Hurricane Wilma Live Thread, Part IV

NHC - NOAA ^ | 24 October 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Category Three Major Hurricane Wilma is barreling toward the Southwest Florida coastline. The storm is packing wind speeds of 125mph, moving NW at 20mph, with an enormous eye 65 miles in diameter. Landfall is anticipated shortly in Collier County between 6:00 and 7:00AM ET.

Storm surge flooding of 9 feet to 17 feet is possible along the coast near and to the south of where Wilma makes landfall. Storm surge of 5 to 8 feet is predicted for the Keys. The storm has spawned tornados throughout the Florida peninsula since yesterday evening.

The following links are self-updating:

Public Advisory Currently published every 3 hours 0500, 0800, 1100 etc. ET
NHC Discussion Published every six hours 0500, 1100, 1700, 2300 ET
Three Day Forecast Track
Five Day Forecast Track

Wilma Forecast Track Archive
Forecast Models
Buoy Data SE Florida
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Florida
Florida Department of Emergency Management

Images:

Storm Floater IR Loop
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop
Florida Radar/Sat Loop Caution: Broadband users only
Extra Large Miami Radar Broadband only
Extra Large Key West Radar Broadband only
Miami Long Range Radar Loop
Key West Long Range Radar Loop
Miami Radar Still Image w/watches warnings
Melbourne Radar Still Image w/watches warnings
Key West Radar Still Image w/watches warnings
Tampa Bay Radar Still image w/watches warnings

Streaming Video:

WBBH-TV/WZVN-TV Ft. Myers (WMP): http://waterbc.wm.llnwd.net/waterbc_netvideo
WESH-TV/DT Orlando/Daytona Beach (RP): http://mfile.akamai.com/7883/live/reflector:24028.ram
WFTV-TV/DT Orlando (RP): http://mfile.akamai.com/7883/live/reflector:20361.ram
WKMG-TV/DT Orlando (RP): http://mfile.akamai.com/7883/live/reflector:23942.ram
WPBF-TV/DT West Palm Beach (RP): http://mfile.akamai.com/7883/live/reflector:24035.ram
WSVN-TV/DT Miami (WMP): http://216.242.118.140/windowsmedia/asx/wsvn_broadband.asx
WTVJ-TV/DT Miami: http://nbc6.feedroom.com/iframeset.jsp?ord=381015
WPLG-TV/DT Miami (RP): http://mfile.akamai.com/8660/live/reflector:23941.ram
WFOR-TV/DT Miami (WMP): http://wfor.dayport.com/viewer/content/special.php?Art_ID=612&Format_ID=2&BitRate_ID=8&Contract_ID=2&Obj_ID={obj_id}
WTSP-TV/DT St. Petersburg/Tampa (WMP): mms://wmbcast.gannett.speedera.net/wmbcast.gannett/wmbcast_gannett_sep252004_1915_64623
Hurricane City (Real Player) - http://hurricanecity.com/live.ram
ABCNews Now (Real Player) - http://reallive.stream.aol.com/ramgen/redundant/abc/now_hi.rm

Additional Resources:

Pet Friendly Florida Shelter Info
Central Florida Hurricane Center
Hurricane City
CrownWeather.com

Category	Wind Speed	Barometric Pressure	Storm Surge	Damage Potential
Tropical Depression	< 39 mph < 34 kts			Minimal
Tropical Storm	39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts			Minimal
Hurricane 1 (Weak)	74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts	28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more	4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m	Minimal damage to vegetation
Hurricane 2 (Moderate)	96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts	28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb	6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m	Moderate damage to houses
Hurricane 3 (Strong)	111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts	27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb	9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m	Extensive damage to small buildings
Hurricane 4 (Very strong)	131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts	27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb	13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m	Extreme structural damage
Hurricane 5 (Devastating)	Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts	Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb	Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m	Catastrophic building failures possible

Previous Threads:
Hurricane Wilma Live Thread, Part III
Hurricane Wilma Part II
Hurricane Wilma Live Thread
Tropical Storm Wilma
Tropical Depression #24

[patriciaruth]

Hope all is well. Prayers up!

