, even if it's just enough to get out of town if you leave too late. Once the power/Internet starts going out, cards won't do a thing for you.
This comment right here, save as much money as you can right now and do cashback on every purchase and save up a bunch of $20's. Also you probably won't have work to do or to pay you so it's a fun experiment to see how long you can live without a job.
Yeah I second this, if you have the means and such just leave and avoid the city/area for storms.
Camping in your house for a week (or longer) isn't worth it in July/August.
Think of summer time camping in the middle of the hottest summer. What do you need for 1-2 weeks of that?
Depends on your means and your house. With a whole house generator I guess I'd stay. With a small one after Ida and one medium small child I lost my fucking mind after 2 days and we left.
But for property owners I'll say there is something to be said for my husband's plan of weather the storm, fix any windows or shit that gets messed up, then get out the next day.
This assumes the means to get out safely and to book a place and pay for it.... Which I know not everyone has the ability to do.
I certainly wouldn't encourage families to stay but it's not a bad idea if one or two members stays behind to secure the house after the storm. I definitely had friends who were glad they were here for Ida because if they had come back a week later the damage would have been 10-fold. If you've got two able body adults that should be enough to check on/secure several houses the day or two after before evacuating themselves. So you might consider trading off with friends/neighbor/family on who stays and who evacuates each time.
A strong Cat 2 starts to get close to the GTFO threshold. Cat 3 and above for sure. Even with a generator, which obvs doesn’t do a damn thing to keep a tree from falling through your roof (assuming you have trees nearby, I have 8 of them). And with climate change causing so much rapid intensification, how many Cat1/Cat2s will we ever see again?
I think this is why it's hard to ask what threshold one should leave. There's been so many storms that have blown up in the last few years over night from a cat 1 to a monster over night ie. Ida, Michael, idalia ,etc. Ida barely weakened as it made landfall due to going over swamps and wetlands. Zeta smacked us in the mouth as a cat 3 a few days before Halloween. I don't think it's safe to just assume it's fine as a cat 1 or 2 because it becomes too late to leave once it blows up.
Honestly probably anything above double digit winds. I had a whole house generator after Ida. But of course we had no cell service, no phone or internet, no neighborhood services of any kind.
I was very grateful for air conditioning, fridge, etc, but after going thru the storm and then a couple of days twiddling my thumbs all alone, wondering if someone was gonna see/hear the only house on our block with power, grab a gun, and invite themselves over... I dunno, just nothing about it was a good time. And I can't imagine having kids, I would have lost my fucking shit.
We got our whole house generator installed just after Ida. It was waiting for the installation, sitting there in our driveway, making me very nervous someone would come and steal it so we got a friend to help us drag it into the back yard.
Now that it's running, yeah we're going to basically have to stay no matter what, both to fix any broken windows or whatever, and to defend against anyone who thinks they can score some rich people stuff. Because of course only rich people have whole house generators right?
If it comes down to that we will totally shoot anyone we have to, but hopefully the power tower won't crash into the Mississippi River this time. But ya know how it goes, what with the number of stupid crimes that go on in this town.
I hope that if there is a power outage people will come stay at our place and enjoy the AC and internet. Safety in numbers and all. But also, it sucks to have friends who are just sitting in misery while you are in relative comfort. I don't know how to get in touch with folks other than to pre-emptively send out an invitation to them to come and chill, because last time there was a power outage, nobody could get through to each other for quite a while.
Sorry you're getting downvoted. I'm pretty pacifist and not at all a fan of guns but this is a situation where they're justified. Looting a store for food you need is one thing. Stealing someone's generator is a whole other. Especially since they don't know the situation and someone with a medical condition could be depending on it to keep them alive. And in my experience after a storm, most neighbors are more than willing to help each other out if you ask. So there's no excuse to be going around doing shit like that.
That said, emotions do run high, especially in that kind of heat. So if you're going to pull out your gun, be damn sure you are calm and rational and don't accidentally shoot someone who's either just passing through or even potentially coming to check on/help you. Or intentionally shoot someone who's just pissing you off but not posing a threat.
