Central PA - December 2017

[sauss06]

12 minutes ago, canderson said:

Thanks, good sir. Hope your daughter has a wonderful semester ... there won't be a strike this fall either! 

Thank you. Hard to believe its her last year and that she'll graduate on time(4 years) lol. shes had to bust her her butt, summer classes, winter classes etc

[canderson]

48 minutes ago, sauss06 said:

Thank you. Hard to believe its her last year and that she'll graduate on time(4 years) lol. shes had to bust her her butt, summer classes, winter classes etc

That's the only way anyone can get out in 4 years. Summer school, etc. If you have to hold a fulltime job to pay for school, it's virtually impossible. Quite sad. 

[sauss06]

14 minutes ago, canderson said:

That's the only way anyone can get out in 4 years. Summer school, etc. If you have to hold a fulltime job to pay for school, it's virtually impossible. Quite sad. 

well, she will graduate in 4 years with 2 degrees. Her choice to push. Plus all her work with the Athletic Department down there kept her very busy. She just found out yesterday she got the internship for the Hershey Bears, so she's really pumped. 

[canderson]

39 minutes ago, sauss06 said:

well, she will graduate in 4 years with 2 degrees. Her choice to push. Plus all her work with the Athletic Department down there kept her very busy. She just found out yesterday she got the internship for the Hershey Bears, so she's really pumped. 

That's awesome! She want to do sports marketing? 

[sauss06]

Just now, canderson said:

That's awesome! She want to do sports marketing? 

She changed her major from Education to communication after fresh. year. So, she wants to work with a sports team. Hershey naturally is her dream job, so hopefully something pans out ya know. She started out as a volunteer at Millersville, within a week they hired her to take pictures, then she started writing for the newspaper, now she does all kinds of stuff for the athletic dept. makes videos, flyers, schedules etc.

[canderson]

15 minutes ago, sauss06 said:

She changed her major from Education to communication after fresh. year. So, she wants to work with a sports team. Hershey naturally is her dream job, so hopefully something pans out ya know. She started out as a volunteer at Millersville, within a week they hired her to take pictures, then she started writing for the newspaper, now she does all kinds of stuff for the athletic dept. makes videos, flyers, schedules etc.

If she is eventually looking for a job and striking out, lemme know and I might have some pull with the Senators. I know the GM quite well as we are a big sponsor. 

[sauss06]

13 minutes ago, canderson said:

If she is eventually looking for a job and striking out, lemme know and I might have some pull with the Senators. I know the GM quite well as we are a big sponsor. 

fantastic, i'll pass that along. 

[Itstrainingtime]

3 hours ago, canderson said:

Parents and sister + family in NE Texas so they're fine. Wife's family is Austin so they might get a ton of rain but they live on a huge hill so will be fine. Brother + family, different story. 

Here's wishing they make out okay. Some of the projected rainfall totals for down there are sickening to think about. 

[sauss06]

3 hours ago, maytownpawx said:

Here's wishing they make out okay. Some of the projected rainfall totals for down there are sickening to think about. 

I heard 40-48"? That's crazy

[Itstrainingtime]

12 hours ago, sauss06 said:

I heard 40-48"? That's crazy

Yes sir. Things seem to be mighty grim down that way this morning. Hope those good folks are prepared. 

We had a shower overnight. Not much in the bucket, but I was a bit surprised to see that it rained, period. 

[sauss06]

14 minutes ago, maytownpawx said:

Yes sir. Things seem to be mighty grim down that way this morning. Hope those good folks are prepared. 

We had a shower overnight. Not much in the bucket, but I was a bit surprised to see that it rained, period. 

i'm certainly no expert, but with the way things look, i'm shocked they're not mobilizing resources to start heading that direction.

 

We had the shower too, just enough to make the grass damp really.

[canderson]

My family is all ok. Lost a fence but nothing more.

Now the rains, but I really don't think they'll flood in their locations. 

[Itstrainingtime]

1 hour ago, canderson said:

My family is all ok. Lost a fence but nothing more.

Now the rains, but I really don't think they'll flood in their locations. 

That's awesome news, thank you for the update! 

[sauss06]

14 hours ago, canderson said:

My family is all ok. Lost a fence but nothing more.

