FlyingJ

Anyone know how the hurricane winds are measured in deciding category? Mainly wondering at what height (ground level, uppers, etc.) that they are measured. Obviously there is probably quite a range to be seen. Killing threads since 2004.

Freakin' IDIOTS!!! CNN just reported the first death attributed to the storm. One of two 19 year old dudes out playing on the end of a fishing jetty in Corpus. Got swept off and out to sea by a wave. Completely unnecessary!!! Killing threads since 2004.

Exactly. He knows his opinions are just that, opinions. Doesn't act like he's preaching the gospel. Killing threads since 2004.

Good idea for all major appliances. Working for Red Cross during the storms of 2004 and 2005 one of the most common losses people complained about was fried appliances (freezers & refrigerators mainly) that got fried by power surges while the power grid was being repaired and very unstable. Once your power is out, pretty good idea to unplug them and make sure the power is stable before plugging them back in! Killing threads since 2004.

And when it's deserved I've heard him make fun of the people/topics that he usually supports. Killing threads since 2004.

Or extreme back pressure! Killing threads since 2004.

I've come across a few shows mentioned in the favorite TV shows thread that I haven't heard of and have enjoyed checking out some video clips. Share some of your favorite clips from those favorite shows! Here's a compilation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWuFRW0lBaI I can't find my favorite moment from Cheers, but it's something like this: An older gentleman comes in, walks up to the bar, and starts up a conversation with Woody. Gentleman: I used to come to this bar all the time, but then I left Boston. It's been over 20 years now and I tell you, everything is changed. These countertops are new. That wood panelling used to be wallpaper. And there was a second set of stairs leading up. Woody: Oh yeah? Where? Gentleman: Over there, behind Norm. Killing threads since 2004.

Thanks for the updates. Good luck up there tonight! Killing threads since 2004.

Can't believe nobody has mentioned this one... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXehSng0NV4 Killing threads since 2004.

I think I'm going to start a letter writing campaign to television programmers about what they broadcast during times like this (hurricane hitting). Of course all of the major stations are all hurricane, all the time. I've got a pretty good seat for that so not interested in watching it on tv. Seems like a pretty good time for a good marathon. Cheers maybe? Plenty of good options mentioned in this thread. Maybe a "Best of the 80's" marathon? Something in half hour or hour segments so I won't be left hanging when the power goes out. I've got a buddy's Lonesome Dove DVDs sitting here, but I don't want to put them on because I'll be pissed if the power goes out halfway through!!! Killing threads since 2004.

I was just ranting on the phone a little too and my friend pointed out something I hadn't really thought about. A lot of times it's the folks that really are relatively prepared that are the ones left waiting for help. There are very few people living on the gulf coast that have an excuse to be anything but prepared for this kind of stuff. It's a fact of life living here. That said, I imagine that keeping well prepared might give a false sense of security. Just another thing to ponder I guess. As with everything in life, knowing one's limits is a pretty important personal attribute to have! Killing threads since 2004.

I do like that he calls himself an opinionist rather than a journalist. I rarely agree with anything he has to say, but I don't feel like I'm holding back my gag reflex like I do if I were listening to Rush or O'Reilly (or their equally obnoxious peers on the liberal side of the house). Killing threads since 2004.

I'm sure they get one now and then they wouldn't mind tossing back! Killing threads since 2004.

Is anyone on here in the Alvin area? A co-worker lives there. Not sure if they are under a mandatory evac or not but he has a newborn and lives in a modular home so he headed out of town. Just wondering how things are going in that area. Killing threads since 2004.

Very true and no matter how often they are thanked it is not enough. I just have trouble getting over that the reason thanks are owed is (more often than not) because people are too stubborn to follow directions meant to save their lives without risking those of others. Just in a ranting mood while waiting for my power to go out. It's been flickering for the last hour. I'm about 150 miles down the coast and it's just starting to get windy but our power goes out down here when someone farts in the right direction. Killing threads since 2004.

A friend from that area said it was getting pretty windy, but as of an hour or so ago there was no rain or anything very serious happening yet. Killing threads since 2004.

