# Evacuation



## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

Some years ago in my previous life as a chief officer in the fire service, I was privileged to participate in a number of meetings with my peers from other areas of the state of Virginia and the state's Dept. of Emergency Management (DEM) on many issues, one of which was the evacuation of Tidewater and the Hampton Roads area ahead of landfall of a major hurricane. DEM was being proactive in devising a plan well ahead of such an event.

The first presentation of this plan occurred at a meeting in Richmond. After the presentation I told the Director that they had a great half of a plan. He looked stunned! I asked, "Where are all these people going that will be evacuated?" Silence. No one had included in the plan where evacuees would actually go. I guess it was felt the evacuees would just speed off west into the countryside to safety. But, where? No answers. 

Since that day the plan has been added to, modified, re-modified, and several "super shelters" have been designated - one in Richmond - for evacuees. Regardless, many of the 400K people thought to voluntarily evacuate will be leaving on a shoe string. What I mean is, they will pack their cars full, including pets, grandma, and all the kids and head west with a quarter tank of gas and still not sure where it is they are suppose to go. I anticipate hundreds if not thousands of people running out of fuel, people with chronic medical conditions without the needed medications, and communities along the way that simply cannot manage the in-flow of people with problems. It is likely not to be pretty.

Hurricane Irene is churning up the Atlantic. It will be here by this weekend. It is my sincere hope that this plan will not be needed.


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## mdmdmd (Apr 21, 2011)

Good thoughts. We're straight up the Chesapeake Bay and are watching the hurricane's course also.


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## pmabma (Dec 4, 2008)

Have they said anything about it hitting Charleston or not? I have to go there Friday,I have been watching the weather channel, it hasn,t said much about there, just NC.The news said it was growing stronger.


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## kyhoti (Nov 16, 2008)

Keep in mind that the "target zone" is much larger than where the center of the storm makes landfall. The collateral effects like flooding may occur in areas not technically in the danger zone. It only takes one bridge going out in a rural area to clog evac routes beyond belief, and that can occur witheven minor flooding. Plan accordingly.


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## JackDanielGarrett (Sep 27, 2010)

To me, and many others love other sites, but I use this site. Being in Florida we watch storms as close as we can. Look like Irene my move off, but you never know with hurricanes.

Tropical Weather : Weather Underground


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## neil-v1 (Jan 22, 2010)

I am on the southern coast of Massachusetts and they are already saying it has a good chance of coming up here. Here we go again..........


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## efbjr (Oct 20, 2008)

We are expecting to be hit by Irene up here in Providence, although it will probably be weaker by the time it hits RI.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

Yeah, I am kind of nervous to see how this will play out. They told us that it should hit Maryland some time on Sunday. Got a bad feeling that I will be stuck at work again that day, and my wife is supposed to be camping on the Eastern Shore this weekend. Hopefully she gets home before the storm gets here.


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## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

I checked the tide chart for Va. Bch. Should be approaching low tide if Irene brushes by at the predicted 2AM Sunday.


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## efbjr (Oct 20, 2008)

*Battening down the hatches in Little Rhody...*



efbjr said:


> We are expecting to be hit by Irene up here in Providence, although it will probably be weaker by the time it hits RI.


Heard an interesting discussion last night from two NWS meteorologists on talk radio. Their feeling, based on the available data, is that we may be in for a bad time from Hurricane Irene, especially if it maintains a category 3 status.

All the projected storm tracks seem to be taking aim at Long Island Sound and the Connecticut coast. If the storm tracks to the east of Providence, it will be mainly a rain event, which we can handle pretty well. If it tracks to the west of us, we will get the the heaviest winds and rain, which would be a problem. If the eye passes over the city, it is a toss up as to the outcome.

If New York city takes a hit from this storm, they could have major problems if the power drops out causing the pumps to fail and the subway and utility tunnels flood out. 2 inches of rain would put them out of business for who-knows how long.

Hopefully, the storm may veer east out to sea, but little data to indicate that happening now. The powers that be are getting ready to secure the hurricane barrier (which I can see from my apartment window) to protect Providence from flooding , as happened in the 1938 hurricane. 

1938 New England hurricane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you read the above article, you will see a storm track map that is almost identical to the track that Irene is taking! 

On the other hand, we did an early shopping and put away some supplies, we have a good supply of candles, stove fuel, and camping equipment if needed, and the car should get a good washing from the heavy rains! 

(BTW- that flood marker is mounted on a wall about 6 feet high! I'll post during the big event if the power holds.)


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

Got my fingers crossed you guys will be safe.


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## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

Just heard on fox news that Irene was going to "change the landscape" from NC on up but mostly NC. Don't know how this will pan out but just a heads up. Be safe everyone.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

This could be a worse disaster than Katrina. I know the areas to be affected aren't below sea level but there are so many more people in the path. A lot of people don't have much money because of the economy and don't really have places to go.


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## Bigdog57 (Oct 9, 2008)

Down here in Florida, we are breathing a sigh of relief....
...and saying prayers for y'all on up the coast.

I was in Norfolk on a USN frigate in the early 80s during one hurricane. I was off on the weekend, and heard a report statng a 'Navy ship had overturned in drydock'..... Mine was the ONLY ship in drydock at NorVa at that time! So I drove in the next morning expecting to see the USS Ainsworth on her side. She was sitting up tall and proud - turned out it was a civilian cruise ship across the harbor that rutned over. News idiot got the story wrong..... 