Now the rains, but I really don't think they'll flood in their locations. 

Good news!

 

Pa Task Force 1 (our Urban Search and Rescue team) was deployed and heading to Texas

[canderson]

Take it back. Evacuated. No idea what happened, cell out

[canderson]

2 hours ago, sauss06 said:

Good news!

 

Pa Task Force 1 (our Urban Search and Rescue team) was deployed and heading to Texas

If you know anyone local going plz get me their info once returned. Thnx. What to do something firbthem.

[sauss06]

5 hours ago, canderson said:

If you know anyone local going plz get me their info once returned. Thnx. What to do something firbthem.

Will do

a bunch of guys from Harrisburg are deployed

[canderson]

3 hours ago, sauss06 said:

Will do

a bunch of guys from Harrisburg are deployed

They might have saved my in-laws life today. 

[sauss06]

8 hours ago, canderson said:

They might have saved my in-laws life today. 

i can't imagine what the people of Texas are going through right now.

 

Does anyone else think the Mayor of Houston sounds like a bumbling idiot?  They should take the Mic away from him. He so botched the evacuation, or lack of. 

[canderson]

2 hours ago, sauss06 said:

i can't imagine what the people of Texas are going through right now.

 

Does anyone else think the Mayor of Houston sounds like a bumbling idiot?  They should take the Mic away from him. He so botched the evacuation, or lack of. 

Not really, you can't evacuate 6.5m people in two days. Houston tried with Rita, it was an unmitigated disaster and like 115 people died in the evacuation. 

[sauss06]

32 minutes ago, canderson said:

Not really, you can't evacuate 6.5m people in two days. Houston tried with Rita, it was an unmitigated disaster and like 115 people died in the evacuation. 

i kind of get that, but i'm not fully buying into it. There are times i agree with sheltering in place, but brother, this chit isn't right. These people have bright EMA people on staff, nobody thought hey, maybe we should start evacuating these nursing homes? Nah, we'll just send in the coast guard to pluck the elderly out of rising flood waters. I've been part of large scale incidents (Prison Riots) but nothing like this so maybe i'm looking at it all wrong. I understand there is a system that has to be followed for calling in federal assistance (like the USAR teams) but they certainly could have started pooling their State agencies/resources in quicker. The mayor of Houston and the Governor of Texas, definitely gave mixed messages. The other thing and this is just my opinion, sometimes these politicians should not speak in a crisis. They have PIO (Public information officers) for a reason. 

[pasnownut]

12 minutes ago, sauss06 said:

i kind of get that, but i'm not fully buying into it. There are times i agree with sheltering in place, but brother, this chit isn't right. These people have bright EMA people on staff, nobody thought hey, maybe we should start evacuating these nursing homes? Nah, we'll just send in the coast guard to pluck the elderly out of rising flood waters. I've been part of large scale incidents (Prison Riots) but nothing like this so maybe i'm looking at it all wrong. I understand there is a system that has to be followed for calling in federal assistance (like the USAR teams) but they certainly could have started pooling their State agencies/resources in quicker. The mayor of Houston and the Governor of Texas, definitely gave mixed messages. The other thing and this is just my opinion, sometimes these politicians should not speak in a crisis. They have PIO (Public information officers) for a reason. 

I lived in Lemoyne at the time and was coming back from YCH (raced moto x at the time) and saw the flames/heard about them, and went over to see the mayhem in person.  Flaming matresses out the windows n all.....

I must have driven right by you as I saw you all lined up.

Nut

 

[canderson]

51 minutes ago, sauss06 said:

i kind of get that, but i'm not fully buying into it. There are times i agree with sheltering in place, but brother, this chit isn't right. These people have bright EMA people on staff, nobody thought hey, maybe we should start evacuating these nursing homes? Nah, we'll just send in the coast guard to pluck the elderly out of rising flood waters. I've been part of large scale incidents (Prison Riots) but nothing like this so maybe i'm looking at it all wrong. I understand there is a system that has to be followed for calling in federal assistance (like the USAR teams) but they certainly could have started pooling their State agencies/resources in quicker. The mayor of Houston and the Governor of Texas, definitely gave mixed messages. The other thing and this is just my opinion, sometimes these politicians should not speak in a crisis. They have PIO (Public information officers) for a reason. 

