Florida Residents

[papajoe222]

To all our friends in FL. As hurricane Irma approaches, please take the evacuation recommendation seriously and don't wait too long to do so. Life and limb are more important than any possessions you may leave behind. If Harvey taught us anything, procrastinating can have very serious consequences.

[XpressJeff]

Please DO NOT hang around!

 

As Papa stated, anything material can be replaced!

 

Living in Florida does NOT mean you are professional hurricane Dodgers.

[Koz]

I'm down near the southeastern tip of SC and right now the projected center path of Irma is taking dead aim at us. I am not pleased. I'm praying that the pressure system to the west builds more than expected and pushes the hurricane more out to sea.

 

When hurricane Matthew hit last year it was a Cat 1 and we stayed here. Those that left the area were barred from coming back for a week. Long story short - zoning and construction laws here are a lot different and when buildings and homes are built, they are built without clear cutting mature trees. So we had thousands of downed trees that are still being cleaned up today. Irma is predicted to be a Cat3/Cat4 when it gets to our area. I can only imagine what the damage would be.

 

Later today the hurricane shutters are going up. Yesterday I was lucky enough to find a hotel room about a 4.5 hour drive NW of us but I'm guessing it may take us 16+ hours to get there when we evacuate on Sunday. Unlike most people today I don't have an SUV (I have a small Genesis Coupe) so I won't be able to take much with me other than me, my son, and our dog when we evacuate. But we're going to find room for our fishing poles, tackle box, and baseball gear. If we aren't allowed back in the area for a week or two we're going to need to find something to do during the day.

 

When I was younger it was always exciting watching and waiting to see if the hurricane was coming our way. Now, not so much. I have this queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Waiting for the latest hurricane updates is excruciating. I understand what the folks in Florida are going through and it's not fun at all. I hope all the folks in Florida make the wise decision and get out of town. There's no need to be brave - or foolish - with a Cat4/5 hurricane on the way. Better safe than sorry.

[BCline]

My wife and kids left yesterday.  I have work requirements keeping me in Florida today, but will be watching this storm closely for the next 48 hours.  I have grown up in the southeast and weathered many bad storms, but this one has teeth and got me nervous.

[kadas]

8 minutes ago, BCline said:

My wife and kids left yesterday.  I have work requirements keeping me in Florida today, but will be watching this storm closely for the next 48 hours.  I have grown up in the southeast and weathered many bad storms, but this one has teeth and got me nervous.

Agree with BCline--this one made the wife and I nervous also so since we have some family and friends in Ohio that we has been discussing about going up and seeing them this seemed like a perfect time to do that so we put the Doxie dog in the car and left Wednesday morning and drove through to Ohio. Very glad to be up here out of the storms path. We pray for all our friends in Florida that are not leaving please be as safe as you can.  hopefully will see you all in a few

[RPreeb]

My wife and I lived on Long Island in the Bahamas for 2½ years.  We sat through the eye of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 (cat 3 when it hit us dead center) in our great room (and that only a year after Irene hit the island just before we moved down there).  We were without power for 3 days (parts of the island didn't get power back for 3 weeks - we were lucky) and the island took several months to replace the many roofs that were blown away.  We had built our house well and it weathered the storm okay, aside from being sand blasted from the beach 100 feet in front.  The saving grace was that Sandy was a fast mover and only really took about 5 hours to pass.

 

Then 2 years ago, Joaquin camped over the island for 2½ days and truly devastated the place.  Now Irma has them in her sights.  Part of our decision to move back to the States was the weather, and I thank God that we left when we did in 2014.  Anyone in the path of this storm who has the opportunity to run away should really do so, run early and far.  Sandy had 125 mph winds when it hit us and that was sufficiently terrifying - I can't imagine 180 mph.  Most residential structures can't be built to be livable and still able to take that sort of punishment.  

 

The island of Barbuda has been more than 90% destroyed.  Virtually 100% of the buildings on the island have suffered damage.  That's what's in store for anyone in the direct path of this storm.  Please heed the warnings and get out now!

[pondbassin101]

I'm out on the first evacuation order.

[Gundog]

Stay safe people. Nothing is more precious than your life. I've got family in Orlando and they are already packed and on the road to a safe location inland. I'm praying for everyone's safety. 

[Sam]

https://www.wxrisk.com/its-florida-and-miami-is-in-big-trouble/

 

Not good news for Florida or South Carolina.

 

Please evacuate if possible at this late date.

[geo g]

Guys please keep us in your prayers.  This is a unprecedented storm taking direct aim at us.

[Chance_Taker4]

On ‎9‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 8:46 AM, kadas said:

Agree with BCline--this one made the wife and I nervous also so since we have some family and friends in Ohio that we has been discussing about going up and seeing them this seemed like a perfect time to do that so we put the Doxie dog in the car and left Wednesday morning and drove through to Ohio. Very glad to be up here out of the storms path. We pray for all our friends in Florida that are not leaving please be as safe as you can.  hopefully will see you all in a few

Welcome to Ohio. This is the only time people are excited about visiting us.

[kadas]

3 hours ago, Chance_Taker4 said:

Welcome to Ohio. This is the only time people are excited about visiting us.

LOL--little cool this AM but we are glad to be here out of the path of Irma---Thanks!!

[Chance_Taker4]

Just now, kadas said:

LOL--little cool this AM but we are glad to be here out of the path of Irma---Thanks!!

Its even cool for us Ohioans especially since I live so close to Erie. I'm glad you are safe and pray all your belongings will be safe as well.

