Sometimes you’ve just gotta do the Bug Out Boogie, even if your normal plans for Stuff Hits The Fan events is to hunker down and bug-in.
Hurricane Florence & The Bug Out Boogie
At the time of this writing, the Southeast Coast of the USA is about to get slammed by Hurricane Florence.
Here’s what Accuweather’s founder Dr. Joel N. Myers has to say in an article by Dan Sosnoski about the storm and what is projected :
“There will be extensive damage inflicted by Hurricane Florence due to its predicted path, which is perpendicular to the coast, rather than at an oblique angle. This means the east and southeast winds on the east side of the storm are going to be most effective in driving storm surge flooding as the wind and waves pound the coast. That is one of many factors in why AccuWeather is estimating $60 billion in economic impact and damage from Florence,” AccuWeather Founder and President Dr. Joel N. Myers said.
“While other sources are monitoring the intensity of the storm, AccuWeather emphasizes that although Florence will lose wind intensity as it approaches the coast and moves inland, we are focused on the overall impacts of the storm on people and their lives. The maximum damage from hurricanes is generally caused by flooding on land. Typically, the second most costly aspect of a hurricane occurs along the coast as an angry sea is driven inland due to powerful onshore winds, especially when there is a large fetch and particularly when a storm moves consistently and perpendicular to the coast. Following inland flooding and coastal damage, winds, on average, are often the next biggest cause of hurricane damage and economic costs,” Myers said.
Note The Rain Amounts, Note The Storm Surges, Note The Winds
This storm is a slow storm, it’s projected to just sit there and spin once it hits landfall, dumping massive amounts of rain in the area affected.
It’s also a storm that’s going to send huge storm surges up rivers and creeks, and cause a massive amount of inland flooding.
In fact, it’s a storm you don’t want to be in and under if you can help it.
There’s a reason we make Bug Out Bags and 72-Hour bags, even if we plan on not bugging out for most SHTF situations.
Sometimes, you just gotta go!
Here’s some information our Paranoid Prepper (a multi-hurricane survivor) has shared
Paranoid Prepper sends along the following points… if you are in the path of this storm, fill your car gas tanks and all of your gas cans. It’s probably too late to aquire a chain saw, but if you can, it’s a good idea.
https://beansbulletsbandagesandyou.com/bullets/2018/01/17/prepping-lessons-to-learn-from-the-disaster-in-puerto-rico/
https://beansbulletsbandagesandyou.com/bullets/2017/05/17/paranoid-prepper-in-nj-hurricane-sandy-caused-havoc-all-around-but-for-us-not-so-much/
We’ve talked about bugging out and Bug Out Bags (BOB’s) several times here at 3BY, so rather than reinventing the wheel, let me just share a couple of these articles with you here and now:
https://beansbulletsbandagesandyou.com/bullets/2018/07/18/bob-bug-out-bags-fresh-look/
https://beansbulletsbandagesandyou.com/bullets/2017/07/12/bug-out-bags-bobs-for-the-bobless/
https://beansbulletsbandagesandyou.com/bullets/2018/08/01/bug-out-locations-have-plan/
Riding The Storm Out (Salty’s Personal Experience)
Her name was Typhoon Rita, and she entered my life (and the lives of all of us who were living on the Pacific island of Okinawa) in July of 1972.
When you live on a tiny Pacific island, about all you can do to prepare for a hurricane/typhoon (they are the same basic thing) is to go to high ground and find a safe shelter.
We lived on a ridge in the Awase Heights area of Oki, so we were several hundred feet above the ocean, meaning storm surge was not an issue for my family.
I remembered when we moved into our house what a strange structure it was. It had concrete walls and a tile roof over a metal sub-structure. The metal girders were bolted into the walls. We also had heavy wooden shutters on the windows, made out of planking two inches thick. They were so heavy that my mother struggled to close them by herself.
When we learned that Rita was on it’s way, we were to hear that she was not coming anywhere near us and weakening.
Then, something called a Fujiwhara effect happened and the formerly Cat 5 storm turned completely around and headed strait for us. The path looked like this.
That loop strengthened the storm and brought it right over out heads.
You can read about the full storm by clicking on this link, but suffice to say that a Cat 2 Hurricane leaves a really strong impression on a child’s mind. Even though our house was made of concrete, had massive shutters and the roof was bolted on, it shook us like we were rag dolls.
For about 24 hours, the world was dark and filled with unearthly moans.
One storm like that is enough to last me a lifetime.
Your Government At Work (In A Way That Nobody Notices)
Weather events like this are one of the few times that I will pause and give credit to the United States Government about… well… anything.
Why? Because of FEMA’s prospective response?
No, not even a little.
Because, instead, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service is saving lives by providing us with ample warning to bug out.
But wait, Salty… you’ve gone a little off the deep end here… you quoted Accuweather above, they are a private company and do their own forecasts from the data, what does any of this have to do with the government?
Well… where do we think the data comes from. Accuweather doesn’t have hundreds of weather satellites spanning the globe… the US Government does. All of these private weather companies get their information from good ole Uncle Sam for free, package and resell it.
This is just an FYI.
Yet another example of why bug out plans and equipment are vital for preppers
Some times, you just have to go.