The problem is you can't just put 6m people on the road at once. You have to have a) somewhere for them to go, b ) gas stations open everywhere c) towtrucks ready d) emergency services for sick people, etc. That's not even talking about the road network couldn't even begin to get that many people out without at least a week advance notice. 

Plus not everyone has a car, some can't drive, some need special assistance, etc. Very few people have died - they home might be underwater but they're alive. Same can't be said for putting all them on the road.

My brother had to evacuate in Rita and was stuck on the side of the road for almost 3 days with his wife, a 10 mos old, and no water or food or bathrooms. He'd rather die at home than see that again. 

[sauss06]

50 minutes ago, canderson said:

The problem is you can't just put 6m people on the road at once. You have to have a) somewhere for them to go, b ) gas stations open everywhere c) towtrucks ready d) emergency services for sick people, etc. That's not even talking about the road network couldn't even begin to get that many people out without at least a week advance notice. 

Plus not everyone has a car, some can't drive, some need special assistance, etc. Very few people have died - they home might be underwater but they're alive. Same can't be said for putting all them on the road.

My brother had to evacuate in Rita and was stuck on the side of the road for almost 3 days with his wife, a 10 mos old, and no water or food or bathrooms. He'd rather die at home than see that again. 

i know all of that, but still don't like it 

 

I'm a planner. i have contingency plans for everything. drives everyone nuts around. 

[MAG5035]

10 hours ago, sauss06 said:

i kind of get that, but i'm not fully buying into it. There are times i agree with sheltering in place, but brother, this chit isn't right. These people have bright EMA people on staff, nobody thought hey, maybe we should start evacuating these nursing homes? Nah, we'll just send in the coast guard to pluck the elderly out of rising flood waters. I've been part of large scale incidents (Prison Riots) but nothing like this so maybe i'm looking at it all wrong. I understand there is a system that has to be followed for calling in federal assistance (like the USAR teams) but they certainly could have started pooling their State agencies/resources in quicker. The mayor of Houston and the Governor of Texas, definitely gave mixed messages. The other thing and this is just my opinion, sometimes these politicians should not speak in a crisis. They have PIO (Public information officers) for a reason. 

I agree that the mayor may not have been the most eloquent in his statements and explanations but I'm not sure how you would do a full scale evacuation of that large of a metro area in this circumstance given the lead timeframe without risking many more lives of people on the road that ultimately would get stranded. The Houston/Galveston region was away from the initial traditional hurricane threat of winds/storm surge so I also wonder how the turnout of a city-wide evacuation on the basis of forecasted heavy excessive rainfall over several days would have been. This storm is truly an unprecedented flooding event with impacts that have likely not been seen before in a lot of circumstances. It's also not a localized region of 10-20"+ rain.. I think you could put a large chunk of CTP's CWA within the expanse of this extremely excessive rain (kinda scary to think about). But at any rate that's a tremendous amount of water going into that watershed over the entire Houston metro area and surrounding regions... and it's not even done raining yet. It's amazing to look at Houston's radar and see how socked in with heavy rain they are once again this evening. 

As for the local area, some of southern and southeastern PA could get impacted with some rainfall associated with what may or may not be Irma coming up off the eastern seaboard tomorrow. 

[pasnownut]

37 minutes ago, MAG5035 said:

I agree that the mayor may not have been the most eloquent in his statements and explanations but I'm not sure how you would do a full scale evacuation of that large of a metro area in this circumstance given the lead timeframe without risking many more lives of people on the road that ultimately would get stranded. The Houston/Galveston region was away from the initial traditional hurricane threat of winds/storm surge so I also wonder how the turnout of a city-wide evacuation on the basis of forecasted heavy excessive rainfall over several days would have been. This storm is truly an unprecedented flooding event with impacts that have likely not been seen before in a lot of circumstances. It's also not a localized region of 10-20"+ rain.. I think you could put a large chunk of CTP's CWA within the expanse of this extremely excessive rain (kinda scary to think about). But at any rate that's a tremendous amount of water going into that watershed over the entire Houston metro area and surrounding regions... and it's not even done raining yet. It's amazing to look at Houston's radar and see how socked in with heavy rain they are once again this evening. 

