Praying ya'll make it safely thru this. Tho it's never good to have a hurricane near, the location track just off the western Fla coast will help keep the storm surge relatively/comparatively shallow.
It all has to do with the shape of the coast, the natural flow of currents in the GoM and where the strongest counterclockwise winds are.
Carla came ashore on the mid Texas coast (in the coastal bend) with a 20' storm surge. What I'm seeing predicted for Irma is 9-10 feet. Not good at all but less destructive than it could be if the track were elsewhere. Good luck to Fla, Alabama and Ga...
I just moved me Dad to Lake City in March. He bugged out. To an RV park, NW Georgia. He was born in Tampa, raised there, I went to Broward Elementary school in Tampa.
I just moved me Dad to Lake City in March. He bugged out. To an RV park, NW Georgia. He was born in Tampa, raised there, I went to Broward Elementary school in Tampa.
My thoughts are with y,all.
Thanks Cliff, Don and everyone.
Jimmy S (Fiero Fiberglass), is in Ft. Meyers area, Mr.Mike, (of seat fame) is in Sarasota area, Coolblue is in Punta Gorda , and there are a lot more members of this forum in Orlando and all over Florida.
I hope everyone checks in after this is over and lets us know how they fared.
[This message has been edited by randye (edited 09-10-2017).]
I saw that, plus it gained 2 MPH in forward movement since the 8pm update.
I do like the current coordinates of it though because I'm at 82.6W x 28.1N and every mile it curves away to the west from me is a good thing.
If it can be at least 30-40 miles offshore when it gets up here that will greatly reduce the problem for us.
Yep, but if it has a 20 mile diameter eye, the eyewall, which is where the strongest winds are will be right up your street on the worst part of the dirty side.. with winds first howling east to west, then west to east after the eye passes. I'm over 90 miles from the coast and the wind damage here was substantial when Ike's eye passed about 30 miles due West of my location. Ike was a Cat 2 storm when it made landfall at Galveston. Lots of trees down on my place and hundreds and hundreds down in the National forest that surrounds me. By the time it reached me, the sustained winds were 'just' 85 mph. Hurricane Rita on the other hand, passed about 70 miles East of me and was a Cat 3 storm at landfall and didn't cause quite as much wind damage here, tho I did have some trees down. It's Eastern passage meant I was on the 'clean' side of the storm called rita.
I lived in Florida until I was 14 years old. The only time I took a direct hit was when Flossy hit Pensacola in 1956, and I was not quite two years old then. However, you don't have to be directly in the path for a hurricane to be an incredible display of nature's power.
The far outer edges of Irma appear to be here now.
Rain bands moving through are moderate to heavy but not torrential yet.
Media says that they have pulled the police and emergency folks off the streets now in my county and that seems pretty early considering that the winds are not over 10 -15 MPH here yet.
I'll try to post occasionally as long as the internet connections stay up.
Dragon (Frank Martin) says he and Mariana (White Horse, I think) are sticking it out. Hope they make it through OK. Anyone heard anything from JohnWPB, yet?
Any looters in my part of my neighborhood WILL be shot.
I won't be participating in any patrols or "militia" nonsense, but MY property and that of my immediate neighbors will be protected by deadly force if required.
Obviously power and internet, cell etc. are still functioning here just north of Tampa, but I believe JimmyS, Keel, Coolblue and the others down near Ft. Meyers are in the dark now.
"Irma has started here in Florida. Went out to the bay and saw two objects out where the water receded, so we took off our shoes and walked out through the shells to find two beached manatees. One wasn't moving, the other was breathing and had water in its eyes. My friends and I couldn't move these massive animals ourselves, and we called every service we could think of, but no one answered. We gave them as much water as we could, hoping the rain and storm surge come soon enough to save them."
Manatees are air breathers, so this exposure for awhile shouldn't kill them, but the exposure sure isn't doing them any good.
[This message has been edited by randye (edited 09-10-2017).]
Local reports and tracking show Irma moving due North now and increasing speed slightly from 12 MPH and it will make full landfall on Marco Island, 120 miles south west of Tampa.
The storm has reduced in intensity now to a CAT 2 and will lessen more as it moves inland.
Still a bad storm, and will do some damage, but it's a far cry from the expected Cat. 4
Track up here in my part of the state is now predicted to be between Land-O-Lakes and Plant City which puts a much smaller center passing well east of me.
It is eerily quiet in my neighborhood right now. Power to the neighborhood is still on.
[This message has been edited by randye (edited 09-10-2017).]
Meanwhile the TV media seems to be doing their level best to scare the livin' sh*t out of people. Yes I know, they have to warn people, and yes the storm is dangerous, but they need to stop with all the speculation these talking heads are doing and stick to salient, usable facts.
They just broke in awhile ago with an "on the scene update" because a single tree fell on a backroad on Captiva Island.....I kid you not.
I've kept silent on this and, I do agree. People do need to be aware but, it's pretty obvious the news is using every dramatic opportunity they can come up with. I watch NBC a lot (the wife's favorite source) and they actually have Lester Holt and Al Roker down in FL for this. Now, I ask you, was that really necessary?
