Hurricane Irma proof cars need bigger gas tanks?

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: bbhero
Very good post ArcticDriver.

I would add Rte 41, Rte 1, Rte 27, Rte 17 are alternative routes into Florida as well. More than likely a better way back than taking Interstate 95 or 75 only.


Yeah, those may work.

The bottom line is that Florida needs to rethink how it handles hurricanes. The state now has a population of over 20 million and there is no way to get that many people relocated north in a timely manner. Is Georgia ready to accommodate ten million visitors at once?

One of my co-workers elected to evacuate during the recent Irma crisis and wanted to get a hotel room in Tallahassee but ended up driving to central Mississippi before he could find a room.

I'm not sure what the answer is but the current plan is flawed.

 

[Kamele0N]

Originally Posted By: WyrTwister

Well , you are welcome to your opinion , but lighter (smaller) & more fuel efficient cars would not make much difference if you are stuck on a freeway & no one is moving .

What would have helped is if those people had evacuated several days previously . Before the freeways turned into parking lots .
What would have helped is more educated people......been driving for almost 2 years in my past.....all you need is your ears (to listen to the radio)....your eyes (to see what is happening in front of you on the road)....and a decent purpose built GPS system (NO telephone google substitutes)wich can direct you on trunkroads instead on highways


Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
Best wishes ,


TNX......an hour ago we became European champions in basketball

 

[Kamele0N]

And I forgot to add......some common sense

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I'd still rather be driving a gas powered vehicle than an electric car if I had to evacuate from somewhere.

Yep .

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted By: Kamele0N


TNX......an hour ago we became European champions in basketball

Do not know if educated is the answer . How many people do you run into that have been educated beyond their intelligence ?

Many seem to migrate to government jobs . They hang around long enough & they end up in charge of stuff . Like some of the " public servants " I have ranted about . That get off to being " public masters " , in stead .

Congrats on the basket ball win ! Best to you & yours ,

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted By: Kamele0N
And I forgot to add......some common sense

Now you have done it . Unfortunately , common sense is always in very short supply ! :-(

You can count on this , most people are sheep , And you absolutely can not force them to think , and think rationally !

Many / most would rather be beat with a stick , than have to think .

Who do they depend on to do the thinking for them ? Bingo , you got it , the empty heads in government ! And people shake their heads in amazement when all of this goes bad !

Makes me want to throw my hat on the ground and stomp on it ! :-(

I hope and pray all of you all avoid these pit falls ,

 

[Kamele0N]

Originally Posted By: WyrTwister

Do not know if educated is the answer . How many people do you run into that have been educated beyond their intelligence ?


Maybe "educated" was not the right choice of the word......

But you have already got it what I was thinking......with that "common sense"....

If you already know that Highways are parking lots.....and your IQ is above 90......then there is no excuse if you will use highway instead of side way or trunkroad....

Except if you prefer camping under the sun and on paved road

 

[WyrTwister]

There may be some of the younger generation that have little or no conception of " back roads " ?

Best wishes ,

 

[JHZR2]

How about more efficient vehicles? More forethought in buying gas? Someone bring a car safe (totally sealed zero residue) gas can to market? How about more stringent building codes?

The roads, well there's only so much money to pay for expansion. Having railroad gates like they have for HOV lanes that alternate direction may be prudent.

People who moved there did realize they moved to a hundreds of miles long peninsula...

 

[Panzerman]

I think alot of people keep 25-30 gallon of extra gas in their garage. I know I am glad I did. I had no power and my Generator was running through about 5 gallon a day.
I love how people say 25 gallon of gas is a fire hazard in your garage but keep 400 qts of oil next to 20,000 rds of ammo.

 

[Nyogtha]

If one sacrifices climate control, and doesn't idle in order to operate air conditioning in many miles of stop & go traffic, one can travel a LOT farther. In the days of my youth this was self-enforced owning vehicles that lacked air conditioning even though I was in South Texas. Hurricanes, unlike tornadoes, are detected & reported days before landfall. Living most of my life in the Texas & Louisiana Gulf Coast & Coastal Plain, I preemptively fill vehicle gas tanks and OPE gas tanks when a tropical system enters the Gulf of Mexico or forms there.

Many residents of Florida & Texas didn't grow up in these places and aren't veterans of these circumstances.

 

[UberArchetype]

Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
If you need to move a lot of people, there's no substitute for trains.

Trains would only make things worse. Imagine big refugee camps surrounding stops just outside the danger zone. Moving people is one thing. Evacuating them is something else.