[cll]

First, I'd like to reiterate my thanks for your threads and updates. You take the inpersonal out the web.

To add to your statement regarding So. FL phone service:

Miami Herald, 10/25/2005

Phone service outages tied to power

By MONICA HATCHER AND BEATRICE E. GARCIA

mhatcher@herald.com

Phone service -- both wireless and traditional -- is being hampered by the extensive power outages throughout South Florida.

Phone service was available in some communities Monday afternoon, but a BellSouth spokeswoman said it may become harder for customers to find a dial tone if power outages persist. As of Monday evening, some 20,200 customers were without phone service, a number that would certainly grow, said Marta Casas-Celaya, a company spokeswoman.

''The earlier power went out in a neighborhood, the sooner that neighborhood will likely lose service,'' Casas-Celaya said.

Back-up batteries that power phone lines when the electricity goes out have a life of 8 to 10 hours, Casas-Celaya said. She urged customers to restrict their phone use to essential or emergency communication, if possible.
''The more people use phones and the longer they use them, the faster the backup batteries are going to drain,'' Casas-Celaya said.

Sprint Nextel is experiencing outages in Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe and Palm Beach counties. The company experienced its greatest problems in the Fort Myers and Naples metro areas.

About 80 percent of Sprint's network was operational late Monday afternoon.

Verizon Wireless managed to keep about 95 percent of its network running throughout the early morning hours Monday as Hurricane Wilma battered South Florida. But as back-up batteries ran down on some cell towers and rooftop cell sites, where generators aren't permitted, the company said the percentage of its network that was running fell slightly.

BellSouth, Verizon and Cingular have started sending technicians out to assess the damage to cell towers, but the debris and power outages have slowly their progress. These technicians will also replace dead batteries or bring back-up generators to cell towers that have lost electrical power.

In the next day or two, Verizon will deploy cells sites on wheels (COWS).

The exact locations haven't been determined. But Verizon spokesman Chuck Hamby said emergency personnel such as police, fire and health-care personnel will get preference for these portable sites.

Crews on Monday were assessing physical damage to the network. Regardless of when the power is restored, BellSouth will be checking terminals to replace dead batteries or recharge them with generators when needed, Casas-Celaya said.

[dirtboy]

Wunderground will issue updates every six hours now in response to NHC updates. The NHC typically issues updates at 5AM,11AM,5PM, and 11PM for tropical systems unless they are moving towards landfall. Since Wilma is not a threat to make landfall now, the updates are back to every 6 hours.

[dirtboy]

Does this really seem that likely? The NHC track shoots it past the NE pretty quickly. Is there enough time for it to do all this stuff they're warning about?

Wilma is not the N'oreaster - that is a separate low forming right along the Delmarva - Wilma will help feed the storm with some tropical moisture but should remain separate and then is forecast to shoot off to the NE and then the ENE, becoming extratropical.

Here in the Philly area, I think Accuweather is over-hyping the N'oreaster, but it could still get bad up in New England.

[patriciaruth]

The phone situation there makes me glad I told the faithful taxi driver which home depot the tarp, firring etc would be waiting at. I can't get through to him via his cell phone now.

Maybe he'll have sense enough to go the store and ask if it is ready when he finds his cell phone can't call here.

I've got to go out and fed ex my aunt some cash...so I hope we get in touch before I have to go out.

The police never called you back?

[sheikdetailfeather]

President Bush flying to Florida to see damage Thursday, per Fox.

[CedarDave]

Wilma is moving toward the northeast near 53 mph ...85 km/hr...and this motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours...keeping Wilma well offshore of the northeastern United States.

I have never heard of a major storm move this fast!!

[dirtboy]

I have never heard of a major storm move this fast!!

The Long Island Express, the hurricane in 1938 that trashed eastern Long Island and Providence, was estimated to be moving between 60 and 70 mph when it made landfall.

