No immediate danger, but watching Dorian. We are in Eastern coastal Alabama, and the track of the storm looks like it will be in Gulf five or six days from now. Not certain.
I know things change, but 86-year-old Mom does not do well out of the house. Have supplies and we are 10 miles inland, but how does senior handle no power (air condtioning) for several days?
Better to evacuate and deal with the "it's not our house" when we return?
BUT they are noisy, in addition to having to have fuel.
Katrina was on a Monday, by Tuesday nite those running gennies were getting home invasions. Sound of the gennies made your home a target as did having lights on. Not only did you have a generator but that meant you had fuel as well. Genny sound muffled the break in too. Nice.
Gas lines went out Wed morning as they were flooded off. So anyone using gas lines, that stopped as well.
We left Thursday.
For those that fault us for staying..... Remember, storm models did not have NOLA as the path. Katrina did not hit NOLA (it hit MS Gulf coast & Plaquemine & edge of St Bernard Parish in Louisiana, with Pearlington, MS kinda ground zero); NOLA was on the west or the “clean” side of the system. The issue for NOLA was federal US Corps of Engineers built levee’s that failed throughout the New Orleans area & the collapse/funneling from the federal MR GO system. Had levees & MR GO held, Katrina would have been a non-event for NOLA.
So glad the hurricane (Dorian) has missed you.
I understand there was some confusion over listing Alabama as one of the states that might be affected.
I read this:
"Spann, a veteran Alabama forecaster who is widely respected for his coverage of tornado outbreaks, responded to Trump at 11:31 a.m. and said, "Alabama will not be impacted by Dorian in any way."
Be safe.
EVACUATE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We recently had a whole house generator installed, into our natural gas line. It has had to power up for two power outages in the last month, works seamlessly. Love it! Today I scrubbed the water containers, and filled. So we have lots of water for backup, should the city water system be disrupted. Also have a lot of body wash towelettes I laid in for three upcoming surgeries. We could supply the neighborhood, lol. So, we are good. Setting up cots for the night Dorian comes through, in the Hall, away from windows, with maximum support should a tree come down. Not a lot else to do. I’ve been quite ill after the cystoscopy, I think it was the strong antibiotic. I was unable to do the final shopping trip, nor gas up my car. We will get by.
She does not react well to leaving the house so I was/am concerned about possible evacuation. I wanted to know what others have done.
THe hurricane missed us (thank you, God), and it was a good wake up. Until now, I didn't think evacuation was a problem. But mom's mental condition makes it hard to leave/return.
I left a note about this with her doctor's office to get her input. And I started pricing generators.
I hope this discussion thread has been helpful to those weighing whether to evacuate the elderly or stay, You are truly the most caring, supportive people! And your love for your older family members is so inspiring!
As we are living in the coastal GA area, we could get kissed by Dorian. Or a smack down. Hard to know how it will shake down. But short of a miracle, we are going to get hit. The proximity to the coast, or a direct landfall, will determine how bad it will be.
We aren’t planning on evacuation here, just hunkering down. We aren’t on the barrier islands, and reasonably high enough above sea level, not on a marsh or tidal creek. Not too concerned about surge in our location, but there are no guarantees in life.
I hope all of us and our families will come through with minimal damage, other than the frayed nerves many are feeling. Check in please!
WHILE I am equipped to shelter here for seven days, I am going to investigate a generator. If I can run refrigerator, one light and fan we might be ok. Whole house a/c might be pushing it.
I am also.putting a call in to her doctor Tuesday (labor day here)to see what can be done re the "not our house" delusion. Might not be able to fix, but thinking increase in generic Xanax or something just for the trip might help.
Don't want to use chemical restraints, but the Xanax stopped the hitting so wonder if something like that might help.
We tried to help in small ways, visiting with other residents we'd gotten to know as well, but the activities directors, aids, and nursing staff worked together to keep the mood bright despite their concerns about their own families and homes back in Wilmington!
Your mom will handle whatever comes better if you are with her and you are reasonably calm. If you have to use a generator, please follow the CO2 (carbon monoxide) warnings!
As the strength of the storm is reported to be increasing (Saturday),
I am praying for you and everyone in it's path.
Please note-disaster planners do their best with the dollars they have. That said, some areas, like the lower FL Keys, have disaster shelters with elevations lower than the expected storm surge height. Do not ever go to one of those! I literally held a sick man’s hand, remotely, via cell phone, talking him through his panic, while he sheltered in a south FL emergency shelter. His tanks had run out of oxygen, storm surge broke through the shelter doors, and surged into the special medical needs shelter. Talked him through pursed lips breathing to try to maximize the room oxygen he was by then breathing, provided whatever reassurance I could, by text, as we were also sheltering in GA, without power ourselves. My cell phone battery gave out. I hope he survived. I didn’t have power to run my own oxygen. The authorities aren’t going to be helping most people. Trust me.
Hospitals, agencies and more weren't able to help. It was the outstanding staff at Dad's Senior Center who came to the rescue.
You're very kind to share your wisdom as well as time to help others. I hope that someday someone offers that same level of help to you.
Suggest If you have 2 bathtubs, scrub one so it’s very very clean and fill it to the rim with water. This becomes your very own cistern. Also get freezer bags and fill with water & put them into the freezer ASAP. Even if power fails, you’ll have frozey water if not ice cubes till like next weekend. If you have stuff in freezer you can bake or eat this weekend, do that as well as makes more room for water bags.
Also if you have a old school land line, they work till forever unless it’s like Katrina Level Storm. If you know of others who have land lines, try to set up a phone chain to check in with each other. It’s also a good way to see if power has gone off in an area.
