2018: Hurricanes and Tropical Storms

[Audrey2]

Please keep checking in. @Alisamer, I have a cousin and her family in Charlotte. Off to email my Uncle now...

[DancingPhalanges]

43 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Windy and cloudy here. It looks like the rain will start tomorrow and be awful all weekend. A good chunk of NC is going to have issues with flooding.  Be safe everyone! I don't live in an area that floods, so my only concern is trees. Luckily we did get the really scary trees cut, but there are a couple trees I'm a bit worried about. 

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Thank you, I have not seen this. The future forecast video on his page is a litte sobering. It starts for us tomorrow and into Sunday. 

Edit to add: now I want to go to the bookstore and get some pizza since we may not have  power. 

[Cartmann99]

Yikes!

 

[VelociRapture]

I’ll try to pop in again sometime tonight. Until then, more entertainment for those that need it.

Making fun of the Trumps (because who doesn’t enjoy doing that at this point?):

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Making fun of Mike Pence (see above):

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And, to finish it off with something innocent and pure:

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Stay safe tonight everyone! I’ll keep you all in my thoughts!

ETA: And for everyone worried, I wouldn’t be surprised if @Nikedagain?lost power and hasn’t been able to check in because of that. Last report I saw put around 700,000 customers without power in the Carolinas. Hopefully she and her family are doing ok!

[PennySycamore]

To  add to what @VelociRapture said, it's my understanding that Duke Power shut down the two reactors at the Brunswick Nuclear Station on Thursday and they've also shut down some substations.   

I hope everyone stays safe from the storm!

[Ozlsn]

Chiming in to hope everyone in the paths of the hurricane/typhoon/flooding is safe and has drinking water, food and distractions. Not great at amusing stories for distraction but I did giggle when my son (who is learning to read and also has speech delays) said "my name is [name] and I am 7 years old... Dot." Yes it's important to say the punctuation marks! He also looked at a lower case 'i' in the shopping centre, said "lower case i", then tilted his head sideways and said "exclamation mark!" Well yes, if you look at it from that angle...

[grateful1230]

We will be without power for days, I'm told. I have a car charger so I'm charging during calm parts of storm. Niked may not have that luxury. 

[Shadoewolf]

My younger golden retriever decided today to do her best impression of a weimaraner by digging in the dirt next to the garage. Mind you she's cream colored so it took forever to get her looking normal again. I got the most pitiful puppy eyes when she came downstairs after a bath.

And pic of a dress very similar to what Oldest picked for Homecoming next week.

[Audrey2]

Thinking of all my Free Jinger friends in the hurricane zone. My cousin and her family are staying in Charlotte, preparing for 11 inches of rain.

It's Friday night, so I did my usual feed my friends. I did a big meal tonight...

[Cartmann99]

8 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

Thinking of all my Free Jinger friends in the hurricane zone. My cousin and her family are staying in Charlotte, preparing for 11 inches of rain.

It's Friday night, so I did my usual feed my friends. I did a big meal tonight...

What did you cook? Are there any leftovers? * looks hopeful*

[Audrey2]

1 minute ago, Cartmann99 said:

What did you cook? Are there any leftovers? * looks hopeful*

I wish I could beam them to you as there are a lot... Since I ended up with an unexpected day off, I made ham, butternut squash that I mashed with butter,a little bit of brown sugar, and cinnamon, ginger ,nutmeg; orange beets, cinnamon swirl orange bread, and fried apples with bacon. I feel mean saying this, as I know some of our free Jinger friends are living on food that you don't have to cook right now.

[BachelorToTheRapture]

Secondhand funny cat story, for anyone needing entertainment/storm distractions. My friend gets home from work, and noticed the grate is off one of the airvents. Thinks it's odd, but puts it back on. As she's putting it on, up pops her kitty! Surprise, hiding in the airvent. So she now needs to keep something heavy on the edge to keep the cat out.

