water in the basement

[WA1GFZ]

I have a problem here with driving rain blowing under the hatchway bulkhead door. I've learned to cover it with 6 mil plastic and scrap lumber. A lot easier than sucking water off the basement floor. I was at home chepo picking up some plywood. They sold a 10 foot stack today. No more D batts. Lucky my little radio runs C's.
We are due Tom

[KM1H]

If it makes landfall in CT as a Cat 3 or 4 the s**t will be flying along with a lot of aluminum.

I hope Tom lowers those 40's.

If it goes west of me we will be getting some serious gusting in NH even if its down to a Cat 1.

Carl

[K1JJ]

It's kinda exciting in a sick sort of way...

I certainly expect that most of CT will lose power for at LEAST 3-4 days, Frank.  Got the generator gassed up and tied down everything outside or put it away.

The apple trees are LOADED with big apples and will probably lose a lot of branches. One branch ripped off just from slight winds the other day.

Yep, the last one was in 1985 with Gloria at 90 mph, so we are due.  I was wondering today if Chuck has a big pipe to jam that tower rotator to a dead stop.

Carl, all my ants are what they are - on fixed towers, so nothing I can do.  I lowered one wire Yagi that used a big tree for the catenary, but nothing else. If the winds don't exceed 100 mph, I predict I will not lose a single one. But SUSTAINED high winds are much different from a quick thunderstorm squall. It can work things loose after a while.  The mechanical designs on all stuff here are 100++ mph, but who knows how the twisting on those free standing towers with the 40M Yagis and 20M Yagis will like it.

The best scenario is Irene hits land, pulls hard west, and fizzles out somewhere in the mountains hundreds of miles southwest of here. At least the water is around 70 degrees up here, unlike the 92 degrees down in Miami. I was talking with my buddy in Miami this afternoon. He said it was raining cats and dogs down there.

Looks like the Huzman is in for some action first.

I was thinking of what it would be like taking out the kayak with Yaz down in Stonington at the shore on Sunday, using the biggest sail I got...

T

[WA1GFZ]

Tom,
I'm thinking of staying over night Sunday to see the waves. I'm not sure if Marie is interested though. Good chance the waves will cover our beach and maybe hit the street. Water is quite warm. Last Saturday was the best day of the summer.
Tnx for reminding me, I should drop the wires down a bit.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

If it makes landfall in CT as a Cat 3 or 4 the s**t will be flying along with a lot of aluminum.

Fear not, northerners. We're your first line of defense here in NC. We'll bring it down a category or two before it gets too far. Should be a cat 1 or less by the time it gets up your way. I'm sure you can handle that. 

The most recent track has it making landfall around 90 miles ESE of here Saturday AM with the center passing within about 70 miles. Not sure how wide the eye will be, but the entire storm is somewhere around 400 miles across. Definitely have some chores to attend to before the conditions start to deteriorate tomorrow afternoon.

Fingers crossed for Stevo. He's inland far enough that storm surge won't be an issue, but it's looking like the eye will pass almost directly over his location before the storm has lost much of its snot. He does have a little pond down back, but the trees are more of a concern. Hope they all stay put.

[The Slab Bacon]

Local news purveyors are basically telling everyone to "put your head between your legs and kiss your a$$ goodby" These goofs really get off on "embellishing" the story.

Got gas for the generator, plenty of food and good neighbors. Can you say "Hurricane Party"! ! !  With the weekend trashed by this thing, we will all at least get something out of it. Sounds like a great day to fire up the oven and make a lasagne.............

Since we cant stop it, we'll just let it go and deal with the aftermath afterwards.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

That's been the case for a number of years now, Slab. They don't report the news, they 'create' it. Somewhere along the way many of the reports came to believe that they were what people wanted to see and hear, not the basic facts. They...must.....entertain you.

I did catch one of the hurricane center folks mentioning yesterday that, depending on the track of the storm, water could really pile up in Baltimore harbor, putting some of the waterfront businesses underwater. At least you're inland a ways and on a bit of a hill!

