Poll

Would you cancel your plans?

No, it will be fine, I'd still go to the wedding
14 (9.4%)
Yes, I would cancel my plans
135 (90.6%)

Total Members Voted: 147

Author Topic: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?  (Read 19693 times)

ReadySetMillionaire

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #100 on: September 13, 2018, 02:04:26 PM »
...

CalBal

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #101 on: September 13, 2018, 02:17:28 PM »
People aren't intentionally being jerks. (At least, most aren't.) I wish you luck RSM, I really, really do. I hope you don't need it.

SweetTPi

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #102 on: September 13, 2018, 02:25:05 PM »
If you have extra room in the car, you might consider bringing supplies to donate.  Things will be in short supply after the storm, and local agencies will be collecting.  Think gloves, plastic bags, and other non-food items.  You could call local animal shelters and see if there's a big need for donations, as people evacuating with animals will usually need to find a place to house them temporarily.  (Temporary evacuation shelters may not allow pets.)  They'll likely need food, litter, kennels, etc.

Calling local agencies and asking would be the best way to see what supplies they'll need.

Another Reader

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #103 on: September 13, 2018, 02:28:43 PM »
In the OP's shoes, I would look at traffic cams on every highway he plans to use that has them.  See how congested the roads are and get a feel for how big of a problem he is taking on by driving.  Also, read the local on-line news from the local TV stations and the newspaper.  Maybe follow the local and state emergency management agencies and the state highway patrol on twitter and Facebook.     

When the OP gets back, he can either smugly gloat about how wrong we were or slink away, not wanting to admit it was a harrowing experience.  For the sake of the bride and groom, I hope they have a wonderful and uneventful wedding.

CalBal

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #104 on: September 13, 2018, 02:34:48 PM »
@SweetTPie and @Another Reader  these are both great suggestions.

Le Poisson

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #105 on: September 13, 2018, 02:39:57 PM »

erutio

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #106 on: September 13, 2018, 02:43:32 PM »
The storm is calming down.  I think with where you're going, you'll be fine. 

Please come back to this thread next week to gloat.

Hvillian

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #107 on: September 13, 2018, 02:44:25 PM »
As of 3:45 this afternoon Clemson is still planning to host a football game on Saturday (moved from 3:300 to noon), so you aren't the only one taking a cautiously optimistic approach to the situation.  That said, all of the other scheduled games in the region seem to have been canceled or moved.

I think you would be fine taking I-77 to I-85 on the way down to Greenville on Friday or Saturday, but I know you mentioned possibly staying in Chattanooga, too.  I haven't see any stations without gas in the north Charlotte area, although GAS Buddy is reporting a few around the metro area.

Good luck.  You plan seems like a reasonable approach to a tough situation.

Presently 48 % of gas stations in Greenville have no fuel.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/09/13/hurricane-florence-gas-outages-shortages/1287840002/
Wrong Greenville (to be fair, this confusion happens a lot.  Unfortunate when it involves flying to the wrong one). It is around 15% in Greenville, SC.

ReadySetMillionaire

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #108 on: September 13, 2018, 03:29:41 PM »
As of 3:45 this afternoon Clemson is still planning to host a football game on Saturday (moved from 3:300 to noon), so you aren't the only one taking a cautiously optimistic approach to the situation.  That said, all of the other scheduled games in the region seem to have been canceled or moved.

I think you would be fine taking I-77 to I-85 on the way down to Greenville on Friday or Saturday, but I know you mentioned possibly staying in Chattanooga, too.  I haven't see any stations without gas in the north Charlotte area, although GAS Buddy is reporting a few around the metro area.

Good luck.  You plan seems like a reasonable approach to a tough situation.

Presently 48 % of gas stations in Greenville have no fuel.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/09/13/hurricane-florence-gas-outages-shortages/1287840002/
Wrong Greenville (to be fair, this confusion happens a lot.  Unfortunate when it involves flying to the wrong one). It is around 15% in Greenville, SC.

The goal in going further west on the way down is to make sure that when we stop for gas, we are not taking gas from locations that need the fuel.  By going westward on the way down, we will be 350-400 miles from the coast, and I've looked and all of these places have 100% fuel right now.

momcpa

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #109 on: September 13, 2018, 06:29:32 PM »
Wishing safe travels for you and your wife.   You haven't mentioned how she feels about going as this gets closer to your time of departure and current weather reports.  Please consider that your decision to go affects more than just you if you encounter problems along the way.

