Scenario #6 - Friday May 4th

[Sentry18]

It is Friday afternoon at 1:45pm. You are sitting wherever you would be at the time when suddenly the sky turns dark. The weather turns very nasty, very quickly. And it's going to get worse. This is not just a storm, it's a super storm (whatever kind of storm hits your area the hardest - thunderstorms, hurricanes, in line winds, tornadoes, etc). The kind of storm that results in the loss of life and massive destruction to property.

- What is your first move?
- Would you try to go rescue your friends/family?
- Would you shelter in place?
- Do you have an NOAA radio?
- Do you have an adequate storm shelter?
- What other storm protection do you have?
- What next?

 

[Woody]

Friday I would be out of work and running errands or at home.


I keep a good eye to the sky so hopefully would have smelled something coming. If out and about I would head home. It would be a very rare occasion I would be more than 3 or so miles from home. I would make a few calls and tell friends to look out the window and see what was up. Other than that they are on their own.



I would keep tabs on the computer, weather channels. They give enough advance warning and by checking the loops I can see what has been happening and which way it is going. If I lost that, go to the radio.



Lock the house up and hit the basement to check supplies are there. Yeah, where would they go, but part of what I would do is recheck anyway. Keep an eye on the windows to watch the weather. If a big storm is coming I would start to ride it out just being inside, if it got worse hit the basement with the emergency 11 band radio.



If I was out and about and unable to get home I would head to the largest building around, the local mall. If I was in the other direction, a local school, fire station or similar structure should still be in session so I would at least knock on the door and check if I could shelter there.

 

[Caribou]

- What is your first move?
Not much really. If the storm knocks out power then fire up the generator.

- Would you try to go rescue your friends/family?
They can self rescue. Not too long ago a friend called to ask to stay with us as her power was out. It is about a half hour between our places. If she can't get here we can't get there to rescue her.

- Would you shelter in place?
Yes.

- Do you have an NOAA radio?
No, but we have a battery powered radio and a generator for our regular radios.

- Do you have an adequate storm shelter?
Our home has seen over 100mph winds without any problems as well as snow and ice storms so, yes we have adequate shelter.

- What other storm protection do you have?
Plenty of food and a wood stove going in this summer.

- What next?
A storm, and I have seen many over 100mph, is pretty much a non event. We just hunker down and ride it out. We'll pick up a few branches afterwards. If a tree comes down then I get firewood. If it is a snow storm I get out the snowblower. An ice storm would get me sanding the drive or calling the snow removal company and having my hill sanded.

 

[hiwall]

We are almost always at home. So first things would be

Everyone is on their own, I'm not leaving the house

Our house should be fine shelter

Next the wife and I would just talk things over.

 

[Sentry18]

At 1:45pm on a Friday I would be in my office, my wife in her office and most of my children at school. Fortunately for me my office is a storm shelter, my wife's office has a storm shelter and our schools all have storm shelters. They even have tornado drills at the schools. I would most likely just hunker down and wait out the storm, then find my way to collect my kids. Like I have said in other scenarios, we have plans of who gets who, etc.

I have an NOAA radio at home in the living room and one in the basement. We have a storm shelter, not an underground concrete bunker but a reasonable shelter just the same. It has everything we would need, including LED lanterns. We practice for severe weather and have spent more than one 2-3 hour period sitting down there during an active storm watching a movie on the laptop, playing games or singing songs. The upstairs of our house has 3M & Uline security film on the windows, so that improves our homes storm readiness. We also have a generator.

My what next always seems to be heading out to work. That would be the same case here. If lives were lost, people were trapped and anyone needed help it would be my duty to render assistance. I would grab a chain saw, a sledge and an axe and head out wherever I was needed. Been there, done that. I am sure many of you have as well.

 

[dademoss]

- What is your first move? The Weather radios should have been screaming! Call the Skywarn number and find out why the net isn't active, then go to the basement and turn on the radios.
- Would you try to go rescue your friends/family? Wife was upstairs, she can bring the cats down to the basement. See if the neighbor is home and tell him to get his butt over here, he lives in a single story slab.
- Would you shelter in place? Yes, down in the basement.
- Do you have an NOAA radio? 1 with the supplies, one in the shack, one in the bedroom and the Mobiles and HT's all have it programmed
- Do you have an adequate storm shelter? I hope so, but we will see if it happens.
- What other storm protection do you have? Generator, chain saws, jacks, tarps, nails, etc etc.
- What next? When it passed, the work towards recovery begins. report damage to NOAA, and check on the neighbors and wait for the message to deploy.

