If the hurricane, Ophelia, comes to Charleston

ginger_55

I am in an evacuation zone, but that is kind of deceptive, as where I am is not exactly low lying as far as the maps go. I called my insurance company a couple of years ago to find out how much danger I would be in.

The girl was real nice. I have flood insurance, the price of which is based on risk, she said, and I am considered very low risk with the flood insurance. She said that I would be surprised at the areas that are high risk, areas that would not be suspected.

Anyway, I would not leave for a category 2 storm (if anyone wonders what people were thinking who didn't leave, it is that type of thing) A voluntary evacuation of the islands is supposed to start at 6 PM, if the track of the storm continues. The evacuation area is the barrier islands and everything east of 17 north. That includes me. However, I would not leave for a category 2. And they are making decisions very early, I notice, as this area would be a mess to evacuate.

Tomorrow AM, they would go to mandatory evacuations, if the storm track still continues. I still would not leave. Mandatory just means that you will probably die and you should leave the name of your next of kin. But based on my research, with the insurance company, I still would not leave. A def category 3, I would leave, but no one is expecting that.

So, my question is: what do you all want photos of?

My husband is scheduled to be out of town, so I can't leave the dogs for long periods to take photos................all next week. If the storm comes here, we will lose power, so reading and photography, well that would be it.

I sure would like to go to an island bar and hear bluegrass tonight, can't find any, am still looking.

ginger

Andy

crimony ginger! don't worry about the pics and just find a place to hole up if you aren't willing to evac.

dragon300zx

Well first Let me say gotta love the "Hey lets go chase that bear" spirit. Second Don't put yourself in danger as that makes no sense at all. And as far as pics go. Any pics are always good.

rutt

about 20 years ago, I lived in a house which was on the Long Island Shoreline, in Guilford CT. My house was direct waterfront. Hurricane Gloria came passed right over our house. Fortunately it wasn't high tide, but the water killed my grass; it didn't reach my house, but close. Many big old trees were uprooted all around.

But the point of my story is my wife's attitude to the hurricane. She was a medical intern at the time and had been in the hospital on call for two days. Her shift ended at 10am the morning the hurricane passed over. She knew I was evactuated and she knew where to go. So she got in her car (having promised she wouldn't) and drove there, right through the hurricane. And here's the thing. She was basically oblivious to the storm. When she arrived to my parents' house (where I had evacuated) she immediately launched into a long and heated diatribe about her fellow doctors and hospital policy. Hurricane Gloria was lucky that my wife's attention was elsewhere.

Some people can be forces of nature, too.

Richard

ginger_55 wrote:

So, my question is: what do you all want photos of?

ginger

If it were me, I would take the opportunity to work on indoor photography, preferrably with the windows boarded up.

Seriously, no pic is worth putting yourself at unnecessary risk. Just my € .02.

Good luck...hope the storm misses you by many miles.

Cheers,

gluwater

If you're not affraid for your own safety, at least think of your poor poor camera and lens. A piece of debris could destroy your precious lens. Stay inside, it's really not worth it.

ginger_55

I think my daughter is working on sending the hurricane towards Wilmington, NC. She used to live there and one summer she got every hurricane spawned.

I would not intentionally go out in a hurricane. If I lived right there, it were a category one, I might go out, but not drive. Once I drove down here in the beginning of a cat one hurricane, stayed at a motel and went out to my car to get news from the radio. That was a long time ago.

However, before and after the hurricanes, that is a different story! All hurricanes are different. Even that one Florida reporter, John Zarella, from Florida who reports for CNN, he says that over and over.

So, I was talking about before the hurricane and after, not during. After Hugo, absolute devastation for me, and lines down, curfews, the whole bit, we drove around, though we were asked not to.

I even broke curfew to stay at a motel with a generator to watch the news. And once left the house way after curfew, drove over the bridges seen in photos the other day, only they were pitch black. Don't know why I wasn't stopped, but I wasn't. I just had to get away. Snapped. It was an experience I will never forget, being the only one out, driving over the bridge, the old cooper, pitch black it was. I would not have photographed that. I was not where I should have been. I will say that if I had been stopped, the cop would have been a lot nicer than the depths to which they have sunk since then.

I have not been out. no photography allowed at the museum.

But before a hurricane there is a breeze. It is like no other breeze. Can't describe it, but I have not felt it today. My house is open and hot, so I am going to close it with the a/c, but I just wanted to tell you all that I may be foolhardy, etc, but I am not an idiot and would not go out in the middle of a hurricane. Besides, the pictures aren't very good til later, or before.

ginger