Hurricane Irma strengthening in the Atlantic

a reply to: jrod

It's because getting hit with cat 5 winds is the only wind-related danger these days (apart from the odd short-lived tornado) Indirect cat 1 and 2 hits aren't even worth a curfew. Irma lost a significant amount of steam before hitting Florida, that doesn't mean the preparations were overblown, you can't always count on the hurricane being weaker than expected for your survival.

a reply to: ProphetZoroaster

Not saying they were for this storm, however many storms are over hyped and end up being not so bad. This in my opinion gives some people a false sense of security after going through an over hyped storm.

I have seen countless facebook posts with people calling out meteorologists with Irma, this is people being people. They predicted a large hurricane over Florida a week in an advance, they predicted a Keys landfall days in advance. They nailed the forecast, the turn made it difficult to predict the mainland landfall.

As I wrote, Florida dodged a bullet with the storm weakening over Cuba.

a reply to: jrod

As I wrote, Florida dodged a bullet with the storm weakening over Cuba.

Nothing short of a miracle.

Just got the best news ever.

My Loved one is alive and well, stores and private property looted near her as well as her own storage, money, food & water stolen.

But still food and water for another 3 weeks That is my doomsday girl.

a reply to: Dumbass
Great news! I have been worried. So glad you finally heard from them. Excited that they are doing well.

Still without power here, and FPL still says they can't give us an estimate on when we can expect restoration of power.

Last night was like an oven in my house, and it wasn't much better on the porch. No breeze. I survived. If the past is any indicator, I am not expecting power for at least a couple more days. Us woodlanders are the last to get power restored.

So happy that our families made it through that storm alive and unharmed. We will just have to take it one day at a time.

originally posted by: ProphetZoroaster

Holy crap, it took me a minute of cocking my head looking, but that's Ohio Key just north of Bahia Honda (or, for people who need a bigger reference, just south of Marathon) This is a view to the south from overhead.

When I was a kid, my dad sometimes stopped on Ohio Key for overnights, depending on what time of day we'd left home back on the Gulf Coast to drive down there. Something like half of Ohio Key is an RV park, and I see lots of RVs in that picture, I hope people just left them behind because the alternative means stupid people stayed to ride it out

a reply to: jrod
I thought it would have been much worse for Florida. Not to say mostly all weren't affected by it, because you all were, in one way or another.

Can't blame the meteorologicst. They did a great job. You're right, that some people focus on the track too much. It's not exact.

I've never experienced a hurricane. In one way it seems thrilling, but I'd be scared and it seems very stressful to deal with.

You live in a beautiful part of the world. Paradise. I suppose it's the price you pay to live there. I couldn't live in a dead zone where there's no extreme weather. I like my coastal living.

Man my power went out here and may parents. We just got it back 2pm yesterday. At least the little baby generator at my parents kept the food from spoiling. I will certainly get me a bigger one by the end of the year for future preparations.

And the stupid half rotten tree in my front yard refused to be knocked over, so I have to continue to eye it with suspicion for some time. Was really hoping the storm would relieve me of that burden. There was like literally no storm surge here. All the water just returned to normal. Thats a good thing though.

Looks like Tampa dodges the bullet again.

a reply to: worldstarcountry
According to FPL we should have power back by next Monday. I am not holding my breath. We have heard that story before and 1 week turns to 2, turns to 3, and the next thing you know, 2 months have gone by. The big difference this time is that it is much hotter, and there is no breeze. Will have to hang out at brother's until he gets fed up with us and throws us out.

But we are good. I have no complaints.

Power just came on a little over an hour ago. IMO the power companies are doing a great job. Much faster than I expected.

Im in south florida, so glad the worse is over!a reply to: violet

well i survived and my house got lucky, it was good timing i went to a hospital to evacuate too since it turns out i have an infection and could get it treated right away, honestly it was good timing as usual.

