Ivan will bring rain - let's all go crazy.

[Seraph]

The gas price rumors aren't rumors. :P

Over here they shot up over $1.50 in prices overnight.

[Iced Coffee Man]

I've only worked once during a cyclone scare. Customers were fucking EVERYWHERE. We had pallets of corned beef and other tinned food that was ransacked within a few hours.
People were all standing around the battery section, even though they were mostly after the same thing which was all sold out.

There were also the geniuses who came in with a list of supplies to get in case of an emergency. They would pull me up and rattle off their list "First aid kits, you got em? Storm proof tape, you got it? Lanterns, candles, got any?"

And to top it off, I dropped a big box full of catfood tins (approx 50 tins) and they spilt all over the damn place.

NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!

I admire you folks who have to put up with this shit on a regular basis.

[Primer]

Yesterday, I stopped at the grocery store because I was out of staples--fresh veggies, cheese, and dog food. I figured that 10:15 in the morning should not be too bad, even with Ike on its way. Boy, was I wrong! I detest grocery shopping as it is.

To make matters worse, I had a doctor's appointment this morning, and he prescribed me some new medications, to be started *immediately* so I had to go to wally world to get them filled. I thought HEB was bad yesterday. If the doctor had not been so adamant, I'd have waited till Monday to fill the scripts.

At least I'm home now, and the dogs have food!

[Bright_Star]

Almost the same reaction from people who hear about a huge snowstorm coming & they buy up all the bread & milk they can get. I mean, honestly, if people take the time to prepare well in advance of a major weather event then there's no reason to rush around in a panic.

[tropicsgoddess]

Even a itty bitty storm like Fay had people running around like mad to get plywood, canned goods and the like. My hat goes out to the retail people dealing with the madness and suckiness that comes with storms.

[simplyanother]

I don't get people who feel the need to stock up. I never have and probably never will unless something catastrophic is about to happen, like nuclear war or something that will actually cause stores to close for weeks. (Just an example. ) I figure... if flooding/"disaster" is that bad, I'll leave the area, to somewhere that HAS supplies.

Depends on where you live.

After Isabel hit our area in 2003, as a only a Category 1 hurricane (it'd come ashore in NC as a Cat 3, IIRC), the roads were all blocked. All of the interstates out of the area, all of the highways out of the area, they had trees down, or they were impassible for other reasons. We couldn't leave if we wanted to. (Plus, it flooded the freakin mid-town Tunnel. Dude, I hate HATE HATE tunnels)

Some parts of the area were out of power for close to a month. We were lucky only to be without power for 2 or 3 days. That said, we'd stocked up on water, and other non-perishables--because we didn't know how bad it was going to be (At one point, it was a catagory 5 sitting out there in the Atlantic--pointed straight at our region).

I'm just saying, I understand why folks freak out. If you're not in the place where they've ordered evacuations, you want to be prepared. Sure, you should have done this BEFORE the impending storm, but sometimes, shit happens, so you go to the madhouse just before it hits and try to get supplies, so that your family stays sane before you get all the utilities back.

[Gawdzillers]

Hell, gas has leapt and bounded up because the Texas oil rigs are shut down.

[Antisocial_Worker]

Hell, gas has leapt and bounded up because the Texas oil rigs are shut down.

There's a bona fide gas panic going on in Western North Carolina. The governor has asked for calm. I and my roommates went out for supper tonight and of the dozen or so gas stations we passed, about three still had gas and were mobbed with cars. The others had their pumps either taped off or had bags over the nozzles.

[AdminAssistant]

Somewhat similar, I'm hanging out in another GTA's office this afternoon - which just so happens to be on the 5th (top) floor of this building. Then some girl runs up screaming, "TORNADO!!! TORNADO!!!". Now, this is not something to be taken lightly. I bound to my office, grab my purse, and dash down the stairs. I get down to the 3rd floor (where the entrances are - this is a very weird multi-level building) we're checking to see if everyone's gathered before we go underground, and the announcement comes over the Emergency PA. There was indeed a tornado on the ground. 12 miles away. I went back upstairs, grabbed my lunch and notebook, shut down my computer. lah dee lah. Other people are running by, "TORNADOOOOO!!! What are you doing!!!!"

Okay, the tornado is 12 freaking miles away! They do not move that fast. I saw the sky - it did not look like tornado conditions here and now. So, we sat downstairs and went about our business - holding auditions. Which we still did, and I feel so sorry for the poor actors who were right in the middle of an audition when the campus police felt the need to sound the alarm again. They sounded the all clear about an hour and a half later.

