| Author | Message | ||
     Malott442 |
I'm gonna watch Sharknado Monday, live. My parents insist on staying at their house, which is a cinder block home with a sturdy roof. I haven't decided if I'm going to head over there with them at this time. There is a storm shelter just down the road from the house, and that is definitely a possibility. I'm tempted to run by there today, and see how many people are there so far. I just moved into this house earlier this year, it's 102 years old. I hope that she will hold up to the damage, I am not ready to move quite yet. On that note, I'm taking video this morning of all of my personal belongings for insurance. I'm also going to move my yearbooks, photos, and backup drive to the gun safe. It's on an elevated foundation, so moisture should not be an issue. At 550 lbs, looting should not either.... if I get back over here quickly. | ||
| Akbuell |
Drat! Just Drat! My sister and brother-in-law live about 5ish miles from downtown Ft. Myers. A good friend lives 10-12 miles NE of Tampa. Tuesday, they were in the game, but on the sidelines at the 50yd mark. Now, they are on the 1 yard line, under their own goal post. Sister and brother-in-law have ridden others out at a friends house "that is built like a bunker" so will stay. May not be what I would chose to do, given storm surge estimates. The friend and his wife both have middle/upper management positions at a local hospital, so leaving is not an option. Double drat! Mallot may end up with salt water in his yard, despite Lakeland being that far inland. I lived in Lakeland for a while, and it may not be inland far enough . . . . Per my friend near Tampa, Irma stands "for "I really miss Andrew". Best wishes and hopes to all affected. | ||
| 86129squids |
Sitting here trying to keep my hon's BP down. My aunt, my sweetie's daughter and fiancée are in the Tampa bay region. Plus three cousins of mine. Prayers up. Whiskey down, and God's grace. | ||
| Britchri10 |
0600: 9.10.17 30 Miles West of Jacksonville, Fl Looks like Irma is headed up the West Coast of the State. S & Central Fla are going to be hit bad. My son evacuated from St. Pete to here last Wednesday. We're expecting tropical storm conditions tonight into tomorrow. We are 31 ft above sea level and forty miles inshore. Anyone who needs a place to stay is welcome. Bring beer..... Chris C | ||
| Fast1075 |
The west coast areas are going to get a major pounding. Florida is pretty narrow relatively speaking with a storm as huge as Irma. The most recent forecast put the eye passing over or near Tampa bay. I am 52 miles inland, but the eye is so big We may get max force winds even here in Winter Haven. This part of Florida has a "ridge" of high and dry land, but much of the land is low. There are whole regions north of Lakeland that will be flooded from the rainfall. All the shelters are full, it is too late to leave. Every thing is closed, there is no fuel. Going to be a long night tonight. My boss is at the shop to give out ice to anyone that needs it as long as we have any left. I figure the 1,200 pounds we have will go in an hour. By the time the machine makes enough to be useable, the weather will be too bad to get it. When the power goes out, that will be done. Yesterday afternoon, I went looking for a window ac for a neighbor. Lowes was closing, there were a lot of worried, frazzled people very upset over not being allowed in. Funny thing is every restaurant in town was packed to overflowing. I guess the owners wanted to lower their inventory of refrigerated products before the power goes out. At his minute, light rain with a gusty 20 mph breeze right here. I expect a complete curfew before long. My defensive status is "alert". Unfortunately, I am pretty sure my pepper plants are doomed. The next 24 hours will be "interesting". | ||
| Mtjm2 |
My sister and brother in law live on Ft Myers beach . They went inland to ride it out . My nephew lives in Cape Coral and is riding it out at home . Just heard a possible 15 foot storm surge. I'm not sure There is any place in the state That is safe . | ||
| Hughlysses |
The storm surge is bad news. When Hugo hit South Carolina in 1989, people were sheltered in an old school building in McClellanville, a coastal fishing/shrimping town north of Charleston. The water got high enough inside at one point that they were removing ceiling tiles and trying to get their kids up into the overhead so they wouldn't drown. Fortunately the water level peaked about then, but that had to be a scary time. The other part of storm surge is that it will bulldoze buildings flat. I was in coastal Mississippi the week after Katrina hit. One of the places we had to check out was the Armed Forces Retirement Home (former Navy Retirement Home). It sits maybe 1/2 mile back from the beach, and is at least 20 feet higher than the beach. The storm surge crossed the ocean front road, climbed 5 feet and cross US 90, climbed a ~10 foot embankment and took 2 of 3 houses located on the front lawn of the property down to the concrete slabs. The other house had the walls blown out. The first floor of the Home flooded and they had to move wheelchair bound patients up to the second floor by hand in the middle of the storm. | ||
| Etennuly |
Right now the best thing about living in Tennessee is that I do not live near Tampa today. Lived near Brandon for 17 years and saw a lot of close ones. But this thing.....I wish everybody the best. | ||
| Tootal |
I have friends in Brandon that decided to ride it out due to looting. I don't think my "things" are worth my life. We've tried to talk them out but he's too hard headed for that. I just visited with them in Ellijay Georgia a couple of weeks ago, they should have stayed! The folks in Ellijay have a condo outside of Lakeland about ten feet from a lake. They just told me that's what insurance is for! | ||
| Fast1075 |