Bright and sunny here, clear, blue skies. You'd never know what was lurking just a few hundred miles down the road. There's a pile of brush in the yard that needs burning to cut down on the number of potential projectiles, and I need to dig a little diversion ditch around the back of the garage to prevent water from building up and seeping in the back door ala 'GFZ. Whoever built this place apparently had no grasp on the grading concept.

[The Slab Bacon]

Went out back a few minutes ago to catch a smoke. Beautiful warm sunny day. Blue skys. Actually the sun felt really good on my aching bones.

It just seems so wrong to be this pretty of a day today with what is coming in tomorrow. Kinda makes you wonder............................

I'm about 4 miles ACF (as the crow flys) from the bay and up on a knob at 175' ASL (above sea level) So I'm not too worried about real flooding. I'll most likely just get a wet basement out of the deal. It'll be stinky and musty till it dries back out 

[WA1GFZ]

We had heavy rain last night. After it stopped the dripping on the plastic woke me up.
I think we are going to leave the beach Sunday morning as soon as the WX degrades.
Hope to get some good pictures.

[K1JJ]

I think we are going to leave the beach Sunday morning as soon as the WX degrades.
Hope to get some good pictures.

Take two cars and send the XYL home if she is wimping out.  The storm will be great to view from the coast. A rare opportunity.

Back twelve years ago I spent the night on the 14th floor of a Miami condo as a Cat 3 hurricane pounded us. We were located at the beach edge. The building creaked and swayed all night. It was amazing and actually scary.

The next day there were large fish dead in the streets with palm trees lying everywhere.  Never forget it.

T

[W1RKW]

why not just duct tape the perimeter? That's what I do.  And instead of using the fabric duct tape, use the metal foil tape.  Works better and water doesn't seem to affect the glue. It's a little bit more costly but it works.

I have a problem here with driving rain blowing under the hatchway bulkhead door. I've learned to cover it with 6 mil plastic and scrap lumber. A lot easier than sucking water off the basement floor. I was at home chepo picking up some plywood. They sold a 10 foot stack today. No more D batts. Lucky my little radio runs C's.
We are due Tom

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Cloud bands have been moving in here all afternoon, temps dropping and winds freshenin' from the ESE. It certainly helped burn the brush pile a lot faster.

It's not scheduled to make landfall until sometime around 6AM tomorrow. Looks like wind speed has dropped ever so slightly, and pressure has risen a couple millibars. Nothing much, looks like it's going to just lumber on as it is.

Took down the new 40m dipole to add a better feedline. Might get it hung back up before dark, if I get the rest of the stuff moved in from the deck.

Be careful of getting mold in your basement if it gets soggy, Slab. It can be a nasty situation health-wise.

[W1AEX]

The next 48 hours should be very interesting for all of us up and down the east coast. As was previously said, the local weathermen are foaming at the mouth with excitement as they predict end of days and expertly tell everyone to fill some water jugs. Ah well, time will tell. The prediction that troubles me on my little hill is the 6 - 8 inches of heavy rain that's expected to precede the high winds. That should be a perfect setup for a few big trees to fall over in inconvenient places. The best I can do is nest the tower, add some slack to the end ropes on the dipoles, and strap the feedline so it doesn't get tossed into nearby branches.

Hope everyone gets through it without too much hassle. You guys down south are in my thoughts.

Rob

[WA1GFZ]

Tom,
Girls will stay up north. Pete and I will head down in the AM to secure the house. we are going to hang out Sunday long enough to get some good pictures then head out. There is only one road out so we will be trapped if trees fall down.

[K1JJ]

Yep, Rob,  the water.

Imagine the CT River with 8" of water added to the top. No big deal.  Now take the surface of hundreds of square miles of land with 8" of water on top and dump that into the river over a series of days.

I can see why the second all-time record CT River flood level was reached in the Sept 1938 hurricane here in the Htfd area.

Check this out:  (looks like a chart of gold)

Flood Prediction

But for this area, my bet is the wind tree damage breaking power lines, blocked roads - lost shingles - will be the major news story. People will be very POed about loss of the internet and lights out for a week. Internet is a permanent part of society now. Even more POed than they already are due to the long term bear mkt we're presently in...   It's like breathing on and then dumping water on a 16" hornet's globe.  

