So I survived Matthew in Jacksonville, FL. It didn’t really affect us too much, but the neighborhood in general took some damage from falling tree limbs. At least one tree uprooted on a power line nearby.
I’d like to share my experience and comment on some of the comments I observed in the run-up to the storm. I believe that an over-abundance of caution is good, but inducing panic is not. With a storm like this, it can be a fine line.
Let us walk that line together with this concrete example we’ve been provided.
Riding the Storm Out
“Riding it out” is a common expression for enduring the worst nature has to offer without leaving your home. I saw this referred to as ‘refusing to leave’. That framing comes from a place of immense privilege and does not take into account the other considerations of risk that go into the decision.
I, also, saw it referred to as ‘racist’ or somehow based on property-mongering. I think that was not a comment many supported, but to see it on this forum was very disturbing.
Quite frankly, it was much safer for my family to remain here than it was to pack ourselves into a car and hope for the best. We had a shelter space if we needed it, but it was actually closer to the storm’s front, so why would we do that?
That said, I want to show an accounting of the risks that we assessed. Y’all can judge me based on that.
The Risks
My wife’s health.
My wife has poly-cystic kidney disease, a congenital disorder that causes the kidneys to swell with horrible cysts. It has put her into kidney failure, so she is on dialysis 3 times per week. She has a number of other conditions (seizures, asthma) that require a list of medications 20 items long.
We secured all of her necessary meds at least a week in advance, as well as those for other residents of the household.
The dialysis center is well-prepared for such things. They had her in on Thursday before the storm, and she resumed as usual on Monday.
If that had not been possible, we would have been evacuated by the local transport authority to a shelter where she would be taken care of.
If that was not feasible, we have made arrangements with her friend in Nashville to stay there. The local dialysis center there has her on the list.
The House
High winds can create severe damage against weak structures. I saw one Kossack was riding it out in a wooden shack. I’d be a little worried about that one, but we live in a stucco fortress. The wind speeds we received this far inland (about 15 miles straight) were around 50 at max gust, and that was for about one second. There was nothing to worry about.
No, the laws of physics do not change above 100 mph. The windows might have blown out in the worst case, but we do not keep straw bails around, so we would have avoided being impaled by such unlikely objects.
Flooding
We are officially in an evacuation zone due to the threat of flood waters rising into our area. Using this interactive map of sea level rise, we would need to see 6 meters of surge in order to see our area flooded out. The anticipated storm surge was at highest prediction 12 feet. That’s about 4 meters, so there was quite a bit of clearance there.
What we experienced in flooding was less than we have received from a non-hyped regular summer rainstorm.
Power
We fully expected to lose power for several days. We have been using rechargeable batteries for quite some time, so we just made sure we charged them all (about 20 total, AA and AAA). We have already distributed flashlights to everyone, and we did a check on all of them well in advance of the storm.
We were kind of fortunate in that our main refrigerator was recently replaced (we rent the house), and we had just purchased a small secondary “beer” fridge for beverages and some other stuff. I’ll admit, it is mostly full of beer. Both of those refrigerators held their cold for close to 72 hours.
Day two of no power, the neighbors came over with a generator that they happened to have laying around. I know, right? But that is the kind of neighborhood I live in. We plugged in the main fridge and charged all our phones.
Power was restored Monday night, around 6p eastern for us, if I remember correctly.
Water
If there had been extensive flooding, this may have been an issue. We had the freezer full of water bottles. This is actually normal, as my (step-)son is going to welding school in the evenings, and he drinks about 2 gallons a night.
We filled the bathtub with water, which some of the cats totally loved.
We have a septic system with a massive tank, so I really was not worried about that whatsoever. A week-long outage might have been a different story.
The Preparation
Lights, water, gas for car, check.
Food, mostly dry goods, PB&J all around, check.
Kitty carriers, kitty food, kitty litter, check.
Phones and battery backup supplies fully charged, check.
We tried to clear up around the house any of the loose stuff that could fly around and break windows. I can tell you that I watched a metal tile leaning against the neighbor’s house the entire storm, and it didn’t so much as shimmy. There was just nothing to worry about in that regard.
We contacted all our people, took pictures of ourselves and cats, etc.
Most important preparation: Knowledge. I have been through blizzards, tornadoes, hurricanes, and wildfires. Do you know what they all have in common? They do stuff like they did the last time. I’m 40-something (don’t make me do the math), and I’ve seen it all. When 50, 60, and 70 somethings aren’t worried, there is a reason.
Always, always, worry about the worst case scenario. Then, make sure it isn’t going to happen, or plan for if it seems likely. It is simple, yet so many seem to freak out and mess it all up. Jumping in the car and ‘getting out’ is not the answer for all million of us living in the path. It just never will be.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I’m looking forward to stories and thoughts.
Tuesday, Oct 11, 2016 · 5:45:24 PM +00:00
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smokeymonkey
I wanted to mention one other comment that I saw. The difference between Katrina hitting New Orleans and Matthew (not) hitting Jacksonville, is the basic fact of altitude. New Orleans was below sea level; a surge over the levies had the inevitable result of massive and extensive flooding. The beaches up to the intra-coastal would be expected to flood like that, which is where the mandatory evacuation area was. I am at about 12 feet above sea level.