Irma is still at sea. She is getting big and strong. Here is what Wunderground’s Bob Henson is saying:
Over the last day, there has been some convergence of two of our best long-range track models, the GFS and European models, toward a possible landfall in or near the Carolinas around Monday. Both models are consistent in bringing a strong upper-level trough across the United States and off the East Coast by this weekend. The models also suggest that a small weakness will be left behind, somewhere near the lower- to mid-Mississippi Valley. If so, this could help bring Irma toward the United States. However, the path of least resistance for Irma might instead be toward the large departing trough and out to sea into the Northwest Atlantic. These two scenarios have hugely different implications, but they depend on fairly subtle differences in the atmosphere that may not become clear for several more days to come.
We don’t know where Irma will end up. There is a reasonable chance that Irma brushes the coast and heads out to sea. There is a decent chance that Irma goes bowling at landfall. We don’t know.
We do have time.
To give you a scope of how much uncertainty there is with #Irma, here is a every spaghetti model available. No one is out of the woods yet. pic.twitter.com/ttgXDEI6gc
— Tropical Updater (@tropicalupdater) September 3, 2017
Use this time wisely. I’m starting hurricane prep today. I am doing things that if nothing happens, the only cost is time. I have filled six two-liter bottles two thirds full of water and put them in the freezer. That increases the family water reserve and builds thermal mass in case the electricity goes out so that the food can stay cold. I cleaned up the patio already and moved some furniture to the storage unit. I’ve pulled the camp stove and cook gear out of the storage unit. I am filling my son’s asthma prescription tomorrow instead of over the weekend. I am buying some extra bottled water and refried beans. I’ll pick up batteries and a gallon of bleach this afternoon. I’ll fill the gas tank.
If nothing happens, I just shifted purchases and actions I would have taken some time in the next two weeks forward. If Irma does come to North Carolina, we’ll be in good shape and not storming the stores on Thursday.
We have time, so use it and don’t panic.
And always bring your towel.
Elmo
Interesting about the water and thermal mass – but if you end up needing the water, you’ll have to open the freezer to take it out. Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose?
JPL
Betty commented the other day that she lives in the Lesser Antilles, so it appears that she will be first to experience Irma. Hopefully, everyone is safe.
Personally, I wish I could prep for the on going crisis called Trump.
Ruviana
And all while wearing that boot! That’s one of the things about emergencies, even slow ones. They don’t wait for a time that’s convenient for you. Good luck with everything.
billcoop4
Water can also be held in reserve by getting a bathtub bladder. The one linked holds 65 gallons.
Storing goods in plastic bins will keep things dry. Canned food (ideally of a kind you’d eat anyway) and batteries also belong in the plastic tub.
BC
Oatler.
Hurricane coming-fill the gas tank
Blizzard coming- fill the gas tank
ICBM coming fill the gas tank
Jesus coming-fill the gas tank
Gravenstone
Aside from the fact that it would impact hundred of thousands of innocent people along the way, it’d be poetic justice if this thing parked itself directly over the White House and Capitol buildings.
OldDave
Or perhaps into the Gulf. The latest GFS run has Irma staying south, brushing Cuba, and then raking over Naples heading NNE toward Sebring. Prepare is the keyword, even if you live on the west side of Florida.
@Oatler.:
And yes, keep your car and gas cans topped off.
ARoomWithAMoose
On Wunderground’s severe weather/hurricane page the various computer model from the runs have started to trend back westward. Whatever initial conditions they plugged in this morning put Florida back in play for landfall or a good East coast side drubbing next weekend. There’s always a caveat given of a huge uncertainty on the models beyond three days out.
Yoda Dog
Hope the ankle gets better, Dave.
What’s the bleach for?
CarolDuhart2
Bleach is a disinfectant. Put a cap in rinse water for dishes, wipe down some things (diluted for cleaning), helps inhibit mold growth.
Jack the Second
@Elmo: The air in your freezer doesn’t hold much heat (or cold, depending on your perspective), so as long as you’re quick about it it doesn’t matter. It takes as much heat to melt 1 gram of water as it does to raise 10 cu ft of air 100 degrees. More importantly, melting ice-water will stay at 32 degrees until it is melted. So as long as your bottles are still somewhat frozen, you at least know your freezer isn’t warmer than 32 degrees.
