Ruh Ro: Hurricane Time

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Yeah, I did some prep work at my parents house Sunday just in case. I'll probably start getting things battened down at home in the morning. That will mostly consist of moving some cars away from the woods behind the house and getting the furniture and plants off the porch. 

I moved all my outside junk (chairs, grills, some potted plants, and a big cooler I use as a dock box) inside last night. Got a couple vehicles with full tanks of gas. Got three propane 20# propane tanks. Got plenty of water. Just waiting at this point to see how it plays out. The town announced a mandatory evacuation at 8am tomorrow. Not leaving at this point.

Good luck to all of those along the east coast.  We rented a house just north of Hatteras for next week, but it's unlikely we'll make the trip from Colorado at this point.  Even if Dorian makes a hard right (fingers crossed), we would need to start over with the plane fare and car rental and still lose a significant portion of the trip.  Since Dare County is under mandatory evacuation, we're staying far away.  14,000 ft. of elevation should be good enough.

In reply to JoeTR6 :

What town? I lived in Avon (on Hatteras island) for several years. 

Latest NHC track as of 8PM EDT 3 Sept 2019:

Unless Dorian slides further east, there is a good possibility it makes landfall in NC. I hope it skirts the coast and moves out to sea.

Be safe everybody.

Even if it holds that track and doesn't slide further eastz the western half is starving it out and it's getting really disorganized. I don't see it regaining any strength and potentially see it at tropical storm strength by the time it reaches the Carolinas. 

In reply to captdownshift :

I agree. The western spokes over land is what I am rooting for to slow it down a bit more by Thursday evening. My house is the top of the black circle labeled 8PM Thu.

So far it's been quiet here in Ormond Beach. 

Also, a cool site to play with: Ventusky.

It looks like it's falling apart. I hope it doesn't strengthen before reaching you guys on the Carolina coasts.

Yup. Not much more than rain and decent wind. The first bands that came in yesterday evening seemed worse. 

David S. Wallens said:

 

Next hurricane I'm going to follow your lead on hurricane safety gear. 

Stampie said:

David S. Wallens said:

 

Next hurricane I'm going to follow your lead on hurricane safety gear. 

and hurricane facial hair.   which i guess is a form of safety gear.   dorian was all like "nah, we're gonna skip DSW's sub."

Pretty quiet here. Almost no rain, gusts in the thirties.

Bedroom's like a cave. I set my alarm so I could check in with work, otherwise I don't know when I would wake up.

In reply to captdownshift :

Avon.  I've stayed up north in Duck and Corolla many times, but never down there.  Still hoping the storm fades and runs off into the north Atlantic.

My brother had a tree limb add some vents to his roof this morning. Went through into the dining room. Nobody hurt, kids slept through it. 

In reply to Floating Doc :

I see you have the “plylox” kinda clip deals for your wood. You like em? I already had my window boards done and i used blocks to hold them in place. I got 2 bags of knockoff plylox to try and decided against it. It looked like i would have to cut too much wood away and i didnt like the sound of that. Plus it turns out only my enclosed porch\florida room was the only windows that they could have worked.

Just went out to get ice to fill a couple coolers. It was about an hour from high tide, no wind to speak of yet, but we have been getting some light rain on and off since 6AM. The surf was pretty rough with waves that were 6-8 ft and the occasional one making it over the dune opening and getting into the parking area.

If the storm doesn't speed up there is no way it is getting here tomorrow afternoon at 12 mph from FL.

TJL said:

My brother had a tree limb add some vents to his roof this morning. Went through into the dining room. Nobody hurt, kids slept through it. 

 

In reply to Floating Doc :

I see you have the “plylox” kinda clip deals for your wood. You like em? I already had my window boards done and i used blocks to hold them in place. I got 2 bags of knockoff plylox to try and decided against it. It looked like i would have to cut too much wood away and i didnt like the sound of that. Plus it turns out only my enclosed porch\florida room was the only windows that they could have worked.

Like most of my hurricane supplies, I bought them years ago, and used them for the first time this week. I bought the stainless steel ones on line, I've only seen the spring steel ones in the stores but I've read that they rust after a single use.

I can only comment on installation, since we haven't had enough wind to put them to the test.  The grip the bricks really tightly, I don't see any chance of them pulling out unless the roof is already gone.

