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Hurricane Ian coverage

If people are numb, it's because they are lazy. FOX "News" delivers red meat to its base, not factual information. Sure, media is driven by ratings. Reliable information is available, but many people choose to politicize everything. Some weather events are more extreme than the forecast (the recent Kentucky floods).
I respectfully disagree. People tune in to news channels to try and get factual information and helpful details. If they see them reporting out 20 times about a supposed "huge storm - possiby "the big one'" and it causes them to stock their shelves and do a bunch of preparation for what turns out to be nothing, the 21st time that same station starts hyping yet another incoming storm, viewers assume it's just more of the same and they don't take it seriously. Again, it's the modern-day equivalent of the boy who cried wolf. News networks and media need to save the hype and sensationalism for storms and situations that actually warrant it, not for every minor tropical storm that whips in. And to me it's not just 1 particular network on one particular side of the political aisle.
 
OK guys I live in North Fort Myers, if you have any questions feel free to ask

My house survived, as did the 1299 other houses around me, half built in 1996, and the rest like mine built in 2006 to a higher standard.

We are maybe 6 miles inland. no canals or rivers near us so no storm surge.... others were not so lucky

I lost some screens on my pool cage, others like the people on the other side of the street from me had their cages ripped from their homes... a minor inconvenience compared to the people who have real problems.

This was a 155 MPH storm, 2 MPH from a Cat5 storm

Many are saying it is a thousand year event, as it will only happen once in a thousand years. When you see building plans and site plans, flood maps, etc you will see the term 100 year storm, and you design for that contingency.

I owned a house on Fort Myers Beach for 15 years. I saw big storms come... and go... and the damage from them

Same with my house on the water in Marshfield MA, storms come, storms go, you can't hold back the ocean without a lot of money and planning

Some of my favorite places on the planet, that have survived for decades and then some were washed into the ocean.... there is nothing left but an outline

Interstate 75 and US 41 near me are closed due to the flooding and a need to inspect the bridges.... I-75 is a fairly new road, it was built as an evacuation route, it is the main (only) interstate highway on Florida's west coast....

41 runs parallel to 75 so that is not an option, so they are sending all the I-75 traffic inland to some dinky 2 lane bridge beyond the surge damage and flooding, and most of those bridges can't support the weight of a 80K pound TT trying to haul goods into the effected areas.

WINK TV had their studio and plant flooded.... who knows when they will be back....
So glad to know you're safe, @MRBIboredop and that the damage to your property in this case was minor. Lots of others weren't so lucky and it sounds like the area around you in general is a bit of a mess and will be for a while. Hang in there!
 
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Glad you made it through. Sad to see so much destruction along the coast. Could be days or weeks before schools (and I mean, some schools) return to session, and months before any resemblance of normalcy there...
Like with the Mexico Beach/PCB/Apalachicola devastation by Hurricane Michael, I know these beach towns will never be the same.

I hope it's not true and an exaggeration, but with how many 75+ people live in Lee County, a death toll in the hundreds could come true, like what the sheriff tweeted. Some of these people in their 80s and 90s may have not had nearby family to help them. Not to mention, the shelters in a Cat 4 hurricane would be as much of a risk (remember the Superdome?)
 
After every natural disaster in the USA, there are insensitive human beings who comment on how stupid people were to live there.
I would not call every one of those people 'insensitive' but rather having good sense. There is a big difference between risking your life in a mobile home in FL, where you can expect regular visits from big storms, versus people living in areas where those events are not nearly as frequent.

Even more stupid are the people who are very old (can't drive/walk/crawl/swim etc.) and live in storm country in a fragile structure. To play Russian Roulette with the dependence upon first responders is not usually a winning hand.

Hurricanes in this day and age are predictable (even though their routes may be somewhat in question). Things like earthquakes not usually (or with much less warning). And not having the appropriate insurance coverage is the ultimate stupidity.
 
