My mom refuses to leave her condo even in the event of this hurricane. I am not comfortable having her stay there alone during the storm but is there any way that I can actually make her come to my house? I would stay by her, but I have no doubt that her building will lose power as it has many times during a severe thunderstorm. I don't think it is wise for us to remain there with no a/c, lights, no tv and no refrigerator when my home is less likely to lose power. She is adamant and I believe that it will be unsafe for her/us to stay there. There are no other family members for her to stay with. Any suggestions would be welcome.
libdeb - Issac made landfall in Plaquemine's parish which is south of New Orleans and is the mouth of the Mississippi then tracked slightly west of NOLA and headed up through Jefferson Parish towards Baton Rouge (this is very much like what H. Gustave did - which was a Cat 3). Issac moved really really slow, like at one point was only moving a 8 mph so imagine how much more rain when that's the speed as opposed to a storm moving at 30 mph. The bands of rain went from the Florida keys to Florida panhandle and all along the AL and MS coastal areas to west to New Iberia, LA and so there has been a huge surge on the Gulf coast and much more water from rain from 3 days over a big area which is why there was flooding and overtopping of rivers and levee's and dams like what happened at Quin State Park which is up in McComb, MS and pretty far from the coast. Many rivers are just cresting today (sunday 9/2). We got rain starting about noon on Tuesday & it rained in bands continuously till Thurs afternoon, that's alot of water no matter how you look at it so at some point the ground is saturated & then it floods.
No, some people did not heed the warnings in New Orleans. Unfortunate.
My husband's family went through Hurricane Andrew. Believe me, if I ever hear of a Cat4 or 5 heading my way, I will be on I-95 heading north as fast as I can. I don't need anyone to try and talk me into leaving. I have seen what a Cat 4 or 5 can do and it isn't pretty.
Take care.
My biggest concern for you mother would be the terror these storms can create. When we got hit by hurricanes Francis and Jean, it was terrifying. The winds howled, I thought my windows were going to blow out since I had, at that time, no shutters. We do now. But all in all we did fine.
Afterwards, if power is gone, the heat is just unbelievable. Ugh! I think if your mother is in an area where she is likely to lose power and experience frightening winds, she would be much better with you. Just for her peace of mind. She needs family. Do your best to get her to stay with you.
1) Does the condo send out notices to residents advising them of what to do if a storm approaches, etc? Does the notice say anything that would support your argument to her that it is safer to leave?
2) What has she done in the past when power went out? If it was not a pleasant situation for her, can you remind her? Could you visit her before the storm hits (depending on where you are, this may be too late) , turn off her electricity breakers and tell her, mom, since the power is out, we need to leave now?
3) If your only fear is power outage (unless she lives on a high floor where you oculdn't get her out if elevator not working), maybe one of your family should stay with her and then help her leave after the storm hits if power did go out.
4) If all else fails, and you have no one to stay with her. Ask her neighbors what their plans are and if they can watch out for her, leave her with suffiicent food medicine and personal and emergency powerouttage supplies (and if you live in an H zone you know what they are)
5) if it is really bad, see if local law enforcement will pay her a visit and tell her she must go with you.