If you want to guarantee your freezer stays colder, you can freeze saltwater instead. It freezes and melts at a lower temperature, so as long as your (~3.5%) saltwater bottles are still partially frozen, you know your freezer is at about 29 degrees.
billcoop4
Baby wipes and hefty bags for….stuff….will keep personal hygiene at a high level if the power’s out for the better part of a week.
BC
Baud
Since it’s unlikely that Irma hits Texas, I expect Cruz to vote against disaster relief.
OzarkHillbilly
You forgot ammo Dave, you will need THOUSANDS OF ROUNDS to defend your family from the HORDES OF LOOTERS…
Villago Delenda Est
I want this sucker to slam Mar-A-Lago.
Donald’s prep is to order some more hats to sell to suckers.
JPL
@Villago Delenda Est: Just no. He has been known to scam insurance companies.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: Usually the scam goes in the other direction.
Steeplejack (phone)
And remember to stay hydrated!
debbie
I wouldn’t wait on the batteries and bleach, but then I’m a fraidy-cat.
OzarkHillbilly
Here in tornado alley we just keep all this stuff around all the time. The last time we lost power was for 5 days in summer. The generator got a workout that time.
Amir Khalid
@OzarkHillbilly:
Ammo isn’t very useful if you have no gun. Does Mayhew even have one? He’s never said, and we’ve never asked.
Jeff
I expect it to come up the Delaware River.
Iowa Old Lady
Props for the Hitchhiker’s Guide ref.
Kelly
One of our local grocery stores carries dry ice. $5 worth of dry ice will chill our chest freezer for most of a week. This would be a good time to check around for a supplier.
Not that we’re worried about wind and rain here in the Cascade foothills. A temperature inversion has trapped forest fire smoke close to the ground. The DEQ has rated the air in our neighborhood as “Unhealthy” for the last two days. Other communities throughout Oregon have been rated “Very Unhealthy”. Sisters, just east of many fires and Detroit just west of the same fires were recently rated “Hazardous”.
Schlemazel
When I lived in Brevard County Florida I found a surprisingly large number of people who honestly believe that they are magically protected from hurricanes. They very seriously told me that there was no need to worry about them because it had been 200 years since one had made landfall there. I think the human toll would be much worse there than anywhere else if they get hit.
CarolDuhart2
@Schlemazel: I’m sure you tried to tell them that the clock runs out eventually-and we barely know anything about the beginning of the clock either. And even a side wipe can cause a great deal of damage in these built-up times. Maybe the last time the toll was small-a couple of tribes and a village of thatched roofs. But these days with power lines, gas pipes and a million people?
Schlemazel
@CarolDuhart2:
Can’t beat magical thinking. We were more than a mile from the coast & 12 inches above sea level, another 12 inches was built up for the foundation but 2 feet above sea level would not be enough.
CaseyL
My Mom, who lives in Florida, sent an email letting us know that she is preparing to shelter in place and asking for suggestions for additional supplies. She’s about 5 miles from the ocean, so who knows how much/whether storm surge will go that far. And then there’s the rain…
I’ve sent her three replies so far, and a link to this thread.
Van Buren
What would really be best is for Irma to hit Houston. Since everything is already destroyed, the additional recovery costs would be minimal.
JMG
Here on Cape Cod, people are very hurricane conscious. Since there are only two bridges connecting the Cape to the rest of Massachusetts, an evacuation would be as close to impossible as can be unless people left way ahead of a storm.
Villago Delenda Est
@Steeplejack (phone): /places two gallon water jug on counter
Hungry Joe
Why would climate-change deniers believe that a hurricane is on the way? Hurricane info comes from climate scientists, who are, after all, liars and charlatans, grifters just out to score some righteous grant bucks.
I fantasize a reporter asking a Trump supporter stocking up on hurricane supplies how he decides when climate scientists are scamming and when they’re telling the truth.
germy
germy
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
I thought you lived in Michigan.
germy
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Oatler.:
Assuming you and the car aren’t vaporized by the ICBM, the car might not start afterwards…
CarolDuhart2
Living in tornadoville, this isn’t a big thing-the best thing is to get out of trailer housing, go to the nearest basement and an indoor closet. And tornadoes are just overnight phenomena; evacuation really isn’t necessary. But how do you decide whether or not to “shelter in place” or flee?