I respectfully disagree. People tune in to news channels to try and get factual information and helpful details. If they see them reporting out 20 times about a supposed "huge storm - possiby "the big one'" and it causes them to stock their shelves and do a bunch of preparation for what turns out to be nothing, the 21st time that same station starts hyping yet another incoming storm, viewers assume it's just more of the same and they don't take it seriously. Again, it's the modern-day equivalent of the boy who cried wolf. News networks and media need to save the hype and sensationalism for storms and situations that actually warrant it, not for every minor tropical storm that whips in. And to me it's not just 1 particular network on one particular side of the political aisle.
Let's face it -- People will Bit** no matter what. If the storm is worse than predicted, they'll want to sue. If the storm is less severe, they'll want to sue for being inconvenienced. They just need to blame someone for the disruption of the daily routine...
 



Update Virginia is facing the remains of Hurricane Ian this is while the Carolinas recover from their response to the hurricane.





Now the Chesapeake area is facing flood watch for the same reasons.
 
It's one of the reasons why I have one of the Eton wind-up radios on hand. My cell phone can die, WiFi can fail, cable can go out but I still have my radio, and since it's a wind-up model, it can virtually go on forever. To boot, the model I have has a built in LED light which can illuminate a dark room, and it also has a jack to provide power to (slowly) charge a cell phone. IMO this particular purchase was smart storm prep, and cheap insurance in a way.
Topical - The latest edition of Radio World magazine just showed up in my mailbox today, with an article ranking a few of the best crank and solar powered radios, which I've found helpful once cell service, WiFi, power and cable are out. I may ungrade as my Eton is years old at this point. If I'm not mistaken I got it as a "gift" when pledging to my local NPR or PBS station (I support both annually)

Product Evaluations - Ranking Emergency Radios (Crank and Solar)​

 
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Once a storm hits the other cities it is out of reach of water so loses strength more quickly.

A number of years ago there was a hurricane that actually increased in strength once it was over land, Mississippi or Louisiana, I think. They determined that there was so much water inland from flooding and being that it wasn't very deep the water was quite warm from the sunlight that it acted like a small warm ocean that helped keep the hurricane going longer than it normally would have.
 
I heard someone [not a friend, I wouldn't have a friend this stupid] who said that there is NO hurricane and said that is was a government plot along with the news media to get people out of their houses so Biden could get into their property to plant listening and other spy devices. Wonder how they explained all the damage afterwards. Should have told him I was ordering tin foil hats; how many should I put him down for?
 
I heard someone [not a friend, I wouldn't have a friend this stupid] who said that there is NO hurricane and said that is was a government plot along with the news media to get people out of their houses so Biden could get into their property to plant listening and other spy devices. Wonder how they explained all the damage afterwards. Should have told him I was ordering tin foil hats; how many should I put him down for?
Someone like that should be forced to get on a bus and go to the hardest hit areas following Ian, to help the victims and perform community service for a month - then come back home and speak before every community, civic and fraternal group in the area about the devastation they saw with their own eyes. It's easy for keyboard commandos to sit at a computer and make BS claims. Their attitudes and false statements would change real quickly if they were thrust into the position of seeing it for themselves, and to roll up their sleeves and do something to actually help people rather than shooting off their mouths.
 
Just like most other places in the 2nd and 3rd worlds. Out here on the reservations they just toss a bunch of old tires on the roof to keep it in place during windy times.
Puerto Rico is not "Third World". It's part of the US, has US minimum wages and generally, due to climate, a better cost of living. The station I left there, in 2000, was one of less than 150 stations in the whole US to bill over $10 million in a year. Third world my...

Lower income families that build rural homes there are much safer than "tornado magnet" manufactured homes in the US. Roofing is galvanized sheet metal because in tropical climates the shingles-tarpaper-wood beam construction deteriorates way too rapidly.

And if Puerto Rico is "Third World" so is Hawaii.
What is different is what the owners do to lessen the impact of nasty weather. It seems the "before" photos I've been seeing don't look like the owners did much, if anything, in advance of the storm warning.
Other than boarding up windows, there is little you can do. Having been through more hurricanes in Puerto Rico than I can even remember, preparation consists of moving to a family member's higher location or condo if you live in a low area and stocking up on food and bottled water.
What makes FL different is the width of the peninsula. Just as we are seeing right now the hurricane doesn't have far to travel overland before reaching the open ocean and gaining strength again. Once a storm hits the other cities it is out of reach of water so loses strength more quickly.
I don't think that the residents of New Orleans cared where Katrina went after it hit them. Remember, most hurricane damage is from flooding, not wind. Katrina affected people over 500 miles inland for that reason.

