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Post Hurricane Cache Etiquette

LSUFan

By LSUFan
in General geocaching topics

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LSUFan

+LSUFan

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm sure everyone knows by now that Louisiana and Mississippi are about to be pummeled by the hurricane. Many caches will either be destroyed, lost, or damaged from the winds and rain. Caches owners in these regions will have many other priorities in their lives besides worrying about replacing caches.

 

Do you think that GC should blanket temporarily disable all caches in an area hit hard by natural disaster until owners get time to check on them? Should GC (and approvers) allow a longer time period for owners to check on caches if someone submits a request to be archived soon after the disaster strikes? I know that many owners don't know caches are missing until logs are posted saying so. I'm just not sure how some people are going to emotionally react from an email telling them to check on their cache, especially if they have just lost their house or worse.

 

What should be the proper etiquette for these situations?

Edited by LSUFan
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WH

WH

Posted
Posted

I just listened to a news report on the worst case scenario for New Orleans.

 

Between many fatalities, injuries, billions in damage, and the city potentially being uninhabitable for months, the status of the caches there rank down near the bottom of the priority list.

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LSUFan

+LSUFan

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You are misreading what I am saying. I am saying that the caches mean nothing after a natural disaster. I'm trying to point out in these forums for everybody to read, about caching etiquette from the finders, not the owners. I went back and bold text this in my original post so nobody will misread it again.

 

I am stating that the owners are not going to want to hear about the caches missing when they have so many other problems. The question remains on what should be a good way for ALL of the geocaching community to handle a situation after a natural disaster as to not upset the ones affected by the catastrophe.

 

If you will look and see, I am from Louisiana and will be one of those affected by this. I know that I, nor my neighbors down south are going to want to receive an email in the near future from someone telling me to get out and check on the cache.

 

My question still remains, should there be some kind of blanket way to temporarily disable caches in an area hit hard by a natural disaster/catastrophe so the owners won't have to deal with the subject until they're ready to.

Edited by LSUFan
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CableMonkey

+CableMonkey

Posted
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I suspect that many of those down south will be without electricity for a while. Many people may find their homes destroyed and/or flooded. Both of those could leave them computer-less. Just some things to think about...

 

There are a TON of micro caches along the Lake Pontratrain shore at New Orleans. This area will be unfortunetly wiped due to storm surge...primarily if they are on the east side of the hurricane.

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Codfish116

+Codfish116

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LSUFan, I pray for you, your family, and neighbors safety as well as the safety of all of those in the path of this hurricane. I hear what you're saying. Some knuckelhead will send an email saying they can't find a cache, or worse, post a note saying the raiting should be changed from a 2/2 to a 5/5 because you now need a boat to get to it. :D I think the best way to deal with this kind of stupidity is to laugh at it.

 

I agree with letting the individual owners handel their caches as they see fit. Who knkows, maybe some will need a distraction from the chaos and a quick check of their cache may be what the doctor ordered.

 

What should we as a community do? I don't know about anybody else, but I plan to make a donation to the Red Cross.

 

Good luck to all.

 

(edet fir spelin)

Edited by Codfish116
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southdeltan

+southdeltan

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I think what LSUFan is asking is would it be possible for GC.com to go ahead and temp disable caches in south MS and South Louisiana. (Definetly south of I-10)

 

Like LSUFan, I am in one of the states that is about to be devestated - we are WELL AWARE of what is about to happen. We're probably more aware than people in other areas of the country since we also have local news (who tend to know more about local areas than major cable networks) covering this as well. We live in the area and we know the area.... I grew up hearing about Camille my whole life - my dad was in the National Guard and was sent down to clean up bodies - I know what is coming. Caches aren't important - that's for sure.... nobody was implying that they were that important.

 

Anyways - LSUFan's point was these people are NOT going to have time and in many cases even the ability to deal with the caches. What can GC.com do to help?

