Hurricane Irma - SE Florida, Carribean Islands, Carolinas, _possible Gulf Coast US

[Jambalaya]

Tekate, thank you, but I'm not in the hurricane zone. My friend is.

I actually feel sorry for all the crocs that are about to be displaced. I feel sorry for all the other animals, too, but they're more likely to get help and less likely to be killed. After Harvey there were reports of crocs in people's houses by their porches and on their driveways. They were just trying to find higher ground and protect themselves like everyone else.

Poor croccies!

 

[Bonfire]

I know it's hard to decide whether to leave or stay. I know it's inconvenient and difficult, but for any of you that still have the opportunity to get out, please do! This is a big bad girl! Please stay safe everyone in her path!!

 

[HS4S_2]

I hope all of my Florida neighbors stay safe! I know they are projecting a more Westerly path as of the newest update. However, you never know. I am not evacuating from our area because we are staying with the horses that could not be evacuated to North Carolina. We are ready and prepared. I will be thinking about all of you and look forward to seeing your updates when you can.

 

[whitewave]

About the storm surge for Irma:

 

[Arcadian]

@tyty333 @Arcadian Thinking of you and praying for you. Are many people in your neighborhoods planning to stay? I have to tell you that you Floridians are one tough group of people. I would have been gone on Monday.

Everyone in the path of the hurricane please, please stay safe. There are so many of us here wishing you well and keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.

Most have not left. The people here really look out for each other. Lots of cops in this neighborhood, and we're near fire and police stations, so they get this area up pretty quick.

It will suck but I got booze...lol

 

[december-fire]

I'm going to be scared for all of you until you post that you're ok. Fingers crossed that everyone comes through this safely.

This exactly. You will all be on my mind and I'll be anxiously looking for posts from you.

Has anyone heard from @iLander ?

 

[Arcadian]

This is the latest. Remember, Irma is still 400 miles across. Florida peninsula is 162 miles We're all gonna get it but the westerly track of this is somewhat concerning because it could get into the gulf. that will just add more energy to this thing.

Right now there's one gas station open where I am. Ok its sort of open. You can buy gas but only if you have a credit card. Unless a gas truck comes down here by tomorrow, there won't be much out there until this thing is over. I'm thankful that we can get ethanol free for the generator.

There are a lot of people still on the road which is making for some dangerous situations. 2nd wave of people now leaving south florida and the gas situation is really dire. The bad part is that I have people who left south florida to be in Tampa.

On the upside, whole paycheck is still open. I believe most will stay open until they get the final warnng to close.

 

[Mayk]

We are in Jacksonville Beach. Flood zone B and a mandatory evacuation area. We spent the day getting the house ready. We evacuate tomorrow before they close the bridges inland. Once the winds reach 40 mph sustained the bridges close and don't reopen until after the storm passes and the bridges are checked for damage. They evacuated the hospital at the beach today and the ER closes at 8:00 am tomorrow. Sadly for the people west the more it moves to the west the better it will play out for the northeast side of Florida. It will weaken quite a bit over land. Hoping for no tornados and lower winds and hopefully downgraded below a Cat 1 by the time it gets to us. Be safe friends and leave if you can. Praying for south Florida and worried for my friends who live there.

 

[AGBF]

We are in Jacksonville Beach. Flood zone B and a mandatory evacuation area. We spent the day getting the house ready. We evacuate tomorrow before they close the bridges inland. Once the winds reach 40 mph sustained the bridges close and don't reopen until after the storm passes and the bridges are checked for damage. They evacuated the hospital at the beach today and the ER closes at 8:00 am tomorrow. Sadly for the people west the more it moves to the west the better it will play out for the northeast side of Florida. It will weaken quite a bit over land. Hoping for no tornados and lower winds and hopefully downgraded below a Cat 1 by the time it gets to us. Be safe friends and leave if you can. Praying for south Florida and worried for my friends who live there.

Good luck and God bless, Mayk.

Deb

 

[Arcadian]

I'm up early and you'd never believe anything was even coming this way the skies are so clear.

So now the center is hugging the west coast according to NOAA. No direct Miami hit but Naples is dead in path now. Southwest FL ...omg. And so many left the east side for the west, I don't know what they're going to do now.

 

[missy]

OMG I cannot believe how powerful Irma is and how the storm just changed path drastically putting more people in danger because they left one part for the other and now it's coming there. Keeping all of you in my thoughts and my prayers and sending buckets and buckets of safe ***DUST*** your way. Please be safe and please when you can let us know you are OK. I can imagine how you are feeling right now and it is horrible. Know we are here for you praying for your safety and your loved ones safety and sending so much positive energy your way. (((HUGS))) and love.

 

[missy]

This exactly. You will all be on my mind and I'll be anxiously looking for posts from you.

Has anyone heard from @iLander ?

I contacted her and she has evacuated. She is a strong woman and iLander we are all sending so much love and so many good thoughts and safe dust your way. (((HUGS))).

