How does a Cat 4 Hurricane only kill three people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are really blessed to live in a country where most people live in pretty well built homes and we have places like Lowe’s and Home Depot that sell plywood to cover windows and cities give out sand bags.

If it hit like this in someplace like Haiti, death toll would be much higher.

True, but not because of Home Depot or even building codes. If you are at home and there's 8 feet of storm surge in your house, you are in trouble regardless of what you nail to your windows. But because of the US government you have weather predictions, opportunity to evacuate, shelters to evacuate to, emergency services to fly you off a roof if possible, and public health to provide clean water so you don't die of disease while utilities are messed up. You may also have government backed flood insurance. These are services provided by tax dollars and the government workers everybody likes to dump on. And no, it still doesn't save everybody, but those services are the difference between here, and places with huge disaster death tolls.

Tax dollars also pay for the National Hurricane Center (that Republicans are proposing to downsize/break down).

[Anonymous]

For the life of me, I can't figure out how to post an image, but has anyone seen the photo of the man on top of the car in Boone, NC? He looks like he is hanging on for dear life with raging water all around (strong enough that it looks like it could sweep the car off the edge on the left) - or at least so strong that I have no idea how this guy is going to get to safety. It's on the NYTimes website but I know there is paywall. I just found it on the NY Post as well but you might have to scroll to find it.

https://nypost.com/2024/09/27/us-news/hurricane-helene-live-updates-path-aftermath-damage/

I am trying to figure out if this guy made it (and if there is anyone in the car). Anyone see any more details? I hope he made it (same with anyone else who might be in the car).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are really blessed to live in a country where most people live in pretty well built homes and we have places like Lowe’s and Home Depot that sell plywood to cover windows and cities give out sand bags.

If it hit like this in someplace like Haiti, death toll would be much higher.

True, but not because of Home Depot or even building codes. If you are at home and there's 8 feet of storm surge in your house, you are in trouble regardless of what you nail to your windows. But because of the US government you have weather predictions, opportunity to evacuate, shelters to evacuate to, emergency services to fly you off a roof if possible, and public health to provide clean water so you don't die of disease while utilities are messed up. You may also have government backed flood insurance. These are services provided by tax dollars and the government workers everybody likes to dump on. And no, it still doesn't save everybody, but those services are the difference between here, and places with huge disaster death tolls.

Nobody complains about the Weather Service, and they are just a tiny drop in the budget. See who gets up in arms if you start talking about giving just 1% of HHS's budget to the NWS or even NPS.

There are some pretty well publicized complaints about the NWS, from people who don't want to hear about climate change. But my point was not to get political, it was to explain that the difference between a storm hitting here and a storm hitting a poor island nation is not the availability of plywood or solid houses. The storm issues that kill huge numbers, like cholera from bad water, we don't even think about here because of the public safety and hygeine infrastructure. We do certain things so well here that most people don't realize it's being done - until it isn't funded and really bad things happen.

[Anonymous]

It’s up to 41 already.

[Anonymous]

now "at least 42" being reported

[Anonymous]

Sadly, I’m sure there are many more and the losses to homes look devastating.
Still no power or access to damaged areas so I imagine just don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Worryingly, there are reports of employees and patients stranded on the roof of a hospital in Tennessee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Worryingly, there are reports of employees and patients stranded on the roof of a hospital in Tennessee.

They were rescued hours ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously the number may sadly go up. But I am quite surprised that so many people can survive a storm of that strength. I imagine that like most other hurricanes, many of them didn't evacuate. What's the explanation?

You posted this at 6:27 AM Friday. I live in Tampa Bay (in an outer county). I can tell you, it was still dark then! You think they found the dead people by then? I couldn't even tell if my roof was ok then (I had to leave for work. My house was fine thankfully, I am inland).

That storm surge was something! Look at the video of the worker at Tampa General Hospital calmly inspecting the AquaWall from the inside while floodwaters smashed against the outside. My local county beach park, damaged during Idalia and just reopened months ago, was destroyed this time. The surge came in much further this time.

[Anonymous]

What is the appropriate number of deaths for category 4 hurricane?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously the number may sadly go up. But I am quite surprised that so many people can survive a storm of that strength. I imagine that like most other hurricanes, many of them didn't evacuate. What's the explanation?

And wasn't one death that has been reported from a sign falling? Not directly from the wind and rain from the actual hurricane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously the number may sadly go up. But I am quite surprised that so many people can survive a storm of that strength. I imagine that like most other hurricanes, many of them didn't evacuate. What's the explanation?

And wasn't one death that has been reported from a sign falling? Not directly from the wind and rain from the actual hurricane.

That poor soul was driving on I-4 on Thursday when the wind blew the sign down and killed them. It was very sad.

[Anonymous]

NY Times is reporting more than 50 killed now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Worryingly, there are reports of employees and patients stranded on the roof of a hospital in Tennessee.

The Virginia State Police sent helicopters from Abingdon and rescued them along with some TN national guard. Follow VSP on X; their videos and photos of this are incredible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand how someone could be so blissfully ignorant, hasn’t even been 24 hours past landfall. Rescue teams do not go out until it is safe for them to do so. There will be thousands dead from this. So many videos on Twitter of people trapped in their homes, idiots running generators With water on the floor, etc.