Should I be afraid of Hurricane Irene?

Flooding, trees down, roads closed, no power. I live not far from CT and I am somewhat nervous. Staying home, hopefully sleeping soon.

No, don’t be nervous. It’s going to be a bad rainstorm probably where you are.

We’ll see. We’re supposed to be 3 hours from the worst here in PHilly and it’s barely doing anything right now.

And according to the map, we’re in the severest portion of the storm at the moment. Weird.

Even as a category 1 storm, it can do severe damage. It’s winds will be at least 75 mph, which is very high. If you’ve secured everything you can, then you’re ready.

My only advice is don’t underestimate the severity of the winds and go outside. You could be hit by debris and hurt or worse.

Depemds on where in Connecticut you live. If you’re right on the coast, I’d be more worried than if you’re more inland. It’s good that you have everything secured, but you might want to go one step further: temporarily remove objects that can fly around like birdfeeders. At least that’s what I did. If you’re really worried, you can tape up the windows, which will help prevent shattering of glass. note: use tape like masking tape, not scotch. Hopefully it will pass by without incident.
Oh, did I mention stock up on food and gas and don’t use electrical stuff while it’s thundering (if that happens)?

The sustained winds at 75, or whatever it is when it approaches your area, is only near the eye. If the eye does not come near you, the winds will not be that high except for possible gusts. If the eye does come over you, don’t go outside during it, the back side of the eye is really bad, perfectly still to high winds in minutes. After the storm expect to stay close to home. There maybe be a curfew for several days if there are power outages. If you drive, remember all intersections with lights not working are four way stops, no matter how big or small the roads are going in either direction. A six lane road crossing a small two lane road, it is still to be treated as a four way stop. Do not talk on your phone at all, not even hands free, while driving on streets without power.

During the highest winds don’t use candles.

Hurricane-force winds can extend outward to about 25 miles in a small hurricane and to more than 150 miles for a large one. Tropical storm-force winds can stretch out as far as 300 miles from the center of a large hurricane.

Source: NOAA

@hawaii_jake All that matters is how far they extend for Hurricane Irene. I don’t know the answer, but I’ll see if I can find it.

IRENE IS A LARGE TROPICAL CYCLONE. HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS ARE LOCATED
OVER A RELATIVELY SMALL AREA ROUGHLY 125 MILES…205 KM…TO THE
EAST OF THE CENTER. TROPICAL-STORM-FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD
UP TO 240 MILES…390 KM FROM THE CENTER. TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS
WILL SPREAD NORTHWARD INTO SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY AND LONG ISLAND
OVERNIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING.

Source: NOAA

I’m sorry for the post being in all capital letters, but that’s the way NOAA prints things.

Basically, If you’re within 125 miles of the eye of the storm, you can expect hurricane force winds.

@hawaii_jake 125 miles east of the eye. Although of course all the way around the eye is not fun. The only hurricane I have been in that had a square hit was a cat 2 I think? Can’t remember for sure the category. Thing had a huge eye, I remember that. A bunch of us went out for 10 minutes during the eye, a big no no. Hurricanes more than anything are usually annoying and boring, with some fear mixed in when the big winds finally hit.

No.

@JLeslie : Yeah, hurricanes pack the biggest wallop on the east side. I don’t know why that is. I would have to take exception to describing hurricanes as annoying and boring. Hurricane Irene has already killed 7 people.

