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Thread: Lessons learned from taking a direct hit by a Cat 5 Hurricane- ground zero, USVI

  1. #46
    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm Schweizer View Post
    ... - consider a propane or dual fuel generator over gas or diesel.
    Glad you are well and adapting.

    If buying a back-up generator for mainland use, I'd strongly suggest natural gas fueled (if available). The lines are always buried and more importantly, there may be residual pressure in the delivery lines for 3-4 weeks. Even if the 'local' compressor station is knocked offline, remote stations can still push fuel to end-users.

    I'm not aware of current natural gas availability in PR. I know there is a LNG receiving terminal/re-gasification plant in PR and they have a NG delivery grid (no idea of extent). I think there was a plan to extend this grid (pipeline) to VI, but obviously, if not already in place, it won't help current situation.
    Last edited by Malcolm McLeod; 09-28-2017 at 10:49 AM.

  2. #47
    What a story, Malcolm! I was thinking about you as Irma approached. You responded to a crisis about as perfectly as one could. Hurricane preparedness pamphlets should include the lessons you shared.

    Two months ago we answered the call of a friend in Connecticut who asked for help fixing up her house to put on the market. What was supposed to be 2-3 weeks turned into 2 months. I was without my passwords for SMC and all my emails but one so I was "dark" for the time we were there. We arrived home late Monday night.

    We were able to find a live broadcast out of Ft. Myers through YouTube while in CT. Every report looked increasingly worse. Just 24 hours before Irma was predicted to roll right over us, storm surge predictions were 6-9 feet, worst case scenario. We prepared ourselves to be homeless.

    Inexplicably, Irma veered a bit to the east as it approached us. The eye passed about 10-15 miles to the east of us. Winds here were estimated to be around 100 MPH as the storm approached but dropped to around 65 by the time we were even with the eye. That's the report we got from our 85 year old neighbor who rode it out. He's an ex-Air Force pilot, so who am I to question?

    Unbelievably, our house was undamaged. We didn't even lose a screen panel. I'm still baffled as to how this happened. Next door they lost their entire screen cage that blew up and over their house and landed across the street between the houses. On the other side of us they had water intrusion they contributed to the wind forcing rain water through the cinder block and into the house. Never heard of anything like that before.

    The worst damage to the city was losing 15 miles of seawall. The canals drained and with no water to hold the ground back, many failed. Every house on our side of our block had seawall failure, except ours. The only thing I can contribute as to why our seawall didn't fail is because we regularly maintain it according to city recommendations. Maybe we were just lucky. Some houses are in danger of slab erosion, if we get many more heavy rains.

    On our drive back into town we must have seen over a thousand line trucks leaving the state. Some came from as far as Quebec. Driving down I-95 and I-75, we didn't see much tree damage. We thought we'd see trees stripped of leaves but we didn't see any of that. I watched videos of Irma passing through our city and compared them to videos of when Hurricane Charley passed through in 2004. Not even comparable.

    My heart goes out to those who took the brunt of these storms. While I hoped we wouldn't lose our home I also was acutely aware wishing it away meant someone else would suffer. We'll be going out for a while helping those who didn't fare as well as we did. And, in time, life will return to normal...
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  3. #48
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    Julie- glad you made it through. My friend has four huge glass sliding doors on her house and didn't board them up for Irma or Maria- they survived!!!! I was amazed. It's like one house gets destroyed, and another untouched. We were very blessed.

    Malcolm- we don't have Natural gas- just LPG. I wouldn't want them to run natural gas lines here. It would be a disaster. Let's just say things don't always follow code here!!!

    More lessons learned-
    - Keep your tires in good shape. I have (knock on wood) yet to have a puncture. We have 90% plus tread on all our Jeeps. There are nails everywhere, and power lines and cables to drive over everywhere.
    - Dual fuel generator- awesome invention. There is no diesel fuel left on the island. Gas is limited. There's tons of LPG. I realize this would probably be different in the US, but this was my situation. I also have a LPG stove and LPG on-demand hot water. It still needs 120 to work, but I can hook it up to the generator and have hot water. I haven't done so because it's so doggoned hot that we are enjoying cold showers.
    - I already mentioned getting jerry cans that mount to your vehicle. Once again today the guy at the fuel pump overflowed my gas can and I had to carry it home dripping with fuel. Mounting outside the vehicle is a good thing. They don't let you fuel your own right now- the guy has to do it for you. They are very strict at the gas stations. $30 maximum per vehicle and you stay in the car and pay cash and he fuels. No credit cards.
    - Cash is king. 'nuff said


