Warming up my generator - Just in case

[Bravo]

Well - here we go in the latest hurricane parade.

Arlene is bearing down. Only a Tropical Storm at this point.

In terms of actual miles, I am approximately 200 miles from the coast of the Gulf. 250 driving miles.

We have been through plenty of these storms over the years.

Obviously, a hurricane will pack the greatest winds, and all storms that hit land slow down substantially as soon as they hit. So at first glance, a Tropical Storm (vs a hurricane) should be less of a threat.

But there are other factors.

The amount of rain that is associated with a storm. Two factors:

1) The "side of the eye" you are on. The Eastern side of the eye will get much more rain than the western side. This is due to the counterclockwise rotation and the fact that the eastern side is sucking all that water out of the ocean.

2) The speed of the forward movement of the storm. Sometimes the overall storm will move through quickly and the amount of rainfall will be minimal. Other times, it will meander through - just pouring and dumping rain for hours and hours.

With a storm such as this one - with moderate winds at worst - our worst scenario would be that it would pass west of us and move slowly. The ground is already saturated due to our rainfall of the past two weeks. If we got a lot of rainfall and had some gusts of 50 MPH, then down go the trees - over the power lines.

And out comes the generator. Last September I was out for five days and 8 hours. I doubt I will lose power this time but you never know.

Arrgghh.

[Rockford35]

Keep the family safe, B.

If shit happens, you know where to come if you need anything....

Take care,

R35