Preparing for Isabel?

Bonker asks: "Hurricane Isabel has been categorized as a Class 4 hurricane by the the National Hurricane Center. It's expected to grind somewhere into the U.S. East Coast sometime this evening. The Carolinas, Virginias, and even Maryland are in states of high tension. If you live in an area threatened by Isabel, what are you doing to protect your own or your company's data and computer hardware from Isabel?"

Comments

Full disaster plan

[karrde]

Location: Virginia Beach
Backups: Check
Backup Server: Check
Natural Gas Generator: Check
Backup Network paths to PA office: Check
Private Company plane fueled and ready to go to PA office: Check

And while this may sound tounge in cheek, I'm 100% serious.

I wonder about companies in Ontario and Quebec...

[Dark Nexus]

...and other areas that usually don't get hurricanes.

As it stands, Isabel stands a good chance of blowing through to that far off the coast.

Unlike most places that may get hit by Isabel, they won't be used to preparing for hurricanes, as Ontario has (supposedly) only ever had one hurricane ever.

Re:I don't

[Dark Nexus]

Did you READ the link that I was talking about?

Hurricane Hazel (which followed the same path Isabel is predicted to take) hit Ontario AS A HURRICANE.

Not a former hurricane - it was still classified as a hurricane when it blew into Ontario. A weaker hurricane than when it had made landfall from the Atlantic, but still a hurricane. Infact, the eye of the storm had previously dissipated as it travelled inland, but REFORMED while over Lake Ontario.

As for storm surges, Hazel caused storm surges along the waterfront in Toronto off of lake Ontario.

Obviously, (if Isabel repeats what Hazel did) it won't be be as strong coming off the Great Lakes as off the Atlantic, but it's not something to be shrugged off, especially with an area that hasn't seen a storm even HALF that strength in almost 50 years.

Forecasters are warning of the possiblity of Isabel repeating Hazel's path. Your attitude that it's not worth worrying about is exactly what has me concerned, if we DO see a repeat of Hazel. The damage wouldn't be as bad here as it will be in North Carolina, but it could be bad enough for someplace unused to that scale of destruction.

Re:I still don't

[Dark Nexus]

The fact that it was still officially a hurricane when it made landfall in Canada (or it wouldn't even be LISTED on that page) rather implies that it had an eye, hurricane force winds, and storm surges. Otherwise it wouldn't be a hurricane, would it? It would be a tropical storm or even tropical depression.

Storm surges?

Ruffman stresses that storm surges are not unique to oceans. They can also happen on the Great Lakes. "If you have a wind blowing hard the length of Lake Ontario, you can get a storm surge in the Hamilton and Burlington area. They're not common, but they certainly have occurred," he says. "In one case, at the east end of Lake Erie, there was a sudden rise in the water in an area where people were swimming that caused a number of deaths."

Rise in the lake's water level?

Hurricanes are less common than storm surges in Canada, but they do occur. 81 people died after Hurricane Hazel blew across Lake Ontario in 1954. According to Ruffman, "It had a very low pressure in the centre. So, as it went across the west end of the lake - let's say roughly from St. Catharines over to Toronto - essentially that end of the lake rose because of the low pressure. Then it blew onto the land and dumped huge amounts of rain on the west parts of Toronto." According to Natural Hazards of Canada: A Historical Mapping of Significant Natural Disasters, Hurricane Hazel induced the worst flooding in the Toronto area in 200 years and caused more than $1 billion damage.