Hurricane Dorian Check-In Thread

September 2, 2019 10:31 AM

How are Mefites in Dorian's target area doing? Let us know how you're coping and if you need any help.

The Washington Post has removed article limits on coverage of Hurricane Dorian to make these stories available without a subscription.

Capital Weather Gang

‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Dorian blasting Bahamas while bearing down on Florida, threatening Georgia and the Carolinas

Hurricane Dorian city-by-city forecasts

Tracking the path
posted by Johnny Wallflower to MetaFilter-Related at 10:31 AM (24 comments total)

Can a mod throw a link to this up on the sidebar so that people who hit the front know it exists?

I hope everyone stays safe and finds shelter, food, & warmth.
posted by Fizz at 11:02 AM on September 2, 2019 [3 favorites]

I'm near Wilmington NC and spent today getting ready for possible storm conditions.

I went out around 1:00 to fill up gas and had to wait in a line which isn't normal here. The station was out of non-ethanol gas which is preferred for portable generators.

I have a lidded bucket that I keep stocked with hurricane supplies so that's always ready. I helped my neighbor with a few things she couldn't do alone and am now focusing on freezing containers of water so I will have ice for the frige and perishables.

Awaiting on the timing of the storm to determine when I will take supplies and my kitties into Wilmington to stay with my mom. I would pack her up, too, and bug out for Raleigh except she refuses to leave. I did this same drill just last year for Florence, which came directly at us.

The waiting and watching and stressing and worrying is hard.
posted by mightshould at 3:11 PM on September 2, 2019 [4 favorites]

I'm in Brunswick, GA, things are calm here but most businesses are closed. There's an evacuation order but I'm like a mile outside of it. At the moment it looks like we're just going to catch the edge of it, but there's still a curfew tomorrow at 8 pm.
posted by JHarris at 4:24 PM on September 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

Washington Post still refuses to serve these pages if you have an adblocker on, so be forewarned.
posted by jenkinsEar at 5:13 PM on September 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

I'm not blocking ads, but Wash Post thinks I am. I use Duck Duck Go's tracker blocker, so I guess Washington Post cares more about tracking me than showing me ads.
posted by COD at 5:35 PM on September 2, 2019 [2 favorites]

Looks like as of the latest forecast, we've moved out of the area in SC getting hit, although quite a few relatives, friends and coworkers are up and down the coast from Florida to NC, so there's still a lot of people to worry about.
posted by mittens at 4:14 AM on September 3, 2019

Parkland, FL here. All quiet except for a few gusts. Not even much rain yet. So weird having this thing parked off the coast. Primary concern here now is tornadoes. Of course, this is Florida. We always expect anything moving, whether vehicles or storms, to make unexpected turns. So we’re still watchful.

Trying to reach a friend in the Bahamas to offer her a place to stay if she needs it. So heartbreaking. You folks stay safe.
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 4:26 AM on September 3, 2019 [5 favorites]

I'm in Savannah. I'm 10+ miles from the beach. Most of my neighbors have decided to ride it out and that seemed to be the general consensus at the supermarket I went to yesterday. The general rule of thumb seems to be that if you're near water, at a low elevation, or in an area otherwise prone to flooding get out now. If you have a serious medical condition, regardless of your elevation, etc. get out now. I'm nowhere near water, no flood potential, at 33 ft elevation, and healthy.

For silliness watch this.
posted by mareli at 5:52 AM on September 3, 2019 [2 favorites]

We're down in Sanford, after moving here from Jacksonville two months ago. Very light bursts of rain so far. In the local parlance, we're hunkered down and riding it out.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:42 AM on September 3, 2019

We evacuated from St. Augustine to Tallahassee yesterday. Reports from folks who stayed indicate it's wild at the beach but still nothing too crazy yet. Last few NHC updates have been extremely positive for us both in terms of track and storm strength. Can't believe what the Bahamas had to go through.
posted by saladin at 8:50 AM on September 3, 2019

if you have a public library card you should be able to access the WP.
posted by brujita at 1:10 AM on September 4, 2019

Over in Savannah, GA, a lot of locals follow Enki Research for non-hysterical posts about hurricanes on the east coast.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:50 AM on September 4, 2019 [3 favorites]

A friend has an artificial heart pump so has agreed to come stay at mom's house in wilmington nc. If we lose power they can get to the hospital emergency department for recharging the battery if necessary. That's a scary situation.