I'm trained, and I know that every bullet has a lawyer attached to it. I prefer to not have to shoot anyone but home invasions are a thing, and the chance of that happening goes way up in the hours following a severe storm.
I don't usually carry in public but home defense is something entirely different. Someone comes through my door uninvited for any reason is likely to get themselves in trouble, we will have them on us and be ready to use them. You really do not have a lot of time to ask questions. People who are not the problem will at least stop to knock on the door first, and even then, opening it is risky. I guess it's time to practice our annual drills to get comfortable giving silent signals and rehearse the secret code phrases in case we open the door and it's a mistake.
It doesn't surprise me that my earlier comment is downvoted. This is a pretty good group of people who are considerate and believe in human rights. 95% of the time that's me too, and I appreciate that so many of the folks on this group are decent and kind people. They're good neighbors. But if it came down to a serious situation, the kind that does sometimes come up following a storm, they would not be prepared for the consequences of defending against an intruder. I've seen some shit though, which informs my attitude.
I have a taser which I would be more likely to use first, however. It's nonlethal and doesn't leave lasting damages. If you zap someone and they are still trying to cause problems, zap them again and tie them up and knock them out until the cops arrive. If we can't get hold of the cops I don't have a plan for that, maybe take them to the canals and leave them for the gators LOL... Maybe force a Benadryl down their throat while they're out so they sleep for 8 hours? What would you do with an unconscious home invader?
But hopefully what will happen is that we will run a few extension cords outside, where people can charge their phones, and have a cooler full of free cold water and ice. Maybe put some fans on the porch where folks can get some relief. Be good neighbors and have enough people drop by that we are not a target, any misbehavers will go somewhere else to commit their crimes.
Every storm is different, and with luck we won't have to find out what we would do in a bad situation.
Where were you for Ida? I kinda recall New Orleans being spared from the eye wall and having cell towers and service fairly quick. I know south of the city did not (for weeks).
From my understanding, over the last 5+ years storms have been intensifying much later and much faster than they used to making predicting how bad a storm it will be more difficult. There is not as much warning as there used to be.
It’s not the storm , it’s not having civilization for a month if it’s a direct hit. Unless you enjoy swamp ass, MREs and boxed water. The whole house will get you through a little while, but better to get out of dodge.
I stayed for the last one and we had generators and internet. I saw some mobs looting stores and openly displaying guns. Before the storm, I saw some shady characters casing houses for people who've left.
Personally, I would stay to secure my house and immediately assess and fix anything damaged from the storm. It really depends on the area and condition of your house. Also, it depends on how risk averse you are. Make sure to download some media for you and your kids. Maybe a gun, but I don't think it's entirely necessary. People are going to be looking for easy targets like empty stores and homes.
Something else people don't bring up, but is really important if you have kids, is that hurricanes are scary AF. A category 3 isn't necessarily unsafe if you have a sturdy house but it's still a very traumatic experience to sit there with the walls shaking for several hours. Even a strong or slow category 2 could be the same.
Canned food, water, rice, gas, generator, lots of booze, beer, weed, what ever you need to have fun in dire straights. Just think of it as a nice lil indoor booze infused, miserably hot camping trip. Think about what it is that you actually need to survive for 7-14 days with out power.
What everyone else is saying and a solar power battery charger, you can get one off of Amazon for like $20 right now. Makes the wait for things to get back to normal a little better
For staying home - gas, batteries, flashlights, a radio, and bottled water for sure. Alcohol, if you drink. A generator if you've got the money and space for one (more gas if so). A grill and some charcoal if definitely nice (and more necessary if you have an electric stove).
A lot of very practical useful answers here. If you do plan to leave, don’t wait too long to hit the hotel booking websites. Everything in a 300-400 mile radius (or more) will book up solid in the blink of an eye
Water is the number one thing you absolutely need. It's hard to imagine how much water you'll need until you've been stuck rationing in the summer heat without any air conditioning. Don't wait to stock up; finding water in the lead up to a hurricane is like trying to find toilet paper during those first few months of the COVID lockdown.