 

I always say - let the owner deal with their caches - but it's obvious that they won't be able to for some time. It would seem like a good idea to temp disable these caches (I'm not sure if there is an easy way to specify caches in a certain area in the db then tag them disabled - but that would be preferable than doing it manually, if it was done at all). If that's not something GC.com wants to do (or can do) that is understandable. I know some approvers do go in and temp disable caches...or at least they have in the past.

 

That's all he was saying. What should and/or can be done? I know after the last hurricane hit MS owners were given extra time to make repairs - hopefully this policy will be in effect again - it will likely be a while before caches are back in place.

 

sd

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Mopar

+Mopar

Posted
Posted

Humans are remarkably (to the point of stupidity?) resilient.

 

The locals will take care of their families, take care of their homes, take care of their towns, and then; take care of their caches.

 

Just look to the FL cachers who deal with hurricanes every year.

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tabulator32

+tabulator32

Posted
Posted

I was living in Charleston, SC when hurricane Hugo came through.

 

We didn't have power for a couple weeks and the roads were impassable by trees crossing them every ten feet or so. Millions of pine trees were lost. Pine needles driven longways into remaining structures like needles was common place to see.

 

I would give it at least a month or so before I start even thinking about logging a DBF or sending an email.

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Mopar

+Mopar

Posted
Posted (edited)
Just look to the FL cachers who deal with hurricanes every year.

They werent' under 20 feet of water for weeks (or possibly longer).....

 

New Orleans is a bowl and it's about to get filled with water, either by rain or storm surge or lake surge.

 

sd

The specifics dont matter, SD.

The local cachers in FL pull together for a hurricane. They help each other, they help the game.

I'm sure the cachers in Katrina's path will do the same.

If you know a local cache is missing, post a note, or better yet, just go replace it after the damage is cleaned up.

Edited by Mopar
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southdeltan

+southdeltan

Posted
Posted (edited)
The specifics dont matter, SD.

The local cachers in FL pull together for a hurricane. They help each other, they help the game.

I'm sure the cachers in Katrina's path will do the same.

If you know a local cache is missing, post a note, or better yet, just go replace it after the damage is cleaned up.

The specifics very much matter. There is no question that the vast majority of caches WILL be gone. Period. The NWS is predicting that all wood structures may well be destroyed. The city will likely be submerged by 20 feet of water for weeks or months.

 

Replacing caches isn't going to happen for some time. There is a possibility that up to 1 million people will be homeless.

 

All LSUFan asked was if it'd be possible to go ahead and have admin/approvers temp-disable caches that will very likely be gone. It was a minor request.

 

I think this is going to be a much bigger issue (the storm) than some people realize. Growing up hearing about Camille - I know what's coming and it's going to be very very bad.

 

sd

 

ps - of course the caches aren't important.... it was just a courtesy request for cachers in LA by a LA cacher....

Edited by southdeltan
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Mopar

+Mopar

Posted
Posted

And I think Ladycacher said it all.

If it's that bad (and in the past, Cat 5 hurricanes have downgraded to a cat 3 right before landfall) NOBODY will give a darn about the caches. It's not gonna matter if they are disabled or not, because people will have more important things to worry about. Nobody in their right mind is gonna think "well, I know this area is still under 15ft of water, but the cache isnt disabled, so I'm gonna go looking for it."

Not going to happen.

A mass dissabling is a bad idea IMNHO, because nature is unpredictable. It's quite possible some caches in hard hit areas will survive, and others in lesser hit areas will not.

 

We had some major flooding lhere last year, one of the local rivers crested 20ft over flood stage. We have probably 8-9 caches near river banks. Every single one survived, including the one that was under water for a week. You really just never know.

Once people get their lives squared away, they will check/maintain/archive as needed. Until then just pray for the people who can't leave the area, and forget about a stupid game.

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southdeltan

+southdeltan

Posted
Posted

Nobody ever implied that geocaches were more important than people. Your post implies that's what we think (LSU and me). That's not the case.

 

I do hope that it degrades significantly, but even if the wind drops - the problem will still be there - water. That's what killed most of the people in Camille and will cause most damage now.

 

Anyways, I hope LSUFan locks this - he meant well but I suppose it was a waste of time.

 

sd

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