Just after 7 pm. Steady hard rain with 40 mph wind with some gusts. Power has flickered a couple of times. Power outages in Lake Wales and Bartow about 25 miles south. Time to boil water for my big thermos so I can make some coffee when the power goes out. My generator is resting in the garage and can't be taken out and hooked up until in the morning when the wind lets up some. Looks like the storm turned more north, and the eye may come directly overhead. Bad news. We have had two tornadoes come thru. Closest in Polk City about 15 miles northwest. The ice we were giving away at the shop this morning took less than an hour to be distributed. I had bought a bunch of packs of Taster's Choice single cup coffee, and passed them out as well. A simple cup of coffee can be a real benefit after hours of screaming winds and stuff banging around outside in the dark. A tiny piece of "normal" in a wrecked world. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Hang in there Harry. Looks like the storm is weakening slowly but steadily which is good news. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Harry - Ice and coffee are THE most important things after a hurricane. I rode Carla in '60, Beaulah in 67, Celia in '70 all on the Texas coast at Beeville and Corpus. Beaulah's eye went over us.. 15 or so minutes of the most intense SILENCE I have ever experienced. I'll take a hurricane over an earthquake any day tho. Nothing like a Texas Hurricane party. If you're one to not evacuate, don't forget to Sharpie your name and SSN on your arm. Kinda like the biggest losers in a suicide are the survivors... Best of Luck and Prayers sent your way- Z | ||
| Oddball |
The "Eye" is passing by not far from me right now. At least a couple trees down in the neighborhood. 1 across the street split in half i think. Down by my brother's house a tree fell on someone's truck. Missed the guy's work trailer but took out his truck. | ||
| Rick_a |
It's a little sporty here. The wind gusts are a bit strong. There's been a stream running along the fence line since the morning that normally isn't there. The rain is relatively light with some heavy bands. The power flickers occasionally. So far so good. | ||
| 86129squids |
Thank God it weakened as it ran up the coast. My sweetie has been worried sick about her kid and kid's fiancée, they're OK apparently but the cel service is marginal. Power's out there since 5 yesterday. Now the cleanup begins, but what will Jose do? Hoping and praying that we can get her BP down to normal levels ASAP, dangit. | ||
| Pwnzor |
So far this storm has amounted to a cool breeze and a steady drizzle. This trailer is not one of mine, thankfully.  | ||
| Torquehd |
what will Jose do? windy.com projects it spinning around itself a good ways offshore for the next week. Maybe hitting Bermuda. If you've never visited windy.com, you should check it out. It's really cool. | ||
| 86129squids |
My GF's daughter posted up a video on FB that their property is good except part of a fence, and my aunt's trailer home in Ruskin lost a part of the roof, but all's OK in general. I'm perfectly content to be a Tennessee boy, I'll go visit Floriduh when I need some beach time. Our TVA lake and river systems provide plenty of water funnin', no need for the dang hurricanes. | ||
| Rick_a |
There was 3ft of water out back. The shed was partially submerged, but anything valuable was removed. The power has been out since sometime last night. Got caught up on some reading while there was good light. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Been a long day. It's not as bad as it could have been. I'm without power because a giant oak tree blew over half a block don the road. Took out the wiring, blew a transformer. The house across the road has some long needle pines in the back yard. Two of them decided to play nasty with the roof. Lots of roof damage to older buildings and mobile homes. No damage at all at my house. A lot of debris everywhere. It's like the storm exfoliated all the oak trees that it didn't blow over or smash limbs off. The good news is there will be TONS of free firewood for the winter. It's back to work tomorrow to take calls from people think we can make their ac unit work without electricity. Really, God's honest truth. I mentioned hurricane Donna from my childhood. Today someone pointed out that Irma was 57 years TO THE DAY from Donna, 9/10/60. | ||
| Hughlysses |
One piece of advice to any of you thinking of cutting up downed trees- be damned careful. After Hugo hit SC back in 1989, there were far more injuries caused by inexperienced chainsaw operators than were caused by the storm itself. Hell, Erik gave himself a nasty wound a few weeks ago with one. | ||
| Rick_a |
Looks like 67% of the people under this electric co-op have reported having no power. 46% of this county is out of power. The damage is currently being assessed and the repair can take several days. 36 hours or so has been the longest previously. | ||
| Oddball |
Might want to push for underground power lines. | ||
| Slaughter |
From my niece in Jacksonville, FL:  | ||
| Hughlysses |
Might want to push for underground power lines. That is not necessarily a solution. The problem with underground electrical distribution is the electrical vaults get flooded. After Katrina, we had to get power back up at the Navy bases in Pascagoula and Gulfport, MS. Pascagoula had above ground distribution but using ~140 MPH wind rated poles. Gulfport had a partial underground system. It only took a couple of days to get Pascagoula going while it was a couple of weeks before Gulfport was restored. | ||
| Rick_a |
The power came back on while at work at around 6:30pm, going by the blinking clock. Internet, cable, and phone services are still down. Cell phone coverage is good, though wireless data services are sporadic (AT&T). | ||
| Rick_a |
This is after the water started to subside.  It got up the 3ft mark. Here it's down to about two. It got very close to flooding the house. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Mom (80 years old last July, still rums me up and down a tennis court!) is home in st Augustine. Reporting no flooding at home and power is on. She's on anastasia island and dad had the lot backfilled 4' when they built, and that seems to be money very well spent. | ||
| Court |
House at Palm Beach Polo Club . . .never lost power (based on monitoring indoor temp) . . some palm fronds on the ground . . . and photos neighbors sent indicate no standing water in the streets. Horses had masks and ear plugs on/in . . never knew anything happened. Other than one barn worker who decided to load their own horse and cut and run in the middle of the night . . . no worries. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Still lots of people without power. Slowly but steadily things are improving. Important stuff first like medical facilities and infrastructure. Locally we now have enough places open, with power and fuel to be nearly normal. I'm still running on gen power, and will be until crews remove the giant oak tree that fell across the power line. Hope that is soon. |
