Hurricane Irma

[Prancer]

Did she say Why?

A) She is dumber than a box of rocks. I hate to say it, but she is, and B) her husband has all these ideas about being self-sufficient and so on, and she thinks he is a genius, so if he says they will stay and be fine, then she thinks they will stay and be fine, and pooh-poohs anyone who suggests otherwise.

Maybe they will change their minds if they are ordered to evacuate. Right now, their town in on a Level Three Emergency and the residents are being advised to prepare accordingly, which they've done,

I'm in the big bend area. Went to fill up my car tonight. One station completely out of gas, the next one had lines, at 9pm at night. Got water yesterday and the shelves were still half full, but I'm hearing that's not the case today.

She says everything is cleaned out and you can't get gas anywhere today (she's in a small town on the coast near Fort Myers). They have some gas stored for their generator and are planning to stand guard over it with a shotgun at the ready

 

[susan6]

A) She is dumber than a box of rocks. I hate to say it, but she is, and B) her husband has all these ideas about being self-sufficient and so on, and she thinks he is a genius, so if he says they will stay and be fine, then she thinks they will stay and be fine, and pooh-poohs anyone who suggests otherwise.

Maybe they will change their minds if they are ordered to evacuate. Right now, their town in on a Level Three Emergency and the residents are being advised to prepare accordingly, which they've done,



She says everything is cleaned out and you can't get gas anywhere today (she's in a small town on the coast near Fort Myers). They have some gas stored for their generator and are planning to stand guard over it with a shotgun at the ready

The area that Charley demolished? You'd think they would know better. (My mom used to live in Lake Suzy, which is in that area)

 

[Mozart]

Any idea if Nova Scotia (Eastern cape Breton island on the coast in particular) will be hit by the after effects ?

 

[Prancer]

The area that Charley demolished? You'd think they would know better. (My mom used to live in Lake Suzy, which is in that area)

Yeah, that one. But she's been doing research and thinks this hurricane will be more like Hurricane Donna, being an expert and all. After reading her learned post on Facebook, I figured she must have read an article somewhere, and lo and behold: http://www.tampabay.com/news/weathe...o-donna-which-slammed-florida-back-in/2336291



I can spot plagiarism at a thousand yards, kid.

 

[Simone411]

A) She is dumber than a box of rocks. I hate to say it, but she is, and B) her husband has all these ideas about being self-sufficient and so on, and she thinks he is a genius, so if he says they will stay and be fine, then she thinks they will stay and be fine, and pooh-poohs anyone who suggests otherwise.

Maybe they will change their minds if they are ordered to evacuate. Right now, their town in on a Level Three Emergency and the residents are being advised to prepare accordingly, which they've done,

Here's my deal with this. If they kept up in the least with what happened with Harvey and that it reached inland to where I live which is about 186 miles northwest of Houston, what makes them think that they will be fine?

I just did a Google search regarding the width of Florida. Florida is 500 miles long and 160 miles wide at its most distance points. Irma may cover the whole state of Florida, and Category 5 is nothing to play around with. I would say for them to get the hell out of Dodge. Excuse my language, but while there's still time, they could leave and it's better to be safe than sorry.

As far as Donna, it says it was 130 mph, and it was on my birthday in 1960. We don't know yet exactly how severe Irma will be until it reaches Florida, and if it's still Category 5, that generator may not even help if their home is flooded out and destroyed.

 

[MacMadame]

I can spot plagiarism at a thousand yards, kid.

 

[PRlady]

I live on Miami Beach and specifically right on the bay connecting the beach and downtown Miami and it takes all of 10 minutes of rain to completely flood everything here- no exaggeration. We just went through it a few weeks ago and it took hours for them to get the roads back to normal just from a little storm. No one seems to be moving with any urgency yet, probably because last year they were 95% sure the hurricane was going to directly hit Miami but then the night before, it moved off the coast and then ended up hitting a lot of other areas in Florida. Also, I'm not sure many people here have places to go as it's a predominantly walking/biking area and most people don't have cars or family nearby.

It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next 3 days, but right now plenty of people are at the beach and/or going about their days like nothing is happening. I went to the grocery store here this morning to stock up on some basic foods and there were no carts available and most of the aisles were already wiped out, so I guess most people just plan on barricading themselves inside and seeing what happens.

My friend lives there too, in a high rise overlooking the bay on the Miami side, I remember. She and her SO have a car but also pets and, I think, an aged parent in a nursing home nearby. Obviously they can't leave her mom there without knowing if the home will be safely evacuated.

I now live in a city that is shut down by two or three inches of snow, to the point where vehicles can't get up the hills to the city to resupply us,and I can't imagine how all those people are going to get out safely.

 

[Jimena]

I'm currently hunkered down in my house with my child and 4 dogs, and my mom and her dog. We will get hurricane force winds, it seems. The entire San Juan metro area is so quiet. Everyone seems to have been good about prepping for this.

We are supposed to start getting strong winds about noon.

 

[PRlady]

I'm currently hunkered down in my house with my child and 4 dogs, and my mom and her dog. We will get hurricane force winds, it seems. The entire San Juan metro area is so quiet. Everyone seems to have been good about prepping for this.

We are supposed to start getting strong winds about noon.

Fingers crossed for you.

 

[Aceon6]

@Jimena Take care. We will be thinking of you.

 

[tony]

I hope you have a plan to evacuate!

Word is that sometime later today they are really going to harp on the evacuation. Hopefully it isn't too late for people to find flights out of Florida.

 

[Aceon6]

Word is that sometime later today they are really going to harp on the evacuation. Hopefully it isn't too late for people to find flights out of Florida.