    I wish I had pictures downloaded to post here. I kid not- EVERY power line was down after the storm. We are still dodging poles and power lines as we drive, running over downed lines that are now mashed into shreds. It's going to be a long recovery. As Maria approached, we actually prayed that we got hit again and Puerto Rico was spared. PR has been our lifeline. Before Maria we had troops on the ground and helicopters, C130's, and Ospreys flying all over. They all had to pull out for Maria, and after Maria a lot of them got moved to PR. I am hearing that the news is "Look how bad Puerto Rico got hit- isn't it awful... oh, and yeah, the VI got hit too, but look at PR..." That was my fear. I talked to someone in the states who actually thought we would be back to normal in a few weeks. Really? They are going to build a new hospital, TV station, Airport, complete power grid, schools, etc. in a few weeks?

    I drove by TuTu Hi-Rise yesterday, which got demolished and is the site where there was a dead body hanging in a tree, and rescuers said it was too dangerous to remove, so they left it there. The entire building is hollow now- you can see from one end to the other. It blew in one side and out the other. People were blown out of their apartments.

    There are roofs all over the place. There are solar panels all over. Pro tip: Even if the glass is broken on a solar panel, it may still work. My friend salvaged a bunch of discarded panels, hooked them up to a controller, and has solar power!

    The stores have been able to restock due to the harbor now allowing cargo ships, so we do have food. That is not the case for Dominica. I have many friends there and it's very bad there. They don't have the military that we have to step in and save the day. They don't have stores right now- many were damaged or destroyed. People have been robbing the relief vessels, so people have been reluctant to come with supplies. They are stopping short of the beach and making people swim to the boat to get the supplies to prevent being attacked on land. Dominica has some of the friendliest people you will ever meet, and these stories I am getting from cruising friends are very disheartening. I assure you it's not everyone there, but sadly the few ruin it for the masses.

    We are safe and surviving. I may actually get power before long because I am downtown and we didn't get much damage. Already they have restored much of downtown. We are running the generator for a couple of hours in the AM and PM. It's so loud, but other than that I can't fault it. It's a Ryobi. I am anything but a fan of Ryobi, but I didn't get a choice in the matter. A friend hooked me up with a boat coming from Puerto Rico and they sold it to me at cost, and didn't charge me for bringing it from PR. I think I already mentioned this- sorry- hurricane brain. I must say- GE makes one heck of a refrigerator. Running it for 4 hours a day has kept everything cold. I'm impressed- it's just a base model. By the way, my neighbor is running his very loud, backfiring generator until after midnight. I have informed him that I'm a good shot, and his generator is within target range from my window. :-)

    I have to run, and as I said before, I may be slow to update, but appreciate the comments. It's good to hear from the "outside world."

  4. #49
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    Just another little view into my world here- today was the first day Home Depot opened after the storm damage. They had major damages and also had mold and mildew issues to deal with. I arrived at 6AM for the 8AM opening and was number 48 in line. By 8 AM they had about 300 people in line. I didn't get in the door until some time after 9AM. They had all the aisles blocked off, and you had to tell them what you needed and they went and got it for you. Apparently they still have mold issues. One of the items I bought had mildew on it and was damp. It's quite a mess. After all that waiting, they did not have PVC fascia board, which is what I came for- UGH!

    Every day you just decide what you need most, and you go get in line for that. Not having Home Depot is really killing me. The smaller hardware stores just don't have what I need. This storm has taken us back about 20 years as far as avialability of items.

    I still have not gotten my Veritas Large Plow Plane, but it shows available for pickup as of Sept 25th. My post office was destroyed, but the scan was after that, so I am hoping it is there. They said they are very backed up on getting the notification to you after they scan the box. You have to stand in line and wait and they tell you if you have a package or not. They give you a hand-written slip to give to another person who goes to get he package. I am checking again today- things that I ordered on eBay prior to the storm have just started to show up.

