update from the "red zone" :)
Awright, y'all, here's a (hopefully) brief update and timeline of how we're doing here in the evac zone of the Apex Hazmat situation.... as of 4:30 EST Friday:
It's still kinda eerily quiet outside, as you might expect. Little traffic on the roads, maybe a couple of cars per hour. Most of THOSE, it appears, are individuals going somewhere on their own-- like this morning, for example, it looked like a few stalwarts were actually heading to WORK! Problem: police are letting people out, obviously, but not as of this hour necessarily back IN. Many folks here as a result appear to be camping out at home, windows shut and A/C off (like here at PLANET ZEB!). Around 11 this morning, I took a pic out of the window leading back toward the plant that had exploded; it showed the distinct combination of dark rainclouds and the odd bit of smoke from the general direction of the plant, since the official Hazmat responder type people didn't try going in 'til dawn's early light this morning. The air right now clearly has "something funny" about it, though it mostly just feels damp. Last night you could tell distinctly from the "burning plasticene" smell all around that the fumes were much more noxious. Thank goodness for a little rain and a decent light wind blowing smoke AWAY from us.
Last night was something, let me tell you. We were celebrating NC State's amazing comeback win over Florida State here at the ranch when we heard what (at the time) sounded like some very funky thunder-- but thunder doesn't usually sound quite that close or shake the house quite like these things did. Shortly thereafter, we got the word from local news that an "event" had happened in Apex... and the first bits of information started trickling in. The occasional pop and bang occurred even well after that, and although they'd started TALKING about evacuations around 11:00-11:30 pm, we figured it would only be the residences adjacent to-- or maybe no more than a mile or so out-- from the plant. We went to bed, though not before I made sure all of the windows were tightly closed on an otherwise pleasant evening.
This morning, up around 4:30-5 am, and local news (which has done a great job, by the way, right along with the amazingly dedicated Apex Police and Fire Departments) was reporting wider scale evacuations and talk of "mandatory" evacs to Red Cross shelters in the declared evacuation zone started surfacing. I got in the ole Zebmobile and drove the quarter-mile it took me to get to the outer edge of the zone; sure enough, police were there letting people OUT, but keeping outsiders away and not letting anyone IN. Just my luck, maybe, that after such a big win for NC State, I wind up being about three miles from a major explosion... and only several hundred yards straight-line distance from a non-house-arrest line in which I could come and go as I pleased (laugh). Anyway, it was very clearly a worse situation at dawn this morning, where I could still see junk in the air and it was VERY hazy outside-- much moreso than the usual morning dew/fog at this time of year.
About 9ish, the situation improved-- winds seemed to kill off some of the smell in the air, and the rain may have brought up issues of ground contamination at the fire site, but i was sure as hell happy that it was washing away "floaters" in the air (or seeming to, in any case). Still virtually NO traffic on the roads except for the odd single-person car (probably trying to get to work) and one or two vans that appeared to have multiple folks in them (I suspect finally going to shelters). In our area, I'd estimate that about 30 percent have bugged out for shelters, though most folks appear to have simply boarded up and locked their kids in with them.
I turned the A/C on for a little while earlier to keep the radio station computer room cool, though admittedly after about an hour it seemed to feel funny inside, so i cut it off again. Actually found an open grocery store inside the "zone" that I could get to without having to pass through a police roadblock, however, so around 11 I went to get milk and bread! Outside at that time, I gotta admit, it seemed more or less OK.
So now here we are, closing in on 5 pm, and all's more or less well for the moment. Can't say that I feel 100 percent normal, mind you, but I suspect the very minor headache is the remnant of a cold and staying up late last night rather than from some bizarre form of poisoning. PLANET ZEB!'s airstaff (all cats) and I have been doing well, and are very appreciative of all the folks who knew we were in Apex and emailed their concerns. Many thanks to family and friends who've called to check on us too. Amazing how world news travels these days-- relatives and station fans from OVERSEAS were among the first to call or email!
Biggest problems now are (1) hoping the cops'll let residents of the area back into it this evening after a hard day at the office but keep gawkers OUT and (2) for those of us here who have pets, we're running afoul of the Red Cross prohibition of companion animals at shelters. Personally, having run the odd Red Cross shelter in the past, I'd rather choke a little along with my cats than have to live on pretzels with no privacy at a shelter that's only about a mile and a half up the bloody road ANYWAY. Station operations are rolling along as per normal, with a new playlist just posted and entertainment value high. As with Hurricane Floyd when we were back in Charleston a few years ago, it'll take more than a disaster to knock PZ off the air (chuckle).
If anyone wants my views on living in a suburban nouveau-riche hellhole where politicians let business, industry and land developers run rampant and rape the landscape and allow junk like this to happen in the FIRST place, I'll be happy to give you more than a few reasons NOT to live in Apex at some time in the future. For now, I suppose, emergent situations call for us to be unified as one big glob of patriotic, neighborly and public assistance-oriented communitarians.
Assuming, that is, that we don't have billowing clouds of benzene and burning biowaste permeate the brick superstructure of our refuge later tonight (laugh). :)
More later-- cheers for now!
