Would you go into the attic?

[RicodJour]

Right. Axe, hatchet, sledge, wrecking bar in that order.

R

[Todd H.]

In desperate times, people are prone do doing crazy things that result in loss of life. Sometimes in large numbers.

2 Nov 2004 and 7 Nov, 2000 spring to mind. :-)

Best regards,

-- Todd H.

[gfretwell]

I keep hearing about people drowning in the attic.

Huh?

Didn't they notice there wasn't an egress up there?

[JerryL]

What was their option? Drown in the street or go to a higher spot? Those that could chopped holes in their roof. Others that didn't or couldnt' died.

[Goedjn]

Personally, I'm all in favor of: "When the Governor tells you to GTF out, GTF out, and take your little dog with you."

[MrC1]

And maybe some life jackets?

[Goedjn]

Gable vents and windows are your friend. Although I've never understood why all roofs don't come with access hatches.

[JerryL]

Probably because they are a source of major leaks.

[Colbyt]

Drown or climb. What would you do?

I would climb.

Frankly after seeing all this if I did not live on a hill I would seriously be considering what non-power tools I needed to store in the attic to make it to the roof.

Colbyt

[gfretwell]

Swim out the window, before they go under and climb on the roof?

Bear in mind NO flooded the day after the storrm.

I would still take my chances out in the storm instead of dying a slow death in the attic.

I have been in a couple hurricanes in the last year or so and I do keep PFDs in the house but I would have a house full of float tested rafts if I didn't,

[maradcliff]

I dont understand this. Apparently they dont always put windows in the attics in that area. I dont think I have ever seen a house without one or more windows in the attic. Common sense says that when the water is up to your chest and you are in an attic, it's time to break a window and swim. Yet, on the news they were showing rescuers using chainsaws and sawing thru roofs. That tells me there were no windows.

[maradcliff]

I liked the woman that used her refrigerator as a boat. Both her and her dog survived in that fridge. The door was facing up, and she just floated. She said it was a rough ride, but she made it. She deserves praise for good thinking. (This was on the tv news).

[Colbyt]

Actually my fat butt would require big nails and a hammer to stay on top of my 11/12 roof.

Colbyt

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

My grandfather was a roofer in the Bronx. He used to regularly cover skylights because it was a preferred entry point for burglars.

[Dr. Hardcrab]

I'd keep a pair of plane tickets up there.......

[Tom]

If they didn't drown and couldn't get out, I would imagine the heat would get them within a few hours. About like leaving your baby buckled into a car seat in a car in the parking lot.

[gfretwell]

These are not generally a "stand up" attic. The pitch is uaually 3:12. If the house is really designed with wind storm in mind there won't be a gable end either. They will slope down on all 4 sides so there are no flat vertical surfaces to blow in.

[Amun]

Likely they never realized the water would go up that high, and once they got up, the water rose further and blocked the only way out. Some people simply can't swim or are deathly afraid of being in "brackish" water, and just didn't think.

Mind you those living in areas like New Orleans that are below water to start with, and with plenty of advance warning a storm was approaching have been toying with death for a long time.

Sad,....but still DUMB.

AMUN

[JerryL]

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Yep, those with runnable cars, those with credit cards and bank accounts were able to flee. Those without, stayed.

[willshak]

On 8/31/2005 7:29 PM US(ET), Goedjn took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

It should be code to have one in areas that are below sea level. I sometimes I wish that I had one to get out onto the second floor roof to make repairs or installations, rather than using a 30' ladder. As for an emergency exit in the case of flooding, I'm 400' above sea level and even if all the ice caps melted all at once, I'll still be 140' above sea level (the Tsunamis created by the sudden melting would probably get me though).