Laura
@germy: and speaking of Labor Day, this classic:
https://youtu.be/_3mw49mk_x0
Maybe someone in the “Party of Lincoln” could remind the rest of those fuckers that Lincoln believed that labor deserves it’s share and that labor comes before, and is superior to capital.
germy
@Laura:
Ain’t gonna happen.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Laura:
They wouldn’t care. They haven’t cared since at least 1877 or so. It’s much more recently that they’ve become half-politicians and half-autocrats. Those kids marching in Charlottesville by torchlight? A lot of them were College Republicans. They’re the future of the GOP, assuming the GOP is still around 15-20 years from now. Then the GOP will complete its transformation into the openly fascist White People’s Party.
RepubAnon
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I believe the proper action for ICBM coming is to:
*Find a room with no windows
*Crawl under a desk / table in that room
* Put your head between your legs, and
* Kiss your (posterior) goodbye…
JPL
@CaseyL: If she is on the east side of FL, I’d suggest she not, if there are other alternatives. I had friends that used to live in FL and the husband stayed during a hurricane. They lost power and the heat inside the house was unbearable. Since then they moved to GA.
JPL
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Mayhew got a new job!
Villago Delenda Est
@Laura: Some of them might crack open The Wealth of Nations as well.
Schlemazel
this is one of my weakest efforts but I have not been writing parodies much any more because I have lost my sense of humor
You’re a mean one, Mr. Trump
You really are a heel
You’re as cuddly as a cactus
You’re as charming as an eel, Mr. Trump!
You’re a bad banana
With a greasy black peel!
You’re a monster, Mr. Trump
Your heart’s an empty hole
Your brain is full of spiders
You’ve got garlic in your soul, Mr. Trump!
I wouldn’t touch you with
A thirty nine and a half foot pole!
You’re a vile one, Mr. Trump
You have termites in your smile
You have all the tender sweetness
of a seasick crocodile, Mr. Trump!
Given the choice between the two of you
I’d take the seasick crocodile!
You’re a foul one, Mr. Trump
You’re a nasty-wasty skunk
Your heart is full of unwashed socks
Your soul is full of gunk, Mr. Trump!
The three words that best describe you
Are as follows, and I quote:
“Stink”
“Stank”
“Stunk”!
You’re a rotter, Mr. Trump
You’re the king of sinful sots
Your heart’s a dead tomato splotched
With moldy purple spots, Mr. Trump!
Your soul is an appalling dump heap
Overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment
Of deplorable rubbish imaginable
Mangled up in tangled up knots!
You nauseate me, Mr. Trump.
With a nauseas super-naus
You’re a crooked jerky jockey
And you drive a crooked horse, Mr. Trump!
You’re a three-decker
Sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich
With arsenic sauce!
Gvg
I live 50 miles inland in Florida. The first time we had a close call the stores were nuts with lines out the door. I thought I must have misunderstood because the forecasts for us were just strong wind and some rain, not much worse than an ordinary storm. It turns out that in Florida, the coasts migrate inward when a hurricane comes and hotels cost money and even in this tourist state hotels can’t hold them all. It’s traditional to go stay with inland family and friends. The grocery store madness I saw was because everyone in town had out of town unexpected guests. Their are also county level agreements where coastal counties have agreements with inland counties to open shelters so when Cedar Key orders an evacuation, Gainesville schools close to become emergency shelters. It’s precisely because we a pretty safe, that we get company.
I survived 2004, the year of 4 hurricanes. I’ll survive whatever this time. It was pretty good practice. We actually got to learn and redo every few weeks, so now I don’t think I will forget. I never have enough good battery operated lights though. There is lots of junk for sale and not much that holds up in my experience.
tybee
latest forecast looks better for coastal georgia but thursday ought to bring clarity.
water, gas, canned food, a shovel, a generator to run every 8 hours or so to keep the freezers cold.
and if it heads here, i’ll watch it from the west coast of georgia and hope i can find the lot when i get back.
ETA: after matthew last october, we’re feeling a bit anxious.
Gator90
I generally like living in South Florida, the punishing heat and perennially disappointing pro football team notwithstanding. Right at the moment, though … meh.
