Bonnie Hits; Florida Braces for Charley (380,000 ordered evacuated)

fox news ^ | 8/12/04

[PinnedAndRecessed]

APALACHICOLA, Fla. — A disorganized Tropical Storm Bonnie (search) came ashore near the central Florida Panhandle on Thursday afternoon, bringing with it lighter-than-expected wind and rain.

By noontime Apalachicola looked as if nothing happened. The sun was shining, the surf was calming with the Bonnie having bypassed the area, heading east.

Meanwhile, some 380,000 Tampa Bay area residents have been asked to evacuate from coastal or low-lying areas because of Bonnie's stronger brother, Hurricane Charley (search). It was the largest such evacuation in the history of Pinellas County, which includes St. Petersburg.

As a strengthening Charley neared southern Florida with 90 mph winds, Bonnie's disorganized center came ahore with winds near 50 mph. Bonnie was expected to bring the possibility of heavy rains and flooding to already-soaked areas of the Panhandle, which was under a tropical storm warning.

The bridge across Apalachicola Bay to the barrier island of St. George remained open. The island was mostly deserted of tourists, though some businesses and restaurants remained open. Owners of many oceanfront homes and businesses decided not to board up windows as the storm approached.

The prospect of the back-to-back storms — the first since 1906 — led Gov. Jeb Bush to declare a state of emergency for all of Florida. Schools and government offices also were closed, and Bush activated the Florida National Guard. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (search) regional operations center in Atlanta was also put into operation Thursday morning.

[tutstar]

There are some links in post 180 with pics from Jax.

[Amelia]

Thanks!

[missyme]

Thanks for the update! I will be saying a prayer for all of you tonite! what time is Charley coming in?

[rwfromkansas]

around sunset tomorrow...somewhere around 8 p.m.

It looks like it may go more south than the track projects, but that is from my untrained eyes.

[Smartass]

Meanwhile, some 380,000 Tampa Bay area residents have been asked to evacuate from coastal or low-lying areas because of Bonnie's stronger brother, Hurricane Charley.   It was the largest such evacuation in the history of Pinellas County, which includes St. Petersburg.

Say a prayer for my daughter who lives in St. Petersburg, and is going to ride it out.

[Aggie Mama]

They died of dissentary. We had Alicia hit here in Houston in the early 80's. If you have city water, those lines become polluted or are unusable. We didn't have water for 3 days, power for 2 weeks. Get the bottled water.

[NonValueAdded]

Riding out a category 3 is an incredibly bad idea. I hope she is not doing this in an evacuation zone and she knows where the shelters are: http://hurricane.weathercenter.com/shelter/pinellas.htm.

[tutstar]

Now way would I stay if I were on the west coast in the strike zone.

[NautiNurse]

My dear cousin, who spent all afternoon boarding up my home just south of St. Pete, is still intending to stay at his home in St. Pete during the storm. I will be bugging out this morning. Meanwhile, he was tickled that the Skyway Bridge toll booths were closed last evening.

Local coverage WRAL just showed that the storm has begun to make its turn. It's going to be a long, rough day.

[tutstar]

It's supposed to be sometime during the darK, woooo wooooo. Right now they're saying our crucial time will be from sunset til the morning.

[Old Sarge]

My Sister blogged me again, late last night - here's her report, from Brandon:

---

This is what's going on!! Number one !! Need another beer!!

Worked 11 hours today and it was nuts!! no water no batteries nothing in the store=No break unless I had a cigarette every 3 hours. that's it!

Have all the groceries and propane and charcoal and batteries and water in the house. Loaded (Daughter1) up too - but looks like she is going to run out the storm in the hospital. Tampa General is closed and all people are sent to brandon- which is where (Daughter1) comes in--she registers everyone that comes in.

TECO is shutting off electric in tampa at 8 am tomorrow--well it is 2 am now--(Son) has off at the court house and (Daughter2) has off as well. I am on standby as of 5 am and so is (Friend). (Daughter1) has to be at work at 7 and has no clue when she will be home.

It has been bumper to bumper traffic jam here in brandon. with 350,000 people evacuated from Pinnelas county. But, brandon has room for 70 thousand--so where is rest gonna go???

Had a tree trimmer come in today to cut the branches off the house and he put a hole in the roof--now I have a big tarp on the roof of the house with 120 mile an hour wind coming... sucks to be me.

At least I have a charcoal stove and a gas stove. Most people don't have your eagle scout knowledge, right? I have back up on everything even water-have the pool!!

[Vigilantcitizen]

Good luck to you, and everybody else in Charlie's path.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Yikes, where do 380,000 people go?

"We're goin' to Disneyworld!"

[tutstar]

LOL I needed a laugh. I'm tense! Grew up in W. Tx hiding from tornadoes in the cellar and don't like being NE of a hurricane!!!!!

[tutstar]

They are cutting the power before the storm hits? I don't remember power being cut in advance of a storm before. I was just south of Hugo when it hit and we had power up until....

thanks for the sitrep ping!

Adrenaline is pumping 'and' I'm drinking coffee. Woohoo!

[Old Sarge]

Got a voice call from the niece - Daughter2 in the story.

TECO shut the grid down to keep essential services going without straining the grid powering empty houses and businesses; and to easily repair downed lines.

Smart moves, really.

[Old Sarge]

Neil Boorz (sp) says he's broadcasting from Disney-MGM radio studios. Someone put up the thread, somewhere...

[tutstar]

Yes, I just dread the thought of no A/C LOL.
Seriously, better to be alive and well with no A/C than to suffer harm or loss of life. Amen?

[dirtboy]

Charley's starting to juice up now that it's past Cuba:

[Old Sarge]

Daughter2 reported at 7AM it was already 90 degrees - and that warm water is feeding The Monster.