AMandM

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #110 on: September 14, 2018, 05:41:31 AM »
Good luck on your travels and best wishes to the happy couple.  Make sure you have cash, in case power outages make card payments impossible.

erutio

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #111 on: September 14, 2018, 07:48:11 AM »
Good luck with your travels.  Try to remind your wife to pump those legs and feet during the long car rides.  She's at higher risk of developing blood clots due to her pregnancy.  Make her walk around the car at every stop. 

Looks like you guys will be fine in terms of the storm.  Appears that the storm is stalling on the coast, and is downgraded to Cat1. Doesn't make it less dangerous though.   Winds are down but rainfall is up, causing massive flooding.  Sucks for those on the coast, they're getting and will continue to get pounded.  Should be fine for you guys and the wedding.

Case

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #112 on: September 14, 2018, 09:14:27 PM »
Before reading the thread, to myself i said “i’ve read enough posts by this poster to know that no matter what anyone says, or how bad the hurricane is, he is going”.

After skimming the thread:  All this thread did was waste the time of many responders, and give us all an answer to the question everyone is asking nowadays:  “why are there people that stay behind during hurricane evacuations when all authorities are warning them?”


Bracken_Joy

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #113 on: September 15, 2018, 07:34:11 AM »
Before reading the thread, to myself i said “i’ve read enough posts by this poster to know that no matter what anyone says, or how bad the hurricane is, he is going”.

After skimming the thread:  All this thread did was waste the time of many responders, and give us all an answer to the question everyone is asking nowadays:  “why are there people that stay behind during hurricane evacuations when all authorities are warning them?”

I always wondered the same, but recent reading on the forum made me come up short and 'check my privilege' as it were. Some people really feel like they have no options and wouldn't have a life to come back to. What if someone living paycheck to paycheck overestimated a storm and lost their job? An entirely different sort of disaster, especially if other people had stayed behind so they were the anomaly. For now, I'll contemplate my gratitude that I'm in a place where I will never have to put myself or my loved ones at risk for a choice like that. As for solving that problem, I have no idea, but I feel like perhaps we should have some sort of FMLA-style protections for disaster evacuation. IE, if experts have said to evacuate, you cannot be penalized for being unable to reach work again for a certain time. It seems odd this wouldn't be a given, but there you have it.

peggster

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #114 on: September 15, 2018, 08:35:36 AM »
Before reading the thread, to myself i said “i’ve read enough posts by this poster to know that no matter what anyone says, or how bad the hurricane is, he is going”.

After skimming the thread:  All this thread did was waste the time of many responders, and give us all an answer to the question everyone is asking nowadays:  “why are there people that stay behind during hurricane evacuations when all authorities are warning them?”

It's a great question, and I think there are several answers to it. I live in central NC, and while we don't get the brunt of these storms like those on the coast, we've had a few that marched right through the middle of the state (Fran in '96 and Floyd in '99 are two in recent memory) and left their mark. Some people don't leave because they worry about what will happen to their houses and fear being stranded, unable to get back and start the needed repairs. Others are convinced that it won't happen to them; in their view, the forecasters are simply wrong (hey, it's happened before), and it won't be as bad as everyone keeps saying. Some truly believe they'll be fine, that they've prepared and will make it through just fine. And if not, someone will come and rescue them. This latter group makes me the most frustrated, because they're making a decision to risk not only their own lives but those of the first responders who have to come and save them when it all goes to hell.

As BJ notes, there are those who simply can't leave, mostly for financial reasons. Evacuating is a big deal; packing up your most important possessions and leaving for an unknown period of time is scary. If they don't have family or friends to stay with, they may have to stay in a hotel for weeks on end, and that ain't cheap. For some (many?) in this group, not being able to work means not getting paid. The suggestion of FMLA-style protections is an interesting one, and in my opinion it's worth thinking about. My employer has had a "severe weather policy" in effect for the past few days, which basically means that non-essential staff are told not to come to work. But if we don't come in during regular business hours, we have to use vacation time, make up the hours within 90 days, or take unpaid time off. I'm lucky because I have plenty of vacation hours accrued (plus I was already on vacation this week). Others aren't so lucky, and have to either try to make up the time or know they won't be paid. And I suspect my employer's policy is one of the more generous ones out there, and that some people simply won't get paid this week or anytime soon.

