Looks like we will get a full fledged Y2k test this week. Floyd is going right over our heads here in Chapel Hill according to the track map at:

http://www.wral-tv.com/weather/hurrtrak/1999/6fc.jpg

Even if it tracks right or left we're going to GI.

Glad I don't live in Florida.

-- Forrest Covington (theforrest@mindspring.com), September 14, 1999

Answers

Forrest, if we do have some problems (and it looks as if we will), I'm curious to see if the Orange Co. Sheriff's Office blocks the road between here and Chapel Hill, as was done when Fran came through here.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 14, 1999.

You guys be careful. We'll be tuned to the Weather Channel up here in deecee...

-scott

-- Scott Johnson (scojo@yahoo.com), September 14, 1999.

The latest that I've heard is that it is projected to hit Charleston, SC. This is the same place that Hugo hit (+/- 25 miles) in 1989. I have to go to Myrtle Beach tonite to evacuate my parents and board up their house tomorrow. Thankfully, they have the foresight to have gotten plywood several months previous.

They have a large part of my preps for Y2K at their house, so they are set for food and cooking should things get ugly. The other part is in my apartment here in Raleigh, which I will use if needed.

Hang on RDU'ers, it's gonna get rough, I'm afraid.

-- Jay (havocuz@mindspring.com), September 14, 1999.

Jay, Forrest--Just heard on Weather Channel--flood WARNING, not watch, for a county in NE NC (didn't catch the name), 10-12" already. Did you catch the post re friend in Raleigh, around 1145 AM, found no batteries and people grabbing water from each other's hands?

Also heard evac routes out of Charleston clogged--taking four hours to get out of city.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 14, 1999.

I live in Charlotte, (about 250 or so miles inland),,,,just returned from the grocery store to pick up a few items - the place was jam packed - stuff flying off the shelves in preparation for Hurricane Floyd (Hugo hit us in '89) ..... I'm glad I'm already prepped for y2k - wouldn't have wanted to be buying a bunch of stuff today (almost just left without buying anything,,but I had some time to spare)........

-- mmmm (mmmm@aol.com), September 14, 1999.

Yes... be care-full... all.

Forrest your link also goes to the WRAL TV main page... where I assume theyll update the tracking map...

http://www.wral- tv.com/homepage-high.shtml

And... links to a good page with another kind of map... and...

Hurricane Floyd: County-by-County Emergency & Evacuation Information

http://www.wral- tv.com/weather/hurricanes/

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 14, 1999.

htt p://boards.weather.com/eshare/server?action=190&PAGE=0&EXPANDFULLY=0&E XPANDBRANCH=0&ASORT=3&BSORT=1&AEXPAND=&BEXPAND=&BOARD=37

This is the Weather Channel's Floyd Forum for those who'd like up-to- the minute Floyd data.

-- lisa (lisa@work.now), September 14, 1999.

I too, am in Charlotte, and left work a little early to pick up bread and wine. Got just about the last 2 loaves! Hubby got the last of the batteries at Lowes today. Folks are taking this storm deathly seriously.

On the updside, I checked out in the express lane... :-)

R.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), September 14, 1999.

My favorite hi-res photo--a large photo showing Floyd, Gert and the tropical storm between them. There's a loop link to click on, top left.

http://www.intellicast.com/Tropical/World/UnitedStates/AtlanticHIRES/

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 14, 1999.

Like that one too Old Git. Floyd looks like an angry galaxy... and Gert look's like it's gonna have twins.

Stay dry. (Uh, in terms of the water content).

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 14, 1999.

Forrest, Old Git, and Diane,

Are we all in the Triangle (I'm down by Lake Jordan)?

I just saw on Ch. 17 that same old, moronic song I heard back the day after Fran:

"Duh, I've been all over all three cities, trying to find D batteries - ah can't find none - I guess I'll keep lookin'..."

And of course, the TV camera shows them standing in front of the battery section of Home Depot/Lowe's/etc. - - and the display stands are bloody FULL of C's and AA's!

I remember from Fran morning, going to the local Kerr Drug, and seeing folks getting truly depressed because they can't find D's, while standing next to stands filled with AA *and* AA flashlights! I TRIED to tell them just buy the AAs, but they were totally unable to think (forgive me) "outside the box" to be able to use other size batteries.

Now, I agree that Ds are nice, and hold x3 the amps, but if you can't find them, they don't hold ANY amps - at least for you...

(BTW, that morning, I went around my neighborhood, passing out cheap AA flashights/batteries and rolls of plastic to those in need). It was stunning to find how many folks - even thought it'd been pouring for a week - and we KNEW Fran was coming - still hadn't gotten prepared in any way...

Lastly - a joke. A colleague moved here last year from California, and noticed the trend whenever there was any hint of snow/ice/storm: folks buy out the grocery stores - but *just* for bread, eggs and milk. He asked me later - "Hey, what's up around here? Does everyone love French Toast or something?"

Good luck to us all.

-- Hugh (hewiggins@mindspring.com), September 14, 1999.

Hugh,

No... just observing from out in earthquake country... California. Don't unnerstand how y'all can stand the "anticipation" of those big burly monsters. It'd drive me up the wall!