* It's good that the storm is  slow moving and in cooler water, which may cause it to start shearing, breaking up its tight circular form before it gets here.

T

[WA1GFZ]

That reminds me to avoid RT82 to RT11. It floods easily. Maybe we will go up RT9 if it gets bad. RT85 has a lot of trees the whole way. I bet RT95 will be a zoo.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Imagine the CT River with 8" of water added to the top. No big deal.  Now take the surface of hundreds of square miles of land with 8" of water on top and dump that into the river over a series of days.

I always think of a big funnel, collecting all the water off the hillsides and pouring it all into the river. Especially bad for you guys right now due to all the rain you've had up there over the last few weeks. The trees will pay hell since they're in full foliage right now, a lot of resistance to the wind.

Was out digging a little diversion ditch right around dust when the wind picked up and a slight mist turned into a downpour. Figured it was here a bit early. Managed to get the rest of the stuff off the deck just as the rain stopped. Came inside, checked the radar, and there was a small appendage sticking up off the first big rain band as it passed south of us. Weird.

[AJ1G]

There is only one road out so we will be trapped if trees fall down.

We got a call from the Stonington reverse 911 system tonight informing us that the town is ordering a mandatory evacuation of our area tomorrow afternoon.  We are about 80 above sea level in our neighborhood, no danger of flooding.  However, there's only two roads into and out of the area and both pass near the water.  Apparently town is worried that if someone has a medical emergency in here, they would not be able to respond. Access to the area was cut off for a while after Gloria due to dropped trees across the roads. Last year during the March flood, the little bridge on the road at the head of the cove on the west side of the area was flooded out, and the road on the east side was nearly flooded because someone paved over a storm drain in a low spot of the road.

We are all set with plenty of food, water, gasoline, a 17KW genset, lawyers, guns and money (well...no lawyers or guns, but always liked that line from the Warren Zevon song...) and ham radios to maintain comms with.  Most likely problem we might encounter is flooding in the house caused by roof or wall damage from a fallen tree or large branch.  If we stay here we have a chance do damage control, if we leave, well , I'm sure the town will be right there, right away to fix things, won't they?  I don't think so.  We'll take our chances here thank you...if they let us.  How mandatory is mandatory?

[AJ1G]

I was thinking of what it would be like taking out the kayak with Yaz down in Stonington at the shore on Sunday, using the biggest sail I got...

T

If they let you down there to Barn Island, you won't be alone...the windsurfers at work were all thinking the same thing...storm surge will likely make the road down to there impassable though.  

According to windfinder.com, peak winds around here expected around 1100-1400 Sunday, peaks gusts just below hurricane strength.  Will blow from NE until 1400 then clock around quickly to the west.  You might have a tough time tacking back up to the Barn Island launch area from Watch Hill!  I'm a big fan of windfinder.com, has proven to be a very good forecaster for me in the past.

[K1JJ]

Chris,

Yep, it looks more dire as we proceed.  We will get the biggest winds, being on the east side of the path. Maybe gusts to 100 mph+, being on an 800' hill. I'm starting to get corncerned about the wind damage potential. Might even pull down the storm windows. Guess that's what they are for.

It's always a PIA when the power is out for a week. Even with a generator, it's not on all the time.

Naw, I was only kidding about taking a kayak out there. Those wind surfers have brass BA's for sure.

Cheeezzz, between ice storms and hurricanes, it's high risk for ham radio here in NE.

You guys down on the coast will surely see the brunt of it, especially with the tides being at the high of the month without the storm. Like a Perfect Storm movie..

T

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Doubt you guys will have any issues with power being out for a week. Though I suppose a chance limb on the right line could do it. It's been a Cat 1 here all day and I can't see it getting any stronger as it heads north. Rain OTOH will be a problem. Slow moving storm with a lot of moisture in it. Wouldn't  surprise me if you have as much tree damage from saturated ground as wind damage. You'll definitely see more of the wind up on your hill. Tom. One of the only times that the elevation could be a problem. At least you won't get flooded.

