IRMA

[farjean2]

Well, it looks like my worries that this was going to be a repeat of 2004 after 13 years of zero hurricane activity are coming true. We now have the worst Atlantic hurricane in history bearing down on us.

Evacuations orders in the county I live in are now up to Zone A and I live in Zone B but I have no intention of going any where. When hurricane Charley came through in 2004 they issued mandatory evacuation orders and I ended up evacuating right into the eye of the Hurricane when it changed course. I'm going round and round with some folks on a local website about this right now and I'm trying to tell them that the government officials are just naturally trying to play it safe and want you to get out but it's your life and property and you need to make damn sure you know where you are going when you do. They don't tell you where it's safe to go. They just tell you to get out.

And for the record, thank God for Amazon Prime. All the stores were out of stuff but after some pointing and clicking everything I should need to ride out the storm should be here by tomorrow before the fun begins.

Was planning to fly to Australia the following Saturday. Hope that still happens.

[Maddy]

Stay safe, Farjean. How are you situated as far as emergency preps go?

[farjean2]

Stay safe, Farjean. How are you situated as far as emergency preps go?

As long as Amazon comes through tomorrow as promised I think we'll be fine. Had some angst yesterday about gas because it was completely gone every where I went but finally found some so I have a full tank in case we have to run for it.

I think the odds we will be without power for a while are pretty good but I'm hoping no more than that.

[Maddy]

We had a forest fire come within a quarter-mile of here a couple of years ago. I stayed up all night watching the adjacent ridge for any sign of red, in which case it was time to grab the keys and go. Fortunately the wind shifted at the last minute, but the whole experience was very close call and served as a valuable dress rehearsal for the real thing. My plan, should I not be able to get out, was to crawl with my animals into hole dug in the middle of my (shortly cut) pasture, cover with a piece of metal roofing, and just let the fire pass right over us. I guess with all the water a hurricane brings, going below ground really isn't an option. But it's worth thinking the options through, with as many redundancies as possible. Once you're in crisis mode, you don't think so well.

[ochotona]

Best wishes, check in after it's over. Hope it works out.

[Mountaineer]

Best wishes, check in after it's over. Hope it works out.

Ditto.

[WiseOne]

Good luck farjean. Batten down the hatches, dig out your shortwave radio, and yes...check in to let us know how you fared.

[Maddy]

The expansion now covers Zone B, which encompasses Brickell, Miami’s downtown area and South-Dade, including parts of Cutler Bay, Florida City and Homestead. Evacuation orders also touch Zone C, which includes parts of Coral Gables, South Miami, Miami Shores and North Miami Beach.

That's you now, right? Are you staying or going?

[farjean2]

The expansion now covers Zone B, which encompasses Brickell, Miami’s downtown area and South-Dade, including parts of Cutler Bay, Florida City and Homestead. Evacuation orders also touch Zone C, which includes parts of Coral Gables, South Miami, Miami Shores and North Miami Beach.

That's you now, right? Are you staying or going?

No, I'm in Pinellas County on the west coast (Tampa Bay). I'm in Zone B here. I've heard they will be deciding by this evening whether to evacuate zone B.

The big question will be where to go. Last time I evacuated was during Hurricane Charley in 2004 and I ended up evacuating right into the eye of the hurricane in Orlando. Had to drop my RV and run for our lives.

[farjean2]

Mandatory evacuations in effect now. Current track is pretty close to worse case scenario for us. Planning on going to our stepson's place a little farther inland away from evacuation zones. Told my daughter to assume everything left behind is going to be lost and to pack accordingly. Always best to plan for the worse and hope for the best.

As for my own packing, I have a heavy bag holding about 5% of my PP packed away.

Definitely making sure all the beer in the fridge gets used up.

[bedraggled]

Greetings from Port St Lucie- east coast, 14 miles inland.

Seems the storm will not cause much trouble here. I'll see beginning 4 hours from now.

The neighbor across the street watched our homes being built and hired his own inspector and general contractor to visit every 3 days. He said these homes, mine included are the best.

FYI, DiVosta is the builder. DiVosta and his Army buddy, Bart[?] owned the company. They may still.

If you are considering a house purchase in Florida, DiVosta houses may be the way to go. I just got lucky, if this is all factual.

Do your research, of course.

Good luck FL. AL, GA, SC, NC.

[farjean2]

Greetings from Port St Lucie- east coast, 14 miles inland.

Seems the storm will not cause much trouble here. I'll see beginning 4 hours from now.

The neighbor across the street watched our homes being built and hired his own inspector and general contractor to visit every 3 days. He said these homes, mine included are the best.

FYI, DiVosta is the builder. DiVosta and his Army buddy, Bart[?] owned the company. They may still.

If you are considering a house purchase in Florida, DiVosta houses may be the way to go. I just got lucky, if this is all factual.

Do your research, of course.

Good luck FL. AL, GA, SC, NC.

When the insurance company inspected my house, built in 1997, they said it exceeded building codes and I got a discount. Sounds like that might get put to the test although the local stations are saying only 50-75 MPH winds. That's not much worse than an afternoon thunderstorm but they've been wrong about the track of this hurricane all along so I'm not feeling very comfortable about it. If it continues west and goes off the coast to rebuild strength it's going to be a lot worse.

Living in Florida for more than half my life now I've seen over-hyped storms and toured the damage of several others, including Andrew which looked like a war zone. Not evacuating very far because the last time I evacuated I went right into the eye of the storm (Charley).