    One month without power. It's actually been a great experience- I have kicked my internet habbit, and gotten used to cold showers. I do have a propane on-demand water heater that I can hook up to 110 to have hot water, but it's been so hot that by the end of the day you kind of enjoy a cold shower. I hooked it up so Amy could have her first hot bath in a month. (First HOT bath- not her first bath!) It's kind of like camping out, but you're at home.

  5. #50
    Glad to hear from you Malcolm. I hope every day gets a little easier.
    Fred

  6. #51
    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm Schweizer View Post
    ...
    One month without power.
    ...
    A month without a BORG..?? My house would fall down and SWMBO would think me somehow less. A month without power..?? I know you like the Neader-stuff, but that's just taking it too far. Next thing you'll want a new forum called Australopithecus (I'm assuming rules will be hand-tools only by moonlight only?)

    I see many stories about both private and public relief efforts gaining strength, but then see the leadership cat-fights proclaiming someone else is incompetent. ...I'll hope the former are accurate and things are improving there.

    Be safe - don't let people get complacent about the 'old' hazards as utility grids get restored.

  7. #52
    Malcolm, you are making me appreciate the things we often take for granted. We went to the nearest hardwood supplier I know of here and on the way passed through areas that reportedly were hit hard by Irma. We saw one farm that relied on over screens for whatever they grow there and the screens were shredded. Some structures were also down. But other than that, had I not known and been looking for hurricane damage, I would have thought everyone was just trimming trees and piling the trimmings on the roadside. I guess that's the difference between Cat 3 and Cat 5.

    Here's to hoping you recover more quickly down there. And here's to hoping this is the end of hurricanes this season. I think we get the point, Mother Nature - you're the boss.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  8. #53
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    We are recovering but it's going to be a long haul. This is a sin, but so decided to make the ultimate hurricane proof fascia boards out of cumuru- the sin being I painted the cumuru white. It was painful, but natural didn't match the house. So I did the third coat this morning before church and was going to hang them after church. There was this one black cloud in the distance but I figured I was safe. Well 10 minutes after painting there was a deluge of rain. Notice the white paint flowing down the drain.

    IMG_2220.jpg

  9. #54
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    Security at Home Depot
    IMG_2217.jpg

  10. #55
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    Please share this since the media has already forgotten us. At the beginning, the building with the trashed roof is where we used to buy groceries.

    http://viconsortium.com/featured/wat...-on-st-thomas/

  11. #56
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    A number of folks have said they were following this, so I will post another update. Tomorrow marks eight weeks since the first storm, and eight weeks now without power. Only certain areas have power. The airport has power, but air cargo on the opposite side of the airport doesnt. ????? Life without power is not that terrible. I have a gas stove, and a small generator. I turn the generator on in the evening and sometimes in the morning to keep the fridge cool and charge the Milwaukee batteries. Seriously- does anyone know anybody at Milwaukee? They could do a commercial based on me. haha. I write at night by candle and/or Milwaukee LED. I am writing a lot more now that I do not have power. I write by hand rather than type. I may publish a book that it totally written by hand- as-is with no editing. I think that would be novel- pun intended.

    We have two K-Marts on the island. One was damaged badly. The other survived. After so much rain not just from the hurricanes but from three or four (I lose count) tropical waves, the other KMart flooded in the basement. The "big KMart" as we call it, that was damaged, was then opened up, and everything was covered in mold. They marked stuff down only 10%. Pills were taken out of the box and sold in plastic bags. It was crazy. On the other end of the spectrum, Home Depot destroyed their entire inventory. Apparently the insurance company wrote the whole thing off and they were told to destroy it. People are very upset because yes- some things can't be sold with mold, but how about toilets? Tile? Faucets? Word is that by law if it's written off then they can't just sell it or it is double-dipping. A lot of folks are upset watching pallet after pallet fill their parking lot and being destroyed and put into dumpsters.

    Right now there are two lumber yards functioning, and one mom & pop hardware store. The mom & pop store is owned by nice folks, but the prices are insane. Yes- I know they need to make a living, but they are selling D batteries for $3 each. AA for $2 each. (multi-packs, but if you divide the price by number of batteries). 5 gallon gas cans are selling for $79. Come on!!!! I need a weatherhead and they have been out for weeks. I am about to go by and see if they have gotten them in. They were unloading a trailer this morning and said they were supposed to be in there somewhere.

