Hurricane Irene!

[equinelyn]

I am in the high threat level being in southern york county PA. I'm very close to the extreme threat level. The projected path is unknown about my area until Friday. But I am tracking it at my job(local News station in Baltimore) and on the web at http://www.weather.com/weather/hurr...ression-nine-storm-hurricane-irene_2011-08-20

 

[savingpurple]

Stay safe, all of you in harms way. Thoughts and prayers for all.

 

[chicktwins]

Thanks for the info. Clicked on the link and after looking at that I am now a little more worried than before. I have been through many hurricanes and tropical storms and nor'easters. Not a ever cool but this looks to have the makings of Andrew and Hugo and those were nasty to us.

 

[goldfinches]

wood&feathers :

The secret to keeping any lightweight structure like a shed or trailer from blowing over is the tie down anchors.

If you have a coop that resembles a tool shed and just sits on it's foundation you need to secure it. I would use steel cable with turnbuckles, or Simpson Strong tie galvanized strapping. You will need to secure the straps over the shed in an X, so it is protected from multiple directions.

The hard part is anchoring to the ground. There is something called a sand auger, a spiral of steel with a welded eye. You run a stout rod through the eye and screw the thing WAY down into the sand. If you used cable to go up and over the shed, you can use the turnbuckles to take up the slack. On my house I have the Simpson hurricane banding bolted to the foundation, so I am uncertain how to attach it to an auger eye.

Thank you. My coop is a shed, in the corner of my yard, near a bean field. I can just see it blowing away in the gusts. I'll see if my dh thinks he can do this. We do have very sandy soil, the augers sound like they'll work. My chickens may just have the spend the weekend in the garage...somehow.​

 

[wood&feathers]

The trick is to get the augers in as deep as possible. My DH says that when he was little he helped hold a hose in the hole while his dad turned the auger. They somehow shoved the hose in the sand as well, locally liquefying the sand to help with penetration.

Sand is not a soil type I have ever lived with! Kentucky is mostly rocks and clay, with sand only along riverbanks. However we used hurricane type anchors to secure our first house to the bedrock. It is on piers, with an airy space underneath to avoid moisture trouble in the woods. It survived straight line winds near 100 mph during a bad spring storm several years back, with only hairline cracks to drywall mud. I was home alone with the kids, and could swear we were all going to die. Wind like that in a forest isn't just freight train - it sounds like someone loaded gravel in a 747 and is shooting it at you. The USFS flew in circles around us for 2 days trying to find evidence of a tornado, hoping to harvest the timber.

I pray you all weather this thing safely!

 

[Funky Feathers]

WE here on MD's Eatern Shore (right on the water!) are bracing for this disaster. Hubby thinks it might demolish our big old house, so I guess it's goodbye to all our chicken coops & duck pens.

We are prepared to lose everything. It is so hard to choose what to take with us as we evacuate (irreplaceable things) and what to leave behind.

Last hugs before the storm

 

[Cetawin]

Fattie hang in there

Do what you can, the best you can and pray. If I were closer I would be there with a u-haul and bring the birds here....maybe U-haul living with a hardwire cloth door and box fans would be a vacation for the chooks

Can you get the small cages/pens inside the house for the storm? Just a thought, better than being outside in it. Good luck gal.

Bathrooms are great places to put chooks...easy as heck to clean, toughest place in the house....I just had 4 in my spare bathroom for a couple of weeks after losing 14 to the heat...the survivors stayed inside to recover.

Irene is only gonna make it to Cat 4 so not an Andrew for sure but it will be bad enough. I am praying for everyone in its path and let's pray for a right hand turn from Irene.

 

[harveyhorses]

I am in RVA and feeling kind of sick. Does anyone else follow wxrisk.com? We are forecast to get heavy storms tonight, please don't let the ground get saturated.
Anyway, just thinking positive thoughts and sending prayers for everyone in the path of Irene.

 

[bobbieschicks]

This is our 1st year with chickens and this coop. We're on the VA/MD border in King George VA and the models show Irene shifted west and closer to our area - but still off shore from us. So we'll probably get high winds and alot of rain but not take a direct hit. Hoping I built the coop sturdy enough - but I'll probably put the Leghorns in the temporary pen inside a nearby shed for the storm. Moving them in there sometime Friday or Saturday and leaving them until Sunday or Monday after the storm has past. With water & food they'll be fine. If the coop survives unscathed- next time I'll just lock them in there - and pray.

 

[ThinkingChickens]

Quote:
Gosh, how frightening to have advanced warning that you might lose it all. I hope you are able to get out with as much stuff as possible and that you stay safe. Hopefully there will be a shift and you guys will have your house saved.