Hurricane Irma Live Thread III

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[NautiNurse]

The entire Florida Peninsula and points north are poised to experience Hurricane Irma after the storm hugged Cuba's northern coastline. Thousands of Floridians who evacuated the Atlantic cost to Gulf Coast areas found their safe shelter under direct threat from Hurricane Irma as the forecast shifted W Friday night and Saturday. Hurricane Irma's prolonged interaction with Cuba diminished its strength to Category 3.

Irma is forecast to increase in strength as it crosses the FL Straits. The Florida Keys experienced strong outer bands while Irma grazed the N Cuba coastline.

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Hurricane Irma Live Thread I
Hurricane Irma Live Thread II

[rodguy911]

anyone know the future track of Jose?

[pinkandgreenmom]

My aunt and uncle live in Fiddlesticks Golf Club in Ft. Myers (right off of 75 and Daniels Parkway). Their power is out already.

[Bodleian_Girl]

Thanks for your report. I hope you’ll keep us posted.

[FamiliarFace]

So are they planning to shut it down?

[Alas Babylon!]

Do you see that track in post 1630?

RIGHT over The Villages!

[virgil]

All that does is transfer money that could have gone one way off to another direction while inflicting pain and suffering on the home owner Wars, plagues, calamities...they have a way of rearranging the landscape in more ways than one. People know that Florida is prone to destructive hurricanes.

[rdl6989]

Jose appears to be making a loop in the Atlantic. It’s too early to say if it comes back at the US.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at2.shtml?cone

[Not A Snowbird]

I can say that earthquake insurance is prohibitively priced. To the point that it is very rare indeed to find any structure that has it.

Interesting. I had it in Washington State, and the price was minimal.

[Bodleian_Girl]

Golf carts everywhere.

[Alas Babylon!]

Well, in regards to winds, Shep sure knows how things BLOW.

[KC Burke]

As you and others have mentioned concrete block construction, I will use a reply to explain to those not familiar with construction the variables to understand when you see masonry units like concrete block.

Concrete block wall that are not significantly reinforced with reinforcing steel in mortar filled cells is actually somewhat brittle without much flexural strength. Sometimes walls are built with lightweight block, which is even a weaker material.

That being said, a well reinforced concrete block wall with reinforcement in both horizontal and vertical spacing along with structural tie back is one of the strongest methods short of solid reinforced concrete to build a blast wall or other highly resilient wall.

If you see a concrete foundation with vertical reinforcing steel sticking up vertically before the upper all construction has started, that indicates the continuity of vertical reinforced wall construction.

[Reno89519]

I beg to differ. Look at their reports. About 10% is reporting the weather, the rest ranges from fear mongering to propaganda. That latter is waste of taxpayer money. No, focus on their job, study and report the weather, skip the rest.

[FreeReign]

[Joe Bastardi‏Verified account @BigJoeBastardi 27m27 minutes ago I wonder if the weakening can be blamed on global warming.] GOD in His mercy weakened the storm.

Dry air feeding into the storm and the eye passing over the Cuban coast causing the storm to wobble, perhaps. But all that usually happens as a hurricane drags over land.

Anyway, this plus a now more eastern track over the everglades is certainly better news for the more populated SW FLA coast.

[4everontheRight]

My in-laws have a little place in Leisure Acres in Sebring FL. They are in NC so no issues with their safety but we wonder about their property.

[hanamizu]

I wonder if Missouri has the barrage of frequent earthquakes that LA does.

---

No, it doesn’t. I grew up in Long Beach and remember lots of little quakes. In over thirty years her in SE Mo, I have felt only two or three. One quake’s damage was a ceramic dog that fell from a shelf. Local TV showed it for days.

Several years ago, a local professor claimed “the big one” was right around the corner and there was a flurry of earthquake prep activity. It’s been pretty much forgotten now.

So, the quake insurance is reasonable here, but if a really big one hit, I doubt if they’d be able to pay off claims.

[mad_as_he$$]

Ms. Mad turned on Fox to see how Abby was doing with her “condition”. Shemp was on an hour before FnF was over. Disgusted Mrs. Mad went on to other things and Shemp got turned “off”.

[Jamestown1630]

I wonder if that was wind intermittently hitting something, or an animal?

[madison10]

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[FreeReign]

Wow great tweet by Bastardi. Where does he work? I can’t see him saying that working for the weather channel.

WeatherBELL Analytics. I think it's his company so he can say what he wants.

[FreedomPoster]

>>I’ve seen comments from contractors that one has to go to concrete block or better (stronger) construction to not risk serious damage in a Cat 5. (Maybe someone here can confirm?)

Concrete block, industry term CMU, concrete masonry unit, to amount to anything in a hurricane, must have the cores filled with concrete. There are videos out there of a 2x4 fired at a test CMU wall, cores left unfilled, at 50 mph IIRC. The results aren’t pretty.