Khaetra

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #115 on: September 15, 2018, 01:07:16 PM »
Before reading the thread, to myself i said “i’ve read enough posts by this poster to know that no matter what anyone says, or how bad the hurricane is, he is going”.

After skimming the thread:  All this thread did was waste the time of many responders, and give us all an answer to the question everyone is asking nowadays:  “why are there people that stay behind during hurricane evacuations when all authorities are warning them?”

Like others said, they just can't afford to.  Leaving is expensive.  I had to do it (luckily it was only for a couple nights) and when you do not have the luxury of taking your time to pick out a cheap room (if you can even find a room) you can end up paying a steep price, something some folks cannot do.

Also, sadly in events like this there are those who take advantage of people fleeing and get right to looting, so while you may not have any damage you might not have everything as you left it.  I get that it's just 'stuff', but if you are living paycheck to paycheck your home and that 'stuff' might be all you have.

kimmarg

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #116 on: September 15, 2018, 07:08:57 PM »
. As for solving that problem, I have no idea, but I feel like perhaps we should have some sort of FMLA-style protections for disaster evacuation. IE, if experts have said to evacuate, you cannot be penalized for being unable to reach work again for a certain time. It seems odd this wouldn't be a given, but there you have it.

This would make sense. I work for the Federal government and they have this type of policy. If you're in a mandatory evacuation zone and you're not an essential employee you evacuate and get paid the same. If you're in a mandatory evacuation zone and required to stay ("essential") the gov pays the travel costs for your family to evacuate.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #117 on: September 15, 2018, 07:27:37 PM »
. As for solving that problem, I have no idea, but I feel like perhaps we should have some sort of FMLA-style protections for disaster evacuation. IE, if experts have said to evacuate, you cannot be penalized for being unable to reach work again for a certain time. It seems odd this wouldn't be a given, but there you have it.

This would make sense. I work for the Federal government and they have this type of policy. If you're in a mandatory evacuation zone and you're not an essential employee you evacuate and get paid the same. If you're in a mandatory evacuation zone and required to stay ("essential") the gov pays the travel costs for your family to evacuate.

Natural disasters are only becoming more common. It seems a decent protection to add. I'd also be very curious on running the numbers on subsidizing evacuations, vs the cost of rescuing once disaster strikes. Perhaps tie a cash stipend to CHIP or SNAP or similar program, and it triggers in the even of a mandatory evacuation being declared. I could see that being ultimately cost saving for the government, not to mention reducing cost of human life and risk to first responders.

geekette

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #118 on: September 15, 2018, 08:26:27 PM »
Then there's the problem of the $#%@ looters.  They were shooting at reporters tonight outside a dollar store.  I'm about as liberal as it gets, but the reporters were making excuses for the looters, saying they might be hungry. 


lizzzi

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #119 on: September 16, 2018, 10:59:01 AM »
I wonder how the OP is doing. Any Mustachians down there near his destination? How are things?

Noodle

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #120 on: September 16, 2018, 12:23:20 PM »
Before reading the thread, to myself i said “i’ve read enough posts by this poster to know that no matter what anyone says, or how bad the hurricane is, he is going”.

After skimming the thread:  All this thread did was waste the time of many responders, and give us all an answer to the question everyone is asking nowadays:  “why are there people that stay behind during hurricane evacuations when all authorities are warning them?”

I read a really interesting internet discussion about this, and relatively few fell in the "I just don't believe it will get that bad" or other foolish thinking. Money (either lack of money to travel, or fear of losing a job) and animals were probably the two biggest groups. Some shelters and hotels don't take pets or have limits on what they will accept (only small pets in carriers, for instance.) One guy was a farmer, and evacuating his animals would have meant multiple trips hours away hauling a trailer. If he had left them, it might have been dicey about whether he could get back to them in time to feed and water them. Since he was in a "maybe" zone, he chose to stay. One lady had a very, very elderly relative and an autistic son who couldn't handle the change in routine, and she didn't feel they could be moved. And I think some people just get overwhelmed by the whole thing and staying with what they know seems easier than getting an evacuation together.

