On 15 Sep 2003 at 22:57, James Fischer wrote a good reminder:

> With Hurricane Isabel approaching the east coast of the USA,
>  ....
> this might be a good time to compare storm prep as applied
> to bee yards.

  There is a limit to what can be done; however, get to the hives as quickly as
possible afterwards to stop any robbing that is occurring (hives crushed by falling
trees, for example).  I was unable to get to most of my bees for weeks after
Hurricane Hugo, because of mud and downed trees. Also gasoline was unavailable
for a week or so. Other than some robbing right after the storm, the bees fared
surprisingly well, and the goldenrod still had a pretty good flow. Yellow jackets
robbed the bees worse than I had ever seen though.

   Mosquito spraying seems to inevitably follow hurricanes and will cause ten times
the losses that the storm actually causes. It hit my bees on goldenrod and aster,
knocking out the field force and making the clusters too small to survive even our
mild South Carolina winters.

   One important point I've never seen in any published lists of hurricane preps is to
move all vehicles into the open, so they won't be crushed by falling trees. I saved
two trucks and a motorcycle from Hugo by moving them from their usual parking
places to an open spot.

   As soon as you can get map of a fairly certain path, think about where the winds
will be. This storm will move mainly north as it makes landfall and comes inland. If
you are in the eyewall path, you will have exceedingly strong east winds, followed
by a lull (don't be fooled into going outside) and then west winds. If the eyewall is
west of you, you will be on the strong side of the storm. If the storm is moving at 20
miles per hour, and the circular winds are 120, the actual winds you will experience
will be 140 miles per hour. On the west side of the eyewall, you can subtract the
forward speed, so the winds will be only 100 (still dangerous, of course).

   Don't go outside to do this, of course, but you can tell where the center of the
storm is by (virtually) facing the wind and extending your right hand perpendicular to
the wind direction. You will be pointing to the eye of the storm.

   Much of the storm damage is caused by vortexes or embedded tornadoes. There
were about 3,000 of these in South Carolina during Hugo's path across the state.

   If you are on the coast, don't even think of staying. Storm surges can run 10 to 20
foot tides, with huge waves on top of that. On the right side of the storm most beach
development will be destroyed.

   Also don't even think of riding out the hurricane in a mobile home. Hugo
destroyed thousands of them. Reinforced masonry buildings are the strongest, but a
direct hit by a vortex can even destroy these. I was in a masonry home during
Hugo. A tree fell on the home, but it did not collapse; it only had a hole punched in
the roof from a projecting limb.

   It's not a bad idea to have some plastic sheeting or tarps on hand before the
storm, as it will be needed but probably unavailable after the storm. Get your chain
saw tuned up and sharpened, an extra chain is also a good idea. You won't be able
to get service afterwards.  My chain saw hardly cooled off for about six weeks after
Hugo. I helped neighbors clean up, then when gas was available I went to my bees,
and usually had to cut my way to them.

   Pines generally snapped about 12 feet up. Hardwoods were uprooted.  Hugo
destroyed the equivalent of enough timber to build a home for every family in West
Virginia. Trees that did not actually break or uproot still could not be used as saw
logs or plywood cutting, because of internal twists and separations of the grain. This
actually made them dangerous to saw. Some were salvaged for pulpwood, but the
mills simply could not handle all of them.

   You can also forget about getting lumber for awhile after the storm. Plywood will
be out of stock every time you go to the lumber yard. Generators?  Fuggetabout
buying one afterward....

   Cash is a good thing. Banks don't operate without computers, and computers don't
operate without power. Canned groceries, likewise....

   A little thinking can save a lot of pain later.  I could not believe it, when I watched
housewives buying frozen food during the rush to prepare for Hugo.  Much of it
wound up in stinking piles at the curbside, because power was out for a couple
weeks.


Dave Green   SC  USA

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