Steve in the ATL
@tybee:
I didn’t grow up in Georgia so I’m not familiar with all the geography here, but is Alabama now considered a body of water?
cmorenc
This dynamic brief video clip clearly shows the phenomenon that the right-front eyewall of hurricanes are usually the strongest quadrant of the storm. The cloud-tops in the N and NE sector of Irma’s eyewall are obviously rotating significantly faster around the center than in other quadrants. That’s also why the right-front sector of a hurricane usually drives the biggest storm surge.
Speaking of which, the change in the densest cluster of model runs toward landfall in S Fla rather than further up somewhere in the Carolinas is good for me personally, although bad for Florida and Gulf Coast residents (the latter since the hurricane will likely re-emerge largely intact and only modestly weakened by its passage over S Florida, and it has nowhere to go but a second landfall in the Gulf after renourishing lengthy passage over water with very warm SSTs). We have a house on Sunset Beach, NC (right on the border with SC) where the models tended to previously cluster – and back in 1954 the very strongest part of the right-front eyewall passed directly over the then-future site of my house, together with an 18 foot storm surge that coincided with high tide. Even though the island itself was vacant of human structures at the time, the storm surge was measured at the nearby occupied fishing village of Calabash (maybe 2 mil SW of us as the crow flies) – and 140 mph sustained winds near the center.
If Irma’s track does prove to be more northerly toward Sunset Beach, I will need to make a quick trip down there from Raleigh to mount hurricane shutters over all the windows and doors (they are already prefabbed out of polycarbonate). They cost 4K back in 1998, not cheap, but I sincerely regret not paying an additional 4K to get the kind that are permanently installed accordion-type that simply slide and lock shut, instead of having to climb a ladder and mount them on preinstalled tracks. That was kind of a fun, adrenaline-infused adventure back then, but much less fun and more pure hazardous chore as I grow older.
Kathleen
@CarolDuhart2: I would be glad to give you a ride to meet up. Please contact Adam for my email address.
trollhattan
@billcoop4:
Normally I don’t like bathtub and bladder used together in a sentence but that’s a darn clever and useful item–much better than just open water in the tub (itself a good idea).
trollhattan
@germy:
A finely crafted putdown.
tybee
@Steve in the ATL: i spent a good deal of my younger years in muscogee county and a good part of those years in a boat on the ‘hooch or one of the impoundments.
ergo: the banks of the chattahoochee constitute the west coast of georgia.
Shana
@Gravenstone: Not to mention hitting Mar-A-Lago on its way….
Mike in NC
“The party of Lincoln has become the party of Charlottesville, Arpaio, DACA repeal and the Muslim ban. Embodying the very worst sentiments and driven by irrational anger, it deserves not defense but extinction”. – Jennifer Rubin
CarolDuhart2
@Kathleen: I already contacted him via the front pager page.
CarolDuhart2
So far we have (fire) West Coast: Wind and Water (Houston, Irma when she makes landfall somewhere on the East Coast). So we folks in the middle should expect Earth (earthquake?).
Betty
@JPL: Hi JPL, here in Dominica we are currently under a tropical storm watch which is about the best scenario we could hope for. We are still waiting for Irma to take a turn toward the north and away from us. That is supposed to happen later today. The Northern Leeward Islands do not appear to be so lucky. Sustained winds of 120 mph will do massive damage to small fragile islands. Hoping and praying for better news for all.
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
As long at we are talking about items for preparadness, there are two things I know of that are pretty neat. Firs is an Eton emergency radio. It’s a radio/light/phone recharger that can take regular batteries, but also has solar recharge and hand crank recharge. The second thing is a waterBOB, It’s a water storage device that makes your bathtub able to hold ~100 gallons of fresh water. (no links, they are easy to find)
trollhattan
@Mike in NC:
Whoa, I’d thought JenRub had already doffed the gloves but it looks like she’d been wearing two pairs and now is laying bare knuckles on the Republicans. More, please.
Another Scott
@Betty: Stay safe. Best of luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Origuy
Here in California, the worry is about earthquakes, of course. One thing that is advised it to have a supply of cash; small bills, 5s and 10s. Power and internet outages mean no credit or debit cards, so cash will be king. Don’t bother with gold, it’s hard to make change.
