Hurricane Helene roll call please

[taxlady]

Considering the massive devastation due to Hurricane Helene, I'm sure that I am not the only member who is worried about the folks from here who live in Helene's path.

For all the folks who live in or near Helene's path, please tell us how you are doing by posting in this thread. I'll put notes in "Going MIA" and "What's your weather right now? 2024 Edition". That way we won't clog those two threads and we only have to check one thread to see who has and hasn't checked in here.

I'm sending positive vibes for everyone who is affected.

 

[dragnlaw]

Have a friend in Georgia in the path (not a member here). Have sent various messages and not heard anything back.
Hoping it is just lack of electricity and nothing worse.

 

[Andy M.]

Family in FL and NC are OK but without power or internet.

 

[medtran49]

Have a friend in Georgia in the path (not a member here). Have sent various messages and not heard anything back.
Hoping it is just lack of electricity and nothing worse.

If they only have cell phones, they may not have service. Towers may be down. And, if they all have the same carrier, then...

In 1 of the storms that hit where my DD and DGDs live, only 1 of DGDs had service because she had a different carrier and even that was spotty. It took several hours after storm passed for her to be able to even send text messages. Texts will sometimes get thru when voice or email can't.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Stay safe out there gang.

 

[caseydog]

Family in FL and NC are OK but without power or internet.

NC got hit HARD by rain -- lot of flooding. Florida by storm surge and wind, and GA by wind and rain. A lot of trees came down on homes in GA. Helene was a pretty nasty storm.

Here is the amazing thing. This storm went from nothing to a Cat4 hurricane in two days! All because of the record heat of theater in its path. Beryl did the same thing a couple of months ago, reaching Cat5 in just a few days. Anyone who thinks Global Warming/Climate Change is a hoax, needs rethink that position.

As soon as my mother passes on, my sister is leaving Houston. She's lost power for five or more days twice so far this summer, and there is another storm developing in the Gulf right now that has a 50% chance of being a named storm THIS WEEK. It is on a similar path to Beryl.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

Still haven't been able to reach my friend in Alma, Georgia. Know they got hit with 100 mph winds and rain, but don't know about flooding. Do know there is wide spread power loss. Keeping my fingers crossed. She lives alone with her little dog, her son is a couple of hours from her (but don't know just where).

 

[medtran49]

Still haven't been able to reach my friend in Alma, Georgia. Know they got hit with 100 mph winds and rain, but don't know about flooding. Do know there is wide spread power loss. Keeping my fingers crossed. She lives alone with her little dog, her son is a couple of hours from her (but don't know just where).

Have you tried to text her?

If worse comes to worse, you can always call sheriff's office and ask if you don't hear from her within a week or so. I'm sure they are swamped now, literally, unfortunately.

 

[dragnlaw]

I don't have an American pkg for the phone, but I'll pay full costs in a week or so if I haven't heard. We usually message via facebook or just text. I know she has a few friends around her and her son will be looking out for her (if he himself can!) Not too much I can do from up here. Yeah, I fully imagine emergency services are completely swamped (no pun intended) and even they are probably experiencing staff shortages.

 

[medtran49]

Can you reach out to her son via FB?

 

[dragnlaw]

I'm afraid I don't even know him or if he is on facebook.

 

[caseydog]

I don't have an American pkg for the phone, but I'll pay full costs in a week or so if I haven't heard. We usually message via facebook or just text. I know she has a few friends around her and her son will be looking out for her (if he himself can!) Not too much I can do from up here. Yeah, I fully imagine emergency services are completely swamped (no pun intended) and even they are probably experiencing staff shortages.

Georgia has a lot of trees, and a lot of trees fell there, which takes out a lot of power lines, and sometimes cell towers. Be patient. It could easily take five days, or more, for power and phone service to be restored.

CD

 

[medtran49]

Any men with the same last name listed in her friends? That's how I found someone Craig had lost touch with but wanted to talk to.

 

[dragnlaw]

Although she hasn't answered me directly, I see she is active on facebook.

casey, LOL just ask taxy (and I) how to be patient during power outages. Think giant ice storm 1998. Think we were without 21 or 28 days, a lot were without much longer.