I have read that they do depend on the strength of the window frame to keep them from being pushed in. I suppose you could reinforce the plywood by overlapping some 2x4s to keep them from being blown in. I've also thought about cutting two pieces for each window, so I could have double thickness. This 3/8 inch plywood isn't the sturdiest stuff, but it's cheap and light weight, so easy to handle. I believe that for plywood to be wind code legal in S. Florida, it has to be 3/4 inch marine ply; thus heavy and expensive.

The sizing of the plywood has to be more precise than when you're just trying to cover the entire opening. I had my wife measure and mark the plywood, she's a skilled seamstress with a degree in costume production. The instructions say to leave 1/8 inch gap around the outsides of the wood, but I think a bit wider would make them easier to install.

Once the wood was cut, I tightened down the clips to more effectively grip the plywood and, quite literally, slapped them up. Fast, and no holes to drill, so no worry about water getting into the wall through the holes. Depending on the size, weight, and height of the panel, one person could put them up.

I don't know if they would meet wind code, but I like them so far.

Here's a weird question. 

Are newer homes, or freshly built homes in Florida ever built with, errrr, built-in ways to cover/secure/plywood the windows? Or big shutters that you can easily close to protect the windows? 

Just curious. In Oklahoma and tornadoes, not only is there no time to protect windows, if your home takes a direct hit from anything more than an EF-1, you'll be lucky if you walls.

In reply to z31maniac :

Current home on the coast should be built with impact resistant windows, doors, and walls. Roofing should also be rated for high winds. 

Edit: The roof I had replaced last year is rated to 130 mph. 

Just realized that I totally forgot to wear my safety vest last night. I did have a flashlight with me, though. 

z31maniac said:

Here's a weird question. 

Are newer homes, or freshly built homes in Florida ever built with, errrr, built-in ways to cover/secure/plywood the windows? Or big shutters that you can easily close to protect the windows? 

Just curious. In Oklahoma and tornadoes, not only is there no time to protect windows, if your home takes a direct hit from anything more than an EF-1, you'll be lucky if you walls.

I see a lot of newer homes here with bolts preset in the windows. I kinda remember one customer telling me they were given pre cut corrugated metal panels to put over the doors and windows. 

Edit found a picture

z31maniac said:

Here's a weird question. 

Are newer homes, or freshly built homes in Florida ever built with, errrr, built-in ways to cover/secure/plywood the windows? Or big shutters that you can easily close to protect the windows? 

Just curious. In Oklahoma and tornadoes, not only is there no time to protect windows, if your home takes a direct hit from anything more than an EF-1, you'll be lucky if you walls.

South Florida code got completely revised after hurricane Andrew in 1992. It got revised again in the early 2000’s. 

If you buy a new house today in Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties, the code states that they have to have window protection. This has been the case at least since 1998. You either get aluminum shutters or accordion shutters or impact resistant windows. 

The walls are all CBS, even second stories which used to be mostly wood before 1992. And the block gets filled every so many inches. 

My house was built in 1992, pre Andrew. I am very confident in the first story, but the second story being wood not so much. I have accordion shutters and new garage doors built to Miami/Dade code. I would have stayed downstairs if Dorian would have hit. I’ve been upstairs while a Cat 3 hit us and the house creaked and the inside doors made the ugliest noises I have ever heard. This was 2005, but I remember vividly the noises. It sounded like a train was going over the house.

The biggest problem, my opinion, with Dorian and the Bahamas is that it lingered there for a long time. That is tough on any structure. 

TJL said:

My brother had a tree limb add some vents to his roof this morning. Went through into the dining room. Nobody hurt, kids slept through it. 

 

In reply to Floating Doc :

I see you have the “plylox” kinda clip deals for your wood. You like em? I already had my window boards done and i used blocks to hold them in place. I got 2 bags of knockoff plylox to try and decided against it. It looked like i would have to cut too much wood away and i didnt like the sound of that. Plus it turns out only my enclosed porch\florida room was the only windows that they could have worked.

We sell something similar to plylox- product is called windfast. Plylox install easier- the windfast ones have two screws you need to put in your panel. The nice thing is, you aren't restricted to plylox c channel for wood width. If you can anchor a screw to it, the windfast ones will work. 

In reply to z31maniac :

Also, what really does major damage with these hurricanes are all the tornadoes within it. The wind is bad, but those tornadoes might destroy my roof while my neighbor’s stays put.