We're sitting around, waiting for the power to go out. Sweetie's playing with his new computer game, I've got my feet up, listening to my scanner. Just a few minutes ago I heard a couple of police officers discussing the need to check in at a couple of the shelters. One asked the other, "So how many people are over there?" "Oh, they had about a hundred but around 25 went back home." It was a similar story at other evac centers. I got the impression that the people who went back home weren't delighted with the city's accommodations (mostly high school gyms). I know cots and meals are provided in NC shelters, so it couldn't be that there was no food available. Just expected something other than what they found, I guess.

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

Answers

Stay cozy, Old Git.

Fingers crossed that the morning will see little impact, for all our forum friends and all those in the targeted areas.

When our whole town was forced to evacuate once, due to incoming forest fires, I choose NOT to go to a shelter. Later... the one's who did, told horror stories of sleepless days 'n nights, noise, and no privacy. Thanks... but no thanks.

Diane

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

Check out a storm track Old Git, those people are leaving because the storm has veered East. Looks like Durham will get wet and windy, but nothing TOO serious.

South of Raleigh, x

-- x (x@x.mil), September 16, 1999.

x, I have nothing else left to do at this point except to check out the weather forecasts and listen to my scanner--which is my job. Those people went into the shelter some time after the various projections started to show a more easterly track. They stayed only a lttle while and left. There are still about one hundred people at that shelter.

If you're from south of Raleigh then you know people from Governor Hunt on down have been warning all night about the dangers of downed trees, power outages and flooding. They've been cautioning people not to take Floyd lightly; that there is always a chance that the storm will not follow the forecast path. The latest information is we'll get 55 mph sustained winds, gusts 65 or 70. The prolonged rain we've had all day combined with gusty winds will bring down the hardwoods and older pines, according to the local authorities. There are already power outages and some damaged homes in some parts of the city due to downed trees. There is flooding too--I just heard a report of a car 7/8 submerged on Mineral Springs Road. Very unusual. The highest winds are due here just before daybreak; by noon we should be out of danger. We've been told this storm will be a lot like Fran for us; if so, we'll be without power for three days, people in Raleigh maybe a week, those in Durham County three to four weeks.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 16, 1999.

Old Git, Bet you a king size pan of beans, you've got power for the upcoming gorgeous weekend. I was just outside (0149) and the wind is gusty but not intolerable. I agree it will get worse before it gets better, but flooding is now the biggest safety concern for me.

Stay dry. x

-- x (x@x.mil), September 16, 1999.

Here's hoping you went to bed, OG.

-- x (x@x.mil), September 16, 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.

OG and others

Thanks for the update on the weather - people problem down there. I think that there are always leasons to be learned in such cases. My biggest fear of Y2K is the weather as much as the problem. In this day and age it would seem that nature is really trying to tell us something. And in Canada January 1st is not the time to be finding out critical errors.

If anyone could shead light on the evacuation of the coast and the reaction to that it would be welcomed.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), September 16, 1999.

Old Git,

If you're still having power probs - EMail me. I might be able to help.

I tried Emailing you directly around noon, but got bounced back from your address.

Hugh

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