@hawaii_jake I don’t mean to show a lack of respect to those who have been killed, hurt, or will have damage to property, of course I take the storm seriously, as I just stated on a different Q that was asking about the media reports on Irene. But, for the vast majority of people it will be annoying and boring. I have been through many hurricanes and it is running around a day or two before to buy what you need and prepare, then being safely at home, or wherever you are spending the storm, before the storm begins to hit, then waiting for it to hit, then waiting to get through the bands, listening to where it is going, listening to stuff bang around outside (that is part of the nervousness) but a Cat 1 is not going to have a freight train sounding wind as so many describe in tornados and stronger storms. God forbid, sometimes tornadoes deelop in the hurricane, and that is worse than those 80 MPH winds at the eye. Then waiting for it to end, then finally going out to see the damage, possibly losing electricity. Being under curfew for days after. Stopping at every single intersection that has a light if traffic lights are out. Cleaning up outside. Flooding is a different story, that is a really big deal, and NYC has some real risk of flooding, and anyone very close to the coasts. Just a quarter mile in and people should not worry about flooding from storm surge, excluding islands, I am not talking about islands, they are at more risk, but there is some worry from such heavy rains of course.

@hawaii_jake Did you see why they died? the only death that really strikes me is the one who was killed in their home by a fallen tree. The other people were obviously out in the storm. Oh, and the gentleman who had a heart attack, we can’t know if he would have had one anyway, but most likely the stress and heavy work did cause it.

MSNBC has a great map that includes information regarding the winds around the hurricane and the best guess path it will follow.

Might be a good resource for those wondering what to expect.

@JLeslie : It’s very sad. People don’t seem to understand the nature of the storm.

Meanwhile, the OP should not be very afraid. My friends in Annapolis are saying it isn’t very bad for them right now 2:16 am ET.

Instead of being scared, just take the precautions recommended by your local weather authorities. No need to worry when you can take preventative action instead.

I don’t think so but at the same time don’t do anything as foolish as some people have done already and have gotten hurt or worse. Its funny how it was a category 3 when it went through the bahamas and not one person was hurt. But it came in weaker here and people got hurt. The difference is simply that they learn to respect mother nature. Unless you live below sea level or at the edge of some hill that may wash down, or live next to some really large trees and the land is already well saturated, then I wouldn’t worry much. Make sure you have supplies in case power goes out. Take pictures of your house before, incase there is any wind damage. And find your home insurance paper work in case your not sure where it is.
I’ve been in plenty of hurricanes up to winds of 135 and my homes have always made if fine. Lots of debris to pick up later but that is all. cat 1 will just make a slight mess.

No. Fear paralyzes the mind. Instead, you should understand the hurricane and what it can do, and prepare to defend against it.

Be cautious, and calm and frankly try to ignore all the people who say “It’s only a category one, no big deal, I’ve lived through worse” etc etc. It can still do a lot of damage (and has already, it’s almost 9 AM here in SW coastal CT and there is a lot of damage reported in my town, trees down, power out, major flooding and the storm hasn’t peaked here yet.) All the people who are so smug about surviving bigger storms are just being condescending jerks at this point. It is dangerous, take appropriate precautions. Good luck!

@JilltheTooth It isn’t being smug. We don’t want the OP to be anxiety ridden all night. Don’t you think we who have been through hurricanes know what hurricanes are like? I realize now that my comments about how it should be taken seriously in terms of preparation are not on this Q, but if you see me on the other hurricane Q’s you see I am not saying the storm is a nothing.

Maybe not fear it, bt respect it and all it can do.
As long as you are prepared and know when to cut bait, you will be ok.
Keep a cool head and know your capabilities and limits.
Prayers for your safety and all those in its path.
The winds are ramping here in Southern NH and I lost my wind gauge. It blew away on a 60mph gust.

Everything is fine in Philly. We didn’t lose electricity.Nothing more than ordinary storm damage to the trees. It has been pretty windy all morning. Kind of like a fall day, only cloudy. I need to go down and look at the rivers. I hear they are pretty high above flood stage.

Not too much happened here except lots of down trees and loss of power….. But we all stayed in doors and watched as the wind and rain picked up….. We just got our power back after a day and a half without it…. Yeah Lights!!!!!

@creative1
Same thing here!
We just got our power back! :D

When it comes to hurricanes and other natural disasters it’s about being prepared instead of being afraid honoring the precautionary principle.