Plus, with the extreme inland flooding, there are probably people who didn't anticipate having to leave who are getting caught. That happened a lot with Harvey, for instance.

former player

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #121 on: September 16, 2018, 01:35:09 PM »
Another very frequent reason for not leaving is that it can sometimes be days or weeks before a person is allowed to return to their home.  While there are no doubt safety reasons for this, if  people were confident that they would be allowed back to their homes as soon as possible after the first danger has passed (eg as soon as the winds die down) they might be more inclined to leave.  And yes, I know that it is not particularly safe to travel immediately after a storm, but the alternative is having to rescue people from roofs.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #122 on: September 16, 2018, 02:58:14 PM »
I wonder how the OP is doing. Any Mustachians down there near his destination? How are things?
He's probably fine.

Most of my NC and SC connections said it wasn't as bad as expected

geekette

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #123 on: September 16, 2018, 07:09:48 PM »
Lucky friends.

It really nailed eastern N.C., and isn’t gone yet. Not going to be an easy recovery.

I’m so sick of the rain, and we’re lucky. We have power and food.

OtherJen

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #124 on: September 16, 2018, 07:17:00 PM »
@SwordGuy is in Fayetteville, NC and hasn’t checked in since Friday. Hope all is okay.

RWD

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RWD

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #126 on: September 16, 2018, 08:07:46 PM »
@SwordGuy is in Fayetteville, NC and hasn’t checked in since Friday. Hope all is okay.
Yeah, hopefully he's fine. Presumably parts of Fayetteville are under mandatory evacuation. Roughly 20% without power in that county. Lots of flooding risk.

SwordGuy

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #127 on: September 16, 2018, 10:22:47 PM »
Thanks everyone!   We were without power for 3 days and enough cell towers weren't operating that web access wasn't working either.

We're fine but parts of our city aren't.   There's bad flooding (and worse to come), plus a number of roads washed out or closed due to dangers of dams failing.   

I travelled out of the area today into eastern TN to help teach a class.   I managed to find one route out of town that wasn't closed off.

And our area is nowhere as bad as many in eastern NC.


It will take many years for parts of our state to recover.   


And, ps, we still have people waiting on help from hurricane Matthew that went thru 2 years ago...

former player

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #128 on: September 17, 2018, 01:59:47 AM »
Thank you for the update SwordGuy - it's good to hear that you are OK so far and here's hoping that continues for you.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #129 on: September 17, 2018, 05:29:15 AM »
Sword Guy glad you are OK.

Also, I didn't mean to minimize the disaster. It is very much not OK in many places. But OP was going to western SC, not eastern NC. It turned out better there than forecasted.

I still think it's irresponsible to go into an area that expects a hurricane. "I got lucky" can just as easily be "I didn't" and you are taking resources from those who need them

Case

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #130 on: September 18, 2018, 05:49:09 AM »
Before reading the thread, to myself i said “i’ve read enough posts by this poster to know that no matter what anyone says, or how bad the hurricane is, he is going”.

After skimming the thread:  All this thread did was waste the time of many responders, and give us all an answer to the question everyone is asking nowadays:  “why are there people that stay behind during hurricane evacuations when all authorities are warning them?”

I always wondered the same, but recent reading on the forum made me come up short and 'check my privilege' as it were. Some people really feel like they have no options and wouldn't have a life to come back to. What if someone living paycheck to paycheck overestimated a storm and lost their job? An entirely different sort of disaster, especially if other people had stayed behind so they were the anomaly. For now, I'll contemplate my gratitude that I'm in a place where I will never have to put myself or my loved ones at risk for a choice like that. As for solving that problem, I have no idea, but I feel like perhaps we should have some sort of FMLA-style protections for disaster evacuation. IE, if experts have said to evacuate, you cannot be penalized for being unable to reach work again for a certain time. It seems odd this wouldn't be a given, but there you have it.

I don’t buy the ‘losing a job’ thing in this situation.

But I somewhat understand the idea of potentially having nothing left if the hurricane wrecks your home, so why leave?

The answer is, “so as not to endanger your own life or that of anyone else (who might have to rescue you”.  Right now a lot of people are facing the consequences of that decision, and some are dead.