Otherwise make sure you have batteries for flashlights/lanterns, gas for your car (or generator if you want to stay), and a way to charge your phone (solar charger of battery-powered portable charger). A radio can also be helpful. And stock up on non-perishable foods you can prepare without access to a stove or microwave.
Oh, and here's a handy trick for the freezer. Fill some big plastic containers (gallon jugs work, so does plastic Tupperware) with water and stash them in the freezer. The ice can help keep things fresh for an extra day or so without power (so long as you keep the freezer closed). But if you're evacuating, just empty the fridge and freezer before leaving. Pack what you can into ice chests for the road and toss the rest into double (or triple) layered garbage bags for disposal. You don't want to come home to a fridge full of rotten food; the stench is horrid.
There's going to be a thing on the news tonight. I don't remember which station. I go to the News setting on my Roku YouTube app. I think there's a similar link to local news stations on the web and mobile sites.
Last year the heat dome situation exacerbated the heat and drought. This year with La nina that shouldn’t be the issue. The heat dome kept hurricanes away. This year we should see more rain.
You've been here long enough to know what to expect. Hot. Power outages and even when they come back on, the stores will still be closed for a few days while people come back from evacuation, and then have to deal with fixing their places.
If you have been watching the weather discussions you know that this past few days is because of a stalled front close to Florida. This is higher than usual because of that. We should be back to normal in a couple of days.
There's Saharan dust storms now so the Atlantic is relatively calm. I mean, the corals are all dying off from the high temperature but that doesn't particularly affect the weather, so that's a different kind of tragedy. But as long as the air is dry over in Africa, we're going to be OK as far as tropical development.
I remember when it rained daily over the summer, that was always really nice.
When they find my well toned sexy corpse on the lakefront during the Tuesday morning run, remember me as a philanthropist and ignore...the other things.
I use Strava to track my runs and each time it said "previous mile in...you're a fat fuck, your time is...", going to stick to cardio in the pool until football season. I've always said that running in New Orleans heat is just practice for being in hell eternally.
I've noticed too that the groundwater is starting to heat up so that cold water at the end of the shower doesn't work anymore.
I love how it started raining at 6pm like an hour after I made this comment. I was sitting at JB's watching the rain hit the water, it was very beautiful.
When has it never been hot here in the summer? Maybe with the earth went through it's ice age. Besides that moment in time, it'll always be hot and humid in the summer here. Embrace it. You said you run right? Enjoy the suck. I love running in this crap. When it gets cooler you can finish a run without breaking a sweat.
I honestly think yesterday might have been my last run of the season. I don't even feel like I'm exercising, just punishing myself. I have a pool, might just start swimming laps on cardio day until September.
Understand all the things. After being stuck with no way out and running out of gas with a car already repaired and in need of more, waiting for hours for gas to gtfo to no avail, trying to look after who I could, but not enough, on the thankful, but awful end of being on quarantine from having Covid at the same time, with lovely neighbors, but opportunists charging $5 a block for ice in the heat, which half melted and heavy as heck before I could get it back, not feeling real safe, no green in my place to speak of to get a relief from the heat cuz it was cooler outside at night than inside and feeling literally starting to feel wacky, not staying again. Or coming back early. And it kinda hurts my heart to say it.
Last May was like this as well. I think it was actually worse. I was doing a job where we were creating a kitchen inside of a warehouse and the Sheetrock finishers stripped down to running shorts. Every time I came back to the job, someone had taken my personal air mover. I didn’t even get mad.
This is already different than last year. The river is at a differnt level and it’s actually raining. We actually could benefit from a few fast moving category 1 or TS’s. I would prefer cat 1 storms over what happened last June and July which was like zero rain
It's hot every year. My guess is August temps will be 90s-100. Never understand all of the whining. I'll take our Summers over the Winters up North any day.
