Anybody living in Miami/ Florida.......GTFO!
Obi One
Senior Member
Hurricane Irma is going to be an unmitigated disaster. 280km/h winds for 6 straight hours minimum. The loss of property is going to be huge. Make sure you stay safe!
A couple of Caribbean islands completely destroyed. Here's a vid from the Dutch Marines as they survey Sint Maarten. This was yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkSNWkgkH4Q
A couple of Caribbean islands completely destroyed. Here's a vid from the Dutch Marines as they survey Sint Maarten. This was yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkSNWkgkH4Q
Comments
As someone bracing for Irma from central Florida, I definitely echo your sentiments. Hopefully it will move a bit to the east as some models suggest and not come straight up the spine of the state.
I always knew that you and Tommy were paid big bucks by Edward.
Seriously, I feel for these ppl bucking those conditions. I bitch like hell with this 115degree heat, but my feel better options are a lot easier.
NHC just adjusted the course of the Hurricane westward. It is now projected to go straight over Florida while making landfall in Key Largo. This should weaken it by the time it reaches central Florida. However from Mega-Hurricane to Hurricane is still a damned dangerous Hurricane. I have never seen a hurricane where the center reached 916 mb of pressure.
@Goats
Be safe! Unless you're living in a solid concrete house, don't think about 'waiting this one out'.
@Knish The amount of damage to nature, houses, telephone and electricity poles will be unheard of in Miami. It might take 1 or 2 weeks before they can return.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
That's all goats. The most I can say is that I passed Saint Charles Place when driving thru Atlantic City last week...
Thanks for the well wishes. Was out late last night after you posted.
Yes, our house is cinder block with a concrete finish and we'll be riding it out despite the unfortunate shift westward.
Hoping for the best for both ourselves and anyone else effected.
No, not in a flood area, not really a concern where I am.
We had an issue with water intrusion when we got 3 weaker hurricanes in 2004 (right after we built our house) but that was due to defective building practices and we wound up in a class action suit that the builder settled. Unfortunately we could never fully resolve the issue but it takes a massive storm to cause it and we know what to expect... which still sucks but that's my main concern.
The house should stand up to the wind fine (even if we get what could be 110 mph based on my most recent info) and we only have palms that can withstand well beyond that so no concern with trees/branches falling.
Don't get me wrong, not like I'm calm (quite the opposite), just trying to logic myself into dealing a bit better.
The hills on the islands of Sto Domingo, Ha?ti and Cuba are breaking the flow of the winds. The hurricane is slightly weakening. It's also trending even more westwards. Couple this with the fact that you live in mid-Florida, where the storm will also weaken when it goes over land and you'll be experiencing considerably less wind, than when the eye comes straight over you, straight from the sea.
edit: which is good news off course.
Miami will still get the full force of the eye it looks.
The track has shifted even farther west now to the point that it's slightly of benefit to us. What's keeping me relatively calm is that the worst of the storms in 2004, Charley, brought very similar numbers to what is projected now and, as I mentioned before, we had no issues outside of the water intrusion thanks to the a$$hole builder.
Interestingly, Disney World is closing early today and will remain closed through at least Monday. The parks have never closed for more than one day in their history (there's a reason Walt built it here). We live very close to Disney.
When living in the caribbean, you have to keep track of all the storms every yearly storm-season (june-october). Do that for 30 years and you'll become quitte knowledgable. The reason of my first post was because of the images and numbers I had seen a couple of days back, when Irma hit the first leeward islands. It was a destruction I had NEVER seen before. Downright scary. Rain was pounding from straight ahead, not from the sky. Cars were flying around 40 ft in the air, most rooftops gone.
One tourist posted a vid of his hotel room in utter shambles, also with the roof gone. He said at the end of the vid: 'I'm glad it's over',......as the weather outside was totally calm. People had to warn him in the comments that he was actually in the eye of the storm and that he should seek shelter asap before the next 6 hours of blaze would hit the island from the other side.
I'm glad the hurricane has kept it current trajectory and thus been rendered less powerful. A track over open sea would have kept it a monster.
While everybody's talking about Irma, the next hurricane is about to hit the same islands again. John, as it is named, is headed on a course to the upper Atlantic. Let's hope he tails off to the North Pole and not to the WSH/BOS area.
Ever wondered why they keep giving these storms and hurricanes these friendly names? Why not: Mega-Mouler Death Vader? (watch how quickly people will evacuate)
Just got back from picking up a pizza and my wife told me the 5:00 et update shifted the track even farther west although it now may be a cat 5.
Tough situation to be rooting for a certain track to help one's personal location when it will inevitably make it worse for others.
Yes,
All good here. We're 900 km away.
I had the same thing, was rooting for it to go further west, until I realized, I couldn't be wishing this upon New Orleans or any other city.
Enjoy the Pizza.
BTW, I know this has turned into a 2-way conversation, but I know we must have other BT members in Florida so best wishes to all others affected and by all means feel free to chime in if you'd like. I'm posting stuff here b/c Obi is taking a very logical view and I can only discuss the storm with locals who run the gamut from calm to panic so much.
My wife's sister and family live nearby (Bradenton/Sarasota). They were going to ride it out in a friend's house that was supposedly well-fortified. When the track changed to come right over them their friends decided late last night it wasn't THAT hurricane-proof and left for elsewhere. My sister-in-law wound up going to her parents' house about an hour north of us.
Hopefully the aftermath isn't too bad when your kids return.
By some miracle I never lost power (news reporting half the state and half my county did). Unfortunately, had a healthy dose of the water intrusion I mentioned above so my wife and I spent all night swapping out soaked towels for dry ones (and I'm still at it). So much water was/is coming in I couldn't dry towels fast enough. Hopefully now that the rain has slowed the flow of water will as well so I can swap towels one more time and get a couple hours sleep.
Only other damage I know of so far is losing some panels of our pool screen, won't know how many until morning.
Anyway, just figured I'd post this update while I wait for the dryer. Hope anyone in Florida and/or with relatives here got through it safely and with no significant damage.