Florida and states north get ready for Dorian.

[Acebird]

Turning north

My brother in SC was checking in on our first hurricane preparation.  I asked him if he has shutters for his house.  He tells me the locals say it is not necessary.  Well yeah they are not until they are.

[BeeMaster2]

Just looked at the latest path. It looks like eye of Dorian will stay off the coast until it gets to Charleston SC. It will be a category 4 most of the way so we will see some of it but no where near what they were originally predicting. Now the whole state will be on the port side. That means a whole lot less wind and rain.
Jim Altmiller

[Beeboy01]

I'm fine with elevation. The house was built on a raised berm about 10 feet high. I'm expecting a lot of flooding on the low lying sections of the property but will be OK. The hives are up behind the shop which was built on a rise also. Hope the projected path keeps moving East, only time will tell. 

[MikeCinWV]

Hoping it turns away.  Stay safe everyone.  You are in my thoughts.

[van from Arkansas]

Just looked at the latest path. It looks like eye of Dorian will stay off the coast until it gets to Charleston SC. It will be a category 4 most of the way so we will see some of it but no where near what they were originally predicting. Now the whole state will be on the port side. That means a whole lot less wind and rain.
Jim Altmiller

Jim, I am a bit confused about PORT SIDE less wind and rain?  Port side, starboard side: it?s a circle of wind to me so why is port side less wind and less rain than say starboard or stern?  I am not doubting you, I am asking you?

Jim, May you and family fair well through this Dorian!!
Blessings
Van

[The15thMember]

Jim, I am a bit confused about PORT SIDE less wind and rain?  Port side, starboard side: it?s a circle of wind to me so why is port side less wind and less rain than say starboard or stern?  I am not doubting you, I am asking you?

Jim, May you and family fair well through this Dorian!!
Blessings
Van

Van, the right side of a hurricane (in the northern hemisphere) has stronger winds because the wind on that side is traveling the same direction as the whole storm is moving, thereby compounding the wind speed.  On the left side, the wind is blowing the opposite way the storm is moving, which causes the wind on that side to be less because the storm's forward motion is cancelling out some of the wind.  NOAA provides us with this graphic. 

[van from Arkansas]

WOW!!  Member, that makes perfect sense; condensed, direct to the point.  I like it.  So a slow moving storm is bad news in a way on the port side, Florida.  The other side of the world has opposite magnetic force, so toilets and typhoons rotate opposite the America side??
Van

[The15thMember]

WOW!!  Member, that makes perfect sense; condensed, direct to the point.  I like it.  So a slow moving storm is bad news in a way on the port side, Florida.  The other side of the world has opposite magnetic force, so toilets and typhoons rotate opposite the America side??
Van

True, the southern hemisphere has opposite magnetic force, but that's not what's really at play here, since the storm isn't made of metal.    It's actually a phenomenon called the Coriolis effect.  Because the earth moves underneath weather systems, it causes them to be deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere.  Here's a good article/video from NatGeo that explains it in more depth.  The toilet water thing is actually a myth, since the Coriolis effect is only noticeable on the macro scale.  It's just a difference in toilet manufacturing. 
 
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/coriolis-effect/
 

[BeeMaster2]

Member,
Good explanation.
Van,
Another factor dealing with being on the port, left, side of a hurricane is the amount of rain that it drops. During Irma, as the storm approached, we received 10 inches of rain. The eye of the storm went right over me. Blue skies for about an hour.  After it passed, we did not receive any significant amount of rain. The port side and stern are usually much dryer than the right side and front side.
Jim Altmiller

[van from Arkansas]

So I now understand why a gulf hurricane somewhere between Texas and Florida is really bad news as the starboard side, right side, will make land.  There is such a wealth of knowledge on Beemaster!
Van

[BeeMaster2]

Also when a hurricane is coming in off the ocean, it lifts the ocean water and pushes it on the starboard side. This creates a storm surge which usually causes the most damage as a hurricane hits land fall. The wall of water can be really tall, fast moving and can destroy everything in its path.
Jim Altmiller

[FloridaGardener]

And when that big storm surge hits sand, it liquifies the sand.  Just in the same way your feet sink into the sand when a wave hits them. 

As the wave retreats, it pulls away roads, rock bulkheads, and retaining walls.  People call it under scour or flood scour.

[Acebird]

So explain the logic of building structures within 300 ft of a shoreline.  Nature has done this for millions of years.  The largest problem is humans keep building structures on the shoreline.