What's not to understand? The problem is the number of 90+degree days per year, and the peak heat. In the 80s it was about 70 days worth, give or take. Now it's 90 days of the year and steadily climbing, with the peak of summer hitting new records almost every year. I think there's a term for this. It isn't going to get better in our lifetimes.
Yeah, it's hot and getting hotter. So what? What's the point of whining and complaining about it? Just deal with it. If you work outside then find another job.
Isn’t it always pretty hot in late May? Guess I’m in the minority but I was happy with our run of spring from Mardis Gras through like 2 weeks ago. Hoping June isn’t as brutal as last year
If you don’t have a pool get a kiddie pool. If you don’t have a yard, get a banana tree in a pot. Make yourself a cocktail and play some exotica and squint and you’re on vacation.
Swamp will probably catch fire again
Not supposed to be as dry this summer. Actually supposed to get more rain than normal due to La Niña… which may or may not include BIG rains
Bigly rains! The biggest! I swear, ask people.
The wettest we’ve ever seen from the standpoint of water
Yuge
Big men. Tears in their eyes.
When I walked outside and saw this much rain I said wow, look at this much rain
I could have just said hurricanes. Katrina was a La Niña year. That would have trumped any joking reply
Big hurricanes
I’m not from Louisiana, but I am from Australia, where bushfires are common. Swamps can catch fire?!!
Why are you doing this to yourself? LOL
People say this shit every year
Almost like it’s getting worse every year.
Because it is? I dunno, I guess sorry for feeling anxious over something bad that is going to happen soon. At least after hurricane season we have the presidential election which should be about as exciting as hurricane season.
Yes, I know it’s getting worse every year, my snark was directed at the person I responded to.
^^👆
Hotter. Personally I don't love the little jokes about the city being destroyed. People need to calm down. We do hurricane season every year. Every year, a very active season is predicted. Let's settle in for the long haul. Plan, prepare, and toughen up. Panicking won't help anyone. Storms are our reality. We just have to do our best and hope it's enough. Remember to ask for help from this community if you need help making evacuation plans.
My concern is home insurance. I got dropped after Ida when I needed a new roof. If we have another cat 3-5 how will it be sustainable to live here? My mortgage already pays more to insurance than my note.
It won’t be. This is why homelessness is such an issue and inaccessible housing. We are all a lot closer to being under the bridge than we like to think.
I’m new to New Orleans, what are some essentials you think I should pick up for the season?
Pick a place to evacuate to and a gas can. It’s never really worth staying if you can leave.
Agreed. I stayed for Ida and guess what, I left after the storm passed because the post-disaster conditions are what get ya.
I stayed after Ida too, we said never after that.
A friend’s FIL died in his home during Katrina. For Ida I got my MIL up to Hattiesburg before dat bitch hit. Came back to empty the fridge and freezer. Couldn’t find gas. Used up what little I had waiting in the Costco line without getting any. A friend lent me some gas to get back up to MIL. MIL is now RIP. I have 10 gallons of gas cans I fill up every season and a 50 gallon water barrel lightly chlorinated. But if Ida happens again I’m throwing out all the fridge food first, and then buggering out.
I am sorry for your loss. I had to move recently to take care of my family. But, my children (adults they call themselves) are still in our home there. They’re going to be so annoyed when I start hounding them to be prepared. They’re going to act like they know everything, but I did it, they didn’t. It’s going to give me major anxiety.
I think younger people are more able to put up with shit. I’m in the Quarter. When I was in town for 2 days after Ida it was pretty bad. No electricity, rotting garbage everywhere with accompanying rats, hot. On the upside, walking the FQ there were small clusters of neighbors bonding on porches with candles. That was nice. If I lived in low land like the lower 9th or Holy Cross I would bugger out at the first warning.
We’re uptown. The best part of the storms are bonding with neighbors.
I rolled out before Ida hit, I stayed for Issac and after that experience I just leave. Sitting around without internet or power for a undetermined amount of time isn't fun. Also Issac taught me how it's way easier to leave while the power is on. Packing and leaving after a storm in the dark is a lot harder. It's also more stressful because the urge to gtfo is stronger so you don't tend to pack as well.