Last bad storms we have had here in Florida was in 2008. TS Fay did us nastier than the hurricanes - sat on us longer and dumped a LOT of rain!


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## lhalfcent (Mar 11, 2010)

this certainly looks grim. I will keep all in prayer.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

My brother and his family live in lower Manhattan. He and the kids are here in town visiting, but he's heading out tomorrow to go up and get his wife and bring her here. 

This could definitely be quite the storm.


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## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

My family loves the OBX. We have enjoyed many family vacations in Nags Head and I have been down many times for fishing trips.

I was told years ago the the worst case for them would be a major hurricane whose "eye" traveled up the sound to the west of the banks. Looks like that what will happen.

We have a house rented on the ocean front for the middle of Sept. Surf fishing should be great then, but now..... I don't have any expectations that the house will even be there!

Maybe some of you have been to "Howard's" down in Ocracoke. He has never closed a day since opening the restaurant decades ago. Howard rides out hurricanes with friends on the upper floor of the building along with a few cocktails. But this storm is different. I pray everyone there will survive.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

Just got word that the area on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay, opposite where I live, just got the order to evacuate. It's about a five minute drive from my house.

I am not getting the warm fuzzies over this...


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

Yall be careful and hopefully it won't be as bad as they are predicting.
There are a couple more waves heading this way so I'm sure Florida will get one too.


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

in-laws went thru katrina. we were about 150 miles north and helped with rescue efforts after. wish all in that are the best.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

A lot of people aren't doing anything. They're not worried about it at all. When people ignore hurricanes there's no point warning them about the coming economic collapse.

Hurricane? New Yorkers soak up the beach - Yahoo! News


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## Immolatus (Feb 20, 2011)

Im out in WV right now, and it looks like it will skirt east of here. i live NW of DC, I dont pesonally expect any real problems at my house, we arent in a flood zone, and ou power lines are underground nd have never gone out in the 3 years I have been there. Not so for some of our neighbors, we had to take in a bunch of people during last years snow storms.
And of course I am better prepared than most. 

My dads in Myrtle Beach at our very well fortified condo thats seen many hurricanes. Hes not worried.
I have a buddy in upper Manhattan, and hes kinda freaking out, asking me what he should do.
My buddy in Brooklyn is 2 blocks from an evac zone, and he is staying put, and isnt that concerned. He says hes stocked up. I hope hes safe with his wife and 1 yr old. He actually owns a vehicle, but wont leave.
Im gonna head hoe tomorrow before the storm, and I do want to hit the grocery store, if for nothing else to see the chaos and empty shelves.

Hope eveyone stays safe!


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## efbjr (Oct 20, 2008)

*Some good (?) news...*

Thanks go out for your concern for us in the storm's path.  Just started to rain here in Providence at 11:55am, Saturday. This is the northern edge of the storm bands that are just hitting us. The eye is still over 300+ miles away. The track is centering on the Connecticut River Valley and Hartford. The storm has weakened to a category 1, and may be down to tropical storm strength when it hits New England. But, we still expect a lot of wind with 4-6 inches of rain, and probably 10+ inches to the west of us. NYC will probably have a difficult time dealing with all of this. :dunno:


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

I have some buddies in the Norfolk/Portsmouth VA area and one of the ones who stayed put said he saw the rear end of a lifted 1/2 ton Chevy get picked up and sat right back down by the winds today. It's nasty, that's for sure.


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## efbjr (Oct 20, 2008)

efbjr said:


> Thanks go out for your concern for us in the storm's path.  Just started to rain here in Providence at 11:55am, Saturday. This is the northern edge of the storm bands that are just hitting us. The eye is still over 300+ miles away. The track is centering on the Connecticut River Valley and Hartford. The storm has weakened to a category 1, and may be down to tropical storm strength when it hits New England. But, we still expect a lot of wind with 4-6 inches of rain, and probably 10+ inches to the west of us. NYC will probably have a difficult time dealing with all of this. :dunno:


The storm veered to the west and is over NYC now. We are getting a lot of wind (63 mph top recorded gust) and heavy rains (4-6 inches expected), essentially a tropical storm now. The state is essentially shut down for all traffic, except emergency vehicles. The airport is shut down. There are lots of downed trees and wires, with 100,000+ power outages reported in the state.  We had just one quick outage which lasted about 15 seconds. The hurricane barrier doors were secured at 5am, today, and the pumps were activated to get rid of the river water that started piling up behind the barrier, with the storm surge level rising from seaside. We got an unusual high tide this AM, and are expecting another high tide this PM. The barrier will probably be in place until the storm surge is over. This is a lot of water to deal with in a limited (Providence harbor/Narragansett Bay) area. We are expecting the heavy rains and winds to be over by early afternoon. :congrat:


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

the LOOTING and TNB is going to cause much more damage than the storm


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Irene blew through here overnight. We lost power about 2:30. Got up around 6:00, fired up the wood stove to heat water for tea, coffee and a little breakfast. As the rain lightened up, I decided to get dressed and go out to fire up the generator so we could get some news. The power came back on at 9:30. I never made it outside. 
Still haven't used the generator for an emergency.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

Well, I went in to work eight hours early and slept at the armory, so i've been here since 2130 last night. We lost power around 1900 last night and my wife jsut said that it is still out. The generator is plugging along, though, so everything seems fine. She said that a house up the street got crushed by a tree, but the family is okay.

We didn't get hit very hard, overall.


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