Posted on 09/10/2017 2:02:02 PM PDT by NautiNurse
The entire Florida Peninsula has begun to experience Hurricane Irma following landfall at Marco Island. 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. Prayers for all in the storm path.
Mash image to find lots of satellite imagery links
Public Advisories
NHC Discussions
FL Radar Map with Irma Track Overlay
NHC Local Weather Statements/Radar Key West, FL
NHC Local Weather Statements/Radar Tampa Bay, FL
NHC Local Weather Statements/Radar Orlando, FL
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 SE US & GOM
Buoy Data NC/SC/GA
Hurricane Irma Live Thread I
Hurricane Irma Live Thread II
Hurricane Irma Live Thread III
I have a Canary camera in my house in St. Pete. We still have power but it’s getting loud. Don’t know if there’s a broken window or something, but it is LOUD. It’s probably just the rain and wind against the windows. Creepy.
Thanks, Rodguy!
That’s major damage expected beyond Marathon, or confirmed beyond Marathon?
Thanks. It is the slip collar that is frozen. I don’t have any plywood, but maybe you’re right and I won’t need anything.
Everywhere I am using WiFi and if I lose that I will go to cell data till there is nothing. I am in Palm Coast or that is the closest town...
Oh noooo...poor Arcadia. Wonder about Punta Gorda. Charley beat the daylights out of that area.
Perking up here. Large limbs off the beautiful oaks all over the place. Wind not howling yet though. That’s when I’ll know we’re at Cat Charley. Expect that in a few hours.
https://keysnews.com/article/story/irma-slugs-cudjoe-key-early-sunday/
Relief Effort Begins After Monster Storm
By Dan Campbell Key West CitizenSeptember 10, 2017
Updated At 6:30 PM
FLORIDA KEYS – Monroe County officials announced a major relief mission is already in the works in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, which slugged Cudjoe Key just after 9 a.m. Sunday as a Category 4 storm packing 130 mph winds.
Hurricane force winds extended up to 80 miles from the storm’s eye wall to wreak havoc along the entire island chain. Tropical storm winds reached out 220 miles, the National Hurricane Center reported.
Air National Guard C130 cargo planes are expected to arrive bearing personnel and supplies at the county airports in Key West and Marathon. The American Red Cross is also responding.
“They are on standby and ready to go,” said Islamorada Councilman Mike Forster, who participated in the county’s relief effort discussions. “They are waiting to make sure the runways are clear.”
County Administrator Roman Gastesi said state and federal first-responders are already on the ground, and county public works crews and contractors were working on clearing U.S. 1 Sunday evening. He said heavy equipment was pre-staged throughout the Keys to expedite the effort.
“It’s time to rebuild,” Gastesi said. “It’s time start cleaning up our paradise. We all know this is part of the cost of living here.”
No damage assessment or report on loss of life were available Sunday afternoon.
It appears that the heaviest damage was between Big Pine Key and Cudjoe Key, along with Summerland Key and Big Coppitt, based on what little communication has been able to get out since Sunday morning. Power outages, loss of cell service and sporadic water outages were common throughout the islands. The Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority issued a Keys-wide boil water notice as a precaution.
As Irma skirted the northern coast of Cuba Saturday, the Monroe County Emergency Operations Center relocated from Marathon to Key Largo in anticipation of the storm’s northward turn to the Keys.
There were reports of water beginning to breech the Sea Oats Beach area of U.S. 1 on Lower Matecumbe Key Saturday, a low-lying portion of the highway vulnerable to flooding during storms. CNN news crews in Key Largo reported Sunday morning that the northbound lane of the 18-Mile Stretch was covered with sand and debris, most likely along the portion of U.S. 1 that hugs Barnes Sound. The southbound lane remained clear. The roadway is divided by a concrete barrier.
The county opened four refuges of last resort at the three public high schools and Sugarloaf School for those who failed to heed the mandatory evacuation order Thursday. They are unstaffed with limited services. A person seeking shelter at the Marathon High School shelter died overnight from natural causes.
Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward, who was a Miami Beach police officer when Hurricane Andrew struck South Dade 25 years ago, has seen his fair share of hurricanes over the years.
“This is a pretty big one,” he said from his Plantation Key office at 8:30 a.m. Sunday just before Irma’s eye made landfall in the Lower Keys.