And forecasters thought it was goint to stay off the coast, and folks had no idea it was coming. Imagine going to the beach in the morning and be in your house fighting for your life that afternoon.

[Karson]

Thanks for the info. I will try to phone her today! I'm not sure where Coconut Creek is.

Coconut Creek is a part of Pompano Beach, very close to Deerfield Beach. I'm still trying to reach my brother with no success. I hear the phone ringing when I dial his number but I don't know if it's really ringing in his house.

Have you been able to get a call through to your family member yet?

[sageb1]

I'm in eastern upstate NY. We've had a pretty steady rain since last night and it's a little breezy. Our local paper says we are under a winter storm watch and a flood watch through Wednesday. We could get 6-12 inches (Noooooo!!!!!) of snow with freezing rain, maybe, to the south.

My cousin from Tallahassee is visiting the area. She called me this morning to tell me that she and her friend are taking the train south to NYC today. I told her she may have a problem getting back up here.

My sister in Ft. Myers was still without power the last time I checked, but she has good-sized generator, so everyone there is fine.

[cll]

Maybe they tried but their phones are also down. I was able to find her school's website emergency information and they provide an e-mail contact for students/parents to check in.

Now all flights from/to SJU, FLL and MIA are cancelled today. We won't be able to go today. That's the downside of being detached 950 miles from the mainland. I even have this neat little 2600W silent Yamaha generator that's sitting here unused. A friend of mine operates a tug and a barge between San Juan and Port Lauderdale, I think, but by the time he gets there they'll all have power back.

You know, it seems everybody has relatives in Florida and there's this cousin of hers who's a minister and works in Teen Challenge in Broward. We are hoping they hooked up. We got a hold of her knucklehead boyfriend but he was in Tampa at his parent's. He better be driving south right now.

Thanks for caring. Good luck with your aunt, too.

[sageb1]

"I heard CBS Radio news at 9am. Only a brief mention of Florida, then a report live from Eastern Long Island -- where 2200 people have lost power. 2200!!!! Oh, but it's New York, so it's much more important!"

It's pretty much a given that current conditions on L.I. are more important right now to those who live there. Like my son, for instance.

[VeniVidiVici]

I got a call in to him. Hopefully I will hear back from him shortly.

[CedarDave]

My parents, newly married, lived through that storm. They lived south of Boston and I remember them telling me about it. They also saved a special newspaper section which was called a rotogravure with all the pictures and I remember looking through it sometime in the distant past. Long gone now, I imagine.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Jeb Bush up on Fox on Hurricane response NOW.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Fox dropped the news conference. None of the main news channels are carrying it. MSNBC dropped it. The local news on Ch 13 in Orlando is also not carrying it. Unbelieveable.

[angcat]

No not yet. I shall keep you posted.

[jeffers]

A man who lived out east on Long Island had purchased a barometer from Abercrombie and Fitch shortly before the Long Island Express made landfall. On the morning of the storm, the needle on the barometer was pegged at the lowest end of the dial. Thinking the instrument was defective, he left to exchange it. When he returned, his house was gone.

[synbad600]

Hello!

Back in business here in Vero Beach. Just got power on this morning about 8:30. It went out yesterday about noon. It was nice and cold last night so we didn't sweat our butts off, would have been nice to be able to turn on the heat. Things in town are pretty much back on track. Our city did a great job. A lot of the debris is already cleaned up. Some are still without power but I don't think it will be until Friday like I heard. FPL got hit hard from but the city utilities are up. School has been closed until Thursday. The emergency operating center had the roof collapse so it was moved to the sheriff's office. From my journy yesterday I didn't see a lot of structural damage, just landscaping. Probably half or more of the trees that were planted after last years hurricanes are down but the city crews were already on the scene about 4:00 yesterday to put them back up. I haven't been to beachside yet, so no report on what may have occurred over there.

[jeffers]

Vero Beach, and presumably points north, got off light.

Check.

Good deal.