    Today for the first time curfew was removed. It has been on for eight weeks. Last week Gov Mapp changed curfew to 11PM- the latest it has been- so people can watch the baseball games at their favorite sports bars. I guess that went well enough, so he lifted curfew completely. I am not real happy with that. We still have poles hanging on major roads- HANGING from the wires- broken at the base- literally hanging over traffic. Not one or two- more like 20 or more poles in this state. Crews have come from all over to repair and replace them, but they are going one by one rather than fix the worst ones that are a hazard. We have to dodge poles, washed out roads, wires, and debris. It's not very safe at night with no streetlights. I am staying home after dark except we went out one night just to get out of the house. It was weird driving at night after 8 weeks of not doing so.

    My office still does not have power. I am working from borrowed offices. I have internet at home if I fire up the jenny, but it's so noisy, and gas is precious. I prefer to go somewhere else and borrow their power and use their A/C.

    I took a trip to Tortola. You can't imagine the damages . I'll try to add a picture. There were cars blown up into the bush hundreds of feet. One of our vehicles over there had a double oven blown from some home and landed into the windshield of the van. The nearest home is blocks away. How???? How does that happen? 200mph winds- that's how. I also went and for the first time since the storms saw my best friend and "copirate" in St. John. I cannot describe the feeling of seeing my favorite island and old stomping ground... well.... getting stomped. Houses were blown off their foundations completely. Although most of the island has regrown leaves and become green again, there was a swath through the bush in St. John that was still barren- every single tree dead except a few had small sprouts. Mahogany everywhere, by the way. Also a Banyon tree blew over and was cut up by someone. The wood looks like a deep red mahogany. I may swing by and cut some of that and play around with it. Banyons are the trees where the whole thing is made of a bunch of roots- the roots grow down from the branches- prop roots. Do you know what it takes to blow one over? Apparently around 200mph winds. I have never before seen one blow over. The prop roots make them very strong.

    We are hand washing everything and hanging it out to dry. Clothes are a little crispy despite using fabric softener. Amy is liking it- she says it is a great workout. She's looking pretty hot, by the way. My wife was already very fit and her "post Irmaria" body is rockin. Hey- I can brag. I love her more than anything in the world. I love her as much in the dark as I do in the light, i.e. she's a hottie, but I would still love her if she were ugly. We survived together. There is a bond that has formed that nothing could break.

    Surviving. That's what we are doing.... but we are ok. Stores have food. Things are hard to get, but we are getting them. It's just going to take time. Oh, by the way, I am president of the St. Thomas Historical Trust, (volunteer work- not my "real" job) and I am happy to say all the historic furniture and artifacts survived. The museum flooded, but the furniture was put up and is safe. We are dealing with mold and that's a mess, but everything is going to be OK.

  12. #57
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    Thank you for the updates Malcolm! I find your posts terribly interesting and I can only imagine what it was like to survive what you did!
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  13. #58
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    Thanks for the update....very much appreciated!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  14. #59
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    Incredible. I read every word you write. There is no mention of any of this in the newspaper I read, nothing even about the continuing power outage. (I don't watch TV so I don't know if they are still reporting) It's like, "Oh that was ages ago, here's some real news, the latest scandal."

    Shame on Home Depot's insurance company you mentioned. Seems like the decent thing to do would have been to clean out the store and for the insurance company to somehow donate all those things to rebuilding, or at least patching things up a little.

    JKJ

  15. #60
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    IMG_2312.jpg
    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    Incredible. I read every word you write. There is no mention of any of this in the newspaper I read, nothing even about the continuing power outage. (I don't watch TV so I don't know if they are still reporting) It's like, "Oh that was ages ago, here's some real news, the latest scandal."

    Shame on Home Depot's insurance company you mentioned. Seems like the decent thing to do would have been to clean out the store and for the insurance company to somehow donate all those things to rebuilding, or at least patching things up a little.

    JKJ
    We all knew when Puerto Rico got hit that we would take a back seat in the news reports. That said- Puerto Rico saved our butts after Irma and we owe them a lot- so no hate- many friends there. I just wish the news reported about our situation.

    Here are a few shots.
    By the way, that house was blown off the foundation- and there are a number like that.
    IMG_2288.jpgIMG_2282.jpg

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