 

[Bacpacker]

See my replies below.

- What is your first move? Friday afternoon I'm at work. We do regular take cover exercises, with the entire building staff going to the basement. All but 1 wall is under ground with no windows. Very secure. Ride the storm out and then see what I need to take care of from there.
If I happened to be home, same thing I did during the April 2011 storms that devastated areas in Alabama and Tennessee. Head to the basement with wife and dog. Ride it out and wait till it passed to get out and see what was next.

- Would you try to go rescue your friends/family? Not until after the storm passed.

- Would you shelter in place? Yes

- Do you have an NOAA radio? No, But I am a ham and we have a dedicated SkyWarn network that reports directly to the national Weather Service.

- Do you have an adequate storm shelter? Yes short of a direct hit. And I'm feel sure we'd make it thru, just lose most everything we have.

- What other storm protection do you have? Basement has fully poured walls block walls and out primary area in the basement is an L shaped area so it's would stay there even if the entire 2 story house was ripped off.

- What next? Go upstairs and outside to survey the damage. Go visit our neighbors and make sure they are ok. Help out where needed. If no needs right away around here, I'd throw the chainsaw, a bunch of tools, fuel and oil, some straps and chains in the truck and go see what I can find. use the ham radio to call for help if need be.

I'd lived thru this scenario a couple times and have a good plan for before, during, and after. Pre storm strike is the most important in my mind. Look at weather forecast every day. If potential storms are called for, keep a much closer eye to the sky. These storms rarely just blow up, they typically build over a few hours, and can change direction quickly. Know your area and what to expect. have a plan and be ready to implement it.
[/QUOTE]

 

[fteter]

What is your first move?
In my part of the country, this would be an impending snowstorm. Fortunately, I work from home so both my wife and I would likely be home. First move is to batten down the hatches and head for the basement.

Would you try to go rescue your friends/family?
Yes, once the snow stopped falling. My truck is well-equipped to travel in very deep and slick white stuff.

Would you shelter in place?
Without question. Got a massive generator wired into the house. Portable propane heaters and lots of tanks for them. Even have dryer hose and plywood already cut to vent my wood-burning smoker out a window should we need it for cooking and/or heat.

Do you have an NOAA radio?
Several. All my HTs do NOAA. Also have a portable shortwave solar/crank powered receiver with local NOAA station marked.

Do you have an adequate storm shelter?
Yes, the full basement. Even have bedrooms down there ready to go.

What other storm protection do you have?
None, but I'm pretty sure the basement will hold up.

What next
Break out the stored water (a little over 500 gallons) in case the pipes freeze or we just loose municipal water service. Then break out all the heavy blankets and winter clothing.

 

[SheepDog]

It is Friday afternoon at 1:45pm. You are sitting wherever you would be at the time when suddenly the sky turns dark. The weather turns very nasty, very quickly. And it's going to get worse. This is not just a storm, it's a super storm (whatever kind of storm hits your area the hardest - thunderstorms, hurricanes, in line winds, tornadoes, etc). The kind of storm that results in the loss of life and massive destruction to property.

- What is your first move?
- Would you try to go rescue your friends/family?
- Would you shelter in place?
- Do you have an NOAA radio?
- Do you have an adequate storm shelter?
- What other storm protection do you have?
- What next?

The first move was to a part of the state that doesn't have severe storms. We get some windy weather, up to 100 mph winds but I have cleared the trees that were close to the house and I built a garage and shop that are both built to withstand anything mother nature throws our way. Wind resistant to over 120 mph, fire resistant to two hours of 1200F and earthquake resistant to over M8. I am on high ground so well out of any flood area and the lightning is only a danger to the forests (in the mountains) and the wheat fields just before harvest.
I do have a battery/hand crank NOAA radio and the house and out buildings are all good shelter for anything that historically hits the area. We have two pantries full of food, a generator if the power goes out and enough fuel to go for several days without noticing.
No one to rescue as my kids are set up for just about anything too but they could get to my place if they needed to. We have plenty of space and provisions so no concern there. Storms don't present much of a problem because I planned for it when I bought the property. Even wild fires don't present any hazard here although the farmers in the area can be hit hard in the early fall they also get together to get it under control.
I learned early that you don't buy low land and you look for areas that have the fewest possible problems. This area has had only small, deep, quakes, no tornadoes and lots of water. There is a 100 year flood plain a few miles from me but waters have never gotten up to this level. The only time I lived in an area that I couldn't prepare for any emergency was when they discovered the Cascadia fault and I was in Seattle. When I figured out that there is no way to live through a two year period without any infrastructure I left. The folks I left behind all were made aware but chose to stay.