...can't people that are told to leave the area of an impending disaster just freakin' leave!!! It's kind of a tough question for me to ask because I understand why people stay. I've been through 9 or 10 pretty major storms and stayed pretty much anytime it wasn't mandatory. I can understand people high and dry in an area otherwise doomed feel it would be ok, but what the hell are people that live right on the water doing still in town? There is NO reason that Coast Guard/Military/local people need to be put at risk trying to rescue people that make the choice to stay and then get fucked. These resources usually have a trigger point at which they stop rescues until the event is over, but they spend an awful lot of time on the brink of that trigger point when there should be no reason for them to be there. There are obviously circumstances where folks are all of a sudden in danger that didn't expect, but come on, when there is no doubt what is going to happen, why should people be risking their lives because you were stubborn? Like I said, I understand completely that there are some reasons that might validate someone staying around, but they are extremely few and far between. Of course, that said, I have several coast guard and former Air Force parajumper friends that have said they really get off on executing rescues in crazy conditions and would feel cheated if they didn't get the chance to help out those considered common sense challenged. Stupidity = job satisfaction. Killing threads since 2004.

I LOVE that dude. Used to have an iguana that I named Yukon Cornelius. edit: spelling Killing threads since 2004.

Happy Birthday Mr. Yukon! Killing threads since 2004.

Damn...what's a guy got to do to get a ride-a-long on one of these... http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/20080912/ap_on_re_us/eye_of_ike In Hurricane Ike, bumpy ride with bird's-eye view By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer Mary Foster, Associated Press Writer Fri Sep 12, 7:07 am ET INSIDE HURRICANE IKE – Amid the engines' roar, the Air Force Reserve pilots and navigator worked calmly as their huge plane neared the eyewall of Hurricane Ike. The gray cloud, looming 50,000 feet into the sky like a colossal concrete barrier was four miles thick, and the Lockheed WC-130J was hurtling into it. "It's a big one, and it's going to get bigger," said Lt. Col. Mark Carter, 54, a pilot who has chased storms for 31 years. "It's off land now, and feeding on the warm water down there while it gets itself back together." "Down there" is 10,000 feet below, where the swirling dark water and foaming waves of the Gulf of Mexico are only visible intermittently through the clouds. Carter, and his fellow Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, were finishing a fourth trip across Ike, during a 10-hour, 3,000-mile trek to monitor the storm taking aim at the Texas coast. The aircraft carved a 210-mile giant "X" pattern through Ike and its eye, just off the western tip of Cuba. "We're the only military aircraft that has permission to fly through Cuban airspace," said public information officer Maj. Chad Gibson. "We share the information we gather with them." Using high tech equipment aboard the $72 million plane, the crew gathers data on wind speed, barometric pressure and other information for the National Hurricane Center. "The plane makes two observations a second," said Maj. Deeann Lufkin, 35, a meteorologist who stood behind a bank of screens as she monitored the storm. Lufkin, who has more than 50 hurricane flights behind her, took the jostling of the storm as easily as a New York City subway rider handles rush hour. Like everyone on the crew, Lufkin, of Northfield, Minn., is an Air Force Reservist — a civilian who works summers with the Hurricane Hunters, based at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss. "I love this job," said Lufkin, whose husband is also a Hurricane Hunter. "It is endlessly fascinating, and it is also extremely important. We provide information the satellites can't get. And we provide something satellites will never have — a human eye and brain." The C-130 has been a workhorse of the U.S. military for nearly five decades, is a squat, broad aircraft, painted dull gray, with four black propellers curving over the wings like exotic flowers. Inside, it resembles a high-tech auto mechanic's garage. Metal grids on the floor offer secure places to stash equipment, insulation covers most of the walls and ceilings, wires shake everywhere, red mesh behind the armless seats offer something to grab onto when the plane starts bucking and tilting in a storm. Despite its plain looks, Tech. Sgt. Scott Blair, a big man with close-cropped gray hair and tattoos running up his arms, calls the aircraft his girlfriend. "I've been married 21 years," said Blair, 38, who runs Fat Boy's BBQ restaurant in Picayune. Miss., when not flying into storms. "She's never had call to be jealous until I started flying on this plane. Now she calls it my mistress." Flights can run as long as 15 hours, not counting preflight and post-flight briefings. Once ordered into a storm, the 10 crews made up of six people each, fly on a rotating basis, 24-hours a day, seven days a week. The flights go into everything from developing tropical storms to Category 5 hurricanes. But they don't fly into a storm over land because of the danger of tornadoes. Since the flights officially began in 1943, only four Hurricane Hunter planes have been lost in the bump and grind through the clouds — the last in 1974. It doesn't take much to draw out stories of the storms that have tilted the plane at dangerous angles, sent shudders down its metal spine and through its human occupants, banging untethered people against the ceiling as ride-along journalists scramble for plastic bags amid lurching stomachs. Blair, who dozed in free in-flight moments with a copy of the book "Unholy War" spread across his stomach, was nonchalant about the Ike flight. But he remembers others that were more eventful. "Hurricane Charlie, what was that '03, '04?" Blair said. "That almost beat us to death. We made a pass through it as a Category 2, and 45 minutes later, when we went back through, it was a Cat 4. Every reporter on board had a bag up to his face." The storms are most dangerous as they build or break apart, Blair said. That's when a potentially deadly microburst of wind and huge up-and downdrafts threaten the plane. Dangerous or not, the flights, with their combination of boredom and adrenaline-pumping moments, appear to be addictive. "I'm going to keep doing this until I get too old or my hearing goes," Blair said. "Then I'll just sit up in Picayune (Miss.) and drink beer and eat barbecue and dream about it." Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press Killing threads since 2004.