Zeb
It's still kinda eerily quiet outside, as you might expect. Little traffic on the roads, maybe a couple of cars per hour. Most of THOSE, it appears, are individuals going somewhere on their own-- like this morning, for example, it looked like a few stalwarts were actually heading to WORK! Problem: police are letting people out, obviously, but not as of this hour necessarily back IN. Many folks here as a result appear to be camping out at home, windows shut and A/C off (like here at PLANET ZEB!). Around 11 this morning, I took a pic out of the window leading back toward the plant that had exploded; it showed the distinct combination of dark rainclouds and the odd bit of smoke from the general direction of the plant, since the official Hazmat responder type people didn't try going in 'til dawn's early light this morning. The air right now clearly has "something funny" about it, though it mostly just feels damp. Last night you could tell distinctly from the "burning plasticene" smell all around that the fumes were much more noxious. Thank goodness for a little rain and a decent light wind blowing smoke AWAY from us.
Last night was something, let me tell you. We were celebrating NC State's amazing comeback win over Florida State here at the ranch when we heard what (at the time) sounded like some very funky thunder-- but thunder doesn't usually sound quite that close or shake the house quite like these things did. Shortly thereafter, we got the word from local news that an "event" had happened in Apex... and the first bits of information started trickling in. The occasional pop and bang occurred even well after that, and although they'd started TALKING about evacuations around 11:00-11:30 pm, we figured it would only be the residences adjacent to-- or maybe no more than a mile or so out-- from the plant. We went to bed, though not before I made sure all of the windows were tightly closed on an otherwise pleasant evening.
This morning, up around 4:30-5 am, and local news (which has done a great job, by the way, right along with the amazingly dedicated Apex Police and Fire Departments) was reporting wider scale evacuations and talk of "mandatory" evacs to Red Cross shelters in the declared evacuation zone started surfacing. I got in the ole Zebmobile and drove the quarter-mile it took me to get to the outer edge of the zone; sure enough, police were there letting people OUT, but keeping outsiders away and not letting anyone IN. Just my luck, maybe, that after such a big win for NC State, I wind up being about three miles from a major explosion... and only several hundred yards straight-line distance from a non-house-arrest line in which I could come and go as I pleased (laugh). Anyway, it was very clearly a worse situation at dawn this morning, where I could still see junk in the air and it was VERY hazy outside-- much moreso than the usual morning dew/fog at this time of year.
About 9ish, the situation improved-- winds seemed to kill off some of the smell in the air, and the rain may have brought up issues of ground contamination at the fire site, but i was sure as hell happy that it was washing away "floaters" in the air (or seeming to, in any case). Still virtually NO traffic on the roads except for the odd single-person car (probably trying to get to work) and one or two vans that appeared to have multiple folks in them (I suspect finally going to shelters). In our area, I'd estimate that about 30 percent have bugged out for shelters, though most folks appear to have simply boarded up and locked their kids in with them.
I turned the A/C on for a little while earlier to keep the radio station computer room cool, though admittedly after about an hour it seemed to feel funny inside, so i cut it off again. Actually found an open grocery store inside the "zone" that I could get to without having to pass through a police roadblock, however, so around 11 I went to get milk and bread! Outside at that time, I gotta admit, it seemed more or less OK.
So now here we are, closing in on 5 pm, and all's more or less well for the moment. Can't say that I feel 100 percent normal, mind you, but I suspect the very minor headache is the remnant of a cold and staying up late last night rather than from some bizarre form of poisoning. PLANET ZEB!'s airstaff (all cats) and I have been doing well, and are very appreciative of all the folks who knew we were in Apex and emailed their concerns. Many thanks to family and friends who've called to check on us too. Amazing how world news travels these days-- relatives and station fans from OVERSEAS were among the first to call or email!
Biggest problems now are (1) hoping the cops'll let residents of the area back into it this evening after a hard day at the office but keep gawkers OUT and (2) for those of us here who have pets, we're running afoul of the Red Cross prohibition of companion animals at shelters. Personally, having run the odd Red Cross shelter in the past, I'd rather choke a little along with my cats than have to live on pretzels with no privacy at a shelter that's only about a mile and a half up the bloody road ANYWAY. Station operations are rolling along as per normal, with a new playlist just posted and entertainment value high. As with Hurricane Floyd when we were back in Charleston a few years ago, it'll take more than a disaster to knock PZ off the air (chuckle).
If anyone wants my views on living in a suburban nouveau-riche hellhole where politicians let business, industry and land developers run rampant and rape the landscape and allow junk like this to happen in the FIRST place, I'll be happy to give you more than a few reasons NOT to live in Apex at some time in the future. For now, I suppose, emergent situations call for us to be unified as one big glob of patriotic, neighborly and public assistance-oriented communitarians.
Assuming, that is, that we don't have billowing clouds of benzene and burning biowaste permeate the brick superstructure of our refuge later tonight (laugh). :)
More later-- cheers for now!
Zeb
posted by zebby rhoads @ 4:37 PM
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