Out here there's NO warning! Zip. Nada. Then... KA-BOOM it hits suddenly... at any hour, and your job is to cope... in the moment... then clean-up afterwards.

Something to be said for "quick and dirty."

Diane (Northridge quake 1994 vetran)

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 14, 1999.

Diane,

Y'know - I purposely don't live in South Florida, or on the banks of the Mississip, purely because I don't wanna play quite that colse to Mama Nature.

Just my freakin' luck to live in a place, that although inland, still gets hit by a "nuker" every 3-5 years.

There ain't no justice...

I'm painfully aware that we might have a Y2K full-scale dress rehearsal the day after tomorrow - yikes!

And my neighborhood preps aren't any more than plans on paper - no real contacts in our immediate area (20-30 homes out in the country). We'll see how things go - and if I have to break out the emergency prep stuff.

-- Hugh (hewiggins@mindspring.com), September 14, 1999.

Hi Hugh, I'm in Durham. Puddintame is in Raleigh. There are a couple more folks in Raleigh too but haven't seen them post lately. There are more folks from NC in general--y'all chime in, now.

Sweetie and I just got back from Lowe's, looking for flexible drain pipe to run from a downspout to the street. True, the store is moving (new one opening 22nd), but they still have plenty of plywood there. Saw only one person leaving with plywood. Despite the lack of inventory I managed to find masonry screws and appropriate bit, so I can put some plywood over the windows tomorrow if need be.

Just heard on my scanner that there'll be 14 or 15 paramedic trucks working tomorrow night. Also that the paramedics were told everyone is expected to be at work at 7 a.m. on Thursday and will be considered AWOL if they don't turn up. Don't care if they have to come in at 6 o'clock the night before and sleep at the station, but they WILL be on time on Thursday. I'm willing to bet police and firefighters have been told the same.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 14, 1999.

Just got back from a Y2K meeting at Tidal Creek Foods Co-op, but Floyd was a primary topic.

Dang thing takes up a lot of space on the Water Vapor map. The second band of rain is starting here now. The last one was an hour ago.

Wilmington schools are closed for the rest of the week and my kids are antsy. We'll base our decision on the 5am probabilities report.

Strike Probabilities: http://www.hwn.org/haat73us.htm

Discussion: http://www.hwn.org/hadt43us.htm

Public Advisory: http://www.hwn.org/hapt33us.htm

Water Vapor Image (be persistent, it's worth it): http://goeshp.wwb.noaa. gov/browsh3.html

Git, we'll be in Henderson by 8pm Wednesday (if we leave). If you're still doing the CC gig in Asheville, let me know.

Too bad we can't model Y2k as "easily" as this huuricane. The kinds of information on the Hurricane Watch Network is worth studying.

Critt
Wilmington, North Carolina

-- Critt Jarvis (critt@critt.com), September 14, 1999.

---

---

Close tag...

-- Critt Jarvis (critt@critt.com), September 14, 1999.

Critt, the conference was cancelled due to the hurricane (it was a state District Attorneys' conference). Last I heard, we'll be feeling the effects of Floyd tomorrow night and the center will be overhead at or before 0800 Thursday. Am hoping for better news in the morning--maybe some quirk will take the storm east and out to sea. You see, I AM an optimist! But one of the NWS guys strongly hinted there's a possibility of strengthening as Floyd moves over the Gulf stream.

Talked to Taz around 10:30; she was fine, was going to get some sleep. there was no bad weather up to that point.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 15, 1999.

My thoughts are with you Critt. (And Old Git here's hopin' all your kitty cats stay snug 'n dry... you too).

That Water Vapor Image is a good one!

Be well.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 15, 1999.

Good luck to all of you up there. Floyd surprised us with his quick turn north, maybe he will continue to shy away from the coast.

I'll be thinking of you.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), September 15, 1999.

Unc,

This is a different and interesting way to track the storm, don't ya think?

And EVERYONE that's even near this monster, Check in often! At least as long as you have a phone line! If the power goes off, fire up that generator to keep us posted! I know the pollys won't be able to do this, but I really do care about them. I hope they have prepared.

And CYA! <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), September 15, 1999.

Sysman,

This place is an interesting way to track all manner of things!

"So what you have to ask yourself is, 'Do I feel lucky'? Well, do ya, punk"? -- Dirty Harry

Actually Harry, yeah, this punk feels very lucky today.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), September 15, 1999.

Unc,

I hear ya! Weather.com now has NJ in middle of projected path! Going over land will weaken a bunch, but local report says still may be a cat 1 when it gets here. Now, if it dances past that bump in the coastline, and then turns left...

I'm going to pass on that luck bet for just now. These things do strange things. I may be starting one of these threads... <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), September 15, 1999.

Hey Old Git!

I am thinking maybe Floyd is just going to graze us up here, we will still see a bit of weather. My biggest concern is my husband is working down in Columbia, SC.

When Hugo hit us here before, that was quite a storm. We had 8 inches of rain and trees down. Lots of damage. Lost all of my rabbits (trees knocked over the hutches and I never saw any of them again), shed blew over and a tree took out the rototiller. I had a dog pinned under a tree that I had to dig out from below...remarkably, she wasn't hurt.

