I wasn’t sure where to classify this…

Been through 3 hurricane evacuations. Never left myself as I work in a hospital and my obligations were to the care of my patients but my family evacuated with each of them  Lost 850 foot dock in one of them. House never got damaged. It gets really freaking hot in a house in the South within 24 hours of no central air. Gaming and music will be the last thing on one's mind. As others have already stated, you have no idea what kind of damage exists around you until it ends and the sun comes up. You wake up from a terrible night's sleep, if you slept, and look around and sometimes the devastation is jaw dropping. Sometimes it is better than predicted.  My advice is to evacuate when told to do so. Either leave days before everyone evacuated or set off in the middle of the night. 

@asvjerry -- It sounds like you are thriving in or around Asheville, North Carolina.  I grew up in East Tennessee and have lived in Central NC since 1985.  Fantastic part of the Country.  If I'm correct about Asheville...indeed it is booming!

@allenf1963 ...Read btwn lines, you have... ;)

The natives aren't thrilled 'bout the growth, since rents and home prices have ballooned like most elsewhere.  Spouse & self passed this way some 30 yrs. ago after SF, her family ended up at Winston/Salem....it became the next 'go towards'...

Audio here is Best Buy, Guitar Center, and various AV install firms....a.k.a, a desert.  If there's better, it's a well-kept secret....
Yes, there's Atlanta.  Overnights for audio v. ATL traffic have little appeal, but combat traffic after L.A. only makes me brush up on driving skills best left there. ;)

What desires I have fill fine with the 'net...SOTA I'll leave to y'all to enjoy with the thinner wallet. *G*  I've gotten good at blood from stone....*L*

...at least the kind I thrive on....*meh heh heh* 😏

Central NC...*hmmm* Charlotte, Greenville, Triad....

Ready for our summer T-storms, humids, 'n heat? 

Thought so....after HOU, learned to cope.... *L*

Jerry and/or Allen,

If you’re a wine sipper, I suggest a trip up north to Shelton Vineyards in Dobson.

Just beautiful! And you’ll be only ten miles from Mount Airy, for all things Mayberry.

They actually have a Mayberry store in Dobson. It’s where I load up on my Barney Fife coffee mugs.

@ricmci This house was built in 1988 and still standing.  I’ve never experienced a hurricane, so it’s going to be an interesting experience the first time.  That said, as I stated previously, I have a 3 story house on the top of a hill on a slope.  From the front of the house, it’s 2 stories, but from the back, it’s 3 stories.  The bottom floor is a 2 car garage, and some storage, with 50% underground, and cinder block walls, as well as a 11’x18’ office.  That floor has it’s own dedicated sub panel, and it’s what will be powered with my generator in the event of a hurricane knocking out the power.

A 1 ton mini split is far more than a room that size needs, however, I can open the solid core door from the office into the garage and let the cool air reduce the temp of the garage as well.  I just put in top of the line insulated Hurricane rated garage doors (the 2 car garage has 2 single car doors).  This means I have additional space to help neighbors as well if they don’t have backup power.  They can bring mattresses or sleeping bags, and sleep in a comfortable temperature.

The mini split I’m putting in, also has a stand alone dehumidifier mode as well.  Since it’s so oversized for the room, a mini split without this option would cool the room quickly, but not have enough time to properly dehumidify it before shutting off.  With this dehumidify mode, I can run it when I’m not cooling the room to pull the excess humidity out.

Lastly, there are no windows on the first floor to be broken.  I have a large chest freezer in there with a few hundred pounds of froze meat, and multiple butane burners with at least 10 spare butane canisters, so I have food heating covered.  I have 2 cases of bottled water, plus a water dispenser that I keep a backup 5 gallon jug for, so I should have enough potable water to last me as well.  The only luxury I would be without during such a time would be internet (assuming it’s out, and cell towers are down), and hot water, so cold showers it is.