Posted on 09/07/2017 8:09:47 AM PDT by NautiNurse
Dangerous Category 5 Hurricane Irma had a devastating impact on islands in the Caribbean.
Hurricane and Storm surge watches were issued Thursday morning for South Florida. The Florida Keys began evacuating visitors and residents, followed by flood zones in Miami and Miami Beach. Sarasota FL declared a local state of emergency Thursday morning.
Polk County FL Sheriff Grady Judd said Wednesday that law enforcement authorities would check the identities of people who turn up at shelters--and take to jail anyone found to have an active arrest warrant. “If you go to a shelter for Irma and you have a warrant, we’ll gladly escort you to the safe and secure shelter called the Polk County Jail... “If you have a warrant, turn yourself in to the jail — it’s a secure shelter.” Judd also posted that sex offenders and sex predators would not be admitted to the shelters. "We cannot and we will not have innocent children in a shelter with sexual offenders & predators. Period." Judd's statements unleashed a liberal firestorm via Twitter.
Mash image to find lots of satellite imagery links
Public Advisories
NHC Discussions
NHC Local Weather Statements/Radar Miami, FL
NHC Local Weather Statements/Radar Melbourne, FL
NOAA Local Weather Statements/Radar Jacksonville, FL
NHC Local Weather Statements/Radar Charleston, SC
NHC Local Weather Statements/Radar Wilmington, NC, FL
NHC Local Weather Statements/Radar Morehead City, FL
NHC Local Weather Statements/Radar Norfolk, VA
Buoy Data Caribbean
Buoy Data SE US & GOM
Buoy Data NC/SC/GA
Hebert Box - Mash Pic for Tutorial
Credit: By J Cricket - Modification of map from Wiki
When hurricane Fran approached NC, it unexpectedly stalled over the gulf stream for 24 hours as a category 3. Conventional wisdom said it would intensify to cat 4. Instead, it remained cat 3, but doubled in size.
These storms can be a bugger to predict sometimes.
Watching this hurricane chaser/hunter guy on UStream live. He’s heading south on I95, just passed a Palm Bay, FL Exit sign.
Northbound lanes are looking open and moving extremely well, for now.
The live link: http://www.ustream.tv/hurricanetrack
Manatee Memorial Hospital (Bradenton) is no longer accepting patients. Current patients are being evacuated to other hospitals.
The Gold Coast will still get hammered badly... storm surge alone will be devastating... so don't let the guard down.
When Andrew came through, I was in Melbourne and figured we'd still have a rough day. It was so compact, though, that it didn't even give a stiff breeze. Not so with this one.
Shelters in SoFla rapidly filling up, especially those that take pets.
The only good news is that the very highest winds should hit the Everglades which are not populated. Big problem may be storm surge.
Someone sent me a link to this handbook - we had friends going back into a flooded home to check damage & start cleanup after Harvey. They were woefully unprepared. The book serves as a guideline for recovery & also points out safety hazards that people may not think of in their rush to get back into their home.
From the book:
This information is published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the American Red Cross to help flooded property owners. It is designed to be easily copied. Permission to reproduce all or any section of this material is hereby granted and encouraged.
http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m4540081_repairingFloodedHome.pdf
From Chapter 2:
Things you will need when it’s safe to return home
Flashlight
First aid kit
Battery-operated radio
Waterproof boots or waders
Safety clothing, such as a hard
hat and gloves
Boots or shoes with hard soles
Dust mask
Camera or video camera to
record damage
Tools: crowbar, hammer, saw,
pliers, crescent wrench, screw
drivers, etc.
Drinking water
Trash bags
A wooden stick for turning
things over, scaring away snakes
and small animals, and moving
electrical wires
Cleaning supplies
Lots of good into follows the list in Chapter 2.
It’s also a mass return. Same places that turned interstate evac routes into all outgoing traffic reverse the process for a time. It’s almost as bad as the original evacuation.
“We’re still aiming for Atlanta... and managed to get a room for tonight at one place and 4 more at another... assuming out plane gets out of here this afternoon... keeping fingers crosses, as that’s the last option other than hunkering down.”
Just wondering about you guys if you made it out. All the FL folks are in our prayers, especially those with pets :) Hoping for the best for all!
I shudder to think what the economic impact of this storm is going to be if it basically dissects the entire state.
Never poke the storm in the eye with your cursor. You’ll only make it mad.
But Irma is a physically much larger hurricane. Because of its size, even the current track will cause substantial damage even on the east coast of Florida around Miami.
I’m 100% prepared meaning nothing is going to hit the Charleston area.
does anyone have the 5pm update?
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