[N Florida Mike]

Spent most of the day getting ready. We decided to stay 2 days ago. Biggest concern today was getting my cracked bedroom window boarded up. Tomorrow morning all hands on deck to put up out door stuff.This isnt easy with all the kayaks, boats,traps, lawn tools ,g- daughters toys,etc. Part of my back looks like fred sanfords junkyard!

We are staying because we really had no where to go except family in NC  and as much as I love that state, its a hurricane magnet. Also, getting back home might be a problem. And when we decided to stay ,we were forcast to get a cat 1 or maybe 2 ,now it seems to indicate itll be maybe a 1 in my area of NE Fl, if the storm keeps to the west. In my area it just didnt seem to be life- threatening.If I was in S Florida I can promise you we would already have left.

Talked to my nearest nieghbor on the lake and hes staying. We will help each other during the storm if needed. My son also stayed so I have an extra comfort of having him around.Hopefully, power wont be off too long. Truly this a historicly intense hurricane.

I plan to get out after the storm and see how I can help my nieghbors,esp. the elderly. and maybe get a little post storm fishing in !

[XpressJeff]

Mike, we'll be thinking about you and praying for you too. Most sure where you live but I rode out a few in Lake City and it wasn't that bad. Ft Lauderdale was another issue. Fill your bathtubs, get some food and meds out up too

 

Nothing personal but a firearm is a good thing to have also for the looting scabs that always arrive afterward.

 

Keep us posted to!

[Basshooker]

We left for Atlanta from Sebastian, FL after hearing about storm.  Thought I was ahead of most leaving and in some ways we were. Normal ride to Atalanta  8 hrs, this ride took 17.45 hrs.  Glad we left when we did.  Now after storm is done and gone kinda makes me wonder how long it will take to get back also....bottom line we are SAFE and insured, so whatever happens we will deal with it afterwards.  Hope all others are as safe as well.

 

[Oregon Native]

One of life's major adventures....good luck to you all....your in our prayers.

[kadas]

1 hour ago, Basshooker said:

We left for Atlanta from Sebastian, FL after hearing about storm.  Thought I was ahead of most leaving and in some ways we were. Normal ride to Atalanta  8 hrs, this ride took 17.45 hrs.  Glad we left when we did.  Now after storm is done and gone kinda makes me wonder how long it will take to get back also....bottom line we are SAFE and insured, so whatever happens we will deal with it afterwards.  Hope all others are as safe as well.

 

Yes sir the traffic did make for a much longer ride going north but it was good to get up here to Ohio and be out of the storms path. Kind of looks like the eye will go over our place if it stays on it current projected path.  We feel the same as you--we are safe and everything in Florida is insured so we will deal with whatever we have to when we get back

[Fishing_FF]

On 9/7/2017 at 10:26 PM, pondbassin101 said:

I'm out on the first evacuation order.

The only evacuations for inland Central Florida (Orange, Osceola, Lake, Seminole, and Polk) have been of mobile home communities, past to present. Otherwise, we are expected to shelter in place. Orlando has long been considered a safe zone for those evacuating from the coast. 

[Mike L]

I wanted to jump on here real quick and Thank all those who pm'd me, and for all the posts with thier best wishes.

It looks like we're gonna take a direct hit as she is now coming up the SW coast where we live. 

We're as safe as we can make it and just waiting for the hammer to fall. 

 

The wind is steady at about 20 with gusts a lot more and getting worse by the hour. They say we'll be in the eye wall about 2:00 and will be for hours as the wall is 80 miles wide. 

We're about 20 miles from the Gulf so the storrm surge won't be a factor for us but 130 mph winds are. My granddaughter has MS and has specialized equipment so we can't leave without a greater risk to her, so we've been advised to ride it out. 

 

Anyway thanks again, and to all my fellow Florida residents on here I wish you all the best.

May God protect you and your family. 

 

We'll get through this..My thoughts and prayers are with you all. 

 

 

 

Mike

 

 

[Hez]

8 minutes ago, Mike L said:

I wanted to jump on here real quick and Thank all those who pm'd me, and for all the posts with thier best wishes.

It looks like we're gonna take a direct hit as she is now coming up the SW coast where we live. 

We're as safe as we can make it and just waiting for the hammer to fall. 

 

The wind is steady at about 20 with gusts a lot more and getting worse by the hour. They say we'll be in the eye wall about 2:00 and will be for hours as the wall is 80 miles wide. 

We're about 20 miles from the Gulf so the storrm surge won't be a factor for us but 130 mph winds are. My granddaughter has MS and has specialized equipment so we can't leave without a greater risk to her, so we've been advised to ride it out. 

 

Anyway thanks again, and to all my fellow Florida residents on here I wish you all the best.

May God protect you and your family. 

 

We'll get through this..My thoughts and prayers are with you all. 

 

 

 

Mike

 

 

Stay safe Mike.  My thoughts are with you bud.  It's fixing to get hairy for you - at least it slowed down a bit over Cuba.  

Hang in there bud, hope you and your family endure little hardships and heartache during this beast.  

[Catt]

Stay safe & stay in touch ?

[lo n slo]

got friends in Clermont, prayers with them today

[Glenn]

Thoughts and prayers to all in harm's way.

[MichaelCopeland]

Sending prayers for all in Irma's path. Please everyone evacuate if at all possible and get to safety. I've never heard of what's going on down there with the water getting sucked out or whatever you wanna call it. I'm hearing once the eye passes through the storm surge that comes with it will bring all that water back and then some. Very devastating. Please everyone stay safe. Your things can be replaced you can not!