JPL
@Betty: Stay safe! The latest models has the storm going north on the west side of FL. which is Betty Cracker territory It’s still early though for that forecast.
Betty
@Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]: Great products, but not so easy to find on these little islands in the Caribbean.Not enough time for an Amazon order.
J R in WV
Both Weather Underground and Boatus (an insurance site for boaters) have pretty good simple to use tools to see where the best guess is for approaching hurricanes. If I lived in FL right now, I would already have a PU load of plywood, screws, a screw gun or two, and be preparing to close up the house.
And as soon as the delivery of plywood was off the truck, someone would be assigned to gather paperwork and family documents, high-value stuff like the wife’s jewelry and the guns, and be ready to drive north ASAP. If possible, move stuff upstairs, assuming the roof will stay on and the water won’t be more than10 or 12 feet deep.
Have seen a hurricane close up, don’t want anything to do with them, ever again. I was on a big old Sub Tender in a floating dry dock in Mobile Bay when Agnes came onshore. It was way east of us, but we were close enough to have put every strand of rope or cable out between the ship and the dry dock and between the dry dock and the piers but we were still very high, up on blocks on the floor of the dry dock, which was itself not sitting deep in the water.
The ports and doors were dogged shut, even most of the watertight doors inside the ship. In case we tipped over, there was hope that having the internal water-tight doors dogged shut would keep people on the dry side alive. Grim planning… but you do what you can.
Dalai Rasta
I’m just going to repost here what I posted on Thursday, since I really don’t have anything to add to it:
I’m trying to figure out how my family could get away from Irma if it came this way. Three disabled people, five (seven, if I could get my hands on the ferals) cats, my mother’s wheelchair, all in a Toyota Highlander. Very little spending money. Also, my grandmother doesn’t want to leave the house she’s lived in for over seventy years, or the street she’s lived on for over ninety years, and my parents don’t want to leave the area without her. We nearly flooded during Isaac; Harvey has already saturated the ground here, we live on the edge of a swamp, and Irma looks like a really dangerous one already. Leaving seems impossible; staying seems suicidal if Irma turns this way.
I hate that the constant drumbeat of near-catastrophes we’ve been living through have spent so much of my mental energies; at the moment, I feel like all I can think about is our problems, and I resent the fact that my empathy is stretched so thin. Meanwhile, my parents (and my grandmother) seem resigned to sitting another one out.
Mustang Bobby
I’m keeping an eye on Irma via Weather Underground and am ready as I have ever been during previous storms (Katrina and Wilma in 2005) in Miami. Water, canned food, battery back-up, and renter’s insurance paid up (and it includes hurricane coverage).
J R in WV
@Dalai Rasta:
Where are you? I don’t mean what’s your address, but a state and north/east/west/south part of that state would help with advice. As in where to run.
Also, regardless of Irma, you should try to plan. Put away enough gas money to get away from a hazard. Once you get away, then you can go to human services to find food banks and shelters while you try to get stable in your retreat. After a storm passes, use a library’s web connection to see if your house is OK. Can you contact neighbors via their cell phones etc?
People who self-evacuate early are still eligible for the same kinds of shelter and assistance as people who get on a helicopter with nothing but the clothes on their back -> shelter -> bus out of disaster zone -> funded apartment with food bank and clothing assistance.
Don’t be passive, don’t think about how there nothing you can do. With planning and clear intentions you can escape a hurricane or a fire ahead of the disaster. Put together a chart of things you think of to do to prepare to flee, things needed for those to come together. Use the web to search around when you don’t know how to do something.
Best of luck for you and your kitties!!!
Matt McIrvin
I’ve done a little bit of preparation here in Massachusetts. At this point, I suspect the probability of this storm hitting New England is down in the 1-2% range, but it never hurts to have some supplies around for the next one.