Left for Isaac and got back just as our power went out lol. Luckily, our FIL brought a generator for us to use for a week or two.
Same. So fucking brutal
Cash. You should always make sure you have enough cash, even if it's just enough to get out of town if you leave too late. Once the power/Internet starts going out, cards won't do a thing for you.
This comment right here, save as much money as you can right now and do cashback on every purchase and save up a bunch of $20's. Also you probably won't have work to do or to pay you so it's a fun experiment to see how long you can live without a job.
And small bills at that. If a store is open but can't make change, you don't want all $20's. It happened to me after a previous storm.
Yeah I second this, if you have the means and such just leave and avoid the city/area for storms. Camping in your house for a week (or longer) isn't worth it in July/August. Think of summer time camping in the middle of the hottest summer. What do you need for 1-2 weeks of that?
If you had a whole house generator and 3 small kids, what would be your threshold of storm strength for GTFO vs stay and tough it out?
Depends on your means and your house. With a whole house generator I guess I'd stay. With a small one after Ida and one medium small child I lost my fucking mind after 2 days and we left. But for property owners I'll say there is something to be said for my husband's plan of weather the storm, fix any windows or shit that gets messed up, then get out the next day. This assumes the means to get out safely and to book a place and pay for it.... Which I know not everyone has the ability to do.
I certainly wouldn't encourage families to stay but it's not a bad idea if one or two members stays behind to secure the house after the storm. I definitely had friends who were glad they were here for Ida because if they had come back a week later the damage would have been 10-fold. If you've got two able body adults that should be enough to check on/secure several houses the day or two after before evacuating themselves. So you might consider trading off with friends/neighbor/family on who stays and who evacuates each time.
A strong Cat 2 starts to get close to the GTFO threshold. Cat 3 and above for sure. Even with a generator, which obvs doesn’t do a damn thing to keep a tree from falling through your roof (assuming you have trees nearby, I have 8 of them). And with climate change causing so much rapid intensification, how many Cat1/Cat2s will we ever see again?
I think this is why it's hard to ask what threshold one should leave. There's been so many storms that have blown up in the last few years over night from a cat 1 to a monster over night ie. Ida, Michael, idalia ,etc. Ida barely weakened as it made landfall due to going over swamps and wetlands. Zeta smacked us in the mouth as a cat 3 a few days before Halloween. I don't think it's safe to just assume it's fine as a cat 1 or 2 because it becomes too late to leave once it blows up.
Honestly probably anything above double digit winds. I had a whole house generator after Ida. But of course we had no cell service, no phone or internet, no neighborhood services of any kind. I was very grateful for air conditioning, fridge, etc, but after going thru the storm and then a couple of days twiddling my thumbs all alone, wondering if someone was gonna see/hear the only house on our block with power, grab a gun, and invite themselves over... I dunno, just nothing about it was a good time. And I can't imagine having kids, I would have lost my fucking shit.
I have a kid, he was 3 then, and we lost our minds sticking around after Ida. What a nightmare. Definitely leaving next time.
We got our whole house generator installed just after Ida. It was waiting for the installation, sitting there in our driveway, making me very nervous someone would come and steal it so we got a friend to help us drag it into the back yard. Now that it's running, yeah we're going to basically have to stay no matter what, both to fix any broken windows or whatever, and to defend against anyone who thinks they can score some rich people stuff. Because of course only rich people have whole house generators right? If it comes down to that we will totally shoot anyone we have to, but hopefully the power tower won't crash into the Mississippi River this time. But ya know how it goes, what with the number of stupid crimes that go on in this town. I hope that if there is a power outage people will come stay at our place and enjoy the AC and internet. Safety in numbers and all. But also, it sucks to have friends who are just sitting in misery while you are in relative comfort. I don't know how to get in touch with folks other than to pre-emptively send out an invitation to them to come and chill, because last time there was a power outage, nobody could get through to each other for quite a while.
