Posted on 08/13/2004 7:24:06 AM PDT by STARWISE
ALL FLORIDIANS, PLEASE COMMENT ON CONDITIONS, ESPECIALLY THOSE ON SOUTHERN WEST COAST
I'm inland from Tampa Bay about 25 miles. Dear God, I'm scared. I lost it all in Andrew in '92 and left South Florida after a year and a half to come to this area.
Please keep me and all those going through this storm in your prayers. I'm alone here, and this storm's probably going to be very damaging and destructive. I'm picking up branches, objects lying about. I've filled the tub with water, I'll bringing in my dog and my birds, I haven't taped the windows as I've heard that can cause worse problems when the windows are broken. I pulled the car right up close to the house on the south side. I've draped the windows with fabric to stop debris or glass .. but in high winds, it probably won't be much help.
I've got old, tall oak trees overhead .. and I don't know how the roof or house or I will fare. There is no inner room without a window, so my location will probably be my shower stall on the south side of the house. It has one typical bathroom window. There is no other place where my dog and I could at least be surrounded with some strengthened walls.
I'm not in an evacuation area, and I wouldn't be able to take my pets in anyway.
Even if I have to get offline because I need to move the computer, there may be some insight and help offered until then and many thousands of us in this area may be helped by some tip.
PLEASE pray Charley away from here .. please pray for my and our safety on the West Central Florida coast. God Bless Us All.
agreed, a direct hit on TB would wipe out downtown for a while, and the population is higher in that area.
Even though I am a 'Cane, I wish you Gators luck! Hope you just have to dry out when it's all over with. The football trash-talking can commence when everyone comes through all right!
Ping to an awesome prayer warrior
I would crack the windows. When the hurricane passes, the low pressure can cause them to explode outwards. I haven't been through a bad hurricane in years but can still remember the sound of windows breaking one after the other.
According to a poster on another thread, Jeb Bush just told people to stay put, it's probably too late to evacuate - better to be in your home than trapped in a car. If you do get ahold of them, tell them to secure their papers and medications in some kind of watertight storage.
Plus it's gonna hit at high tide.
Looks like Ft. Myers area is looking at a 15-18ft storm surge.
Looks like it is coming in south of Tampa, not up the bay. Looks like it will cross Florida and be back in Atlantic and hit the coast again. Tampa may have dodged a bullet again.
MSNBC-storm surge of 18 feet expected
This one is strengthening fast!
Gotta go, there are some nasty black clouds heading this way, I'm going to check it out for funnels and start unplugging stuff.
God Bless, everyone! GG
9 mph with gusts up to 35.... from the east.
*sigh*
If your wife is from Mass tell her that the aftermath of a hurricane is like the combined aftermath of a blizzard and an ice storm that takes out all the powerlines.
After Elena last year parts of Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas were without electricity for more than a week, a few almost two weeks. When the trees fall on the power lines, they have to cut down the trees, cut them up, and haul them away to get to you.
Look at TS # 4 path in Atlantic, is it the same as Bonnie and Charlie?
I forgot, she also said that none of the neighbors are doing anything nor evacuating.
Tell them to at least prepare to whatever extent they can - put some clothing into trash bags to keep it dry - run water into the bathtub - whatever they can do. They're going to be without power for days.
According to NHC, the last Category 4 storm to make landfall in the US was Hugo in 1989 (hit South Carolina). Andrea, obviously, was a 5.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastint.shtml
Tonight is our last night in a rental house on Grayton Beach, 10-15 miles east of Destin, halfway between Pensacola and Panama City. The water is smoother than it's been all week, like glass, but we have had storm after storm pass through here this week.
Trying to decide which way to drive home Saturday to Northern VA, I think I-95 is a bad idea. Thinking of going through Atlanta and then I-81.
WHOOPS...Andrew
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