I too believe in sheltering in place unless you are directly on or within 2k’ water / shore if it’s a Cat 3 or above. Realize that if u were to get onto the road, you are there with thousands driving up from all over FL. Many who have no prior hurricane experience. That tunnel at Mobile only can do so many cars at a time. Flat no way around that unless it’s by watercraft.
If “contraflow” gets called - which it will - that means you are in a queue on Interstate or state Hwy # whatever and cannot just get off to stop at the McDonalds or Waffle House. Exits & entries are going be few & far between. If mom has dementia trying to make her understand that no she cannot get out of the car even tho it’s not moving may be a beyond a challenge. If u have a pet, they too get stir crazy.
Ask anyone who went thru Ivan or Jeanne, folks were in traffic for 8-14 hr stretches till finally out of contraflow traffic. Your mom can’t drive, it’s gonna be super stressful for you
Btw Fairhope & St Stan in Bay St Louis are the highest point on this stretch of the GOM till Kemah. Might get wind damage & wind driven rain in a bad storm but not flooding. We sail & kid did Optis, know most of YC & harbors in GOM. Fairhope / Daphne / Foley should be fine. Dauphin island, Pt. Clear, along Dog River, Perdido Bay and gulf shores will have serious surge even if Dorian pulls up thru central FL into GA (which is what most models are showing). If your inland on the Left of Dorians path you should be ok.
Also you may want to put WWL weather app on your phone. CBS affiliate out of NOLA, they are pros and not on the edge of hysteria. I do think WKRG is good too as is WeatherUnderground for solid info.
good luck!
Getting out of car while in traffic . . .I
So, how have others delt with someone with dementia during a natural disaster. Need ideas.
Many thanks.
I have "go" bags already; they are set up mid-July for hurricane season. Gassed the car -- had half tank, but 1. Dorian and 2. A six-cents-a-gallon tax increase Sept. 1 here.
Have seven days food and bottled water in house,baby wipes and pet food. have about 15 days of her meds. Asked siblings to get used walkers in their homes so I don't have to fit that in car months ago. Have a "travel" wheelchair (thrift store find) in trunk already. She can walk but it is hard.
MY biggest concern is actually getting her out of the house and having her quiet when we return. That is the big worry. I can't take her to lunch or anywhere, even doctor appt. without an hour of, "This is not my house, I don't like it here and do those people know we are here. "
I'm really impressed with your preparedness!
I would not wait until the last minute, taking your elderly Mom out in a storm.
Go days in advance if you go at all. Be brave. Get help. Spare no expense.
This is coming from a person who believes in sheltering in place.
We took the wind and 20.5 inches of rain from Hurricane Harvey. 2 hours north of us took the historic flooding...Houston.
Prepare for the worst, then hope for the best.
As a coastal resident you know how unpredictable these storms can be.
Please, Please heed the instructions from your local authorities regarding evacuation. Sometimes the storms zig and zag and the evacuations come last minute and there’s no time to run.
Do you have any understanding relatives in a safe zone? If you do and mandatory evacuations are ordered I would head there if I had an 86yr old in tow.
With all due respect, I grew up without A/C and I am in the heat everyday. But, the heat after a hurricane is hard to imagine. No one held up well. Not me at 56,not kids in their 30s, 3yr Old did okay...Oppressive heat, humidity higher than usual and NO breeze.
Most Elders like it toasty but not what I described above.
If you are going to take any wind at all you may have no power for weeks. We were lucky only out of power for 12 days. For us no power=no water.
We had 2 generators and lots of fuel but ran them sparingly because there was no fuel available for 4 days. No power = no fuel also.
If you choose to not evacuate, which I do not recommend, Double your supplies. You can always use them.
Baby wipes for bathing...yuk....
If you are ordered to evacuate, do the smart thing, evacuate.
As GA suggested. Pack the car, get organized, make lists, try to find a safe place. You may not need to evacuate but being prepared is wise.
FoleyDaughter could buy some no rinse bathing and shampoo solutions. I've used both; the no rinse bathing is refreshing and the shampoo isn't quite as moist (although perhaps I didn't use enough), but they at least do refresh so a person doesn't feel grubby.
And actually, those of us in the North could heed the advice offered here b/c we have to deal with winter storms, some of which are pretty nasty, although we don't usually have lengthy power failures.
I think that someplace I have some cider jugs I can fill with water and freeze them in the event that they're needed.
The worst you'd have to do if Dorian didn't hit your area is unpack your car, but if it did head your way, you'd already be prepare, w/o the stress of hurrying to pack and escape.
My mother was living alone in the Orlando area 3 years ago when Irma hit. I came and stayed with her during the storm and for several days afterwards. She really needed someone with her to field problems and needs as they arose. We didn't get flooding, but we lost power for 4-5 days. We had a battery-powered fan (highly recommend) and camping lantern which I gave to her to use. We had stocked up on water and batteries, and had plenty of candles and flashlights.
Since she had an electric stove, I set up a propane camping stove out in the shed to make coffee every morning. I also cooked all our meals there, using up perishables like eggs first and then cooking all the frozen food as it thawed from lack of power. I was able to barter ice cubes from a neighbor with a generator, in exchange for thermoses of hot coffee in the morning. It worked out fine, but it would not have worked out for her without someone there full-time. I don't know if any of this applies to your mother's situation, but take it for what it's worth.
If an evacuation is called, as people leave gas stations run out of gas. When these stations can no longer service people for ice or other needed items, the exits get closed. Then you are sitting in traffic and you can't even use the restroom. These things have very negative impact on seniors. Better to be safe than sorry. Texas learned these lessons the hard way.
As the weather forecasts get more refined, and if the local gov't says to evacuate, DO IT. Even if it's just going to be bad and probably lose power, probably evacuating to a safe place is in order.
Definitely get a generator.