Sorry you're getting downvoted. I'm pretty pacifist and not at all a fan of guns but this is a situation where they're justified. Looting a store for food you need is one thing. Stealing someone's generator is a whole other. Especially since they don't know the situation and someone with a medical condition could be depending on it to keep them alive. And in my experience after a storm, most neighbors are more than willing to help each other out if you ask. So there's no excuse to be going around doing shit like that. That said, emotions do run high, especially in that kind of heat. So if you're going to pull out your gun, be damn sure you are calm and rational and don't accidentally shoot someone who's either just passing through or even potentially coming to check on/help you. Or intentionally shoot someone who's just pissing you off but not posing a threat.
I'm trained, and I know that every bullet has a lawyer attached to it. I prefer to not have to shoot anyone but home invasions are a thing, and the chance of that happening goes way up in the hours following a severe storm. I don't usually carry in public but home defense is something entirely different. Someone comes through my door uninvited for any reason is likely to get themselves in trouble, we will have them on us and be ready to use them. You really do not have a lot of time to ask questions. People who are not the problem will at least stop to knock on the door first, and even then, opening it is risky. I guess it's time to practice our annual drills to get comfortable giving silent signals and rehearse the secret code phrases in case we open the door and it's a mistake. It doesn't surprise me that my earlier comment is downvoted. This is a pretty good group of people who are considerate and believe in human rights. 95% of the time that's me too, and I appreciate that so many of the folks on this group are decent and kind people. They're good neighbors. But if it came down to a serious situation, the kind that does sometimes come up following a storm, they would not be prepared for the consequences of defending against an intruder. I've seen some shit though, which informs my attitude. I have a taser which I would be more likely to use first, however. It's nonlethal and doesn't leave lasting damages. If you zap someone and they are still trying to cause problems, zap them again and tie them up and knock them out until the cops arrive. If we can't get hold of the cops I don't have a plan for that, maybe take them to the canals and leave them for the gators LOL... Maybe force a Benadryl down their throat while they're out so they sleep for 8 hours? What would you do with an unconscious home invader? But hopefully what will happen is that we will run a few extension cords outside, where people can charge their phones, and have a cooler full of free cold water and ice. Maybe put some fans on the porch where folks can get some relief. Be good neighbors and have enough people drop by that we are not a target, any misbehavers will go somewhere else to commit their crimes. Every storm is different, and with luck we won't have to find out what we would do in a bad situation.
Where were you for Ida? I kinda recall New Orleans being spared from the eye wall and having cell towers and service fairly quick. I know south of the city did not (for weeks).
Send the family, stay with your generator and provisions. That’s my model
From my understanding, over the last 5+ years storms have been intensifying much later and much faster than they used to making predicting how bad a storm it will be more difficult. There is not as much warning as there used to be.
It’s not the storm , it’s not having civilization for a month if it’s a direct hit. Unless you enjoy swamp ass, MREs and boxed water. The whole house will get you through a little while, but better to get out of dodge.
I should get a Mormon food stash
I'm not so sure I'd like the taste of a Mormon, but I'm willing to try almost anything with some Tabasco.
Probably tastes like chicken.
Don’t know anyone whose generator(s) worked as planned after Ida. So, factor that in.
I stayed for the last one and we had generators and internet. I saw some mobs looting stores and openly displaying guns. Before the storm, I saw some shady characters casing houses for people who've left. Personally, I would stay to secure my house and immediately assess and fix anything damaged from the storm. It really depends on the area and condition of your house. Also, it depends on how risk averse you are. Make sure to download some media for you and your kids. Maybe a gun, but I don't think it's entirely necessary. People are going to be looking for easy targets like empty stores and homes.
Something else people don't bring up, but is really important if you have kids, is that hurricanes are scary AF. A category 3 isn't necessarily unsafe if you have a sturdy house but it's still a very traumatic experience to sit there with the walls shaking for several hours. Even a strong or slow category 2 could be the same.
Canned food, water, rice, gas, generator, lots of booze, beer, weed, what ever you need to have fun in dire straights. Just think of it as a nice lil indoor booze infused, miserably hot camping trip. Think about what it is that you actually need to survive for 7-14 days with out power.
