TWO MILLION WARNED OFF WEST FLORIDA COAST AS "SCARY" CHARLEY GROWS

Miami Herald ^ | 08/13/2004 | Brendan Farrington

[Conservative4Ever]

Take care...Charley seems to be making landfall as a Cat 3. Weather channel is saying now maybe upgraded to Cat 4. Geez...stay safe. Glad to hear you have you emer kit. SoCal is our area western Riverside Co. is under flash flood warnings all day. Storm is sitting over the mountains and the sky is very dark. Ahhhhh water. Everything is relative. Stay safe.

Red

[Snowy]

All emergency crews have left Sanibel Island. Anyone left is on their own.

I love Sanibel. :( I hope everyone had the sense to leave.

[CobaltBlue]

JMHO - you do whatever you want if it's only you that's in danger, but anybody with kids, pets, or old people, you're morally wrong to risk their lives. If things go bad, you can't dial 911 because nobody will come, it's just you versus something big, bad, and dangerous.

Most deaths, accidents and injuries caused by hurricanes were 100% preventable.

[Humbug]

Yikes, i didn't take this storm seriously at all. I figured where i live (45 miles east of Tampa) we'd get winds maybe up to 70 mph or so. But now with the recent shift it's headed straight for us and i'm kicking myself since about the only preperation i made was to move everything inside that wasn't nailed down. Never figured it'd go past a weak cat 3 storm or that it would aim directly at central Florida.

[Conservative4Ever]

I think your tag pretty much says it all....do what you can now. Stay safe. Take care. :)

Red

[oceanview]

152MPH flight level winds, pressure down to 956mb according to TWC.

[nwctwx]

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Last televised report I saw from Sanibel showed a few surfers bobbing up in down close to shore, waiting for those rare Gulf waves.

(*sigh*)

[nwctwx]

It's strengthening quite rapidly before landfall. I would not be surprised to have surface wind sustained at 140mph+ within the inner eye wall.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Charley now cat. 4, winds in excess of 140 mph.

[Joe Brower]

Oh goodie.

[Humbug]

Thank you. And lol, you're right my tag seems to sum up my situation here pretty well.

Looking around the neighborhood, looks like everyone else is in the same situation. Living this far inland i guess we all just assumed we'd be safe enough, that the winds would die down considerably before the hurricane reaches here (as has always been the case in the past).

I wasn't scared at cat 2 but the jump up to cat 4 has got me a bit jumpy now.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Stay safe, Joe.

Keeping neighbors in prayer.

[Conservative4Ever]

Do what you can now. Inner room. Get water, radio, food, flashlight...gather up kids and animals if applicable. You probably know the drill. Stay safe. Prayers to all in FL.

Red

[LincolnLover]

Ignore whatever the hell I said this morning. Up to 145?

Leave.

Now.

I'd be gone if this were New Orleans or Houston.

[cogitator]

But now with the recent shift it's headed straight for us and i'm kicking myself

While I don't think you're going to have an easy time of it, it's a hundred miles over land between Ft. Myers and Tampa. Charley will weaken considerably by then. If you have any thing loose on the house (like awnings, antennas, satellite dishes, shutters), try to get them off or secure them.

[cogitator]

Definitely looks like Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda could be in the cross-hairs: the eyewall is going to rake Captiva Island as it goes by. But once it gets inland around Myakka River, it's in a fairly empty area by Florida standards before it moves into the western Tampa/Lakeland/Plant City zone.

I'm glad strawberry season is over!

[BigSkyFreeper]

As they say in the TV biz, "Check local listings".

[G-dzilla]

Prayers answered for Bay area residents. Once again Tampa/St. Pete dodges a bullet. I am praying for the Punta Gorda area residents. It's been about a year since I have passed through that area--not as heavily populated as home (or Fort Myers, for that matter). Retirees, salt-of-the-earth folks...

[JesseHousman]

Well, we rode the hurricane out here in the Naples area and, although a large palm tree along with the furniture is in our pool, and flashing and overhang protection has been blown away along with trees and shrubs....it's not too bad!