The Florida storms that hit the southern coastal areas exit on the other side and go out to sea. And the ones that hit north of the Orlando-Tampa-Daytona line, including the panhandle, all tend to go inland in GA, AL and MS.
Every earthquake CA suffers stirs more and more damage containment efforts. While the "Big One" would cause a great deal of damage no doubt it wouldn't be a complete disaster (except for people trying to get to and from work).
If one over a 7.8 to 8.0 hit, the destruction would be massive. There is even doubt that most of the high-rises in LA would survive such a quake if close enough, suffering such damage as to either collapse or be beyond repair. The biggest danger is with bridges and overpasses, which, just like in the San Francisco quake of '89 or Northridge in '94, will suffer massive failures. Further, some areas of LA such as around Long Beach and Beverly Hills will liquefy, causing almost total structural failures.
 
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I agree. The before photos are more unsettling to me than the after photos, because the after photo is the logical and expected result. Many residents have had years to make incremental (yet cumulative) improvements. Municipal government entities have had many decades to make storm surge protection an ongoing project. I have empathy for the suffering and loss, but there is no accounting for ignorance or denial.
One of the biggest issues is non-natives who move into danger zones. Whether quakes, tornadoes or hurricanes, they don't understand the danger. Those that survive learn more the second time around.

Of course, there are some solutions in building codes such as high foundations and the like, but they won´t protect idiots from their fate.
 
Many folks still deny Climate Change. Ignorance may be bliss, but the price is steep...
Let's not blame climate change for a hurricane that is no stronger than many going back 100 years. It just hit in a place where many lived in low-lying areas.
 
Puerto Rico is not "Third World". It's part of the US, has US minimum wages and generally, due to climate, a better cost of living.
I don't believe I said it was.
Lower income families that build rural homes there are much safer than "tornado magnet" manufactured homes in the US. Roofing is galvanized sheet metal because in tropical climates the shingles-tarpaper-wood beam construction deteriorates way too rapidly.
Yes it does. But metal sheeting also catches the wind so a small opening can lift the entire roof off without much trouble.
Other than boarding up windows, there is little you can do. Having been through more hurricanes in Puerto Rico than I can even remember, preparation consists of moving to a family member's higher location or condo if you live in a low area and stocking up on food and bottled water.
Getting the hell out of the way in indeed the best 'solution' but it does nothing to prevent damage to the house you left behind. Re-read my remarks about the Juneau mobile homes.
I don't think that the residents of New Orleans cared where Katrina went after it hit them. Remember, most hurricane damage is from flooding, not wind. Katrina affected people over 500 miles inland for that reason.
The Southeast is nothing but endless canals and lakes that form a direct pipeline for flooding. Plus, many people build right on the water.
If one over a 7.8 to 8.0 hit, the destruction would be massive. There is even doubt that most of the high-rises in LA would survive such a quake if close enough, suffering such damage as to either collapse or be beyond repair. The biggest danger is with bridges and overpasses, which, just like in the San Francisco quake of '89 or Northridge in '94, will suffer massive failures. Further, some areas of LA such as around Long Beach and Beverly Hills will liquefy, causing almost total structural failures.
Which is why I made the comment that commuting would be a nightmare (also why I don't live there).
 
Which is why I made the comment that commuting would be a nightmare (also why I don't live there).
You forget that many of the deaths in the Nortridge quake came from people in cars on those bridges. Were the quake to have happened in the daytime, there have been estimates of 10,000 to 15,000 deaths, mostly from collapsing roadways and bridges.
 
Highest point in Florida is 345 feet above sea level, just south of the Alabama state line. Overall, Florida averages out to be 100 feet above sea level. That's like 1/3rd of a Football field so not very high. I know where I used to live as a kid I could dig down about 2-2.5 feet and hit the water table.
 
I don't believe I said it was.
I said:
While high-end construction in Puerto Rico is reinforced concrete, lower income housing is wood frame with "zinc" roofs.
And You said,

"Just like most other places in the 2nd and 3rd worlds. Out here on the reservations they just toss a bunch of old tires on the roof to keep it in place during windy times."

"Other places in the third world" indicates that you believe Puerto Rico, USA, to be in the third world.
 
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