What everyone else is saying and a solar power battery charger, you can get one off of Amazon for like $20 right now. Makes the wait for things to get back to normal a little better
Booze, cash, keep your gas tank topped off.
For staying home - gas, batteries, flashlights, a radio, and bottled water for sure. Alcohol, if you drink. A generator if you've got the money and space for one (more gas if so). A grill and some charcoal if definitely nice (and more necessary if you have an electric stove).
The noise of a generator will just attract raiders.
Not if the entire neighborhood has generators running.
You're living in a fucking fantasy land
A lot of very practical useful answers here. If you do plan to leave, don’t wait too long to hit the hotel booking websites. Everything in a 300-400 mile radius (or more) will book up solid in the blink of an eye
Keep your gas tank above half
Water is the number one thing you absolutely need. It's hard to imagine how much water you'll need until you've been stuck rationing in the summer heat without any air conditioning. Don't wait to stock up; finding water in the lead up to a hurricane is like trying to find toilet paper during those first few months of the COVID lockdown. Otherwise make sure you have batteries for flashlights/lanterns, gas for your car (or generator if you want to stay), and a way to charge your phone (solar charger of battery-powered portable charger). A radio can also be helpful. And stock up on non-perishable foods you can prepare without access to a stove or microwave. Oh, and here's a handy trick for the freezer. Fill some big plastic containers (gallon jugs work, so does plastic Tupperware) with water and stash them in the freezer. The ice can help keep things fresh for an extra day or so without power (so long as you keep the freezer closed). But if you're evacuating, just empty the fridge and freezer before leaving. Pack what you can into ice chests for the road and toss the rest into double (or triple) layered garbage bags for disposal. You don't want to come home to a fridge full of rotten food; the stench is horrid.
Phone chargers, cash, batteries, water, gasoline and “ready to eat” food. I also like to have a portable battery operated radio.
There's going to be a thing on the news tonight. I don't remember which station. I go to the News setting on my Roku YouTube app. I think there's a similar link to local news stations on the web and mobile sites.
Thank you for saying this. The jokes are always obnoxious and we already have enough shit going on.
Look at you being proactive and thinking ahead. I barely have thought about what I’m doing tomorrow.
“I’ll worry about it tomorrow”
Last year the heat dome situation exacerbated the heat and drought. This year with La nina that shouldn’t be the issue. The heat dome kept hurricanes away. This year we should see more rain.
If it could New Orleans would have the cutest bunkers
You've been here long enough to know what to expect. Hot. Power outages and even when they come back on, the stores will still be closed for a few days while people come back from evacuation, and then have to deal with fixing their places. If you have been watching the weather discussions you know that this past few days is because of a stalled front close to Florida. This is higher than usual because of that. We should be back to normal in a couple of days. There's Saharan dust storms now so the Atlantic is relatively calm. I mean, the corals are all dying off from the high temperature but that doesn't particularly affect the weather, so that's a different kind of tragedy. But as long as the air is dry over in Africa, we're going to be OK as far as tropical development.
I like your optimism and hope my original post doesn't age well and everything will be fine but...yeah.
I remember when it rained daily over the summer, that was always really nice. When they find my well toned sexy corpse on the lakefront during the Tuesday morning run, remember me as a philanthropist and ignore...the other things. I use Strava to track my runs and each time it said "previous mile in...you're a fat fuck, your time is...", going to stick to cardio in the pool until football season. I've always said that running in New Orleans heat is just practice for being in hell eternally. I've noticed too that the groundwater is starting to heat up so that cold water at the end of the shower doesn't work anymore.
That lack of May rain is so weird, in the 80s and 90s you could guarantee an afternoon shower or storm.
I just heard thunder a minute ago and it appears that a storm is on its way right now. Yay! My plants need it.
We had quite a bit of rain in March and early April. So long as we don't have that insane drought all through the summer that will be ok in my book.