 

[taxlady]

Although she hasn't answered me directly, I see she is active on facebook.

casey, LOL just ask taxy (and I) how to be patient during power outages. Think giant ice storm 1998. Think we were without 21 or 28 days, a lot were without much longer.

Were you living on the farm then? Did you have a generator? We were "only" without power for eight days. That was bad enough. Luckily, it wasn't that cold by Canadian standards, so it wasn't horribly cold in the house. But, by day eight, it was down to about 8°C (46°F). We lost heat slower than in a single family dwelling. Having neighbours attached on either side is danged good insulation.

 

[dragnlaw]

No, not on the farm, but still at the end of the line to St Lazare. Actually didn't have a generator. Luckily we had water and two fireplaces plus lots of fire wood and the gas stove. When the stuff in the fridge started to get warm - everything was piled up out side in a snow bank. I was very careful about how often we opened the freezer. Didn't lose anything.
My daughter lived in an apartment in Pierrefonds, came out with the kids and dogs.
We actually had a great time.
At one point a friend came by with a tiny generator, hooked it up to the water heater and everyone took a shower.
My photo albums are all in storage, I should dig them out and get started scanning them onto the computer. Quite a few pics from the storm, from the trees bent over and enveloping the cars in the driveway with ice. To the grandkids cleaning the daily candle sticks of excess wax. Plus games galore to keep everyone happy.
As you said taxy, wasn't particularly cold (thankfully!) so we were outside often but had to be careful of the trees suddenly springing back up as their ice blankets broke.
Ask me how I know how painful that can be!

 

[caseydog]

My parents were living in Puerto Rico, but still had a home in Houston in 1983 when Hurricane Alicia hit Houston, dead on. Downtown Houston skyscrapers were half windowless.

My parents still owned a home in Houston, and my sister still lived in Fort Worth, so I had to go down there and deal with the mess. The whole roof had to be replaced, and the HOA rules required a wood shingle roof. I told the HOA to shove it, and my dad had no problem with that. New roof, proper asphalt shingles, a new fence (also blown down). A few years later, wood shingles were banned in Texas, so that never became problem.

But, I had a job, so I drove 230 miles to my parent's house in Houston every Friday after work, and drove back on Sunday, for about a month. I was in my twenties, the highways weren't as crowded as they are now, and had a very fast car back then, so it wasn't too big of a deal.

I also had to deal with the people renting their house, who were political/religious nut jobs, but my parents thought I was exaggerating, until they came back and continuously found how much amnunition was hidden in weird places in the house. Under the insulation in the attic was enough ammo to fight a small war.

CD

 

[taxlady]

No, not on the farm, but still at the end of the line to St Lazare. Actually didn't have a generator. Luckily we had water and two fireplaces plus lots of fire wood and the gas stove. When the stuff in the fridge started to get warm - everything was piled up out side in a snow bank. I was very careful about how often we opened the freezer. Didn't lose anything.
My daughter lived in an apartment in Pierrefonds, came out with the kids and dogs.
We actually had a great time.
At one point a friend came by with a tiny generator, hooked it up to the water heater and everyone took a shower.
My photo albums are all in storage, I should dig them out and get started scanning them onto the computer. Quite a few pics from the storm, from the trees bent over and enveloping the cars in the driveway with ice. To the grandkids cleaning the daily candle sticks of excess wax. Plus games galore to keep everyone happy.
As you said taxy, wasn't particularly cold (thankfully!) so we were outside often but had to be careful of the trees suddenly springing back up as their ice blankets broke.
Ask me how I know how painful that can be!

I figured you probably weren't at the farm yet, but probably somewhere more rural than me. I was living here, in the same house. No fireplace, no gas in the house, no generator, all electric heating.

 

[Meryl]

I'm so saddened reading all these posts, that hurricane must have been terrifying. I hope everyone and all your friends and families are safe, I hope you manage to contact your friend soon @dragnlaw .
Sending good vibes.

 

[taxlady]

I just wish we had some of our members in the hurricane area posting here. So far, I haven't seen any. Which members here do live in the path the hurricane took? So far I know that @medtran49 and her DH are okay.