Northeast Hurricane

[Al C]

Since there has been a lot of talk of a big time Hurricane hitting the northeast sooner or later I was wondering what everyones plans were in case it ever does happen. Would you try to run inland, maybe way up the Hudson River,pull the boat and hope for the best or just ride it out in your slip and pray?

[R Cahoon]

My house is about 3/4 of a mile from the beach, maybe I'll end up with water front property.
HA HA!!!

Living on Cape Cod Hurricanes are rare, but when they hit, there is no place to hide.

Last time (Hurricane Bob) we had a 17' tide surge which sent sizable boats a mile or so inland and some got picked up by massive Helicoptors which was an unbeliveable sight.

Had 6' of water in my office, had many boats we hauled for the storm, and 400' to 600' away from the waters edge lift off there stands and float around, and when they landed it was'nt pretty.

What plan?

Keep Smilin

[Capt Dick Dean]

I've been thinking about this subject since last yr. We are on the Great South Bay on Long Island, NY The tide rise and fall is maybe 2 feet. Fire Island is to our south and the Fire Island Inlet will not let the normal tide enter the Bay. The tide rise in the ocean on the south side of Fire Island is about seven feet. The Irish Wake is tied up maybe 3 feet away from boats on either side and there is a bulk head maybe three feet above normal high tide. The boat is smack right on the Bay. The waves will go over the bulkhead and smash everything. You know the situation.
A big storm will breach Fire Island and the water will pour into the Bay. If the storm comes at high tide in the ocean, we may have a five ft rise. Maybe more.This is BIG trouble on Long Island's South Shore. Big trouble. We are just about at sea level. All the houses will have some water. But not me. I figure I'm 8 feet above hih water. There is a creek just a stones throw from my place. Dam near fell in last yr. The Creature got hold of me.
So what to do? There is a small basin 3/4 mile from the Bay, at the end of a creek. I would never go up this far normally, but with a storm coming the tide will be higher than usual. The boats in the creek are all outboards.
When faced with great odds against me, I will take disparate measures.

Now how's that? I'll have Jose Curvo on board. He's real good when things go badly!

[In Memory of Vicroy]

Well, the best hurricane advice is get the hell outta the way. Put your boat where it can't hit anything and nothing can hit it. If the lines part, be glad she's a Bertram.

Hurricanes are not tornados, not pin-point storms. Some, like Katrina, are big suckers. Her eye was 30 miles across when she wallowed ashore almost a year ago. They spin counter-clockwise, so the surge is on the east side. Katrina busted the crap out of stuff 250 miles to the east of where the center came ashore, only 30 miles to the west. Next time you pee, notice that the commode spins counter-clockwise when it flushes. Does it every time. Why that is? you say. Cause we live in the northern hemisphere, dummies. Don't aruge with me, it's a goddam fact, and you need to haul ass when a hurricane comes so you don't get flushed like we did last year.

UV, the scientist....

[Kevin]

I am on one of the emergency responce teams for the state of Florida. One thing I have noticed about the surge is the farther up a river or sound I went, the worse the surge was. Picture all the water being pushed from gulf or ocean into a large sound or bay. Then take that same water and push it all up into a narrowing body of water such as a river. The surge gets higher the farther up you go. In Miss. I found a roughly 50 foot sport fish in the woods. Location was near Diamond Head if memory serves me correct....a long way from the Gulf of mexico. The neighborhod canal system was about 1/8 of a mile away from location I found the boat. About 15 ft up in the trees there was no bark on any of the trees for about a five foot span. Every house that was on stilts in that community was gone. Nothing but slabs of concrete. All the debris from the housed ripped the bark off the tress at the high water mark as it floated past. I do not claim to be an expert but I sure as hell know what I witnessed. Hopefully when I get my other hard drive back from the shop I can find/recover the pictures. Bottom line for me is have a good insurance policy. Kevin

[ed c.]

I live in South Jersey and plan on having a lot of ice readily available with plenty of booze. Then I'll sit in front of the TV and watch the news media go bonkers standing outside in the wind and rain. God watches over Wildwood. My house has been here since 1932 and i expect it to be here in 2032 which would make me 94. Only in America.

[Jack]

My marina is as well sheltered as I can get. Cut into the side of a small creek off Raritan Bay. If a hurricane comes I plan on adding extra lines, putting out fenders, putting on the winter canvas, and then going home and drinking heavily.

[In Memory of Vicroy]

Kevin's observation is true. A storm surge is like a tidal wave, maybe just a foot or two out in the open ocean, but when it gets pushed up against high land, it towers up to amazing size. For example, at Port Eads I rode out many a hurricane with my old houseboat with no damage since there is virtually no land there for the surge to pile up against, just some cane sticking out of the mud. The water just ran by. On the other hand, on the Miss. coast, Diamondhead for example, there is flat marsh to the Gulf for a few miles, then some high hills that piles the water up.

Now Katrina was a different animal, so strong and huge in footprint that all those conventional principles went out the window. A surge simply swept over Port Eads, had to be 15', and the 150 kt winds just ripped everyting to shreds. When that surge hit the higher land, it built up to 20-30 feet when it swept inland a few miles.

UV

[Al C]

So I guess to be safe I will be taking the the boat up the Hudson to maybe Albany :lol:

[Rawleigh]

We had the same effect in Isabell. The upper Bay got it worse than we did. Whereever there was a choke point in a river got pounded too.

[Capt Dick Dean]

Storm surge ... I THINK that where I am, the water can't get into the Bay becaues of the barrier beach, Fire Island. But the water is so high in the ocean that it goes over and breaks thru. Going over the beach doesn't let that much in . Maybe four feet at low tide. This is what happrned 20 yrs ago, in 1985. But what about high tide. Oh, brother. Would you believe 10 feet? Many Fire Island houses were destroyed. You know --- all the movie stars east of me near Randall, The Hamptons.

[Dug]

Here is my plan.

If it is up to a category 1, I go to the town dock in GLP and double lines, remove canvas etc., tape windows, because more than anything I am concerned about crap that flies in the wind. And the bilge pumps. Make sure insurance is paid and coverage is wide.

Category 2-3 have the boat hauled, and do all of the above, or run in a direction that is less likely to be pounded. I like the idea of running up a river (like a big one!) like the CT or Hudson, but that is probably not practical, because if it really is a big storm I will likely be here at the factory in a flood zone trying to protect real assets, and not on the boat in any way. Make sure insurance is paid and coverage is wide.

Anything over category 3, and I take a pill Robin Williams recommends, called F&*K-it-all, which will take care of everything. I plan to haul, make sure the insurance is paid and coverage is wide, and hope for the best. For a storm of that size, the boat is one of the personal worries, but overall not the biggest in the pile. Unfortunately.

Hate to say it, that is the plan. Any weaknesses? For real! Let me know.

Dug

[Joseph Fikentscher]

The good thing about hurricanes in the Northeast is that by the time that they reach here, they are usually moving at 20 0r 30MPH. They are usually over in a few hours. It seems that in the Gulf and Florida that they are moving much slower 9-10MPH, making for a much longer storm.

[Joseph Fikentscher]

The winter NE Storms usually have more damage because they last for a few days. The back bays have a chance to fill up and the flooding begins.