Hurricane Irene Coverage Live Stream From the White House
Posted by Dexter Nelson: Sunday, August 28, 2011 (4:02 AM)
Hurricane Irene Coverage: Live Stream From the White House
Now that hurricane Irene has passed North Carolina and we're out of the woods here, (and now that I have power back as of 2:02am EST), my first line of duty was to "poke" all of my Facebook friends who poked me, quickly followed by a hot cup of coffee and a couple of sandwiches.
Now that I've found my footing again, it's time to re-focus on Irene. The alerts keep going out for people to stay in doors and not wander about, especially as the death toll keeps climbing, (so far 8 people including an 11-year old boy).
Currently, Hurricane Irene is a category 1 and is trekking up the East Coast at 17mph. The eye is just north east of Richmond Virginia and has sustained winds of 78mph.
This isn't my first bout with a hurricane, but Irene isn't the one to play with. This is a BIG storm. We were about 100 miles or so from where the eye made landfall, and we took an unbelievable beating. We were also without power (along with 2 million other people).
From experience... be prepared! Thinks you will need for sure...
- Rechargeable batteries ready to go;
- Battery powered radio;
- Flashlights, candles, and lamps;
- Be smart. Don't burn candles where anything can catch fire and open a window if you're using kerosene or oil lamps.
- Electricity isn't the only thing that may go. Stock up on fresh drinking and utility water;
- We filled up buckets with clean drinking water and placed a few in each bathroom.
- Food; I can't stress this one enough. Prepare and store food enough to last a few days if the worse occurs. We had bread and sandwich spread at the ready.
- Ice; This is another big one. You'd be surprised at how often people forget what's in the fridge. Buy bags of ice and keep things like eggs, milk and meat from going bad. You can use coolers to put the ice in, or for items that are cumbersome or too big for a container, placing it on top of a bag of ice will work.
- First Aid Kit - hopefully I don't have to explain this one.
I should put this as #8, but use your common sense. High winds, fallen trees and projectiles are common place in a hurricane of any strength. Stay inside; move electrical items away from windows; always assume that downed powerlines are pushing electricity; if you have mobile phones, make sure they are charged up. Even if you loose cell service, it will come back.
Here's a big one to remember. Once a hurricane arrives, if you are in the path of the eye, the rain will stop for a while. DO NOT ASSUME IT'S PASSED! The eye of a hurricane is calm, but once it's passed, the beating will resume with very heavy winds and rain and you won't get any warning.
One second it will be calm, and the next you will be facing the heaviest wind gusts and rain from the eye wall.
Live Video Feed of The White House
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/live-news-6105652