Also if you need a hurricane related laugh check out this guy pretending the wind is awful while two men walk by normally in the background https://www.rt.com/usa/438503-florence-weather-channel-fake-video/

[Loveday]

19 minutes ago, BachelorToTheRapture said:

Secondhand funny cat story, for anyone needing entertainment/storm distractions. My friend gets home from work, and noticed the grate is off one of the airvents. Thinks it's odd, but puts it back on. As she's putting it on, up pops her kitty! Surprise, hiding in the airvent. So she now needs to keep something heavy on the edge to keep the cat out.

Also if you need a hurricane related laugh check out this guy pretending the wind is awful while two men walk by normally in the background https://www.rt.com/usa/438503-florence-weather-channel-fake-video/

What makes it even more hilarious is it's Mike Seidel, one of the two most recognisable names on the weather channel. If Mike Seidel or Jim Cantore show up in your town, you know you're in trouble. Well... apparently not always, after seeing that video! 

[Cartmann99]

Towards the end of my mother's life, her mobility decreased to where it was getting harder for her to shop, but she lived in another state, so I started ordering non-perishable food items online and having them delivered to her home. One day while talking to her on her the phone, she mentioned that she wasn't feeling very well, but she was running low on toilet paper so she was going to have to go to the dollar store later that day. I didn't say anything to her, but I thought it would it be a good idea to start sending her toilet paper, and since she had a spare bedroom, I could send her a bunch and she could just keep it in there until she needed it.

So, I tell her that I'm sending her something practical and it's going to be in a big box, so she should either ask her UPS driver to bring it in for her, or just leave it on the porch till her home health aide came by and ask her to please bring it in. She swears to me that she won't try to move the box by herself. 

A few days later she calls me, and uses both my first and middle names. ?  I'm thinking she's mad at me, and then she thanks me for the toilet paper and says that she roared with laughter when she realized I had sent her a case of toilet paper. *Whew!*

Now, mom rarely used profanity, and she looked and acted the part of of a sweet little grandma the majority of the time, so keep that in mind for this last part. So, I tell her I'm relieved that she was happy to get a case of toilet paper from me. She says to me: "After I got through laughing, I thought, that little shit, thinks I'm the shits!"

Holy hell, l laughed so hard I almost choked.

[Cartmann99]

 

 

[VelociRapture]

It’s just before four in the morning here on the east coast. I don’t know why i woke up, but it’s not ok and I’m heading back to bed now. Popping in briefly to say hi and hope y’all are staying safe.

(And that “y’all” sounds so weird when I type it because I hear it being said in my northern voice. I feel like you need a lovely southern drawl to pull it off, but I’m tired and lazy and y’all is short and sweet. Lol!)

[fraurosena]

I'm late to the party, but I hope everyone stays safe and as much out of harms way as they possibly can. I've no idea what time it is over the pond, but I do have a funny story to share by way of distraction.

Many years ago, when my youngest was about 5 years old, he was irrationally afraid of the big bad wolf. He hated going upstairs when it was dark outside and getting him to bed was a strain every day. We sat him down and told him the big bad wolf only existed in fairy tales. He resisted the idea, because "Wolves do exist, mom!" So we said that there were no wolves in our country, and they most certainly didn't come into houses to eat little children. He seemed to agree to that logic, and although he was still nervous going upstairs at night we could get him to bed a little easier.

One Monday in May I will never forget. It was the day after Mothers Day, and I had been on a school trip with my oldest son and was very tired. So DH told me to sit down and rest, and he'll put my son to bed. He told DS to go upstairs while he made me a cup of coffee. But DS was stalling. He walked over to the stairs, but didn't go up. DH said once again that he had to go upstairs now and start brushing his teeth. DS went up one step, looked up, but didn't go any further. Impatient now, DH told him rather firmly to go upstairs. DS went up two or three steps, then stopped. 

"Good grief," said an exasperated DH, "Why are you being so difficult? Last night you went upstairs without any problems at all."

