Hurricane Matthew

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Flbeachluvr

Flbeachluvr

Bronze Supporter
Mar 19, 2016
445
Port Orange, FL
Not only am I a new pool owner but also new to hurricanes. Matthew is coming our way and I'm not sure what to do about the pool. Should I just leave it as is or should I turn off the pump and drain some of the water down now? No screen to worry about and not many trees (new neighborhood) so I'm not too worried about debris.
 
Looking at the current forecast it looks like your a right in the bullseye for landfall / land-grazing with it as a Cat 4 on Friday. If you have never been through a hurricane before, my suggestion is put everything you can inside, bring your pool up to SLAM level. Turn off the electricity and water for the house, get in your car and head for Alabama no later than tonight.
 
Isaac-1 said:
Looking at the current forecast it looks like your a right in the bullseye for landfall / land-grazing with it as a Cat 4 on Friday. If you have never been through a hurricane before, my suggestion is put everything you can inside, bring your pool up to SLAM level. Turn off the electricity and water for the house, get in your car and head for Alabama no later than tonight.
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I actually have to come in to work tomorrow to do payroll for 20+ employees who need their checks. We plan on riding it out as we have a new home that should fair pretty well and we are all stocked with the usual provisions. Plus it would be difficult to find anywhere to go at this point especially as we have two dogs.

I'm mainly wondering if I should drain down the water level in the pool or if it's a big deal if it overflows.
 
Take some water out of your Pool. At least to the bottom of the skimmers. maybe a bit below if you can do it without sucking air. Then give that Alabama idea some consideration. (just kidding)

I am 120 miles inland and I don't think you can find a loaf of bread in the county!!
 
duraleigh said:
Take some water out of your Pool. At least to the bottom of the skimmers. maybe a bit below if you can do it without sucking air. Then give that Alabama idea some consideration. (just kidding)

I am 120 miles inland and I don't think you can find a loaf of bread in the county!!
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Will start sucking air when the water level gets close to the bottom of the skimmer so tomorrow when I get home I'll probably just turn off the pump and drain it down a bit. I'll also bring it up to SLAM level since my SWG won't be on. Does that sound like a good plan?

Stores here were pretty cleaned out this morning but some have gotten emergency shipments. Lines at the gas stations are really long though.
 
There are some days where living inland in the desert just makes me smile....

(We survived hurricane Gloria back '86 on Long Island where power was out for over 7 days....never want to be in another hurricane again)
 
I am about 35 miles inland of Canaveral and looking at the rain forecast it's only supposed to be about 4 to 6 inches so not horrible. Now if the Eye shifts a bit west it could mean a lot more rain.. I don't think I am going to drain it but I am going to Slam it tonight and test again on Saturday after the storm.
 
Hey Flbeachluvr, I'm close to Orlando and love the Port Orange area - I will be thinking of you. I have 3 dogs, so I am in the same position as you except we are further inland. When Charlie hit, a lot of my neighborhood (which is old) got some old oaks through the roofs - it looked like a war zone. Hoping you stay safe. Keep us posted.
 

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kglidewe said:
Hey Flbeachluvr, I'm close to Orlando and love the Port Orange area - I will be thinking of you. I have 3 dogs, so I am in the same position as you except we are further inland. When Charlie hit, a lot of my neighborhood (which is old) got some old oaks through the roofs - it looked like a war zone. Hoping you stay safe. Keep us posted.
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Thanks! I'm really thankful to live in a new area without a lot of big trees and with a nice, new roof.
 
Take in ANY thing that is not nailed down......trash cans, furniture, umbrellas, grills, ect.

Fill your bathtubs up with water (good for flushing potty if no power). Have your ice maker making as much ice as you can hold and bag some just in case.

Get bread, crackers, etc and peanut butter..........you can live a LONG time on them LOL.

We should have it easy this time but I do worry about those on the East coast :hug:

Kim
 
Ok, on a more serious note, I live about 90 miles inland and have been through several storms that were at Cat 1 levels when they reached us, a couple of Cat 2's and 1 Cat 3 that was marginally Cat 3/4 at landfall. No one is really sure as the National weather station wind speed meter blew away while it was reading as an upper Cat 3. My wifes family lives about 50 miles south of here and where they lived the cat 3 (Rita which hit our side of Louisiana 3 weeks after Katrina hit New Orleans and was barely mentioned in the national news as we did not have rioting) caused extensive damage, about 40% of houses had roof damage extensive enough to cause major leaks, it peeled the vinyl siding off my mother in laws house along with most the shingles, power outages where I live lasted for 5 days, although I had relatives who lived along the main highway about 15 miles south of here who were without power for almost a month, I know people in rural areas also within about 15 miles that were without power for over 6 weeks. Most of my inlaws that live in town about 45 miles south of here had power back within 2-3 weeks. However the ones that really suffered were those along the coast in Cameron Parish (county for those not from Louisiana) the area is all coastal marsh land, the highest point is only 5 or 6 ft above sea level, and the storm surge was over 10 ft ahead of Rita. In the town on Cameron there were only 2 or 3 structures left standing, the stone courthouse was the only one that was intact, one recently constructed local grocery store which was in a steel frame metal building was reduced to bare structural iron. Houses were picked up and moved by miles, post storm photos show houses out in the middle of the marsh, and one sitting in the middle of the highway. Local residents were not allowed back into the parish for over a month, and the parish was closed to non-residents for 6 months. 10 years later there are still large sections of the parish without electrical service, and the population is still only 55% of what it was before the storm, whole communities are just gone.

See this slide show and remeber this was just slightly weaker than the forecast for Mathew when it gets to you in Friday Slideshow Landing Page - KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana

Also Hurricane Rita — 10 Years Later - YouTube

Here is another slide show just published for the 11th anniversary last week, these mostly feature photos from around Lake Charles which is 30 miles inland Sept. 24 marks 11th anniversary of Hurricane Rita's landfall - FOX29 Lake Charles (this is where much of my wife's family lives)
 
Isaac-1 said:
Looking at the current forecast it looks like your a right in the bullseye for landfall / land-grazing with it as a Cat 4 on Friday. If you have never been through a hurricane before, my suggestion is put everything you can inside, bring your pool up to SLAM level. Turn off the electricity and water for the house, get in your car and head for Alabama no later than tonight.
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I second this advice. I lived through a Cat 3 five miles from the coast in 1979, and a Cat 2 sixty miles from the coast in 2008. The first destroyed much of my family's home (we were not there), and the second caused roof damage that let the rain ruin our ceiling (stayed home for that one). This storm is potentially stronger, and it looks like you are near the coast. What no one really talks about is that not only will there be hurricane force winds, but they will last for 2-3 hours. When my home, fairly new, creaked and groaned in the gusts, for hours, 60 miles inland, it was a very unpleasant and terrifying experience. Safety first, I would leave.
 
MarkTX said:
I second this advice. I lived through a Cat 3 five miles from the coast in 1979, and a Cat 2 sixty miles from the coast in 2008. The first destroyed much of my family's home (we were not there), and the second caused roof damage that let the rain ruin our ceiling (stayed home for that one). This storm is potentially stronger, and it looks like you are near the coast. What no one really talks about is that not only will there be hurricane force winds, but they will last for 2-3 hours. When my home, fairly new, creaked and groaned in the gusts, for hours, 60 miles inland, it was a very unpleasant and terrifying experience. Safety first, I would leave.
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Not an option to leave at this point as I have to go in to work tomorrow and do payroll for 20+ employees that need their check. Also we have dogs and have no place to evacuate to. Just prepping for the worst n hoping for the best.


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