home

‹ previous page  1  2  3  4   next page ›

Lesson learned: If you use propane gas to cook or heat water, make sure your tank is full and WELL-secured. (A lot of them floated off in this storm!) As a backup, before the storm arrives, locate your grill to a safe/high/dry spot with a full gas bottle (or two)! If your tank floats off, you’ll hear a “hissing” sound, which means you need to get to the connection somehow to turn it off. A safer plan would be to turn it off BEFORE water reaches the tank. Ask your propane gas provider if you don’t know how to do that.

On another note: I am amazed at the number of people who don’t understand their flood insurance coverage. There are different flood policies for buildings and personal property contained within buildings. A building flood policy does not cover personal property. A separate flood policy must be purchased for personal property. If in doubt, folks should call their insurer to assure there is adequate coverage for flood, wind and rain!

Judi Heit
Broad Creek

---

Here’s my solution for surviving the last 6 Hurricanes that have affected
Oriental. If you have a boat like my O’Day 27, go under the bridge and anchor
well up Greens Creek. I use an over-sized 45 CQR anchor and my regular
Danforth as a back up. The worst part is getting the 45 CQR anchor up after
the storm.

David Talbot
s/v “Ceilidh”

---

Dear Towndockists,

Sadly I must report that another of those old adages has proven to be painfully true. The one I’m thinking of is “self-inflicted injuries are the most painful ones”, and I can attest that it’s accurate, and painful.

Having learned almost nothing from Hurricane Isabel, and after thoroughly assessing NOAA’s 2pm Friday pre-storm forecast, I of course determined that Irene wouldn’t possibly bring as much water into the creek as did Isabel.

While Boone & I meticulously picked up the garage floor while making room for her car, I again parked the pickup in the same barn where another had been flooded in Isabel. I even parked the tractor next to the pickup. After Isabel I probably should also have learned how critical tractors with a front-end loader are.

Unfortunately, while going through the garage, we overlooked the loose lid on a half-full 5-gallon jug of used motor oil. Yes, I continue to change my own motor oil, so as to have a chance to look under my vehicles to see what else might be going wrong. Brother Dave Gardner, a semi-famous Southern comedian of the 50s & 60s, called us “independents”. More modern analysts call us “anal” or “poor”.

Anyway, much to my shock Irene proceeded to blow in 7 more inches of nasty, murky saltwater than did her Aunt Isabel. In addition to totaling another pickup and damaging all the electrical apparatus on the tractor, she also upset the oil jug. Believe me, this gave new meaning to the term “mucking out the garage”.

But then on the plus side, with that nice glossy sheen of burned motor oil, nothing much rusted in the garage until we got around to cleaning it up.

Oh well, it’s still early in the hurricane season. We’ll see if I retain anything from my second hurricane lesson. Please remind all your other “independent”, “anal” or “poor” readers to keep the lid tight on that used motor oil jug.

Best regards,
Sam Myers
Pamlico

---

Make sure you have flood insurance. If you are a renter and did not get your flood insurance, you are out of luck. The only way your insurance will pay is if the house had structural damage or if a window broke due to “wind”. Your insurance will help if the “power surge” damaged an appliance or electronic device. They will also pay if you were displaced.

Lloyd

---

‹ previous page  1  2  3  4   next page ›

Posted Monday September 19, 2011 by Melinda Penkava