The only way i buy the ‘check your privilege’ thing you are suggesting is from the angle that some people are very uneducated and unable to make sound decisions.

Of course, there are always exceptions.  The elderly for example have a much harder time responding to an evac.

Case

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #131 on: September 18, 2018, 05:58:21 AM »
Before reading the thread, to myself i said “i’ve read enough posts by this poster to know that no matter what anyone says, or how bad the hurricane is, he is going”.

After skimming the thread:  All this thread did was waste the time of many responders, and give us all an answer to the question everyone is asking nowadays:  “why are there people that stay behind during hurricane evacuations when all authorities are warning them?”

I read a really interesting internet discussion about this, and relatively few fell in the "I just don't believe it will get that bad" or other foolish thinking. Money (either lack of money to travel, or fear of losing a job) and animals were probably the two biggest groups. Some shelters and hotels don't take pets or have limits on what they will accept (only small pets in carriers, for instance.) One guy was a farmer, and evacuating his animals would have meant multiple trips hours away hauling a trailer. If he had left them, it might have been dicey about whether he could get back to them in time to feed and water them. Since he was in a "maybe" zone, he chose to stay. One lady had a very, very elderly relative and an autistic son who couldn't handle the change in routine, and she didn't feel they could be moved. And I think some people just get overwhelmed by the whole thing and staying with what they know seems easier than getting an evacuation together.

Plus, with the extreme inland flooding, there are probably people who didn't anticipate having to leave who are getting caught. That happened a lot with Harvey, for instance.

Things like immovable pets or children could certainly be legit reasons, though taking a dog/cat on an extended road trip is not the end of the world.

In the end, i would guess most people in these situations just didnt take the threat seriously, despite the extensive warnings far in advance.  They probably didn’t understand the risk/consequence relationships.  Im sure there are exceptions with legit excuses, but im sure there are also many who just made a poor choice.

Le Poisson

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #132 on: September 18, 2018, 06:05:31 AM »
Haven't heard from @ReadySetMillionaire since Thursday.

I hope the wedding went well and there were no issues for him. OTOH, if things are troublesome, I hope he finds a solution that has the lowest impact on his family. Best case, I hope he's still down there assisting with the evacuees.

ReadySetMillionaire

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #133 on: September 18, 2018, 04:26:41 PM »
Haven't heard from @ReadySetMillionaire since Thursday.

I hope the wedding went well and there were no issues for him. OTOH, if things are troublesome, I hope he finds a solution that has the lowest impact on his family. Best case, I hope he's still down there assisting with the evacuees.

Thanks for the concern. Everything went completely fine.  We checked the weather non-stop all last week, and Greenville was not expected to be affected at all, and it wasn't.  There were some winds, but I experienced worse when I lived up in Cleveland.  They probably got less than a half inch of rain, if that.

After the wedding, we took a good route from Greenville to Statesville (where my wife's aunt lives), which took us more north and more away from the coast, and that drive was very easy.  Statesville never lost power and did not have anything close to what was predicted (we would have gone west to Chattanooga if they did get hit).

We drove home yesterday from Statesville without any problems.

At the wedding, we learned 4 of the 130 guests decided not to go.  Bride was from Cincinnati, groom was from NE Ohio, so 95% of the guests came from out of town.

Lastly, I just want to address this:

Before reading the thread, to myself i said “i’ve read enough posts by this poster to know that no matter what anyone says, or how bad the hurricane is, he is going”.

After skimming the thread:  All this thread did was waste the time of many responders, and give us all an answer to the question everyone is asking nowadays:  “why are there people that stay behind during hurricane evacuations when all authorities are warning them?”

I actually started this thread trying a prove to my wife that we *shouldn't* go.  Go read my original posts in this thread -- I hate bad weather (which is why I live in Ohio), and I was scared to death of this thing, but I was leaning towards going because my wife desperately wanted to go to the wedding so we could also swing by and tell her grandfather (who she loves beyond words) that she's pregnant in person.

I started this thread to try and dissuade her. I showed this thread to her constantly in the early parts of the week.

But as the week went on, the forecast changed.  The hurricane slowed down to a screeching halt, and then it was projected to slow down even more over Wilmington.  And it was projected to reach Wilmington Friday night -- and Wilmington is almost 350 miles from where the wedding was.