As for the local area, some of southern and southeastern PA could get impacted with some rainfall associated with what may or may not be Irma coming up off the eastern seaboard tomorrow. 

I saw him speak tonight, and i have to say that while im no emergency planner, i'd rather take my chances in surrounding I know (even if my roof), vs being displaced/stranded on a road somewhere...especially w/ my loved ones.  THAT WOULD suck!  5 deaths with this whole deal is pretty  impressive, and from what were all seeing, the communities are taking care of each other as best possible.  I feel he did the right thing.  Sauss, as you know my kid is a fireguy, and i know what he has access too....but not everyone does in situations like this.  Thoughts and prayers to TX and LA.  

If yall wanna help, a client of mine is HUGE in disaster relief.  www.mds.mennonite.net  

 

I ask you not to judge by the name.  This organization is HUGE in disaster relief.  I was there this afternoon, and can tell you that this is likely to be the largest undertaking they've been involved with.  They think 4-6 year operation for them.  Feel free to donate online, or PM me and I'll get you other means to help.  It's a GEM of an organization, and Im lucky to be able to work with them.

 

Nut

[sauss06]

i know you guys are 100% right about a full scale evac. 

I'm probably in the minority of my thought process. At critical moments or during disaster, leaders have to be united, one voice if you will. You can't send mixed or conflicting messages. I listened to the Mayor and Governor give conflicting reports. This creates confusion. I did hear people last night on the news saying exactly that. 

Regardless of that, the images and videos coming out of Texas are astounding. As of last night, the coast guard were receiving 1000 calls an hour for people needing rescued. The number of fatalities will rise for certain. And i'm not sure the number of lives saved by regular citizens will ever be realized. Makes me proud to be an American, watching ordinary people do extraordinary things.  

For those that don't know, this is the first time in the history of our national USAR (Urban search and rescue) that all 28 teams from all across the country are deployed. This includes our Pa task force 1 which includes Harrisburg guys. 

[sauss06]

Canderson, whats the word on your family? 

[pasnownut]

7 hours ago, sauss06 said:

i know you guys are 100% right about a full scale evac. 

I'm probably in the minority of my thought process. At critical moments or during disaster, leaders have to be united, one voice if you will. You can't send mixed or conflicting messages. I listened to the Mayor and Governor give conflicting reports. This creates confusion. I did hear people last night on the news saying exactly that. 

Regardless of that, the images and videos coming out of Texas are astounding. As of last night, the coast guard were receiving 1000 calls an hour for people needing rescued. The number of fatalities will rise for certain. And i'm not sure the number of lives saved by regular citizens will ever be realized. Makes me proud to be an American, watching ordinary people do extraordinary things.  

For those that don't know, this is the first time in the history of our national USAR (Urban search and rescue) that all 28 teams from all across the country are deployed. This includes our Pa task force 1 which includes Harrisburg guys. 

in fairness i did hear the conflicting views, but felt the mayor had it right.  Heard about a family of 4 trying to leave and noone made it :(.  No doubt that in situations like this, there are likely events that could tip the scale to either side....and that makes it crazy tough for EMS/FEMA etc. Regardless of the call(s) made, i tip my hat to all that are helping.  

 

I, like you am just so happy to see people of all color/walks of life rallying together for a higher purpose....to help one another. 

The goodness of humanity trumps all. No politics needed.

 

Nut

[canderson]

2 hours ago, sauss06 said:

Canderson, whats the word on your family? 

Brother is fine, house is dry. Niece is totally fine and water never really pooled in her street either - her little brick ranch house will be worth like a billion dollars after this event. In laws house is probably a total goner. 

Last night my brother was a savior. They had a friend in their old neighborhood stuck on the 2nd floor with her two kids, water up to the ceiling of the first. He and a friend found a boat and went and rescued them, and in doing so rescued an elderly couple that didn't have a cell phone and never could tell anyone they needed help. She is an oxygen and was out, so literally they probably saved her life. 

That story can be repeated by hundreds of others too. Seeing the good in people in Texas brings me so much joy in such a catastrophic time for them all.