And ditto to what Matata and december-fire said. Please let us know you are OK when you are able. We are all so worried and anxious for our fellow PSers. We love you guys.

 

[valeria101]

Thanks for posting NOAA, @Arcadian ! Reading the usual news sources on this is darkly commical: newspapers remain stuck in their timezone, of course, while the winds change ... (e.g. now the latest from the Boston Globe still calls out the end of Florida, while Reuters has a mere #4 Storm on Europe time). Fingers crossed !

 

[tyty333]

Looks like I am almost out of the cone of danger due to the predicted western shift. Unfortunately, there were people in our area that left early and
went to the Tampa area. Hopefully, they are headed back this way.

Mayk - good to hear from you...stay safe. I know its a horrible feeling to have to leave your house not knowing what you may return to.

HS4S_2 - good luck with the horses. My oldest son (an adult) will be staying with his GF at her trainers house where she keeps her horse. They
will have 8 horses there even though I think it only holds 6. So not the best situation. I think we are outside of the cone now so hoping all goes
well. Good luck and stay safe.

Hoping those that stayed are safe and that everyone's property stays relatively unaffected.

Thank you Matata, Bonfire, December-fire and Missy for the well wishes.

 

[Arcadian]

Thanks for posting NOAA, @Arcadian ! Reading the usual news sources on this is darkly commical: newspapers remain stuck in their timezone, of course, while the winds change ... (e.g. now the latest from the Boston Globe still calls out the end of Florida, while Reuters has a mere #4 Storm on Europe time). Fingers crossed !

Good ol Boston Globe.... And some people are OFFENDED about the hurricane cakes Publix is making. They're cute! If you gotta be here, may as well eat cake right?

Its hard to trust some news stations because they are so over hyped about it because they need the ratings, who cares if they don't provide the actual facts. Gov Scott HAS to scare the bejesus out of folks because its his ass if he doesn't. I get that. I'm totally sick of the weather channel. Talk about over hyped BS...lawd....

NOAA does the more factual stuff that my brain needs. Plus the counties here are also using NOAA so they know when to call their evacuations.

Don't get me wrong, it will be bad down here. That pretty patch of blue is long gone now and its all cloud cover. Likely where I am, more or less CAT 3 or maybe 4, and thats nothing to sneeze at. Also the tornadoes, maybe a little hail, yep you're getting it all with this one.

Irma is a very large storm and will cover the entire peninsula, which if you think about it, I can drive my car across and back on a single tank of gas (dang...lol).

Saving grace is that it will not be super stagnant like Harvey was.

The biggest worry on the coasts is how this coincides with high tide on Sunday. The eyewall is now predicted to skirt the cost of Western FL, which if over water, could really strengthen the storm. this is where I worry the most.

For the most part, people took it serious, no panic in my area, and neighbors were out helping others board up their homes. Curfew is at 3pm and its a zero tolerance one. Basically you better have a good reason to be on the roads. I'll still walk my dog if its safe to do so at 5pm, but I won't go outside the neighborhood.

There's going to be a new update at 11AM EST but Irma's eye continues to track northwest. There will possibly be warnings issued for the Gulf region because of this track.

 

[soxfan]

Welp, looks like my parents house in Apollo Beach is probably going to get blown into the bay I can't believe the storm shifted there. My relatives in Daytona were thinking they might go to my aunt's in Tampa to avoid the worst. Glad they didn't.

My parents aren't down there. They live in NH for the summer and fall...Thank God.

 

[ksinger]

Its hard to trust some news stations because they are so over hyped about it because they need the ratings, who cares if they don't provide the actual facts. Gov Scott HAS to scare the bejesus out of folks because its his ass if he doesn't. I get that. I'm totally sick of the weather channel. Talk about over hyped BS...lawd....

NOAA does the more factual stuff that my brain needs. .

This. We gave up on local weather guys here, years ago. They CAN be very good, but they went to the default of just hysterical all the time, and it got so tiresome. Crying wolf syndrome. "OMG!!! THERE'S A RAINDROP IN MCCURTAIN COUNTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And they spend so much time showing wind gust damage from some chaser on a country road in BF-Egypt County, in lieu of showing the freaking RADAR, that they almost aren't worth watching. They are certainly not worth watching with sound. Their radars are the only reason to watch them after all, since they have state-of-the-art dopplers that are not 10 minutes behind like all the radars you can view online. Other than that, they are an utter waste of time. Yes, NOAA. And the Radarscope app on your phone. All the rest is hype.

I can barely fathom the slow-motion disasters you guys live with. Ours are more frequent, more powerful, but tiny by comparison, might miss you, and gone quickly. Ours are like powerful rifles, yours a like a bunch of massed tanks.

Stay safe everyone!!

 

[Arcadian]

Public transportation is free across most of south Florida. Our county has curfew at 3pm, they said we should start seeing CAT1 winds by 4pm today. @Mayk Glad you checked in.