I was incredibly impressed with the Wal-Mart and HEB down here in Victoria and how well they kept stocked. There was a huge rush a couple days back when it was looking to come straight through here. Obviously the population numbers have to be taken into account of the little town vs. Houston, but both stores had trucks full of stuff waiting to be loaded in as the shelves were cleared. I went through a bunch of storms in Florida and never saw that happen to such a degree before. Killing threads since 2004.

They closed hwy 98 today due to water washing over the road. 15-20 ft swells. My mom just told me about the road closure this morning and the huge swells they're getting down there. My grandmother is stuck on Dauphin Island because the roads are flooded over. I was disappointed... I wanted to go to the beach today... first time I've heard of them having waves in a while larger than 2-3ft. That was always my favorite part of an approaching storm when I lived in Grayton Beach (btw Destin and PCB). The gulf was always so glass like it was unreal to see, especially when they got up to 8 to 12 feet. Killing threads since 2004.

Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, I think UGA will have revenge on their minds after last year's debacle. Bama plays at Arkansas the weekend before the UGA game. Just hope we don't get caught looking ahead! Georgia's finally going to be on TV this weekend and the fuckin hurricane will probably knock my power out late Friday/early Saturday. WTF!!! Killing threads since 2004.

I hear ya. My post wasn't really a response to you, just replied to the last one. I know a bunch of people that have evac plans if they make it manadatory, but otherwise were going to shelter in place. Just wondering how many of them only watching the weather channel are getting bad info. It's good to see the equipment get out of there. If the storm keeps moving it will probably make having moved our trucks up to Austin unnecessary, but I'd rather be safe than sorry w/ $100k vehicles. I can't imagine being responsible for aircraft! Killing threads since 2004.

A Yankee push drill is probably one of my handiest tools. So much more convenient than keeping batteries charged or dealing with cords for small stuff at home and was especially nice in college in a dorm room, etc. I've had one or two imitation drills at work and none are as nice as the older No 41 my grandfather gave me. If I were buying one now I'd buy a used one off ebay rather than a new version. http://cgi.ebay.com/OLD-STANLEY-YANKEE-No-41Y-PUSH-DRILL-W-BITS-BELL-SYSTEM_W0QQitemZ170258680827QQihZ007QQcategoryZ13872QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Killing threads since 2004.