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted By: Nyogtha
If one sacrifices climate control, and doesn't idle in order to operate air conditioning in many miles of stop & go traffic, one can travel a LOT farther. In the days of my youth this was self-enforced owning vehicles that lacked air conditioning even though I was in South Texas. Hurricanes, unlike tornadoes, are detected & reported days before landfall. Living most of my life in the Texas & Louisiana Gulf Coast & Coastal Plain, I preemptively fill vehicle gas tanks and OPE gas tanks when a tropical system enters the Gulf of Mexico or forms there.

Many residents of Florida & Texas didn't grow up in these places and aren't veterans of these circumstances.


How many people can not imagine sacrificing cell phone service / coverage ? You expect they are going to sacrifices climate control ? Or playing their tunes on the car stereo ?

They had their parents babying them until they found new parents , Uncle Sugar .

My late parents survived the Great Depression , WWII and the Cold War . The Greatest Generation .

I KNOW I will never be the MAN my Dad was . And the present generation ..............

God bless you and those dear to you ,

 

[SeaJay]

If you were retired and living in Florida with sufficient money in the bank, you could have evacuated very early and avoided all of the heart ache.

But there are many, many folks that can not say to their job that I am leaving on Monday or Tuesday morning because they think a bad hurricane will hit this coming Sunday. They would be out of a job when they eventually returned. And for many folks, that would be catastrophic to their financial well being. This is the problem to which I maintain there is no easy solution.

Bottom line, if you want to live in Florida, you have to accept the bad with all of the good.

 

[DBMaster]

How about hurricanes Harvey and Irma reinforcing the wisdom of purchasing a vehicle with the best possible fuel economy? And, not waiting until the low fuel light comes on to look for a fill up? My car has a rather small (14 gallon) tank and it can go very close to 500 miles on that. Larger vehicles and SUVs are selling like crazy in recent years due to low gas prices. It's only a matter of time until that trend bites people in the posterior. How quickly we forget.

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted By: SeaJay
If you were retired and living in Florida with sufficient money in the bank, you could have evacuated very early and avoided all of the heart ache.

But there are many, many folks that can not say to their job that I am leaving on Monday or Tuesday morning because they think a bad hurricane will hit this coming Sunday. They would be out of a job when they eventually returned. And for many folks, that would be catastrophic to their financial well being. This is the problem to which I maintain there is no easy solution.

Bottom line, if you want to live in Florida, you have to accept the bad with all of the good.



100% true / correct . There is no perfect world / place to live .

Just like we have to accept the possibility of tornadoes . :-(

But , if you have a cellar , you can ride it out . Does not mean your house od place of work will be there when the storm is past . :-(

Luckily , a tornado usually does not cover the area a hurricane does . But the winds may be twice , or more , the velocity of a hurricane . And flooding is not usually an issue .

Best wishes ,

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
How about hurricanes Harvey and Irma reinforcing the wisdom of purchasing a vehicle with the best possible fuel economy? And, not waiting until the low fuel light comes on to look for a fill up? My car has a rather small (14 gallon) tank and it can go very close to 500 miles on that. Larger vehicles and SUVs are selling like crazy in recent years due to low gas prices. It's only a matter of time until that trend bites people in the posterior. How quickly we forget.


True , oil prices go up , oil prices go down . If I remember correctly , I have personally seen the oil patch crash 3 times .

I have one car that will get around 24 /35 MPG city / highway & another that I think will get 19 city & in the high 20's ( have not really taken it on a long road trip , yet ) on the highway . The numbers are higher in the winter when A/C is not running .

But , in the end , it is your money to spend as you think best .

Take care out there ,

 

[jeepman3071]

Apparently the thing to do is a buy a car that takes Premium. The last hurricane we had, none of the gas stations within 10 miles had regular 87, 89, or diesel. They all had 93 though.

 

[WyrTwister]

I am not aware running 93 octane will be a problem with any car ? Other than the higher price . If I was in a bind I would pay the higher cost .

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
How about hurricanes Harvey and Irma reinforcing the wisdom of purchasing a vehicle with the best possible fuel economy? And, not waiting until the low fuel light comes on to look for a fill up? My car has a rather small (14 gallon) tank and it can go very close to 500 miles on that. Larger vehicles and SUVs are selling like crazy in recent years due to low gas prices. It's only a matter of time until that trend bites people in the posterior. How quickly we forget.


It's an interesting point. But the sale of cars have declined and the gas mileage of those SUV's have gone up so total gas consumption in the US has actually gone down over the last few years.