It is finally over but the complains of over-hype which are well founded. Irene became the North East Hanging Chad moment and then some.
- Weather Experts apparently are not. The amount of gloom and doom predicted by experts for NY made you think the soul of Bin Laden was riding Irene. Anybody who has spent any time cleaning up after a hurricane knows that they feed on the hot waters of the ocean and they start losing potency once they hit shallow coasts and dry land. We were expecting a helluva more damage to North Carolina than NY and we were not in the wrong.
- Media is composed by a bunch of morons but we knew this already. The amount of Non-information passed along to potential Hurricane victims was amazing. I saw much better advice being sent via Tweeter than from any talking head and after the first five minutes the “Evacuate now or you all gonna die!” meme got old in a hurry. We did have the pleasure of meeting the new generation of Morons Standing Outside In Bad Weather Making It Look Like Death Was Upon Them But Risking Their Lives To Bring You The Latest.
- Dumbest preparation for a Disaster: NYC inhabitants buying takeout from restaurants for several days of post hurricane sustenance. This one came close second.
- Two Presidential Candidate are no more. Both Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Christie pretty much can kiss their chances with voters in Hurricane-prone areas. Screaming to people to forbidding candles to threaten with arrest if you did not evacuate and to be more shrilly than the TV talking heads made many of us say “Are you kidding me? Go flock yourself!” We do not respond kindly to those who want to get in our houses before, during and after hurricanes. Stay up north.
- Apparently some people need to learn by suffering. One wonders how many of the evacuated will go through that joy of human concentration again and wonder if they were better off staying home in a house not apt to weather a real hurricane. And those who stayed behind and “weathered” a bit of rain and now act like they survived the Mayan Doomsday prediction with a six-pack, a box of Ding Dongs and a NY attitude realize they are not mentally prepared for a real Hurricane or any other natural disaster that come their way. These are the same people that were freaking out of their designer socks from a little earthquake day before.
- Flyover Country is still Flyover Country and ignored (Again the Media and add the Feds). So, other than NYC and New Jersey and by what you saw in the news and the worry of our “Federal Family“, How many other states were hit by Irene? I thought so. Guess what, we still will have to see our taxes spent on those unprepared locations. Some Soho are gallery is gonna get federal funding to replace their flooring in time for their next Wine and Bullshit Finger Painting exhibition next month.
There is some other stuff, but this will do. We have three months left in this particular hurricane season. If you don’t mind, I’ll go check the National Weather Service Tropical Weather Page for any incoming bad boys. Well looky here! Tropical Depression Twelve is leaving Africa as we speak! Let the Hype Begin!
I was pretty with you on the hype thing, and was making fun of the whole mess as it was heading in, thinking it wouldn’t be much worse than a Nor’easter, and wind wise it certainly wasn’t. But I wasn’t prepared for the sewage system backing up with storm water and my basement walls gushing in water. I’ll take a Nor’easter over that shit any day of the week. At least that tends to bring down its moisture frozen, and the trees not having leaves on them tend to make them weather winter storms a lot better.
All I need is a generator. As long as I can keep the pumps running, the next Irene like storm I can spend sipping bourbon and taking bets with Bitter on which tree is going to lose a branch next.
Generators are a great idea. Check your electrical load but at a minimum get a 5KW. Dual fuel even better.
A 5K should allow you to run the Fridge and another appliance at the same time (load one at a time) and help you keep perishables and even get hot water for a nice overdue shower…if there is running water.
Also, run as much as you can on batteries. Have a small TV, radio, lights, etc that run on 12V. Fuel will be something of a concern: the more you ask from the generator, the more fuel you will consume. Most generators nowadays have a 12 V output that will charge batteries, if not just by a battery charger.
I was looking at 5K, but I’m thinking 6K is more appropriate for my needs, which is really just pump and fridge. We lost power after a big winter storm a few years ago, but there you can just take everything out, and stuff it in the snow.
I have a big marine battery to run the computers and internet in the event of power failure. This is also the last house I ever buy with a finished basement. The house I grew up in had a wet basement, and at the end of a bad storm we’d just sweep the water out the back door. No big deal. My basement here is finished, and is my man cave… so I got right freaked out when I saw the sink filling up with other people’s shit.