"But yesterday was Mothers Day," said youngest with disparaging logic, "and the wolf was visiting his mom."

 

[Italiangirl]

Hello everyone, the last news i saw said that Florence is now "just" a tropicale Storm i hope this means that more people are safe and have time to escape the danger. I have a funny story about my neighbour nephew who is almost 5 now. 

When she was like 4 she was preparing to go somewher with her granny and they was almost late, the girl was in her room and granny keep saying "we have two go C., we are going late" no word from the little girl, so granny go in her room to ask her why she wasn't ready and she answer "i have to prepare my bag with all my stuff, my beuaty and my toys, i can't go out without a bag grandma!" 

 

[Howl]

Wanted to share this incredible Twitter thread on how tech can help in natural disasters, if tech people are included in planning from the beginning.  

For those not on Twitter, go to Thread Reader for the Unroll here: 

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1040714214732574720.html

 

[VelociRapture]

5 hours ago, Italiangirl said:

Hello everyone, the last news i saw said that Florence is now "just" a tropicale Storm i hope this means that more people are safe and have time to escape the danger. I have a funny story about my neighbour nephew who is almost 5 now. 

When she was like 4 she was preparing to go somewher with her granny and they was almost late, the girl was in her room and granny keep saying "we have two go C., we are going late" no word from the little girl, so granny go in her room to ask her why she wasn't ready and she answer "i have to prepare my bag with all my stuff, my beuaty and my toys, i can't go out without a bag grandma!" 

 

Unfortunately the designation won’t help very much at this point because Florence is moving so slowly. The slower a storm moves the more rain it dumps onto the area, which means more risk of flooding and downed trees due to the already saturated ground. It’s definitely good that the winds aren’t so high, but I don’t know how much that’ll actually help the areas already hit hard. Other areas may fare a bit better, but again it unfortunately depends on how water logged they already are. 

And more distractions for anyone who needs it and still has internet access. 

Today, we start with the British Royals:

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And end with Disney:

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[WiseGirl]

The sock thief sends her love and wishes that all in NC, SC, and others in the path, stay safe during Florence. (The sock thief deliberately went to the laundry basket to dig through it to find a sock)

[DancingPhalanges]

Thanks for the laughs @VelociRapture it’s a good time for it now. 

@WiseGirl I love your sock thief with the innocent face ?

The storm is starting to come over us now. I really hope FJ peeps already in it/going through it/went through it are okay. 

I’m thinking of you right now. I can’t wait until you can check in. 

[Cartmann99]

[formergothardite]

NC is asking out of state drivers to drive around the state. 

https://wtvr.com/2018/09/15/avoid-i-95-north-carolina/

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The issues prompted North Carolina to tell drivers coming down Interstate 95 from Virginia to go around — the entire state. The state wants motorists to go west to Tennessee and take Interstate 75 into Georgia.

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A 16-mile stretch of the highway closed Saturday because of flooding.

Officials warned the flooding was only just starting.

“The flood danger from this storm is more immediate today than when it … made landfall 24 hours ago,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Saturday morning. “We face walls of water at our coasts, along our rivers, across our farmland, in our cities and in our towns.”

The storm’s center is crawling over South Carolina, but many of its main rain bands still are over already-saturated North Carolina — setting up what may be days of flooding for some communities.

Serious flooding is expected throughout the two states, and some rivers may not crest for another three to five days.

 

 

[Briefly]

12 hours ago, Italiangirl said:

Hello everyone, the last news i saw said that Florence is now "just" a tropicale Storm i hope this means that more people are safe and have time to escape the danger.

 

That generally means that there will be more rain and flooding, the storm is slow in terms of movement, but not slow in terms of the water it is still carrying.  It's still very dangerous.

My sister has been able to talk to her friend a couple of times and she is ok, but it's still raining very hard there.

WiseGirl, the Sock Thief is adorable!  I love the innocent face!  She is just so precious.