Hurricane Irma Live Thread Part II

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[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

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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

Hurricane Irma Live Thread I

[Amntn]

https://www.homeaway.com/

Also be sure to check the surrounding areas. There are some nice vacation rentals near Jasper GA.

[metmom]

But there are some in the small towns.

Better than the interstate.

Anyway, IMO moving is better than not moving.

I ***HATE*** sitting in those long 2-3 lane parking lots with cutthroat drivers cutting people off and weaving in and out of traffic at ever opportunity.

[Ingtar]

If you can get a car and are willing to go to Chattanooga, it appears there are still rooms there.

[Hatteras]

"All models have Hurricane Jose making a sharp turn EAST without threat to CONUS."

I get that but the link Heartlander posted to Windy.com shows when Irma makes landfall again around Charleston, Jose stops in it's tracks and then dips south and starts a more westerly route.

[metmom]

Population 108; no paved roads; "tiny and quaint airport."

Not any more I'll warrant....

[Repeal The 17th]

Hampton Inn Conyers, Georgia
1340 Dogwood Drive SE, Conyers, Georgia, 30013
770-483-8838

25 miles from ATL
Taxi=$25

Pet friendly
2 queen beds = $109

[pinkandgreenmom]

“I don’t know if this has been posted yet, part of Pinellas County is being evacuated.”

There was also mention in a Tampa Bay Times web article that the Pinellas County Board (or whoever makes the decisions) will vote on mandatory evacuations for Zones B and C tomorrow morning (Friday).

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

Flager County zone A evacuation for rest homes, senior living homes 4:00..

All bridges going to coast at 11:00 tomorrow closing, will not let you back to coast...

[MayflowerMadam]

Re the cats, I read something here yesterday that during emergencies, hotels, motels, etc., must suspend any “no pets” rules. Don’t know if it’s true, but if you find a place that typically isn’t pet friendly, this might be good info to have under you belt when trying to reserve.

(We have 6 cats, so understand how they can add one more facet to an already difficult situation.)

[Reno89519]

Lots of price gouging. I see Delta and others being called for bumping up several hundred dollar flights to several thousand. They have price fixing or gouging protection from congress, exempt from state law, but maybe this will give cause for Congress to revoke it. Sure hope so as the airlines really play fast and loose with pricing, taking advantage of every opportunity to raise prices.

[dfwgator]

I can’t believe UF didn’t cancel the game on Saturday, they moved it to noon, but it makes no sense to even have the game in the first place.

[IC Ken]

My parent were going to leave Florida before the storm BUT there is no gasoline in Georgia or South Carolina and all hotels are booked. People are stranded trying to flee this and any car out of gas on the Interstates are being towed.

Seems they contacted with Texas for gasoline (1 year contacts) and Texas has it's own problems now.

[Rebelbase]

Talked with a friend whose sister tried to evac from Deland, FL earlier today. Said she sat in traffic for hours and ended up turning around and went home.

[janetjanet998]

all

I will repeat my pot from 24 hours ago,,I suspect the NHC will nudge the track west,,but not as west of the EURO...

---

UPDATE:

CURRENT TRACK or a hair west= DOOM

1) might as well nuke Miami beach and get it over with..

2) much of downtown Miami will be under water from surge up the Miami River

3)the entire high population SE coast of FL will get the front eye wall

4)it will move onshore and weaken some..but its HUGE size by then will keep the surge going ..Katrina weakened to a CAT 3 at landfall but had the record Surge in MS...storms take a while for surge to decline off the max..the shape of the SC/GA coast line will funnel the water..Much of charleston will be hit with the surge on the right side and will be under water

PRAY please

[Political Junkie Too]

I hope the people who insisted that Houston should have evacuated are watching Florida.

Some questions:

1. Won't the northern evacuees have the advantage for lodging? If they go as far as Tallahassee, won't hotels be occupied by West Palmers and Lauderdalers by the time the Miamians and Key Westers get there?

2. An average tank of gas is good for what, say, 200 miles? That will get somebody to Orlando on a good day. What will they do then? Can you imagine the backup as everyone gets off the roads to refill? How quickly will the stations near the freeways run out?

3. I-95, the Turnpike, and I-75 are basically the roads north, right? And I-75 and the Turnpike merge north of Orlando. That's going to be a nasty bottleneck, and a terrible place to run out of gas.

-PJ

[The 10th man]

I just signed up to the forum, thank you for having me here. Been a lurker and also lurker on Timebomb2000.

I am a retired EMT/firefighter. Was also federalized on DMAT.

I live in an Amish paradise these days.

In Sept 1989, my ex and I lived on Charleston AFB, SC.
Hugo hit us dead on. I can tell you stories about what we went through and martial law and no power for 6 weeks. On and on.
We had 4 children, the youngest being an 8 week old newborn.

For some God reason, our 6 house area on the base escaped most of the damage. We had large trees down. But that was all.
I was born and raised in Charleston, Sc, so i had been through many hurricanes and tornadoes and other bad weather.

I was not in a prepper mindset until HUGO.
I stood in line for 2 hours to get rationed items at the commissary that was destroyed with no roof.

The outpouring of the nation and the community spirit was glorious. Most everyone worked together. It made all of us cry at times.

All of my family lives in Florida. Key West, Miami, Sanford.
My mom in Sanford is staying with friends. She is 74 with terminal cancer.
My sister is in Miami with a severely disabled teenager who requires around the clock care. I haven't heard from her and we are all trying to get a hold of her.
Family in Key West has already left to head to Charleston.

I am reading here and timebomb constantly to keep updated.

Thanks to all of you for keeping this going!

[lodi90]

We’ve decided to bug out from Delray Beach. We managed to book a private flight with our 4 cats to Atlanta.... now the problem is finding someplace to stay.
We’ve tried AMex travel services, airbnb, VRBO, etc.... everything is booked already. Sheesh.

Anyone in the Atlanta area have any ideas???

---

Head west. Birmingham? We’re bugging out to Mobile in the AM. Plenty of regular priced hotel rooms there. Seems a little crazy but it’s way outside the cone. Should be fine there.

[hsmomx3]

Prayers to ALL of you who are in the path.

[hillarynot]

Friends left Punta Gorda early this morning. I-75 not bad until around Ocala. They went west and hit highway 19. Said it was busy but they moved. On their way to Mobile, the closest hotels they could find.

[FamiliarFace]

Thank you.