Summers End
Like everyone else on the East Coast, we are watching the track of Hurricane Earl. It should pass through here Thursday night/Friday morning if nothing changes. Weather is so unpredictable.
This morning, the boys cleaned out some of the gutters on the back of the house before it got too hot to be on the roof. There's another section still to do, but there's also a tree on that side with tent caterpillars in it. That's their Dad's department. I was surprised that they were up early enough to do it at all! Yay for R's clock radio!
J found a map on the city's web site that shows us in the Cat 3 Storm Surge Flood Zone. I thought we were higher than that. In the past, our problem has been water in the basement, not from outside flooding, but from the water table rising above the level of the basement floor. That can occur from just a lot of rain, not necessarily a hurricane. Yes, we have a small pump.
Last November, when Nor'Ida hit, areas around us were blocked by high water from all the inlets, similar to the Cat 2 map. Hurricanes don't usually hit us directly, but come over the Outer Banks first and get us as they go back out to sea. Coastal flooding is caused by the waters of the bay building up from North-easterly winds and then crashing into Ocean View and Hampton Roads waterways. I've seen storm sewer man-holes look like fountains.
My main concern is loosing power. During and after Isabel, the biggest problem was getting ice because so many people were out. Our outage was actually longer with Nor'Ida, but it was more localized. Neighbors a block away had power, but our grid included some of the flooded areas and they wouldn't turn us back on until the whole area was safe.
All we can do now is watch and wait. And prepare for anything.
This morning, the boys cleaned out some of the gutters on the back of the house before it got too hot to be on the roof. There's another section still to do, but there's also a tree on that side with tent caterpillars in it. That's their Dad's department. I was surprised that they were up early enough to do it at all! Yay for R's clock radio!
J found a map on the city's web site that shows us in the Cat 3 Storm Surge Flood Zone. I thought we were higher than that. In the past, our problem has been water in the basement, not from outside flooding, but from the water table rising above the level of the basement floor. That can occur from just a lot of rain, not necessarily a hurricane. Yes, we have a small pump.
Last November, when Nor'Ida hit, areas around us were blocked by high water from all the inlets, similar to the Cat 2 map. Hurricanes don't usually hit us directly, but come over the Outer Banks first and get us as they go back out to sea. Coastal flooding is caused by the waters of the bay building up from North-easterly winds and then crashing into Ocean View and Hampton Roads waterways. I've seen storm sewer man-holes look like fountains.
My main concern is loosing power. During and after Isabel, the biggest problem was getting ice because so many people were out. Our outage was actually longer with Nor'Ida, but it was more localized. Neighbors a block away had power, but our grid included some of the flooded areas and they wouldn't turn us back on until the whole area was safe.
All we can do now is watch and wait. And prepare for anything.