The eye is roughly parallel to us here now, maybe 60 miles or so east. Aside from some tropical storm wind gusts and accompanying rain, it hasn't been too bad. The diversion ditch is working as designed. Over along the coast and Outer Banks it's considerably worse, of course. Some flooding, damage to siding, roofs, and a wooden pier. Trees and limbs down with the associated power outages. But nothing like they hyped on the weather channel.

It was tracking due north all morning, but made a slight jog back to the east in the last hour or so. Good news for Steve, though his area will surely get a lot of rain and at least tropical storm force winds if not hurricane force. Three fatalities reported down here so far, one fellow got clobbered by a falling limb, another had a heart attack installing plywood over his windows, and one was a 'surfer'. Darwin comes to mind on the last one.

Cheeezzz, between ice storms and hurricanes, it's high risk for ham radio here in NE.

Yeah, those pesky New England hurricanes, so regular and destructive. mhm. 

[Steve - K4HX]

Raining hard here now. Wind blows hard for 5-10 minutes and then it slows. Each cycle gets more intense. The center of the storm is about 150 miles south of here right now. It’s looking like it might pass just east of VA Beach (60 miles  south of here). It could get ugly!

The forecast is that it will be a Cat 1. That still means winds of 75 to almost 100 MPH. My biggest concern here is trees/branches falling on the house. Good thing I have a basement.

The storm surge is supposed to coincide with high-tide at VA Beach. They're looking at an 8.5 foot surge. VA Beach, Norfolk, areas on the York and James rivers and well up the Chesapeake Bay are going to get flooded.

The power is still on here, although it has already blinked a few times. Over 600,000 are without power right now in NC. So far all the antennas are still up. Maybe I'll check into the Hurricane Net!

[K1JJ]

Wow, that's quite a message, Huzman.  You be like the scout on the beach for us.  Hope the ants stay up there. I know how much you enjoy threading them thru the trees...  Yikes on the trees falling on the house! Hope not.   If so, then make sure the insurance guy adds in a  plush, roomy, new hamshack.

It's raining but still the calm before the storm here. It will starting raising hell after dark and peak tmw in the day - so we can watch the ants and cringe.

Another thang that is at risk are the hams with marginal tower guy anchors. When the ground gets soaked with big wind, they can pull up, just like trees. That's why it pays to put X2, X3 or more concrete into them. Dead weight vs: depending on the dirt walls is a good thang.

Yeah, those pesky New England hurricanes, so regular and destructive. mhm.   

Todd, it's a well known scientific fact that the Bizzaro World version of JJ Hill gets hurricanes  every month in the winter and ice storms in the summer, so don't give me any grief...

T

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I thought of your trees immediately, Steve. You don't just have them around your house, your house sits in amongst them. They tower over the place on pretty much all sides. Though I will say, as brittle as those big pecan trees are out front, all we have on the ground so far are a bunch of leaves and some small leafy branches. We were roughly the same distance west as you, so hopefully that will work to your favor. The 80m dipole has been swinging to and fro like a jump rope, but so far it's still there. If you find yourself under a pile of big sticks tomorrow, just give a yell.

Todd, it's a well known scientific fact that the Bizzaro World version of JJ Hill gets hurricanes  every month in the winter and ice storms in the summer, so don't give me any grief...

True, but! When the day comes that you go outside and see a colorful flag flying atop one of one of the tall boys, then you'll know the storm has indeed struck.  

[Steve - K4HX]

Still blowing like quite hard here. Rain has been decreasing and winds increasing. I think we're nearing the peak.

No damage yet. At last light, the antennas were still up.

Power was out from 2PM to about 8PM. Back on now. Had generator power for some lights and the refrigerator, but the Internet service was down.

The storm is moving slow. The eye is about 3 miles off shore, right at the NC/VA line or about 20-30 miles south of VA Beach. That puts it at no more the 80 miles from here.

Still lots of fun left.