Best wishes for all my Florida friends. I don't pretend to understand why you choose to live there but, I do wish you the best. Keep us posted on your situation and let us know if, we can do anything to help. ------------------ Ron
Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun.... Open your frigg'n minds, think about all the other tools that can be made into WMDs.
I sincerely hope that life is never discovered on another planet because, sure as hell Progressives and Socialists will want to send them money.
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 09-10-2017).]
From what ive been seeing on the Weather Channel and Fox, it going more N to NE, and may curve to the west later. It just went thru Naples and they said it was going NE inland, and may not go over Tampa.
I've kept silent on this and, I do agree. People do need to be aware but, it's pretty obvious the news is using every dramatic opportunity they can come up with. I watch NBC a lot (the wife's favorite source) and they actually have Lester Holt and Al Roker down in FL for this. Now, I ask you, was that really necessary?
It has only gotten worse hour by hour Don.
45 minutes ago a very effeminate male "news reporter" that looked to be all of 19-20 years old was doing a "live on the scene report" in the parking lot of the La Quinta Inn where he and his crew are "sheltering". Decked out in his brand new raincoat , he was breathlessly lisping his "news" report of the "genuine fears as winds here are obviously picking up a lot now" (his words).
His hair wasn't even being ruffled and the palm trees in the background were barely swaying.
The media has zero credibility anymore, even with simple objective storm reporting.
Heavier rain and wind bands here now, but not too bad. Neighborhood power still up. We might not lose power until around 8pm or after.
What do you think the odds are of good ol' Lester Holt and Al Roker sticking around and helping replace roof shingles and clear downed trees after this storm passes?
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Looks like the Black Lives Matter crowd has moved onto looting the malls now. Safe to say the only things that are going to be left after these animals are done their stealing spree are the work boots.
Spoke to my sister about an hour ago, she's in Port St Lucie.
She said it rained hard most of the day but that had just about stopped but the wind was blowing 85 to 90 mph. She has several (tea cup sized) dogs. Told her to hang on to them tight if they needed to go outside.
------------------ Ron
Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun.... Open your frigg'n minds, think about all the other tools that can be made into WMDs.
I sincerely hope that life is never discovered on another planet because, sure as hell Progressives and Socialists will want to send them money.
Radar at 9:30pm reported storm center at 27.1N x 81.8W Moving due north at 14 MPH
I am at 28.3N x 82.6W so this thing is getting close to being due east of us.
Winds have really kicked up in the past 30 minutes. I would guess gusts 70+MPH, maybe higher.
Rain is still moderate to light.
Electric power to the neighborhood is STILL on and I'm both astonished and grateful.
Ya know, that room is still open.
I believe if you went out side with your kite, you could be here in no time. Well, maybe not here but, not there.
------------------ Ron
Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun.... Open your frigg'n minds, think about all the other tools that can be made into WMDs.
I sincerely hope that life is never discovered on another planet because, sure as hell Progressives and Socialists will want to send them money.
Looks like the Black Lives Matter crowd has moved onto looting the malls now. Safe to say the only things that are going to be left after these animals are done their stealing spree are the work boots.
We're starting to get some pretty strong wind gusts, but probably not hurricane force winds. But we have lots of trees, and there are lots of branches coming down. I'm sure the damage survey in the morning will be fun (yeah right!). We still have power, though.
We're starting to get some pretty strong wind gusts, but probably not hurricane force winds. But we have lots of trees, and there are lots of branches coming down. I'm sure the damage survey in the morning will be fun (yeah right!). We still have power, though.
I was wondering how you and others were getting along. Good to see you check in.
Still not a lot of change over here in far west Pasco County.
Power here clicked off for 1 second or less and right back on strong. I still can't believe it has lasted this long.
If it stays on until 2am I think we might just get all the way through this with electric service, and that will be a first in our 30+ years experience with storms in FL.
Over the last few hours, we heard a few power transformers explode. After the last explosion, our power went out. My "looter repellant" is ready to rock, just in case.
Over the last few hours, we heard a few power transformers explode. After the last explosion, our power went out. My "looter repellant" is ready to rock, just in case.
If you need anything let me know. I have a lot of "repellent refills" available, in all sizes.
I saw some amazing bright green flashes that lit up the whole sky to the east an hour ago. Happened about 3-4 times over 5 minutes. Spectacular.
I know it wasn't you, but an amazing sight anyway.
Neighborhood power is STILL going strong but Irma isn't...
Got a text from my son awhile ago:
"Hey Irma! WTF? You are WEAK. Where the hell did you learn how to hurricane?!"
Radar at 2am shows that Irma is now 1/2 a hurricane:
(Blue marker on the image is my location)
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Thankful it mostly died overnight. Some downed tree limbs but otherwise unscathed. We lost power awhile back and I don't know how soon we will get it back.
Looks like the Black Lives Matter crowd has moved onto looting the malls now. Safe to say the only things that are going to be left after these animals are done their stealing spree are the work boots.
I have not read any news reports this morning but I am very very glad this one did not quite live up to the predictions, and especially, that so far, the PFF members and Fla public seem to have gotten thru it with minimal impact and damage.
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 09-11-2017).]