Sheesh. We're getting a LOT of rain here - Kansas City has already shut down an interstate, I believe. But it's not related to Ike.

[Rine]

Holy crap, I did a double take at seeing the title of this thread. I mean, I know the anniversary is coming up and all, but... "Shit! Not Ivan again!"

Okay, so here some roads are flooded on the coast and crap is flying around that they don't have secured. People are going to gas stations and filling up. I heard that gas in Orlando was like 5 dollars a gallon or something.

I hear that thousands of people refused to evacuate for this storm. I guess after so long without a direct hit, they don't know what it's like. I hope the stupid don't die. You can't gamble with a hurricane. You don't know what it's like. If you stayed and you live near the coast, you're dead, IMO. They've already had to evacuate people because of rising storm water. People are so damn boneheaded, I swear.

If you get a mandatory evacuation order, EVACUATE.

[ShadedWings]

Depends on where you live. (snip)

Good points... I've never had to deal with any of that though, thank goodness! I'd feel panicky if I did, but I don't think flailing about and going insane about it helps anyone, either.

Although, thinking about it now, my mom did have a little tornado go right over her house a few years ago. Tore some roofing off. She lives in a very very hilly section of TX and didn't even know it was coming.

[AdminAssistant]

Although, thinking about it now, my mom did have a little tornado go right over her house a few years ago. Tore some roofing off. She lives in a very very hilly section of TX and didn't even know it was coming.

You usually don't. Tornados (Tornadoes?) are really undpredictable. I kind of know what to look for - types of clouds, color, is there rain/lightning? But, they can pop down out of nowhere. I remember several years ago when some really bad tornados touched down in Florida and destroyed houses that were built up to hurricane code.

I was talking with some friends after Greensburg, KS was...totally eliminated by a F5 tornado: Average warning for a hurricane - 2-3 days, average warning for a tornado - 2-3 minutes.

[mharbourgirl]

Nova Scotia used to be known for heavy snows and the occasional blizzard. And rough seas, of course. So when Juan was heading for us, noone, and I mean NOONE believe it would actually get here. Especially my father-in-law, who scoffed at me spending two days looking for everything loose around the yard and putting it someplace where it hopefully wouldn't turn into a missile. Even though I'd never experienced a hurricane myself, I knew quite well what they could do and I didn't want to take chances. (Er, I thought I knew. The reality was a bit overwhelming, to be honest.)

And Juan did hit us, and everyone was so surprised. Then they swarmed every store that sold ANYTHING. Reacting after the fact, in true Canadian style. I ate grocery store subs for a week because there was no propane left anywhere in the province, never mind things like batteries and candles (fortunately we had plenty of THOSE, living out in the rural, poorly-maintained area of the power grid as we did), and the grocery store was one of the few places that got power back within two days as it was on the same corridor as the local hospital. I was giving the finger to gawkers who were driving by as I was struggling to clean up the disaster area that used to be my yard, while emergency officials were telling everyone to stay off the roads (what few roads were still open). Assholes. Ahem.

Ever since then, all you have to do is mention it might get a bit windy and rainy and the grocery stores are cleaned out. At least it woke a few people up, but this 'stock up for a rain event that will isolate us for a year!!!!' attitude is a bit of an overreaction, don't ya think?

Oh, and I don't think I'll EVER be able to eat a sub again in my life.

[Primer]

Ike was a bust, and it's all my fault

After all the panic, we got not one single drop of rain. Ike went to the east, and on up north.

It's all my fault that we did not get any of the much needed rain because I gave my dog melatonin. That's right. I have a dog that seriously freaks in thunderstorms. She got 3 mg of melatonin with her night time pills last night, and again with her morning pills today. (Melatonin takes the edge off without completely drugging her out.) Since she got her drugs, we got no rain. Oh well.

[Tito]

That's exactly what it was like in my area last weekend when TS Hannah was heading our way. I went by a local grocery store, and the place was packed!

What used to crack me up back in my retail days, is when there was a storm coming, people would be in there with riot like urgency stocking up on frozen and dairy items. Hello! There's a severe storm coming! Chances are pretty good that you're going to loose your electricity, and your in here stocking up on items you'll need your fridge & freezer for???? Last time I check, those appliances need electricity to work, and unless you have a generator, they are not going to!

this 'stock up for a rain event that will isolate us for a year!!!!' attitude is a bit of an overreaction, don't ya think?

You can blame the weather men & the media for that. Every time there's a storm coming, they act like it's going to be the storm of the century.