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Florence bringing 'catastrophic' flooding, mudslides deep into North Carolina
Rivers approached record flood stage and more than 680,000 utility customers were without power Sunday as North Carolina struggled under the crushing fury of Florence, the mighty hurricane diminished to a tropical depression but still pounding the region with unrelenting rain.
The Florence death toll rose to 14 Sunday after a truck lost control on a flooded South Carolina.
Florence has stalled over the Carolinas and was forecast to dump up to 10 more inches of rain in some areas, the National Hurricane Center said. Parts of southeastern North Carolina could see up to 40 inches before the rain ends Monday. And the damage isn't confined to the coast.
"These rainfall amounts will produce catastrophic flash flooding, prolonged significant river flooding and an elevated risk for landslides in western North Carolina and far southwest Virginia," the hurricane center warned.
Sections of two interstates, I-40 and I-95, were shut down due to flooding and debris. Several rivers were approaching record levels, and officials warned that cresting in some areas won't come until later in the week.
Previously: Hurricane Florence Threatens Carolinas and Georgia on U.S. East Coast
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday September 17 2018, @07:28PM
Coming Soon To My Website. [warplife.com]
In this order, these things are vital to human survival: blood, air, shelter, water and food.
Shelter isn't a problem if you live in the right climate, but here in the Pacific NorthLeft is gets very cold and it gets very hot.
If you live where it gets cold, at your first opportunity buy for yourself and your whole family sleeping bags that are rated for comfort in temperatures at least as cold as your community's historical minimum. I'm not clear what you can do about heat other than to buy wide-brimmed hats for everyone.
Buy either a tent big enough for your whole family, or two tents so you and your mate can get it on. Typical camping tens are not built to be used every day of the year; it helps to cover them with a tarp whose corners are tied to ropes, the ropes tied to stakes. But it would work better to use military surplus canvas tents. If set up properly, stretched tight with no wrinkles, canvas tents will not leak.
We really do need water far more than we need food: during hot weather you could die in just one day of heatstroke; I came very close to that during my wanderings around Central California back in 2012. But the worst that will happen if you fast for a solid month is that G-d will explain to you what His purpose was in granting you The Gift Of Life.
The easy way: buy at least one large bottle of drinking water each time you go shopping. Store it in some out-of-the-way place like the back of a closet.
But for us poor folk: _Thoroughly_ rinse out large beverage bottles each time you empty one - get the cups rinsed good too. Fill with water, apply the cap then store. By doing just this I now have at least fifteen gallons of water in the back of my closet, all in used milk jugs.
Now for food.
Got money? Find a wholesale grocer that sells to the general public; around here we have Cash And Carry. Costco would be good too. Go to this wholesale grocer then buy a few cases of nutritious, tasty, filling food in cans or dried in bags. I'll be buying three cases of chili when my next client pays me.
Don't got money? Buy one extra can of nutritious tasty, tasty, filling food as well as a bag each of dried beans and rice.
I once read that "We cannot live one second without hope". Most of the deaths that resulted from the Puerto Rico hurricane were actually _sucides_. This was meticulously documented by a journalist a while back.
So among your survival supplies, also store some appealing beverages that taste good at room temperature. Beer and wine of course, but I like fruit punch even when its warm.
Also tasty snacks: that salsa commonly contains lots of salt and vinegar was originally so it would keep well in the heat. My favorite is Pace Picante Sauce. Whatever your own favorite, by a case of that too, as well as a great many tortilla chips.
Buy a good quality camp stove - I recently purchased an MSR Whisperlite Universal [msrgear.com]; it can take white gas, unleaded gasoline, kerosene and compressed propane.
Whatever your camp stove uses for fuel, buy lots of it. It's important not to store compressed gas inside your home: sometimes pressure tanks leak and so could either asphyxiate your entire family or burn them to death.
Buy a solar-powered AM/FM radio and some rechargeable batteries - I'm quite happy with UltraLast's rechargeable lithium batteries. You'll need to come up with a solar charger, perhaps you can buy one online, but if you build one yourself, my understanding is that battery charging requires a low, constant current source and not a voltage source.
I expect you can come up with more ways to prepare. If you do I'll include them in my website article.
Extra Credit: a couple shovels, a hammer, nails and some pine planks that are pre-cut to the right dimensions for assembling into a coffin.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]