Hurricane Florence looks pretty mean. If you are in the path of this storm, be prudent. It is slowing down and the water is really warm.
Right now this is Cat 4 with winds of 130 MPH and gusts to 160 MPH. The storm surge looks to be epic in some places.
From what I’ve heard, power could be out for days. Cities are closing down water systems to protect them from damage.
For those of you who are worried about yourselves or property, and if you think you need a response team with security capabilities (extraction, facility guarding, etc.) I have a contact for you.
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Living in south Louisiana just 40 miles straight up from the Gulf I can understand their worry, fear, anxiousness and plain old panic. We’ve gone through this and we may be going through it again before the season is over.
Father Son Holy Spirit, Blessed Mother Mary, All Holy Saints and Angels surround and protect all of those people in the path of Hurricane Florence. May the people leave now while they can and may no lives be lost and as minimal damage be done as possible.
Our Lady of Prompt Succor please protect our brothers and sisters and all living beings in the path of this storm. May Our Lord who controls the seas and all the Earth lesson the storm as much as possible and be with those who are dealing with this storm.
Please pray for my friends John and Amanda and their sons Savio and Alfie. They live in Statesboro, GA and there’s a chance they’ll get some of that storm. Amanda’s also expecting a baby in about month. Thank you.
I’m sitting in Charleston SC, 13 miles and 1 step from the ocean. I think we’ll be okay… Hurricane shutters are going up now. My 82 yo father has dementia and we’re not sure he’d survive an evac. My parents, my mother-in-law, our 5 children, my wife, a herd of dogs and cats and me all in the same house. Frankly a hurricane is the least of my concerns now that my two oldest daughters are dating.
FOR ALL IN THE PATH OF THIS and all Hurricanes and Tropical storms. (Replace Gulf with Atlantic).
Prayer for Safety In Hurricane Season
The Bishops of Louisiana have asked the faithful to pray the following prayer, daily if possible, during the hurricane season which extends from June 1 to November 30.
Prayer for Safety In Hurricane Season
O God, Master of this passing world,
hear the humble voices of your children.
The Sea of Galilee obeyed Your order
and returned to its former quietude.
You are still the Master of land and sea.
We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control:
the Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant,
can awake from its seeming lethargy,
overstep its conventional boundaries,
invade our land, and spread chaos and disaster.
During this hurricane season we turn to You, O loving Father.
Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid
and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with passing of time.
O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our beloved Mother, we ask you
to plead with your Son on our behalf,
so that spared from the calamities common to this area
and animated with a true spirit of gratitude,
we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son
to reach the heavenly Jerusalem,
where a storm-less eternity awaits us. Amen.
[Composed by Most Rev. Maurice Schexnayder (1895-1981),
Second Bishop of Lafayette (1956-1973), following Hurricane Audrey in 1957]
For those in harms way, light your blessed palm and pray this prayer.
Jesus Christ a King of Glory has come in Peace. +
God became man, + and the Word was made flesh. +
Christ was born of a Virgin.+
Christ suffered.+
Christ was crucified.+
Christ died.+
Christ rose from the dead.+
Christ ascended into Heaven. +
Christ conquers. +
Christ reigns. +
Christ orders. +
May Christ protect us from all storms and lightning.+
Christ went through their midst in Peace, +
and the Word was made flesh. +
Christ is with us with Mary. +
Flee you enemy spirits because the Lion of the
Generation of Juda, the Root of David, has won. +
Holy God! + Holy Powerful God! + Holy Immortal God! +
Have mercy on us.
Amen.
boredoftheworld God Bless y’all and surround and protect y’all!
Also, for those of you living along the waterways near the major ports in the landfall cone (e.g. Wilmington/Morehead City, NC & Norfolk, VA): your local tugboat companies will be operational throughout the storm and can help if you’re in need of assistance. To be clear, they’re not Sea-Tow but are usually willing to assist with boatlifting or other tasks requiring larger, sturdier vessels that weather well in poor conditions.
Tug operators remain in close contact with the USCG Captain of the Port and monitor the main marine radio frequencies. But do the smart thing and get the local contact/dispatch info for the following companies before Florence makes landfall (all are listed on the interweb):
NC: Moran Tug; McAllister Towing; Vane Bros.
VA: Moran, Kirby Corp.; Norfolk Tug; Dann Marine Towing
Maris Stella, Ora Pro Nobis.
My parents live directly in the storm’s path. I’m thankful that they were prudent enough to leave town today so they’d be nowhere near the coast when that storm makes landfall. Still, I pray that it doesn’t end up being as bad as it looks like it’s going to be.
Situations like this are a bit personal for me. Being an Amateur Radio operator and CERT Team ember actively involved with my town’s and county’s Emergency Management Offices – these scenarios are constantly drilled into me. In addition, living only 10 miles (as the crow flies) from the sea coast here in NJ, I was made intimately aware of how bad these situations can be – a la` Hurricane Sandy. We were without commercial power for five days.
Florence reminds me so much of sandy. She’s coming in straight off the water and there appear to be (as of right now) no wind shear to weaken her and no influencing pressure systems to guide her towards a more shallow angle towards the coast.