[WiseOne]

As for my own packing, I have a heavy bag holding about 5% of my PP packed away.

Good item to remember!! Farjean, I hope your house pulls through intact.

Definitely making sure all the beer in the fridge gets used up.

And even more important!

This is indeed a big storm, but the news stories are confabulating left and right in the scramble to outdo each other on over-hyping it. I saw one claiming "most powerful storm ever to hit Florida". Didn't take 5 seconds to pull up a list of category 4 storms in the past few decades. With shenanigans like that it's kind of hard to judge how the severe the storm really is. I usually go to the NWS website, which is much more truthful. For Miami and Tampa they're predicting "tropical storm conditions with hurricane conditions possible."

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... =-80.2&e=1

[farjean2]

As for my own packing, I have a heavy bag holding about 5% of my PP packed away.

Good item to remember!! Farjean, I hope your house pulls through intact.

Definitely making sure all the beer in the fridge gets used up.

And even more important!

This is indeed a big storm, but the news stories are confabulating left and right in the scramble to outdo each other on over-hyping it. I saw one claiming "most powerful storm ever to hit Florida". Didn't take 5 seconds to pull up a list of category 4 storms in the past few decades. With shenanigans like that it's kind of hard to judge how the severe the storm really is. I usually go to the NWS website, which is much more truthful. For Miami and Tampa they're predicting "tropical storm conditions with hurricane conditions possible."

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... =-80.2&e=1

Depends on the definition of "powerful", I guess. Did you see the graphic that showed they could fit about 4 hurricane Andrew's inside of this hurricane? Been tracking it from the beginning and if all we see is tropical storm conditions I'll be happy but very surprised. Current track says we're likely to see a cat 3-4 passing through. I've not yet hunkered down through a storm of that magnitude. Outran a few (in the wrong direction) but this will be a new experience.

But I've been through quite a few that have been over-hyped too so I hope this is one of them and I'll be on my way to Australia next Saturday.

[bedraggled]

Overhyped? Agreed!

In NYC, they got to where the newspapers were announcing the end of the world- on the editorial pages. Then their last editorial sentence exhorted us to be at work the next day. My life is consistent.

[bedraggled]

Maybe not overhyped but do the TV people raise the alarm too soon?

[Kriegsspiel]

If you want, "AirBNB" is offering free stays in "their" homes.

http://fortune.com/2017/09/09/hurricane ... picks=true

[ochotona]

Maybe not overhyped but do the TV people raise the alarm too soon?

I don't think so. It takes a long time to get ready, if you're not a prepper-type of person you need to have the steady drumbeat of "you might die, get ready". And yet, people still end up fighting for a few ounces of bottled water at Wal-Mart. For krissakes. People are just plan bad at planning for anything out of the ordinary, and they often plan badly for the ordinary, too.

[bedraggled]

Ocho,

Well put and thanks.

But as Gene Wilder said in "Blazing Saddles,"" ...but we are very confused."

[ochotona]

Naples, FL is going to have 125 MPH winds gusting to 155 MPH and a 15 ft storm surge. The people who stayed behind are going to get Darwined.

[WiseOne]

Here's the NWS special weather statement. 100 mph winds for South Florida, which is bad enough....fortunately no mention of winds > 100 mph on the NWS site.

Farjean and bedraggled stay safe!

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE Miami FL
113 PM EDT SUN SEP 10 2017

FLZ069-070-073>075-173-174-101845-
Coastal Collier County FL-Inland Collier County FL-
Mainland Monroe FL-Metropolitan Miami Dade FL-Far South Miami-
Dade County FL-Inland Miami-Dade County FL-
Coastal Miami Dade County FL-
113 PM EDT SUN SEP 10 2017

...Significant Weather Advisory for 80 to 100 mph wind gusts for
southern Collier...Mainland Monroe and southwestern Miami-Dade
Counties Until 115 PM EDT...

* At 111 PM EDT...Doppler radar was tracking an intense inner band
of Hurricane Irma that extended across the advisory area. This
band was drifting slowly north northwest around 10 mph.

* The primary impacts will be gusty winds of 80 TO 100 mph. These
winds will cause extensive damage to structures, power lines and
trees. Remain in your safe shelter.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
Homestead, Homestead Miami Speedway, Black Point, Homestead General
Airport, The Redland, Turkey Point, Florida City, Loop Road Ee
Center, Homestead Base, Naranja, Richmond West, Country Walk,
Leisure City, Wilderness Waterway, Everglades National Park, Big
Cypress National Preserve, Fortymile Bend, Goulds, West Perrine and
Princeton.

[ochotona]

I'm watching streaming TV from Western Florida, and it looks like a soggy mess.

http://www.nbc-2.com/category/300756/nb ... ming-video

[bedraggled]

Cortopassi hasn't checked in. He's a Florida resident.

The lake in the backyard is filled to the brim. More rain is expected overnight. That lake looks impressive.

Pretty routine here 14 miles inland in Port St Lucie.

[Kriegsspiel]

Cortopassi hasn't checked in. He's a Florida resident.

Don't know where you got that idea; he lives in the Chicago area like me.

I think he used to have an Illini avatar, indicating Illinois residency, but he could be like those people that like to pretend they live in a shithole. Like people that wear "Detroit Hustles Harder" t-shirts, but don't live anywhere near Detroit.

[bedraggled]

Pug,

Oops.

Thanks.

Is there a Florida guy who hasn't checked in?