Miami Orders Scooters Removed From Streets Before Hurricane Dorian Turns Them Into Projectiles (cnbc.com) 35
The city of Miami has notified a number of companies that they must remove their fleets of electric scooters from the streets in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, lest the devices become flying projectiles. From a report: Officials told the six companies that operate fleets in the city -- Bird, Bolt, Uber's Jump, Lime, Lyft and Spin -- to clear out their scooters by noon on Friday. The order is meant to prevent any potential hazards that could arise from the scooters being left out during the storm, including fears that the vehicles could be swept up in the storm's dangerous winds.
A number of scooter companies said they've also removed or reduced their fleets in Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando, which are also expected to be in the path of the storm. Hurricane Dorian, currently a strong Category 2 storm, is forecast to become a Category 4 storm with potentially "devastating hurricane-force winds," the National Hurricane Center said on Friday.
A number of scooter companies said they've also removed or reduced their fleets in Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando, which are also expected to be in the path of the storm. Hurricane Dorian, currently a strong Category 2 storm, is forecast to become a Category 4 storm with potentially "devastating hurricane-force winds," the National Hurricane Center said on Friday.
Additional warning (Score:3)
If you have a Delorean, make sure it's parked in an abandoned mine.
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If you have a Delorean, make sure it's parked in an abandoned mine.
No, if you have a Delorean, just jump ahead into the future, long after the hurricane is long gone.
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Spoiler alert: In "Back to the Future Part IV" the Delorean battery is flat (again) - they need to stay long enough for the hurricane to generate enough power via a wind turbine to jump-start it...
Mass transit (Score:3)
People don't need the scooters to greenly move about the city during a hurricane, quickly, anyway.
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People don't need the scooters to greenly move about the city during a hurricane, quickly, anyway.
But how are people without cars supposed to evacuate?
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Cars? I usually just use the toilet.
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But how are people without cars supposed to evacuate?
Skateboard + parasail
Sasha! (Score:1)
As Ron White said (Score:2)
It isn't THAT the wind is blowing, it's WHAT the wind is blowing.
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Came in here to say that, leaving happy anyway.
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And the solar cells and battery packs? (Score:1)
Re:And the solar cells and battery packs? (Score:4)
As I understand it, if you lived in Florida, you wouldn't have solar panels, because the power companies of the "sunshine state" have lifted a passage straight out of Atlas Shrugged to have their crony capitalist in the state legislature practically outlaw the panels in the name of "safety".
Re:And the solar cells and battery packs? (Score:4)
...and you shouldn't have solar panels, because they're going to be destroyed by the hurricane anyway.
Solar installations weren't common when Katrina went through here. But the three in my immediate vicinity were pretty much destroyed by the high winds and flying debris anyway. Which left the owners just as much in the dark as the rest of us....
Re: And the solar cells and battery packs? (Score:2)
Back in the 1980s, solar pool & hot water heating was *everywhere* in Florida, because it seemed like a perfect technology. The equipment was cheap, and it worked brilliantly well.
Then Andrew Happened. Basically 100% of solar water heating installation within 50 miles of Andrew's path, from Miami to Naples, were completely wrecked... even FAR from Andrew's eye wall... because those systems couldn't even survive a real tropical storm. It's just that nobody realized it (or cared) in the 1980s, because the
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I would concede that a stand-alone system built of the typical aluminum frame would not stand a chance, but this wouldn't apply to a roof top system. Several people agree with me:
https://floridasolardesigngrou... [floridasol...ngroup.com]
https://www.solarpowerrocks.co... [solarpowerrocks.com]
Being able to build a panel structure to withstand the wind is no harder than building a roof or window that can do the same. What is hard to handle is the power company buying laws that make the installation even more onerous.
Re:And the solar cells and battery packs? (Score:5, Interesting)
Any geek is bound to have a few UPS'. Grab a pair of the biggest ones for just charging phones and tablets. You'll be amazed how long you can milk one. I bet they charge the typical USB charger almost as long too.
I have a 12 ah Jackery, have had it since '14 or so. That's my war battery.
For light, I use kerosene lamps. Cold-blast lanterns, actually. A Dietz Blizzard, and a Blizzard Jr.. and assorted other wicked curiosities. I have a thing for oil lamps and lanterns. I really do like not relying on batteries for light. I do have flashlights, but I prefer fire.
Bring it, Dorian, you bastard! *shakes fist*
Re: And the solar cells and battery packs? (Score:3)
500mA USB is one thing... inverters are another matter entirely. I have three deep-cycle batteries rated at 115Ah@1A/h apiece, and post-Irma, I was *lucky* for one to last overnight with a fan (admittedly, a Vornado fan powerful enough to blow the bark off a tree) and keep the U-verse VDSL2 modem/router/AP and about 50 (actual) watts of LED lights working for a whole day before the voltage too low & I had to switch batteries to avoid damaging the battery.
Big warning to anyone shopping for an inverter or
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Put another way... unless your loads are incandescent lights & heating coils, the advertised ratings for most inverter-type generators are borderline-fraudulent FANTASY.
How you described your workarounds suggests that the problem is that your airco has a huge inrush current and doesn't meet its sticker watt specification at startup. I remember that incandescent lights would flicker for a moment whenever the fridge switched on. Don't blame the generator for not being able to supply 100 A of inrush current. Blame the airco makers for not putting in circuitry to limit the inrush current. You might blame the generator makers for writing 'watts' rather than 'volt-amperes'.
In Eu
Re: And the solar cells and battery packs? (Score:2)
I'm sure part of it was the fact that it was an old, beat-up window a/c I bought at a garage sale for $25 just to keep around for post-hurricane use with a generator (realistically, a 3-ton central a/c needs a minimum of ~7500 watts to avoid voltage sags... and require ~5 gallons of gas every 4-6 hours to feed the generator... getting hot & sweaty adding gas in the middle of the night sucks particularly badly....), but part of it is also that inverter-type generators really did (in the US, at least) wil
Huh? (Score:1)
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Really? I am not reading the article like that.
It seems to say that Miami is in the path of the storm and so are Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando. Looking at the hurricane path forecast, it seems like a reasonable conclusion.
The two statements are:
A number of scooter companies said theyâ(TM)ve also removed or reduced their fleets in Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando, which are also expected to be in the path of the storm.
and
The storm is expected to make landfall on Floridaâ(TM)s east coast this weekend, before rolling inland toward Orlando early next week.
I dont' read it as it will be worse in Miami than elsewhere.
from the i-question-things dept. (Score:2)
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Why does Miami exist?
Confinement area for old people.
Fortunately for Dorian (Score:2)
A cat 4 or 5 hurricane van use trees as projectiles
Remove some solar panels too (Score:2)
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Heat dissipation is the "some reason". Without airflow across the back, they get hot, and efficiency plummets.
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Should also remove all fossil fuel cars (Score:2)
Those things are death traps.
Protect the scooters! (Score:2)
We take our scooters seriously here. Poor little guy. Scooting for angels now.