[van from Arkansas]

Jim, FloridaG. Thanks for the info, that is taking the time to explain.  Living in the Rockies, Montana, I was far removed from hurricanes or tornadoes and any worries of.  My concerns, or worries were wild fires, avalanche, freezing. 

[Ben Framed]

So explain the logic of building structures within 300 ft of a shoreline.  Nature has done this for millions of years.  The largest problem is humans keep building structures on the shoreline.

Good point Ace, I suppose the beauty of the shoreline meeting the beauty of the open sea or gulf is just too strong of a magnet that continues to pull folks to such wonderful to the eye beauty, peace and  tranquility, that it is just too strong and hard to resist in spite of logic. ?? Sort on like being hypnotized  to the potential danger?
Phillip

[Dallasbeek]

So explain the logic of building structures within 300 ft of a shoreline.  Nature has done this for millions of years.  The largest problem is humans keep building structures on the shoreline.

Good point Ace, I suppose the beauty of the shoreline meeting the beauty of the open sea or gulf is just too strong of a magnet that continues to pull folks to such wonderful to the eye beauty, peace and  tranquility, that it is just too strong and hard to resist in spite of logic. ?? Sort on like being hypnotized  to the potential danger?
Phillip

Okay, but what about all the people who get wiped out and rebuild on the same site?  Seems to me those places should be uninsurable, so that if their house gets washed away once and they want to rebuild they have to pay 100% of the cost.  And if they hunker down in place when a storm like this one threatens and they have to be rescued, they would have to pay the costs of their rescue. I?m thinking about New Orleans as an example of the latter. There were people there who refused to board the buses that would take them to safety when Katrina was coming.

[Ben Framed]

So explain the logic of building structures within 300 ft of a shoreline.  Nature has done this for millions of years.  The largest problem is humans keep building structures on the shoreline.

Good point Ace, I suppose the beauty of the shoreline meeting the beauty of the open sea or gulf is just too strong of a magnet that continues to pull folks to such wonderful to the eye beauty, peace and  tranquility, that it is just too strong and hard to resist in spite of logic. ?? Sort on like being hypnotized  to the potential danger?
Phillip

Okay, but what about all the people who get wiped out and rebuild on the same site?  Seems to me those places should be uninsurable, so that if their house gets washed away once and they want to rebuild they have to pay 100% of the cost.  And if they hunker down in place when a storm like this one threatens and they have to be rescued, they would have to pay the costs of their rescue. I?m thinking about New Orleans as an example of the latter. There were people there who refused to board the buses that would take them to safety when Katrina was coming.

Quote from Dallas
Very good point. If the insurance companies want to re-Isure them then ok. But, if not, insurance should not be required to re-instate for that same property weather it be the original inhabitants, or newcomers to same property, and only once by the taxpayer under disaster relief, of said property, after which no future tax payer money should be involved for said address of such property.  In other words, the homeowner is on his own when taxpayer money is involved after the  first relief effort
of  same property. At least within so many feet of the shoreline.
Phillip

[BeeMaster2]

This storm is now a very strong category 5. 180 mile an hour sustained winds, 220 mile an hour gusts. If my memory is correct, 200 mil an hour winds, that is the speed of most tornadoes, puts several tons of pressure on the side of a house trying, I should say, knocking it down. This is what is hitting the center of the Bahamas right now. To make things worse, the surge is 18 to 22 feet which will over flow large areas of the Bahamas. Adding to that it is a very slow moving storm, 6 miles per hour. That means these winds just keep tearing things apart in one direction and then as it passes it takes all of that debris and picks it up and what is remaining gets shredded by tons of flying material.
Pray for the people in the Bahamas.
Jim Altmiller

[van from Arkansas]

Jim, I listened to the Weather channel: LARGEST EVER TO HIT BAHAMAS.  Dorian has turned into a monster.

[Beeboy01]

Just finished my hurricane prep and only need to fill up my water jugs and buckets. I'm recycling all the spring water bottles by refilling them with tap water. Kind of a no brainer if you think about it.
     Trimmed back the queen palms out front to protect them from the wind, we had one palm have it's heart broken out last storm. The tree people recommended trimming their tops to keep it from happening again.
  All boarded up and have braced the shop door with two diagonal lengths of 2x4 for extra support in it's center which is a weak spot with wind.  Not sure what else to do now but wait and try not to worry.
  Still looking at two more days before Dorian is supposed to hit. Getting a little burned out by all the hurricane coverage in the news.