SWMBO
@Dalai Rasta: Sheltering there or not, make sure you have at least a 2 week supply of medications for people and pets. Water. As much as you can get. Garbage bags and hand sanitizer and baby wipes. If you can’t get water through the pipes, line the toilet with trash bags and pitch them as necessary. Bleach to sterilize water if you are under a boil water watch. Paper plates and cups. Shelters in Florida now have pet friendly shelters. Look up where the nearest one is. You must crate the animals if you go there. Pet food. Any canned goods you can use. A can opener. If you don’t have electricity the electric can opener is useless. Freeze as much water as you can. It helps hold the fridge temp and when it melts, you know it’s safe to drink or give the pets. A small wading pool (we used a 3′ x 3′ sandbox) with litter for dogs that go outside and have to go when the storm hits. If you have to go to a shelter, bring bedding with you. There are many other suggestions that you can find online. Good luck and keep us posted.
fuckwit
Hey, I got a great idea! Let’s cut funding for NOAA and not put up any new satellites!
That’ll show those climate-change hippies a thing or two!
Maeve
@CarolDuhart2:
[email protected]CarolDuhart2:
Living in tornado alley, I retreated a couple of times with my dog to small interior room. It was a bathroom and covered ourselves with a quilt to protect from mirror glass. After the first time bought a small radio w batteries to be replaced often. Tornadoes are distinctive but localized tho. Now living where earthquake tsunami is the thing
Dalai Rasta
@J R in WV: Well, we live in Laplace, Louisiana, not far south of Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, and about 30 minutes from New Orleans. We nearly flooded during Isaac; if Irma comes into the Gulf, we might not be as lucky. All other details as above, plus I can’t drive due to monthly seizures and my father is taking chemotherapy; this week, his hemoglobin is quite low, and he’s been having dizzy spells. I’m really just hoping we can avoid having to deal with Irma. Our options for getting out are quite limited, and my parents seem resigned to staying, anyway. I’m rather getting worn down from coping with all the crises we’ve had here.
J R in WV
@Dalai Rasta:
That looks like a pretty vulnerable place for surge flooding, as well as actual wind damage and heavy rain flooding. From Google photos I can see that people take care of the town, it’s clean and mowed and looks nice.
You’re between a very big lake and the Mississippi River, which can both be sources of flooding, Ponchartrain can probably develop quite a surge of its own in high wind from the NE towards your community.
Can your Mom drive now? Could your Dad drive with you next to him as co-pilot? Could you recruit a neighbor, friend or cousin to go with you to drive and help with the cats in return for getting away from the storm?
How did the area do during Katrina flooding? I don’t recall any details about Isaac as far as timing and rainfall. Do you have two stories to work with? perhaps some material that won’t fit into the Highlander could be bagged and stored upstairs to avoid flood waters and resist damage from leaking from roof damage?
As others have said, try to get prescriptions for everyone ahead of the storm, and enough to last through recovery from storm damage, or to get you away from the worst damage. You are only 3 hours from Alexandria LA, which looks to be north and high enough to be safe from flooding. Laplace is only 22 feet above sea level, and Alexandria is 72 feet above sea level, so storm surge wouldn’t be an issue. Baton Rouge is also 79 feet above sea level, and even closer.Kinds of food you can eat without much (or any) cooking, like canned beans and franks, Spam, even canned rice dishs and soups. Bottled water, I’ve seen others advise a water container to fill in your tub, like a big plastic bladder with 150 gallons of clean water.
Get a couple of bottles of Clorox, with no scent or laundry additives in it to use to sterilize water after the storm, this should be helpful even if you travel to a shelter in Baton Rouge, which seemed like a big and prosperous city the times I drove through it.
Do what preparation you can manage. Medications you already take, ask your doctor for antibiotics that will last so you can have some after the storm passes. Get a tetanus vaccination, my wife was a reporter before we retired and got a new tetanus shot every time she was sent to cover a flood disaster. It will also protect you from whooping cough and either typhoid or diptheria, all more likely after a flood. The health department often provides those shots at no cost, they do here.
My Dad took chemo and many other drugs with, so I know what you are dealing with. He should have paperwork that describes his health issues and all the medication he needs. Put that in heavy zip lock bags, seal one inside the other. Do that for all your important papers, deeds, wills, receipts, everyone’s health documents, a list of each person’s medication and what each one is for, who prescribed it and when, etc.
None of this is hard today, with power and good light. And others in your area may even give you a hand moving to higher ground if a storm approaches, check with churches who might take folks to another church or to a church meeting ground or camp away from the path of the storm, or at least away from flooding. Around here churches have bus systems and can move lots of folks quickly.
We all wish you the best of luck,