Keep your eye on the tropics folks.. the D storm will appear this week too. Bill is the most dangerous of them but watch out for Ana, it might reform in the Central Gulf after its trip across the islands depending on how warm the water gets, watchout New Orleans, Houston, Galveston, Mobile.
Bill looks like it could hit anywhere from Miami to Wilmington NC, it's too early to tell at this point but wherever it hits it will likely be bad and it looks like a US hit.
Claudette is just a warning shot - the main thing to pay attention to about Claudette is how rapidly a storm can appear from nowhere. It wasn't really supposed to happen.
Meanwhile if you look at the water vapor loop at the National Weather Service you'll notice that there are a number of counter clockwise rotations going on out there that aren't even being mentioned by the weather channel or the NWS - I'm particularly interested in the one due west of the Bahamas - it looks well organized, perhaps it is just an upper level low but it looks impressive to me on the satellite image:
http://www.goes.noaa.gov/HURRLOOPS/huwvloop.htmlTime for you to:
1) Clean up the debris in your yards and have it hauled away by the trash service.
2) Check your generator - re-read the instruction manual. Make sure it is properly grounded. Make sure it has fresh oil and is fueled up. Do a test run. Get gas cans refilled.
3) Make sure you have stocked up on drinking water and canned goods, toilet paper, bathroom supplies like soap, toothpaste, shaving cream, shampoo, etc. The authorities say have 3 to 4 days of supplies on hand but given what happened with Katrina, I try to keep 3 to 4 weeks of supplies on hand personally.
4) Make sure your laundry is done - it is hard to do after the power goes out, even with a generator.
5) Make sure your vehicles are fueled up and in good running order. If you have more than one, you might want to think about relocating one of them at a friend or relatives house in case something happens so that both vehicles aren't damaged by the same event.
6) Make sure windows, doors, mailboxes, shutters are secure. Board windows and take lawn furniture inside if necessary when a storm is within 24 hours.
7) If you live on a barrier island, below sea level (e.g New Orleans), in a mobile home or within 5 miles of the ocean take evacuation notices seriously. If you know someone without transportation, please offer them a ride out of hell.
8) Find out where the nearest Red Cross emergency shelter will be in your area. Get trained in First Aid and disaster response - be prepared to help out if you can, be prepared to evacuate to a shelter if you must.
9) Landlines may go down in your area in a hurricane - make sure your cell phone is charged and that you have a car charger in the event that power goes out. If landlines go down you will likely lose your broadband DSL or cable modem and cable television. Satellite (DTV or DISH) is going to stay up provided you have power, cable will not. Heavy rains will sometimes cause temporary LOS for satellites however. If you want guaranteed internet after a storm, look into Hughes Satellite DirecWay two way broadband satellite service and/or Verizon EVDO broadband cellular modem. The satellite is guaranteed to work even if the cell towers go down. The cell towers will likely not go down however unless you live in New Orleans and the towers get flooded.
I personally have DSL for home but also a Verizon wireless EVDO modem which is about 5 times slower but still plenty fast. During the 2004 season I didn't have internet acccess except for a really low speed connection using my cell phone as a dialup modem. I DID have DirecTV however and had working TV during and after each hurricane. This time I will have working broadband as well.
10) Make sure you keep some emergency cash on hand - ATMs run out of money quick during the pre-storm panic and won't get restocked very quickly and won't work due to network outages for some time after a storm.
11) Be careful about operating gas powered or propane powered devices of any kind - read the instruction manuals carefully and do NOT operate them in or near confined spaces.
12) Take timestamped pictures of all the rooms in your house. Focus on belongings like electronics, clothes, jewelry, appliances, etc. Take timestamped pictures of the exterior of your house and of your vehicles prior to the storm as well. Email them to a trusted friend or relative for safekeeping as proof you might need to satisfy your insurance company after a storm. Make sure to keep your insurance agent's number in your wallet in case you need to file a claim after a storm.
13) Remember insurance companies hate to pay out so have proof of ownership documents and photographs to back up any claims. Remember also that they generally do NOT pay for flood damage so be sure if you live in a flood prone area to purchase separate flood insurance and to remove as many possessions as practical to a flood safe location for safe keeping if possible.
14) Be sure to keep all your important documents: Obama's birth certificate (just kidding), your birth certificates, passports, medical records, checks, bankbooks, titles, deeds, stocks, bonds, etc. in a watertight box and make sure to take it with you when you go if you have to evacuate.
15) Your old portable TV's will no longer work. If you want a portable TV that DOES work, you will need to get a new digital one. To get a TV signal off the air, if you have an old TV you will need a converter box which retails for about $45 these days. The good news is that many TV stations use their second or third digital channel to show 24/7 weather radar - of course during a storm, ALL their channels will be showing the storm 24/7.
16) Portable fans and wall airconditioners will be in great demand after a storm because most generators are not large enough to run central air conditioners. If you need one, better go get one before a storm.
17) Don't forget your pets! Make sure that outdoor animals come in during a storm or if they are livestock or other large animals that they get evacuated out of the danger zone. Make sure you have sufficient animal carriers for pets and that all your animals have their vaccinations. Most shelters STILL do not accept animals other than service animals so be sure to check with the Red Cross and local ASPCA about where you can evacuate to if you have an animal. Never leave an animal tied or caged up if there is a possibility it might drown due to flooding!
18) If you have boats or planes be sure to move them out of the danger zone earlier rather than later - weather conditions will deteriorate rapidly and you don't want to be surprised while in the air or at sea by the force of a hurricane - your Cessna 172 is NOT a C130 hurricane hunter and your Westwind is not the USS Nimitz. Smaller sailboats are especially at risk because often times they simply cannot out run a hurricane moving at 14 knots when their best sailing speed is 7 knots.
19) Watch out for riptides at the beach - many surfers think "cool - finally some wave action on the Atlantic Lake" but rough seas translate into rip currents at the beach. If caught in a rip current swim parallel to the shore for a few hundred yards until you are no longer fighting an outbound current and can swim in. Obviously if you have a board, use it to your advantage to get in so that you don't tire out.
20) Take these storms seriously even if they don't seem serious at the moment - they can and DO kill people. Intensity is the hardest thing to forecast and many times a storm will pop up out of nowhere or start off as a tropical storm and spin up into a Cat 4 monster in a matter of a day - Charley went from a Cat 2 to a Cat 4 in about 4 hours, Katrina went from a Cat 1 to a Cat 5 in about 3 days.
Doug De Clue
Orlando, FL
survivor of Opel, Charley, Frances and Jeanne
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