We went down to the marina in South Tampa to check his sailboat. Sunday 6:30PM. It was high tide, yet the craziest thing was most of the bay from our point of view was a sand bar, a field. Birds were out there en masse having an actual field day feeding frenzy. Wind gusts were just getting to where it felt like they could blow us over. Was pretty exciting actually.

a reply to: Grimpachi
Honestly other than the Fridge itself, I was starting to enjoy no power. We all just hung out on the streets bull#ting and setting up water activities for the kids. Some of us got a more closer look into the daily antics of the block alcoholics
since we were hanging outside. Its right up there with typical trash tv, so it was somewhat entertaining if not heartbreaking.

The man across the street finally spoke to me for the first time since I moved in two years ago. Caught up with the neighbors whos house I helped clear of automotive parts from the previous tenant. Some of the nags went to greener pasture temporarily, that was pleasant ...
Now we can all go back to the daily routine of ignoring each other for most the year ...

I like when everybody is outside!

a reply to: worldstarcountry

I miss my fridge of food.

I waited until my fridge cooled down to go to the grocery store only to find out it was practically empty. Wallmart was closed so all the overflow ransacked my local market. lol.

The one thing they did have was ice which I was completely lacking until my power came on.

I will make a morning trip to find milk tomorrow.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn
Hope your power is restored soon. Must be unbearable in that heat with no AC

A generator would be a good investment for the future. My power outages are always in the coldest days of winter. So last year I finally got a gas fireplace put in. Best thing I ever bought myself. Gives off a bit of light so I can see as well.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn
Hey our power company put out an app for the phone that updated the outage and restoration percentages. Have you looked to see if there is one for your market??

Everybody around here was leaving their cars on to charge their phones and get some light. I actually really enjoyed those last three days.
a reply to: Grimpachi
Im still only seeing half gallons or quart sizes of milk at the occasional gas station. All my local grocers are tapped out of gallons, or any size in most cases.

Most of Florida's dairy is trucked in from Orlando from what I remember of the deliveries at an old grocer/retailer. Maybe those distribution hubs were slow to come back online??

There are still thousands without power in Tampa, which is making the streets and nearby businesses more crowded with people just trying to escape the heat. Hell Tuesday and the first half of Wednesday every fast food joint was only opening the drive thru. It was actually quite hilarious how crowded the lines and parking lots became. I saw lines 40 cars deep into the actual main roads hurting traffic a bit.

Monday everybody I knew without power we spent cooking whatever we could from the freezer. Like we were just cooking EVERYTHING outside on the grills or makeshift fires and then offering it to everybody. Preferred giving it away than tossing in the garbage.

That heat sure made for some good sleeping too. But I actually enjoy Florida climate and spend alot of the peak hours in the sun.

I was the first one on my block to start using the nozzle on the hose for a water toy for the kids. Tied it to a table outside, had it aiming up, and switched between shower, mist, center, and cone. The old man next door swore he was re living his childhood from Puerto Rico. It was cool to see that genuine happiness. That was late Monday afternoon. By the same time Tuesday I saw at least three others follow suit.

But now that the power is on, everybody is inside ignoring each other again. That is one thing I enjoyed from my childhood, lots more people were hanging outside in the neighborhood. Its not the heat that does it, its the invisible tendrils coming through these screens man ... they just grab us all and lock us in place.

originally posted by: namehere
well i survived and my house got lucky, it was good timing i went to a hospital to evacuate too since it turns out i have an infection and could get it treated right away, honestly it was good timing as usual.

Glad i worked out for you...and that your house got lucky!

I hope the infection clears up fast!

For anyone who missed it, I heard on the weather channel that Hurricane Irma sucked in a lot of cool dry air that was already in place north of Florida and they said it cut the storm in half. I could even see it on radar images. By the time the storm reached Naples the entire back side of the eye wall had disappeared. They said the huge expected storm surge that would have resulted from the winds on the back side of the storm didn't happen because the storm had been cut in half. There is not always cool dry air sitting around north of Florida so I was happy to hear it. The storm also weakened some by staying too close to Cuba. It could have been much worse. I'm glad it wasn't. Floridians did a great job evacuating in my opinion. Unfortunately there was still a lot of damage. I wish you guys the best in getting back to normal. I have some relatives in northern Florida still without power.