Forrest, Critt, Hugh, Roland, mmmm, Jay, Gitt and everyone dealing with this, will be thinking of you all, keep us posted. Sysman, keep an eye to the sky (or at least the weather channel!)

-- Lilly (homesteader145@yahoo.com), September 15, 1999.

satellites and webcams http://www.gocarolinas.com/shared/weather/us_satellite.html http://www.gocarolinas.com/shared/weather/SE_satellite.html http://www.wral-tv.com/weather/hurricanes/ Beach WebCams

http://www.nps.gov/caha/livecam.htm Hatteras Lighthouse

http://www.rsn.com/cams/hattys/ Hatteras Resort

http://cil-www.oce.orst.edu:8080/duck.html Duck

http://www.surfchex.com/html/default.asp Rodanthe Pier

http://video.inttek.net/cgi-bin/video/simplepush10 Wilmington

http://www.wrightsville.com/bchcam.htm Wrightsville Beach

http://www.surfchex.com/html/wrightsville.asp Crystal Pier

http://www.gocarolinas.com/travel/beach/beachcams/broadway/ MB Broadway

http://www.gocarolinas.com/travel/beach/beachcams/pavilion/ MB Pavilion

http://www.gocarolinas.com/travel/beach/beachcams/surf/ Myrtle Beach Surf

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), September 15, 1999.

If nothing else, this'll be a, er, um, FASCINATING test of the ability of solar panels to survive a hurricane. Mine are on a Watsun tracker that, when the sky turns grey, goes from semi-vertical to flat horizontal (going from being a sail to becoming - yikes! - a wing!).

Am charging up the battery bank from the grid (first time since Dec1999 - have been entirely on solar since then). The biggie that scares me is the woodpile. I can just see all those cords becoming projectiles - take coverrr!

I figger tarps won't last 5 minutes, so will try that orange plastic construction wall/webbing stuff, and use those big dog-run corkscrews to secure them to the ground.

Will post after-action reports.

Good luck to all of us.

-- Hugh (hewiggins@mindspring.com), September 15, 1999.

Good luck to everyone in the path of Floyd. We lived in Cary, NC for many years before moving to the Pacific Northwest last fall. So, having lived through Hurricane Fran, we know what these storms can do, even way inland. I'm glad Florida and Georgia seem to have been spared, and I hope to see Floyd take a big swing to the east today. Take care, everyone.

-- Don (whytocay@hotmail.com), September 15, 1999.

We here in my part of N.C. lucked out on Floyd, but in other parts of the county, folks are w/o power, flooded, etc.

The local TV (however believeable THAT is... After watching them try to fill 24+ steady hours of airtime with very little *new* news (as of late last night), I've become even more cynical of '90s telejournalism. Comments like "landfall is imminent - sometime within the next 3-8 hours (hunh? that is imminent??), and hyping any snatch of news they have ("Well, Dave, here's the footage of a tree that fell on a car"; so here's one car + one tree; whadda you expect? the bloody storm is 7+ hours away...) says that in N.C.:

> 1,000,000+ folks w/o power > 35,000+ folks in shelters > 88 roads closed due to flooding (inc. a main N-S corridor, I-95) > some places (in-land) are under 7+ feet of water

(we'll see if those numbers are corroborated later...)

Some interesting shelter situations (relevant to Y2K): > the pre-selected shelters (high schools mostly) were filling up QUICKLY last night and the Red Cross had to start creating new ones STAT. The later ones were sparsely equipped - no cots, not much food, etc. > The method for getting to the new shelters was, er, um interesting. The original ones were highly publicized over the airwaves, but the subsequent ones were not. You had to call the Red Cross/Emergency Services and get the location - or (over the air) you were told to go to the original sites and you'd then be re-routed to the new ones (??). All during rising water and high winds...

> Some of the shelters were also w/o power (oh boy, just imagine a big, dark room filled w/ 100-200 strangers, the wind is whipping trees around outside, the water is rising, babies screaming, and you're all in the dark - geez, I think I'd rather sleep in the rafters of an overpass than be in a situation like that...

> With all the flooding, the authorities are suggesting folks already in the shelters stay there at least another day.

Even more related to Y2K is trying to work on the morale of the friends/family that stayed w/ me last night (and helped me plywood the windows - all in the driving rain). Comments this morning like "We did all that work, and it was wasted effort!" got a quick response "Waal, actually we did all that work, and that was the hand that we played. It was ENTIRELY up to Floyd as to whether he was gonna fold, or throw down a royal flush. We just lucked out - and won."

I explained that the folks next door (w/ almost no work or preps) were betting the house (literally). If they lost, they were going to lose BIG.

Luckily (I suppose...) I dodn't have to come out of the Y2K closet w/ the neighbors - my help wasn't needed. But it may provide added impetus for Y2K preps - or at least neighborhood Y2K conversations.

Thanks for all the warm comments and good thoughts, folks.

Hugh

"The avalanche has already begun. It is too late for the pebbles to vote." D. Gerrold

-- Hugh (hewiggins@mindspring.com), September 16, 1999.