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Monday, October 15, 2018

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It really struck me how fast hurricane Michael went from a tropical storm to a Cat 4 hurricane. According the Weather Underground, rapidly intensifying storms are becoming more common.

That has a huge bearing on hurricane preparation For example, it occurred to me that if I had a sailboat near Panama City, there would not have been time to move it. In fact there wouldn't have even been time to prepare a sailboat for rough conditions. Before a storm, the accepted practice is to remove the sails and as much stuff from the deck as possible. That includes things like biminis, solar panels, paddle boards, dinghys and anything else. Extra bumpers and lines are also deployed. Of course, none of that would have mattered when the whole marina gets rubbed out.

It's a major consideration for my future plans. I don't want to put money, time and effort into a boat only to lose it in a storm.

Currently we have only a partial picture of the situation in the Florida panhandle. Significant areas are communication dead zones. We won't really know how bad things are there for some time yet. I'm also betting that there will a significant number of hurricane related deaths that will go uncounted. We know that happens. Just look at Puerto Rico. I've sources that tell me it happened in southern Florida when hurricane Andrew hit. There were large migrant communities that just disappeared. These were mostly undocumented people living out in the boonies. Let's hope people got out of Michael's way in time.

If hurricanes are going to grow quicker than before, we'd better be prepared quicker than before.

-Sixbears

8 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. We have to keep our eyes open to changing conditions and plan accordingly.

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  2. In the last thirty years, I've watched, and experienced, two hurricanes that formed immediately offshore and intensified from a disturbance to a hurricane in less than 24 hours.

    The storms caused damage, but not the same amount of damage a storm causes, when it has over twenty four hours to intensify.

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    1. As much as I like the south, there are advantages to being in the mountains of NH.

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  3. I was reading the euro prediction when the storm was clear down by the Yucatan four days before it came ashore in the panhandle.
    They were stating then that it might increase to cat 4...
    They seem to be the accurate ones the past few times
    One always should have on hand the means necessary to prepare or flee in short order.
    Always prepare for a cat five and hope for a one !
    Far too often , we have a wait and see outlook...that can bite ya in the ass.

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    1. The Euro models seem to have been doing better lately. Wait and see can kill you.

      I see the Coast Guard did a rescue of people on a 50 foot boat near Boca Grande. That's near where I lost a sailboat myself.

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  4. The last one that came my way took down trees, but none of them hit my home. Took my RV and left. No sense in taking the chance of loosing both homes.

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    1. That RV of yours is a really comfortable bug out vehicle.

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