There are sporadic power outages already.
posted by mightshould at 2:47 PM on September 4, 2019

It usually takes an Irma to shake me up, but watching Dorian sit and spin on the Bahamas for all that time at those pressure levels really got me deeply. I don't think there can even be any sand left after that pounding. Everybody be safe up there, and keep a sharp eye on that shifty bastard.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 5:00 PM on September 4, 2019

If you need a place to bug out to, mightshould, we've got a spare bedroom and a few couches at our place in Wake County.

They've already closed public schools in the county for tomorrow, and my daughter's college has cancelled classes. NC State expects to stay at normal operations, but who knows. My wife is supposed to fly out for a very important conference on Friday, so she's a bit worried about that, but preparing to drive if need be.

Be safe, y'all.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:12 PM on September 4, 2019

I'm (slightly) west of Raleigh, but they've closed schools in Orange County (Chapel Hill/Carrboro) too. My biggest irritation out of all of this is that tomorrow is the first night of Hopscotch and they've sensibly moved the Sleater Kinney/Kurt Vile/Snail Mail out of the (uncovered) Raleigh City Plaza into my least favorite venue (The Ritz) in the Research Triangle. This feels like a petty thing to complain about considering, but I never said I wasn't petty.
posted by thivaia at 8:16 PM on September 4, 2019 [3 favorites]

So down here at the beach some EOCs are up and running; ours starts tomorrow morning. I’m a PM branch director so I get to stay up all night. Wheeeeeee. Island is pretty much evacuated.

Remember that each area sets its own policies, but in my county EMS/LEO/FIRE doesn’t run apparatus above 50 mph sustained winds/65 mph gusts. Calls will be stacked/queued until winds die down and it’s safe for us to operate.

I’m already tired of this damn storm and it’s not even here yet.

We’re expecting the strongest impacts in our area to be felt late Thursday night into Friday morning with the most violent part of the storm around 0100 Friday.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 9:13 PM on September 4, 2019 [2 favorites]

Here in Lumberton NC (about 90 minutes from the coast) and already getting rain and thunder - and it's not even 7 am here yet. We've already secured all our porch furniture and gotten our hurricane supplies in order. I checked on my father and stepmother yesterday (they are both in their mid 70s and she has limited mobility), and they are as prepared as they can be. We're also keeping an eye on my mother in law, given the fact that she lives alone in another part of town that got really flooded when Matthew came through a few years ago.

Latest track shows Dorian back up to a category 3 with 115 mph winds - SO not looking forward to this.
posted by Roger Pittman at 3:50 AM on September 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

Tornado warnings all around now as the early bands hit us.
posted by mightshould at 4:16 AM on September 5, 2019

Safe. Mild. Bit bitter about a mandatory evac that was early to the party and turned out to be altogether unnecessary but whatevs.

Protip: if you evac'd under a mandatory order then your homeowners may pay you for your troubles, the keyterm for our USAA coverage to kick in is "Prohibited Use" as in you are not able to use your home. We've made money off each of our evacs in last years but that still doesn't mean we have to like it.
posted by RolandOfEld at 11:43 AM on September 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

Made it through ok. Last night was sleepless; listening to the wind, heavy rain and general banging about of limbs crashing on the roof... plus cats busy getting into things because they were not settled.

Homes seem ok and there is way less tree damage than last year. I will be in bed early tonight!
posted by mightshould at 3:53 PM on September 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Rain and wind are picking up now in Halifax, we're supposed to get hit pretty hard tonight. Hatches are battened down and storm chips are acquired.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 7:37 AM on September 7, 2019 [4 favorites]

Very very very grateful.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 8:04 PM on September 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

Halifax and much of the east coast of Canada got hit pretty hard. We are on vacation here and without power for the foreseeable future (along with at least 1/3 of the rest of the Nova Scotia population). On the other hand we are warm, dry, have a roof over our heads, and the rain/winds seem to have passed by a few hours ago.
posted by dttocs at 3:28 AM on September 8, 2019 [3 favorites]