If you live on a barrier island – bug out. Now. Don’t be foolhardy and attempt to “ride out the storm”. Not only are you putting yourself at risk; but you’re also putting First Responders at risk if it really gets to be too much for you and you decide to bug out when things get really serious. And in the worst case, you just might be on your own – First Responders might not be able to get to you when it gets bad.
Re-locate inland if at all possible. It will be bad, but not as bad as being on a barrier island or the immediate coast. Expect to be without commercial power for days. If you have a generator, get extra gasoline now! After Sandy, the gas stations in NJ were without power, as well – the pumps were useless. If your area is devoid of generators, get an inverter and hook it up to your car battery. You can use your car as a temporary generator for short periods of time.
If you have a gas grill, make sure you have propane. you may have to start cooking the contents of your freezer before they go bad. Also, gas grills come in handy for heating up large pots of water. I sink full of hat water si much preferable to a cold shower, at least for me.
It’s a good idea to have a week’s worth of non-perishable foods on hand. You still need to feed your family and you also need to open the fridge and freezer as seldom as possible if you don’t have them on a generator or inverter.
Have plenty of drinking water on hand. Either but it bottled or fill the tub NOW and seal the top with plastic wrap to keep dirt and dust out.
Have a good supply of batteries on hand for flashlights and electric lanterns. Charge up your cell phones, although they may be useless if the infrastructure fails.
Hams …….. charge up those handhelds, they may be your only communications link. If you have deep cycle marine batteries or SLAs (sealed lead acid batteries) or lithium batteries – get them charged up now! If you have a solar panel, make sure you have all the cables you will need to charge up your own and other people’s batteries. You may be forced to be a communications link for your own family as well as your neighbors.
I’m sure there’s plenty of stuff that I am forgetting.
Godspeed and be safe. Don’t try to be a hero. Let the professionals do their jobs – and keep praying,
Concerning generators, be aware that most modern appliances such as refrigerators and freezers use electronic controls which can be damaged by the power surge from a conventional generator. The new inverter type generators are supposed to put out clean power. They are more expensive but probably worth it. I lost a fridge and a computer UPS that went up in smoke due to a generator so be aware.
A useful trick in a power outage. If you have a UPS for your computer, use it to plug chargers into and charge cell phones. That came in handy during Phillipe last fall where we lost power for a day.
Great comments VonOrigen, Joy65, semperficatholic et al.
Received a couple of emails from buddies at Camp Lejeune. At the moment the concern is for the tidal surge and flooding more than wind damage. Canteens are filled and MREs passed around in abundance. There is a battalion of amtracs (2nd AAV Battalion, and looks like the “AAV” wiki page shows an amtrac on Onslow Beach; amtracs roamed the Texas countryside last September’s hurricane, there’s a couple YouTube videos if I recall). Plenty of small boats on base with the Recon battalion.
LarryW2LJ: several guys on base are planning on getting their ham license some day.
VonOrigen: Good point about tugs. Small fishing boats and marinas all along that coast. Several of us lieutenants used to wander off base sometimes and buy a couple of pounds of fresh shrimp right off a fishing boat from a friendly captain for just a couple of bucks. We made grilled shrimp or kung pao shrimp. And gin and tonic. Excellent.
boredoftheworld: “Frankly a hurricane is the least of my concerns now that my two oldest daughters are dating.” Good one. God bless you and your family.
Anneliese: You got it.
Well, I guess it was bound to happen. It’s a military tradition really, a group photo with a can of beer during a hurricane. Took part in it once myself.
Thought I’d share a light moment here, but first and most importantly: Prayers for those who lost their lives and for the rescue teams.
I received an email from a buddy at Camp Lejeune. They’re quite busy but he sent a photo some of his Marines took Thursday night while hunkered down on-board Camp Lejeune. Now, for the record, the limit was one can of Milwaukee’s Finest. The photo caption was (my buddy says his lads borrowed their caption from another Marine in a previous hurricane): “Marines in hand-to-hand combat with Hurricane Florence. ‘Merica!”
That buffoonery illustrates the other meaning of the acronym “U.S.M.C.”: Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children.
In said email I have also been informed that I made a serious and wretched error in my comment of 13 September. I failed to include their brothers-in-arms: the mighty 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion with its formidable arsenal of equipment and RedBull-drinking lads who are equally happy with destroying or rebuilding. Therefore, I now owe Chesty Puller 100 push-ups.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesty_Puller
Fair enough. I will comply.
Remember lads, tomorrow is Sunday. Your trusty chaplain will be in the area come Hell or High-water. Recall the saying: For God and Country. Fr. Z also has a post on a prayer against hurricanes for future reference. (Ah, that reminds me Fr. Z. The USS Kearsarge, of Sep. 2017 hurricane duty, is at it again for Florence, though I don’t know if your friend is onboard.)
Marines: You know this already but keep an eye out for snakes in those flood waters. God bless and Semper Fidelis.
p.s. Don’t forget to hydrate. What do you do if you forget to hydrate? Re-hydrate!