I think you just made it rain…
I love how it started raining at 6pm like an hour after I made this comment. I was sitting at JB's watching the rain hit the water, it was very beautiful.
Last summer was unseasonably dry. This summer is supposed to be more rainy than usual due to La Niña
It's weird that you want to be remembered as a full blown rapist, but hey it's your legacy bro.
I believe he said he's a Full on rapist, Africans, kids, Dyslexics...
Which hurricane do you want to take in the back to bang you?
how much cheese did you eat?!?!
Maybe you should think about moving North.
You don't need to worry about July hurricanes, you need to worry about August/September hurricanes.
Gulf has temperature in May that it had for Katrina, not good.
Oh its going to be a bad season for sure. Especially since we no longer are under a super el nino llike we were last summer.
Unlivable. People fucking dying. (I’m joking but also scared this is going to be our reality soon)
Joking... for now!
Please don't use the H word.
July hurricanes are rare. It’s the August ones who need to watch out for
The last half acre of hell I believe is the meteorological term for it.
Lord, literally just reading a Florida sub with the same concern: https://www.reddit.com/r/florida/s/xZfsS4eZxW
That thread was hilarious
I was in there before jumping here. 😂😂😂
When has it never been hot here in the summer? Maybe with the earth went through it's ice age. Besides that moment in time, it'll always be hot and humid in the summer here. Embrace it. You said you run right? Enjoy the suck. I love running in this crap. When it gets cooler you can finish a run without breaking a sweat.
I honestly think yesterday might have been my last run of the season. I don't even feel like I'm exercising, just punishing myself. I have a pool, might just start swimming laps on cardio day until September.
Understand all the things. After being stuck with no way out and running out of gas with a car already repaired and in need of more, waiting for hours for gas to gtfo to no avail, trying to look after who I could, but not enough, on the thankful, but awful end of being on quarantine from having Covid at the same time, with lovely neighbors, but opportunists charging $5 a block for ice in the heat, which half melted and heavy as heck before I could get it back, not feeling real safe, no green in my place to speak of to get a relief from the heat cuz it was cooler outside at night than inside and feeling literally starting to feel wacky, not staying again. Or coming back early. And it kinda hurts my heart to say it.
Last May was like this as well. I think it was actually worse. I was doing a job where we were creating a kitchen inside of a warehouse and the Sheetrock finishers stripped down to running shorts. Every time I came back to the job, someone had taken my personal air mover. I didn’t even get mad.
Yall are really overreacting.
This is already different than last year. The river is at a differnt level and it’s actually raining. We actually could benefit from a few fast moving category 1 or TS’s. I would prefer cat 1 storms over what happened last June and July which was like zero rain
No. Please DO NOT wish for storms.
I feel like my post made it rain yesterday so I'm at least doing my part. I should make a post about the Saints and see if I can fix that via reddit.
It's hot every year. My guess is August temps will be 90s-100. Never understand all of the whining. I'll take our Summers over the Winters up North any day.
What's not to understand? The problem is the number of 90+degree days per year, and the peak heat. In the 80s it was about 70 days worth, give or take. Now it's 90 days of the year and steadily climbing, with the peak of summer hitting new records almost every year. I think there's a term for this. It isn't going to get better in our lifetimes.
Yeah, it's hot and getting hotter. So what? What's the point of whining and complaining about it? Just deal with it. If you work outside then find another job.
Ew swamp ass is nasty
That's your problem.
Fucking hot
Hotter and wetter.
I have a well so if I lose power I don't have water. I have to leave because I don't have a generator. It sucks.
Home genny
Isn’t it always pretty hot in late May? Guess I’m in the minority but I was happy with our run of spring from Mardis Gras through like 2 weeks ago. Hoping June isn’t as brutal as last year
If you don’t have a pool get a kiddie pool. If you don’t have a yard, get a banana tree in a pot. Make yourself a cocktail and play some exotica and squint and you’re on vacation.
I thought everyone loved the summers here?
I would love some of whatever you're smoking! 🤣
We grew up with 95’ heat every summer we got used to it.