Posted on 09/07/2017 8:09:47 AM PDT by 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
Public Advisories
NHC Discussions
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
Turnpike Florida Turnpike is really backed up on a lot of its bumper to bumper from just about the whole thing all the way up to almost Orlando
Looks like my sister on Anna Maria Island will be OK
Thanks for the Ping.
All models seem to indicate Irma will hug the state’s East Coast from south to north, potentially moving inland over some sections. .....This type of track is far different from those of Hurricane Andrew (1992) and Katrina (2005), which moved from east to west across the Miami metro area.
Even if off the coast and Irma makes a trek up the East Coast from Miami to southern South Carolina as a Cat 3 or 4 the models still currently suggest, the portions of the coast ‘that the eyewall touches’ will potentially see a massive and catastrophic storm surge, breaking all-time storm surge records......and even areas up to a hundred miles to the north of where the center makes landfall could potentially see record storm surges.
Their saying the area of most concern is.... the ‘northern coast of Florida, the coast of Georgia, and the southern coast of South Carolina,’.... due to the concave shape of the coast, which will act to funnel and concentrate the storm surge to ridiculous heights.
In a worst-case Category 3 hurricane hitting at high tide, the storm tide (the combined effect of the storm surge and the tide) ranges from 17 – 20’ above ground along the northern coast of Florida, and 18 – 23 feet above ground along the Georgia coast. If Irma is a Cat 4, these numbers increase to 22 – 28 feet for the coast of Georgia. This is a Katrina-level storm surge, the kind that causes incredible destruction and mass casualties among those foolish enough to refuse to evacuate....
(Source Wunder)
For those of you that are in evacuation zones or have family in evacuation zones that can’t get out due to gas issues. The governor said to call the Florida Division of Emergency management and they will “get you out”, if you can’t find gas. http://www.floridadisaster.org/index.asp
For those who don’t know, this link has a lot of storm maps and animations.
Frankly they can’t evacuate the entire coastline without traffic issues such as this.....and long times in backed up traffic people get testy and then some. Positive side is they haven’t waited til the last minute and have a couple days yet to get to their destination.
interesting, not what the official noaa colors seems to say.
I wonder how much news programs are using cultivated panic to sell ads.
Fayetteville, NC here. You’re fine Hurricane wise.
You may have the normal flash floods (know what floods in your area), power outage, downed trees etc - typical storm stuff.
But you do need a basic three day survival plan that covers the basics - food & how to prepare it, water, lights, batteries, etc.
It’s the same stuff you’ll need for an ice storm.
East/West state roads are in good shape for travel. In fact, traveling inland was recommended, as there are multiple inland N/S routes once you get there.
There is a definite increase in north bound traffic on 17 through Wauchula. No panic from the locals. Folks calmly prepping. I love this part of Florida, lots of decent God fearing people. Lunch break is over. Gotta hit the road.
Got a brother in Naples. He’s far enough inland (and away from creeks and streams) to avoid storm surge but the wind, tornadoes and local flooding are possibilities.
He’s not the kind to spook easily - but from talking to him yesterday, he sounds a bit uneasy about this one. And this is not his first hurricane either. He’s been thru a number of them - including Charley.
I’ve been going back and forth about how bad he’s gonna get hit. One graphic looks like he’ll have hurricane conditions and another looks like tropical storms conditions.
I guess it all depends on whether Irma maintains her westward movement. it seems like any remotely small westward shift in the track will make things worse in that area.
Also the high to the north is being broken down by a cold front moving east from the mainland. Seems like where those two meet, cold front trough and Irma, will be the point she heads north. Simply because the high will obviously be gone at the point. In fact, irma could even turn to the NE. And might even turn as early as Nassau. At this point, that is our only hope.
Correct. If Irma turns prior to 80° west, that would be better. All the meteorologists are going to be watching the turn.
Lucky me. The eye of Wilma went over my house in Boca and now it looks like Irma will repeat the treat.
Thank you, Wheelbase! I passed this onto my hubby and the kids. They don’t have as much in their yard, but it’s a good reminder to us. Praying none of the pines fall on our house!
The worst damage in Charlotte from 1989 Hugo occurred due to big old trees toppling—especially the oak trees. Inland hardwoods and pines do not handle gusty winds, expecially when the clay ground is soaked. If you have big trees that could breach your structure...have a contingency plan in place.
Other things to consider:
Take out a good amount of cash, credit cards don’t work in a power outage.
Make sure you have a manual can opener.
If you have a gas grill, pick up a couple of extra propane bottles for it.
Cut the grass before the storm gets there.
We had a micro-burst two years ago that took out a 100 year old twin red oak that fell into a similar age hemlock so we had it cut down.
Hopefully nothing else will succumb to gravity next week.
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