 

[ssonb]

Dang S18 I have not had the time to survive the first five yet! Now I gotta run down in the basement again.

 

[Homesteader33]

- What is your first move?
Seperate my side by side and tractor in case one outbuilding is lost both won't be destroyed. head to the basement safe room with the Mrs and wait for it to end!
- Would you try to go rescue your friends/family?
after danger has passed I am part of the volunteer fire department...I would be busy!

- Would you shelter in place?
yes we have a safe room

- Do you have an NOAA radio?
Yes through several radios

- Do you have an adequate storm shelter?
yes a safe room

- What other storm protection do you have?
unfortunately our house sits in a fairly open area, the prevailing wind hits our house right on an end with no windows. We did do a lot of structural strengthening for lateral forces that could be hitting our house so it would have to pretty bad to knock it down.

- What next?
Repair anything damaged around the house, check fence rows (don't needs cows or pigs going rogue).

 

[The Lazy L]

- What is your first move? I'm at work. I'm the only male in the building. Direct the office ladies to the basement. Lock the front customer door. Post a notice that we are closed due to the weather. Watch the front door as long as possible to let in any pedestrians caught in the storm.

- Would you try to go rescue your friends/family? No. Text the wife to seek shelter NOW! She never listen to me in the past, could be a first time?

- Would you shelter in place? Yes.

- Do you have an NOAA radio? Yes.

- Do you have an adequate storm shelter? Yes. Work has a basement conference room with two exits. Whole building is on auto-start natural gas generator.

- What other storm protection do you have? Basement ceiling is steel trussed and has two restrooms. Bottle water is stored in the basement.

- What next? If the weather gives me the opportunity, my vehicle is parked right around the corner from the main entrance, grab my GHB! Otherwise we'll sit out the storm playing charades or something to keep their minds off the storm. We have one employee that has an extreme doom and gloom mentality. Got to keep her busy or she'll panic the whole group into doing stupid things.

 

[Terri9630]

I'd be at home getting ready to go back to work. If the storm was expected I'd most likely be done or nearly done with work. Hubby is on night shift so him and the youngest would be at home. Oldest would be at work in an old Adobe building.

We'd secure the livestock and hunker down. We have a NOAA radio but haven't had any alert worthy weather so I don't know if it works.

 

[Spikedriver]

If I am home on my off week, and a "super storm" moves in, it's time to head for my daughter's school. It is the designated shelter for my little town. Its gymnasium was built early on during the cold war, as a shelter in case of a nuke attack. Obviously it would not hold up to that, but it is very heavily built, and the gym floor is actually below ground level and the hallways, locker rooms, and restrooms are lower yet, so it should work quite nicely for sever weather. The city police are required by ordinance to open it to the public whenever a tornado warning is issued.

If I couldn't reach the school (unlikely), I'd head for an interior room, wait it out, and attempt to reach the school once I hear the all clear.

If I'm on my work week, I'm hosed. I'm usually in a somewhat remote location on a railroad track. There is no practical way to get us off the tracks quickly. Our supervisors do watch the weather and will shut us down in heavy lightning, however, sheltering inside of steel machines which ride on steel rails is not very comforting in an electrical storm. We do have a bus to transport us from our meeting site to our job site, however it usually can not access us unless we are near a crossing...after work I'm at a hotel, and severe weather safety is a scrap shoot in that situation.

 

[DrPrepper]

It is Friday afternoon at 1:45pm. You are sitting wherever you would be at the time when suddenly the sky turns dark. The weather turns very nasty, very quickly. And it's going to get worse. This is not just a storm, it's a super storm (whatever kind of storm hits your area the hardest - thunderstorms, hurricanes, in line winds, tornadoes, etc). The kind of storm that results in the loss of life and massive destruction to property.

- What is your first move?
Call hubby and tell him to secure the house.

- Would you try to go rescue your friends/family?
No, hubby would be home with the cats and not in need of rescue. Kids and other family members are all far away.

- Would you shelter in place?
Yes, hospital would be a safe place to shelter.

- Do you have an NOAA radio?
Yes.

- Do you have an adequate storm shelter?
No, but we do not get tornadoes, hurricanes, cyclones, etc in this part of the country. Home and hospital are adequate shelter for the weather we get.

- What other storm protection do you have?
Prayer!

- What next?
This, too, shall pass......