Ward reported howling winds and tree damage, but limited flooding in the Islamorada area. No reports on flooding impacts in the Lower Keys are available yet. The storm, however, pulled water away from shore along portions of Florida Bay, raising concerns about flooding as the storm passes and the tides turns, much like what took place in the wake of Hurricane Wilma in 2005. The National Weather Service predicted a potential storm surge of 5 to 10 feet in the Keys.
Ward took on the role of a weather correspondent of sorts by driving around and posting video and commentary on his Facebook page. On Sunday afternoon, he helped dispel a rumor that the drawbridge at Snake Creek, between Plantation and Windley keys, was impassable.
“People who evacuated are certainly concerned about their family, their property and their friends. Some are sorry they left. Some have businesses,” Ward said. “Posting video to Facebook I think calms their anxieties. I thought it would be a good idea to give them some snapshots of the current situation. I think it helps. I think it helps them.”
Re-entry into the Florida Keys will not be immediate for residents, according to Cammy Clark, county public information officer.
“The bridges and roadways must be inspected first. Monroe County already has plans in place for crews to do the inspections as soon as conditions are safe,” she said.
If you need to search for a friend or family member in Monroe County after the storm, or if you want to let family and friends know you are all right, go to the Red Cross “Safe and Well” website. This is a centralized location for people in disaster areas to register their current status and for their loved ones to access that information.
To list yourself as safe and well, go to the following link: https://safeandwell.communityos.org/zf/safe/add
To search for a family member, go to this link: https://safeandwell.communityos.org/zf/safesearch/search
Ping for later
http://www.kalb.com/content/news/The-Latest-on-Irma-443601713.html
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on Hurricane Irma (all times local):
7:30 p.m.
It’s been difficult to determine the extent of damage Hurricane Irma caused in the Florida Keys, where communication has been difficult and authorities are warning boaters and drivers to stay away.
But The Associated Press has been texting with John Huston, who has been riding out the storm in his house on Key Largo, on the Atlantic side of the island, just south of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.
Every few minutes during the height of the storm, he sent another dispatch.
He described whiteout conditions, with howling winds that sucked dry the gulf side of the narrow island, where the tide is usually 8 feet deep. He kept his humor though, texting to “send cold beer” at one point. Now he sees furniture floating down the street with small boats.
He says the storm surge was at least 6 feet deep on his island, 76 miles from Irma’s eye. He can see now that structures survived, but the storm left a big mess at ground level.
Undocumented Shoppers...
Nice; and would be a considerable upgrade if we could find one - we’re absolute neophytes ;-) and bought a cheap little thing to learn on. But I’m impressed with how well it does; it’s already been useful during a snowstorm.
We’ve been impressed with the community as well.
I didn’t say it was better.
But if you’re one of the few people with your kind of radios, it’s not going to do you a lot of good now is it?
But since you do have one, why don’t you download Zello on your laptop and tune into to the South Florida Hurricane Irma channel and see if you can help to relay information.
Today when over 50,000 people were on the channel, it was the ham and shortwave guys who stepped up to the plate and helped the mods save the channel.
New Tornado Warning, melbourne, moving NW at 75 mph, radar indicated.
Looks to me like it dissipated, though, no couplet visible on radar last several scans.
I’m sure that it’s proven useful for a lot of people this weekend, and I’m glad to have it. Thanks for telling us about it.
I'm a fan of multi-band radio and have had shortwave radios most of my life. Back in the early 1990s, I would pay over $500 for a quality set. But I realize that they have had their day. Makes me feel old.
We’re getting it pretty good and have been for about a half hour ...and I’m north of Tampa up by Hernando County...I can hear crap hitting the house, tree limbs breaking.
Glad it is veering eastward rather than coming directly at us, but if it’s this rough so far away from the eye, I sure feel for anyone getting it directly.
OK.
Wind just as fierce now... but I guess it’s broke loose what was ready to come loose already, we’re not hearing so much hit the house now as initially.
360,000 lives, SAVED!
(9 per cat x 40,000)
Yes, the idiot. Basically “you’re all doomed. good night”
So glad the kitties are safe. I worry about animals who can’t understand what’s going on, and are at risk.
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