FWIW, People will be moving their planes, houseboats and RVs. It was a long time ago, but I was able to hitch a ride out by going to a small airport and asking around.

 

[TOADS]

Model are suggesting the big turn happens just southeast of Florida. Irma would "kiss" the Miami area, move north off the coast of Florida, then slam into Charleston, SC.

bottomline is where she finally strikes depends on when and where the turn is made.

 

[Buzz]

Praying for all our FSU members in Erma's path as well as the rest of the Caribbean and Florida!

 

[tony]

Model are suggesting the big turn happens just southeast of Florida. Irma would "kiss" the Miami area, move north off the coast of Florida, then slam into Charleston, SC.

bottomline is where she finally strikes depends on when and where the turn is made.

Yeah, almost all of the models are showing it going further and further east. Miami may be mostly spared once again, but I feel for those higher up the coast.

 

[TOADS]

Models are helpful but these things have a mind of their own. Charley was suppose to hit Tampa but in the last 8 hours, made a turn to the right that was not expected.

The models have been shifting Irma every run. A week ago, it was making a beeline for Southern New England, then started shifting south and west. I would assume a hit on southern Florida and act accordingly. Better safe than sorry since that part of Florida is flat and the water can go for miles.

 

[NeilJLeonard]

Yeah, almost all of the models are showing it going further and further east. Miami may be mostly spared once again, but I feel for those higher up the coast.

It may just go 25 - 30 miles north and "kiss" Ft Lauderdale/Broward County. I live in western Broward County (just south of I-595 & east of I-75) and for the 1st time ever I am simply scared.

The shutters go up today & the yard clean up is for tomorrow. All trees were trimmed a month ago except my coconut palm. I spent 2 hours Sunday trimming that back and getting rid of all the coconuts on it. This prep is to get things as safe as possible to ride it out. We have no fear of storm surge since we are about 20 miles inland, plus the projected rain looks like an amount that the drainage in the area can handle.

The wind, however, is a major concern. The house was built to the old County 110 MPH code in 1987. It will probably not take much above 120-125 MPH before serious damage can occur. We may have to find out how much the place can take the hard way.

We have enough canned food to last & water, too. I have a generator and fuel. Unfortunately it is now impossible to get propane for the grill. What I have is all I'll have for this storm. Next year the empty containers will be filled in June.

In any event, our children with their children can't leave town. That means that we will stay, too. I am sure that this could be one of the more interesting week-ends of my 75 years.

And, Tony, no matter what this turns out to be, GET OFF OF MIAMI BEACH ASAP! Hunkering down somewhere on the mainland is preferable to trying to ride out a major storm on a barrier island.

NJL

 

[meggonzo]

Model are suggesting the big turn happens just southeast of Florida. Irma would "kiss" the Miami area, move north off the coast of Florida, then slam into Charleston, SC.

bottomline is where she finally strikes depends on when and where the turn is made.

Yikes! My supervisor is supposed to leave Saturday for the outer banks North Carolina.

 

[meggonzo]

Word is that sometime later today they are really going to harp on the evacuation. Hopefully it isn't too late for people to find flights out of Florida.

Or go rent a car that gets good gas mileage.

 

[Clarice]

My son lives in a highrise on the causeway connecting Miami and Miami Beach. He, his wife, the in-laws, and the animals all evacuated to Georgia last night. I'm glad they're out of there - I was terrified of that building in high winds. His inlaws live in Miami Beach, and their house will almost certainly be affected by flooding.

 

[halffull]

Stay safe all our FSUers! Horrible that you have to go through this! You'll all be in my prayers!

 

[tony]

Gov. Rick Scott has a press conference right now- tourists of the Keys were already required to evacuate, residents need to evacuate by tonight. He also said any residents of low-lying areas in Miami should also evacuate today.

 

[skategal]

Model are suggesting the big turn happens just southeast of Florida. Irma would "kiss" the Miami area, move north off the coast of Florida, then slam into Charleston, SC.

Oh no. Stay safe everyone in the path of this storm. ((((HUGS))))

How glad am I that we decided to sell our condo in Myrtle Beach last year?!

 

[GarrAargHrumph]

My brother also lives along the Gulf. My dad had offered to buy him a bus ticket, too, but he's staying put. You can't force people to go, if they don't want to go or feel they cannot leave.

Animals/pets can be a major issue in the way of getting people to evacuate. With small pets, the Feds learned a lot from Katrina and other past hurricanes, and have directed shelters to allow in pets - that helped a lot during Harvey.

 

[TOADS]

11am advisory from the National Hurricane Center tracks Irma right over Miami Beach, exiting over Port St. Lucie Sunday morning.

Winds at landfall around 150 mph sustained, gusts to 175 mph. Storm surge will likely be 15-20 feet on top of the wave action.

Landfall is still 4 days away so there will be changes.

 

[BittyBug]

Hoping for a safe ride out for you @Jimena.

 

[TOADS]

The latest radar imagery shows the eye of Irma is now approaching St Thomas in the Virgin Islands width sustained winds of 185-190 mph with gusts likely approaching 210-220 mph....

 

[skatesindreams]

Thank you for sharing your expertise; and for keeping us updated!

 

[Lacey]

OMG, that St. Thomas info is incredible!

 

[Lara]

Watching the wapa.tv stream (thank you for not geoblocking) from PR. It's barely even started and a billboard already fell on a car dealership. https://imgur.com/a/gjhsh

Winds in Culebra (again just starting) - https://imgur.com/a/6dkwA

Lots without power. Admittedly it goes off at the drop of a hat...

I really feel for the islands that took/are taking a direct hit. I can't fathom the disaster.