 

[mary poppins]

Hoping for the best for all who are affected by Irma. Some of my friends and family have evacuated (one to the west coast to get away from Miami, eek) while others are going to ride it out at home. I lived in Miami for Rita, Katrina and Wilma, and they were no picnic. This situation is much worse than those. Sending tons of dust to all in Irma's path.

* Just got a good update from my friend who evacuated to the west coast. Upon arrival at west coast hotel, she was told they might have to evacuate to a shelter. Instead of checking in, she high-tailed it to a relative's place back east but further north. Phew!

 

[jaaron]

Sending thoughts and prayers to everyone in Irma's path. Stay safe everyone.

 

[jeweln]

I am in central FL Orange County . Just praying nothing happens , the sky is so clear today . My husband is a physician and has to go to shelter duty from 5 pm today till Monday morning . I am staying home with the kids.

 

[iLander]

It is aimed right at us. We are evacuated to Orlando. We are praying hard for family that refuses to go, but at least they are on the mainland but still. We are hoping for some kind of home to go back to. How much damage is the question, not if. This is a suck fest. Thank you guys for your prayers and dust. Let's all dust it until it breaks down to harmlessness. Be back later.

 

[minousbijoux]

Please keep posting and updating us as you are able. I am all in on the prayers and good thoughts for all of you down there.

 

[tyty333]

Stay safe jeweln. My brother works security at a major hospital and he is locked in from this evening until Tuesday. Luckily we are now just outside of the
cone so maybe some high gusting winds but hoping for nothing too bad.

Soxfan...I'm glad your parents were not down here and didnt have to deal with the evacuation. I hope their place makes it through the storm ok.

I'm so sorry ILander...the waiting and not knowing is so difficult. I'm glad you are in a safer zone and also hoping your house doesnt take too much
of a hit.

 

[Jambalaya]

Arcadian - you said you were going to walk your dog at 5pm...just be mindful of debris swirling around, OK? It just takes part of one roof tile or a small-ish branch to bop you on the head and do you a mischief.

 

[Calliecake]

@iLander , I'm so thankful you evacuated and are safe. I panicked last night when I heard the storm had changed direction a bit. I will continue sending lots of dust, safe wishes and prayers for both you and your family.

@soxfan , You are so lucky your parents aren't in Florida and you aren't having to deal with stubborn old people telling you not to worry LOL. I hope the rest of your family is out of harms way and safe. Dust, dust, dust!

@Mayk Sending lots of safe dust your way. Please stay safe

@tyty333 I have been thinking of you, ILander and Arcadian so much the last few days. Sending lots of dust and love to you and your family. Please stay safe.

@Arcadian Stay safe and thank you so for all your updates. You have helped me more than you could possibly know the past few days. Thank you. Dust, dust, dust

My family is in Tampa and have said they evacuated but I wouldn't bet my life on them telling me the truth. My dad was shaken up when I started crying Thursday so telling me a fib to put my mind at ease is very much a possibility.

 

[Arcadian]

Arcadian - you said you were going to walk your dog at 5pm...just be mindful of debris swirling around, OK? It just takes part of one roof tile or a small-ish branch to bop you on the head and do you a mischief.

If its too much wind, SHE won't go....lol We went to the beach Juno/Jupiter beaches which is FULL of people who are bored, and those waves are just crazy! Lot of surfers of all types taking advantage while they can. She needed to take the edge off and run around like a lunatic. Considering she's a greyhound, that takes about 5 minutes...lol


The walk later will be around the block. Electrical lines are located in peoples back yards, so when they break they don't hit the streets (which is good and bad) The back yard unfortunately may not be the safest place for her because of this.

@iLander Orlando is a good spot. A house can be replaced but you can't. I'm glad you're in a safer place.



I'm now really feeling the barometric pressure and the air is nothing but soup.

 

[Jambalaya]

Glad your doggie is getting exercise, since she might have to be cooped up inside for a while after the storm comes. Thanks so much for the pretty picture of the water above.

What does barometric pressure feel like? I'm not sure I've ever experienced it.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Glad your doggie is getting exercise, since she might have to be cooped up inside for a while after the storm comes. Thanks so much for the pretty picture of the water above.

What does barometric pressure feel like? I'm not sure I've ever experienced it.

A big giant all-over-your-head headache. (For me.) Ugh.

Hoping the best for everyone.

 

[Arcadian]

Glad your doggie is getting exercise, since she might have to be cooped up inside for a while after the storm comes. Thanks so much for the pretty picture of the water above.

What does barometric pressure feel like? I'm not sure I've ever experienced it.

This is a girl that does NOT like storms. She will very accuraely tell me if its going to rain. For a dog that loves water she hates getting rained on..lol

With Matthew, she got in daddy's beer... no drugs needed!

Barometric pressure feels like someone's treating your head like a melon and continually squeezing the hell out of it. It can be debilitating when the drop is massive. I'll drink some coffee later (not much else I can do really) and if needed take some tylenol and rest. With this storm if one is sensitive they will feel it.