I appreciate the responses and the concern, but the responses that resonated were from (a) people who lived there who weren't worried, and (b) people who advised to monitor the weather. I did just that and ultimately made the decision that it was safe to go. 

If you think I'm incapable of listening to people on here, read this thread, in which I've basically made entire career decisions based (in part) on responses from the kind lawyers in that thread.  https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/employment-dilemma-take-new-job/

Cranky

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #134 on: September 18, 2018, 05:29:49 PM »
If you hate bad weather, I’m not sure Ohio is the place to live - in the last 12 months my neighborhood has had a straight line wind event, an ice storm, subzero temperatures, lots of snow, flooding...

frugalone

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #135 on: September 18, 2018, 06:31:22 PM »
Have to agree- Ohio weather sucks but we have beautiful FALL weather. LOL

ReadySetMillionaire

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #136 on: September 18, 2018, 07:43:35 PM »
If you hate bad weather, I’m not sure Ohio is the place to live - in the last 12 months my neighborhood has had a straight line wind event, an ice storm, subzero temperatures, lots of snow, flooding...

I should have said extreme weather.  We don't have any of that here compared to a lot of other places.

dougules

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #137 on: September 19, 2018, 10:45:02 AM »
I'm curious if you saw many evacuees, assuming you could tell that they were.

ReadySetMillionaire

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #138 on: September 19, 2018, 01:24:39 PM »
I'm curious if you saw many evacuees, assuming you could tell that they were.

Didn't see many.  Roadways coming from the south were pretty bare.  Most people did not flee too far, and ended up closer to the coast than where I was for the wedding.

AMandM

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #139 on: September 19, 2018, 04:22:39 PM »
In the end, i would guess most people in these situations just didnt take the threat seriously, despite the extensive warnings far in advance.  They probably didn’t understand the risk/consequence relationships.  Im sure there are exceptions with legit excuses, but im sure there are also many who just made a poor choice.

I'm not so sure. I can see some people making the assessment that the expected cost of evacuating is higher than the expected cost of staying.  Evacuating doesn't change what the hurricane will do to someone's house or property, so basically it means incurring certain costs (hotel, eating out, lost wages, possibility of looting) in exchange for the practical certainty of personal safety from the hurricane.

For someone who lives right in the path of the hurricane, the chances of being killed or severely maimed by falling tress, buildings collapsing, etc. are high enough that that certainly of personal safety is a big benefit. But if the threat is power loss and flooding, a person with a well-situated house and stocks of food and water might have a reasonable expectation of surviving without evacuating, especially if a rescue is likely in case of need. Then the benefit of the increased probability of safety might not seem worth the costs of evacuating.

former player

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #140 on: September 20, 2018, 02:26:30 AM »
Evacuating does make one difference to property: it gets your vehicle away from the flooding.  So many pictures of cars (and big ass useless trucks) ruined for ever: if you are living so close to the edge wouldn't it be worth leaving in order to save your car at least?  Because those folks who stayed and are flooded out don't even have a vehicle to their names now which must make their situation much worse than it would be if they had evacuated.


Perhaps from now on those mandatory evacuation orders should say "please move your vehicle out of the flood zone so that you have transport available when the flood comes, and it would be best if you moved yourself with it".
« Last Edit: September 20, 2018, 02:28:22 AM by former player »

Le Poisson

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #141 on: September 20, 2018, 05:20:24 AM »
I get ppl staying out of fear of looters. That's really the only thing that I would fear in evacuating. But then that logic seems silly as you watch entire houses floating away or filling with water. At least the looters get something out of the disaster while you stand to lose everything.

Really all the other scenarios have work-arounds. Maybe not easy work-arounds, but with days of notice, you can scramble together a plan.

I may be a monster, but the villification of people leaving pets behind bothers me. Sorry, but if I have to choose between the neighbour's kids getting a seat in my car or the dog, getting the kids out of there wins. In our case, we are looking at paring down our car ownership and our neighbour is often on the road for months at a time with work, leaving his wife and kids at home. That family would need someone to extract them. Our minivan could easily move us and them.

Anyways, opinions. And they're like armpits - everyone has a couple, most of them stink.

