Hurricane Melissa

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

This is a thread for those in the hurricane's path or come to be in it's path later to discuss storm preparation if they choose as well as to check in and let us know that you are ok after it passes.

 

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I spent a couple of decades living in a cyclone prone area. The only difference between a cyclone and a hurricane is the direction in which it spins, other than that they're the exact same thing. People that live their whole lives in these sorts of regions grow up knowing how to prepare before a cyclone and how to get by during and after. In less corrupt societies that's also backed up by very stringent rules and regulations as well as strict building codes.

Pre-cyclone clean up: nothing is to be left loose on your property, not a shovel or a rake, not a child's toy, most definitely not the kid's trampoline. Everything has to be packed away either in the shed or brought inside the house. Anything loose can become a missile in strong winds and if something from your yard damages someone else's house or property you can be liable for the damage, if it causes a death you can be charged with negligent manslaughter. If you have a caravan in your yard there's a special government approved method for putting stakes in the ground and tying it down.

Food and water need to be stored beforehand too. People that live in these sorts of areas tend to have different shopping habits and tend to keep a lot of food in the house anyway. This means at normal times you don't have to buy a lot of stuff unless it's out on special because you already have plenty of stock at home, and when a cyclone comes you don't have to race out panic buying. You should also make sure you have enough drinking water to last 3 or 4 days but most people in Darwin or Cairns will just stock up on beer instead.

They also recommend that you keep a battery operated radio so the you can keep up to date with events but that's next to bloody useless and no one bothers. Live weather radar is much more informative, keep the laptop charged.

During the cylcone: stay home. Stay inside. If it gets really scary the strongest room in the house is usually the bathroom. In Australia cyclone coding demands that your bathroom be specially built as a concrete cyclone shelter for that purpose.

Flooding: there's usually around 600 mm (24 inches) of rain associated with cyclones and all of that rain happens in just a couple of hours. Tropical soils are very porous and well drained and normally flooding isn't much of a problem - except in cities. In a city more than 85% of the ground is covered by bitumen and concrete and there's just nowhere for all that water to go. Out in rural areas all that water will be gone again the next day but in cities it gets trapped and roads get flooded. If you live in the city be very careful driving around and DO NOT attempt to drive your little 4 cylinder town car through any water. It's often a bit deeper than it looks and you'll get stuck and emergency services will be far too busy with real problems to waste their time dragging you out.

It also pays to keep a bit of hard cash on hand for just after a cyclone too, if communications have been knocked out then there'll be no Eftpos, no tap to pay, no swiping the credit card. If you don't have cash you'll have problems.