For those in the Caribbean what are they supposed to do to be safe from Hurricane Sandy?

Sandy is approaching landfall in the Mid-Atlantic…those in the Caribbean should be out of danger now.

You are thinking of a tornado. For a hurricane people are supposed to move to higher ground.

In NYC things like underground electrical transformer vaults in lowlying areas had their vents covered with plastic, plywood and sandbags. A “mandatory” evacuation was ordered for zone A that includes areas most likely to flood.
Shoppers in local markets are displaying a spectrum of response from buying cases of drinking water to ”...organic limes ! What else do we need for the margaritas?”

The deluge of rain and high winds forecast for last night did not happen here in NYC. no rain at all overnight and just some drizzle this morning. Radar maps look like the brunt of the storm went a bit west over Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

I, personally, would buy beer and call my friends over.

It’s a Cat 1, and a big one at that. That means the second it hits land it’s going to fall apart. I doubt we’d even cancel work for this storm.

Granted, I live in Florida and have everything necessary for a three-day evacuation in my home at all times. Not necessarily in a box ready to go, but it’s all there somewhere.

The problem with this hurricane is that it’s meeting up with a cold front. So it could hover over the northeast for several days. It has started to turn westward toward the land and is expected to make landfall sometime late tonight around southern New Jersey.

@YARNLADY I’m not thinking of a tornado :D

I’m implying, since the hurricane is so huge and intense, it virtually rapes through the islands in the Caribbean, what I’m asking is, what the heck are you supposed to do to stay safe when the hurricane is still running on fuel through the oceans?

The hurricane isn’t really that huge and intense. It’s only a category 1, and people in the Caribbean are going to be used to having category 3s and 4s on a somewhat annular basis.

Right now, the hurricane is simply going to sit still and dump a lot of rain on top of New York. Wind damage is not a threat to structures.

@_Whitetigress Maybe it was not best to pose this question specifically about Sandy, but hurricanes in general that go through the Caribbean. Like California and earthquakes, it’s something they are prepared for and deal with all the time. The homes are built differently than the US (exterior walls of concrete), hurricane shutters over the windows, etc. There are no underground shelters, as they would flood from the rains. That would serve no purpose. They go to higher ground, stay in a home, and hope for the best. I have been in the Caribbean through a Category 3 hurricane at a direct hit. The house was up the mountain, so no sea water issue, the house was designed so the wind skims off the roofs, we kept the storm shutters down and stayed inside.

@PhiNotPi @Ponderer983

Hurricane Sandy has claimed the lives of 65 at the least. How is this not not a huge storm? Why does one have to wait until category 3 to take it serious?

Let’s not stray away from the OP. For the most part the citizens in the Caribbean are poor. How do they stay safe? (Besides booking a flight and getting out of there) Do they have specialized buildings? Etc?

@_Whitetigress I never said the storm was not huge or serious, so don’t put words in my mouth. I generalized it so that my answer applies to all hurricanes that go through the Caribbean, since when you posed the question, Sandy was already out of strong impact on the Caribbean (it had already passed and done its damage there). And as I said in my answer, the buildings are built differently and can withstand hurricane force winds. The homes of the wealthy in those nations are built to endure this, and for the poor, there are shelters to go to (a lot of times the churches are set up as such places). And to that note, many who die are poor or homeless. Sounds harsh to say, but there is a bit of Darwinism at play here. Sandy has gone through Cuba and Haiti which are 2 of the poorer nations in the Caribbean, so their infrastructure is not as good and was already damaged from the earthquake. But unlike the US, shelter systems and emergency systems in poor nations are not as developed, and their poor suffer because of that. That is why countries like us are the ones who have to send in aid afterwards because the country does not have the relief systems. The answer to your question is they do what they can to stay safe, but unfortunately they don’t have the systems we do to protect all of their citizens. If you are looking for a specific form or protection, all they have are everyday buildings to go into (nothing underground, no special hurricane survival buildings, etc.).

@Ponderer983 I have no idea why I put @ your name. Sorry!

Fill your bathtub(s) with potable water before the storm gets to you!

We just got power back Saturday morning in Financial District NYC.
With two smallish tubs, we had enough water for drinking, cooking, and flushing for two people (and a parrot) and could have gone maybe two or three more days if necessary.

If you are trendy and are considering remodeling your bathroom with just a shower and no tub (as many in our building have done), keep in mind the basic utility of a big tubfull in an emergency.

@PhiNotPi How about that Category 1 eh? Looks like the wind damage did some hefty damage.

@PhiNotPi “The hurricane isn’t really that huge and intense.” Wind speed isn’t everything.
This storm was 1000 miles wide – how big does it have to be to be ‘huge’ in your book? – and it was colliding with a big cold front adding to the rainfall and when it slowed down it dropped more rain on the areas it rolled over.
There have clearly been storms with higher wind speeds but that doesn’t do all the damage.