Moonwaves

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #142 on: September 20, 2018, 07:08:52 AM »
Well, as you say, with days of notice, you can scramble together a plan and if you own a pet, your plan should take that into account. A couple of days is enough time to also think about what to do with a pet (and if you're in an area prone to extreme weather, ideally shouldn't you have thought about what to do way ahead of time anyway?) and if nothing else to phone a local animal rescue. At the very, very least, people should not, in my opinion, leave animals tied up. That is just cruel. We don't want our dog to run away but we're fine with him drowning? I did see one case where a dog was taken away by a rescue service - I don't know if the family had evacuated or not (I think not) but they were leaving the dog tied up in the garden because they had recently had their house remodeled and didn't want him to mess it up. I'm not terribly uncomfortable with that kind of person being villified to be honest.

Khaetra

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #143 on: September 20, 2018, 08:01:31 AM »
Well, as you say, with days of notice, you can scramble together a plan and if you own a pet, your plan should take that into account. A couple of days is enough time to also think about what to do with a pet (and if you're in an area prone to extreme weather, ideally shouldn't you have thought about what to do way ahead of time anyway?) and if nothing else to phone a local animal rescue. At the very, very least, people should not, in my opinion, leave animals tied up. That is just cruel. We don't want our dog to run away but we're fine with him drowning? I did see one case where a dog was taken away by a rescue service - I don't know if the family had evacuated or not (I think not) but they were leaving the dog tied up in the garden because they had recently had their house remodeled and didn't want him to mess it up. I'm not terribly uncomfortable with that kind of person being villified to be honest.

How about the people who left their dogs locked up in a shed and would have drowned if they hadn't been rescued:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/dogs-rescued-locked-cages-rising-florence-flood-waters/story?id=57878561

Something not many of us think about is that certain states have different rules for vaccinating pets.  NC (and I believe SC) are states where you can vaccinate them yourselves, no need for a vet visit, which also means no record of pets having had them.  All shelters require pets to be vaccinated but if you don't have a piece of paper from a vet saying they are up to date they can't go with you.

I really feel bad for those who lost homes due to flooding, because there's a very high chance that none of them had flood insurance and insurance (regular) doesn't cover flooding.  Sadly the maps that predict that kind of thing are severely outdated and trying to get flood insurance when the maps say there's no risk is a total PITA, if they would even write a policy for you (most of the time they won't).  I am one street away from the flood zone and I can't get it.  I doubt many thought they would see flooding.  Now they may have nothing to return to, nor the money to rebuild.

dougules

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Re: Would You Cancel Travel Plans (Wedding) Down to NC/SC This Weekend?
« Reply #144 on: September 20, 2018, 10:50:01 AM »
I get ppl staying out of fear of looters. That's really the only thing that I would fear in evacuating. But then that logic seems silly as you watch entire houses floating away or filling with water. At least the looters get something out of the disaster while you stand to lose everything.

Really all the other scenarios have work-arounds. Maybe not easy work-arounds, but with days of notice, you can scramble together a plan.

I may be a monster, but the villification of people leaving pets behind bothers me. Sorry, but if I have to choose between the neighbour's kids getting a seat in my car or the dog, getting the kids out of there wins. In our case, we are looking at paring down our car ownership and our neighbour is often on the road for months at a time with work, leaving his wife and kids at home. That family would need someone to extract them. Our minivan could easily move us and them.

Anyways, opinions. And they're like armpits - everyone has a couple, most of them stink.

I'm sorry but I'm not leaving my cats to drown.  If it's life or death for the neighbor's kids they can ride with a cat carriers on their laps.  Their parents should have had a plan. 

Even sympathy for animals aside, leaving pets behind creates hazards.  Adding desperate dogs to a disaster scene is not helpful.  Then, the pets that do drown add an extra disease hazard.  You also have rescuers putting their lives on the line to save cats and dogs that need help.  Hurricane Katrina was a lesson on making sure people can and do take their pets when they evacuate. 

If you live near the coast in the south you're guaranteed to have a major hurricane sooner or later.  I hope people in other areas take a lesson. 

In terms of looters, that would make me want to leave even more.  If somebody's going to be coming around looting in my neighborhood, I'd rather be in the next state than in a gun battle in a place that is temporarily lawless.  If you have material possessions that are so important you won't flee a natural disaster, you need to reevaluate.