Hurricane Irma

[MRG]

Just sent the following Facebook messenger message to my brother who lives in key west

"So I'm sure you thought about evacuation ... I'm sure I don't need to tell you that with a single exit road if you don't get out by Saturday I'm not sure you will be able too. This thing looks as scary as they get."

There will always be those who choose unwisely to stay.

Edit: sent this before it became a cat 5

I remember my in-laws having a place on Marathon key(halfway to key West) when Andrew was coming. They tried to evacuate North towards Homestead! Fortunately they didn't get more than a few miles. FIL calls his son in Ft. Myers and pleads for him to fly down and get them outa the Keys. Son is flying VFR around a hurricane to go rescue mom and dad! They were the last plane out of Marathon.

For some reason FILs home went up for sale afterwards.

Good luck to anyone who is in the path of this storm.

 

[MichaelB]

Total evacuation from Key West is logistically just as unlikely as evacuation from Houston. So many people have nowhere to go, there are no facilities open that are prepared to house and feed all the evacuees, and the surface transportation system can't manage the volume.

Key West inhabitants have one additional obstacle. Even if they can get out, after driving for 5-6 hours, they reach SE or SW Florida, Ft Lauderdale or Naples, where they are just as exposed to the hurricane.

 

[Fermion]

We were thinking of trying to go to the Keys this year since we didn't make it down that far last year. Hmm.

If it hits the Keys as a Cat 4, the last thing they need is more tourists I guess.

 

[Amethyst]

Heck, with that lil ole 2-lane road, it is crammed with traffic at the best of times. If I lived in Key West, I'd want to own a helicopter.

Just sent the following Facebook messenger message to my brother who lives in key west

"So I'm sure you thought about evacuation ... I'm sure I don't need to tell you that with a single exit road if you don't get out by Saturday I'm not sure you will be able too. This thing looks as scary as they get."

There will always be those who choose unwisely to stay.

Edit: sent this before it became a cat 5

 

[Amethyst]

When we were worrying last winter about being stranded by snow, I checked with my credit card travel agent. They said the underwriters for the travel insurance generally accept an article from a major newspaper describing airports or highways in your area being shut down due to a major weather event. Of course, the insurers know about the really bad storms; they are just trying to be sure we don't claim a local snowstorm (that really only stranded us) was a major weather event.

That's plain old bad luck. Hope you are able to rebook without penalty.

 

[bigcmagor]

Latest update says 175 mph sustained winds. I dont remember ever seeing that!

With gusts to 215mph, according to weather underground.

 

[Big_Hitter]

With gusts to 215mph, according to weather underground.

fake news was reporting category 6 this morning

 

[Fermion]

Forest fires and earthquakes on the west coast, Huge hurricanes on the east coast, tornadoes inland from that and all over the Midwest

Phoenix, AZ is starting to sound pretty dang good.

 

[wrigley]

I'm in S Fla, was here for Andrew (92), Wilma (05) and all the rest of the near misses. We have plenty of hardware supplies (batteries, flashlights, radio) etc., ready from Matthew last year.

Our plan is the same as we ended up doing after wilma. Stay in, (we have hurricane windows now and don't live in an evac zone), ride it out, but have a refundable hotel reservation several hours away for afterwards. Staying in FL in September with no power is not fun.

I'm in Jacksonville. Been here for 24+ years and been through numerous hurricanes and tropical storms. Never lost power or satellite. Matthew was a bit hairy but I'm hearing Irma will make Matthew and Harvey look like sun showers! We're not supposed to be impacted until Sunday or even into the week of Sept 11th. The big question now is when and where will Irma stat to turn.

Mike

 

[scrabbler1]

Good plan.

If you do decide to leave just before the storm instead of after, and if you have an answering machine that is dependent upon electricity, you can easily find out if you still have electricity at home by calling it from your evacuation location. But you probably already knew this.

I don't have one, because I don't have a landline any more, but Frank does.

This is how I knew power had been restored to my apartment building after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. For a few days, I was staying in my ladyfriend's apartment a few blocks away from mine, as she had power, internet, and phone (I had no cell phone back then) but no cable TV. I was able to retrieve my frozen and refrigerated foods to keep them from going bad and place them in her fridge and freezer.

A few times per day, I called my home phone to see if the answering machine picked up. Then, suddenly, it did so I walked home to check it out - an outdoor light and nearby traffic light were working again. A porter was vacuuming in the lobby and told me the power had just returned within the hour. Happily, I went back to my ladyfriend's place and brought my frozen foods, belongings, and PC back home and got my life back to normal.

 

[FIREd]

We may have to postpone our trip to Florida... The friends we are supposed to visit on the FL coast might have to come crash at our house instead!

 

[W2R]

Hoping for the best for (former mod and Florida resident) Khan... she posted this in the "What did you do today?" thread:

Hurricane prep stage four. Second generator, electric cooler unit (insulin needs to be kept cold).
Seeing to get some prescriptions ahead of schedule.
Will move boat to car port.

 

[Ian S]

Forest fires and earthquakes on the west coast, Huge hurricanes on the east coast, tornadoes inland from that and all over the Midwest

Phoenix, AZ is starting to sound pretty dang good.

Yeah you just have to worry about burning your bare feet as you walk across the concrete to jump in the pool. Seriously, I live in Phoenix and while the heat is oppressive for 5 months of the year we mostly avoid natural disasters that many other places have to put up with.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Dear Irma, could you kindly hit North Korea? This might solve some problems, thank you

 

[GrayHare]

Jose is hot on Irma's heels. Predicted to travel north of Irma.

 

[rayinpenn]

Just spoke to my sister who is north of Sarasota. "Shelves are empty already..gas is already out.. I have a stress headache." I think people are scared to death after Houston. She said they took some cash out and are prepared to run for it.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Just spoke to my sister who is north of Sarasota. "Shelves are empty already..gas is already out.. I have a stress headache." I think people are scared to death after Houston. She said they took some cash out and are prepared to run for it.

Must be all those ex New Yorkers, continuing the tradition of stocking up for the 2 inch snow storm. Old habits die hard.

 

[Clone]

Shelves are empty already..gas is already out..

You might want to check the vegan section:

 

[REWahoo]

Shelves are empty already..gas is already out..

You might want to check the vegan section:

Will eating vegan give you gas?

 

[NW-Bound]

If it is not one hurricane, it's 'nother. Sigh...

 

[rayinpenn]

Must be all those ex New Yorkers, continuing the tradition of stocking up for the 2 inch snow storm. Old habits die hard.

You confuse habit with hoarding tradition; even if you normally only drink milk with their coffee/ tea, upon hearing of an upcoming show fall you must buy 2 gallons. You must also buy up more bread then you can reasonably use. If you see someone trying to grab that last whatever a body check to push them out of the way is fully acceptable. Snow cancels all rules of common decency.

 

[rayinpenn]

Just sent the following Facebook messenger message to my brother who lives in key west

"So I'm sure you thought about evacuation ... I'm sure I don't need to tell you that with a single exit road if you don't get out by Saturday I'm not sure you will be able too. This thing looks as scary as they get."

There will always be those who choose unwisely to stay.

Edit: sent this before it became a cat 5

And I now told him out by Wednesday....

 

[NW-Bound]

Forest fires and earthquakes on the west coast, Huge hurricanes on the east coast, tornadoes inland from that and all over the Midwest

Phoenix, AZ is starting to sound pretty dang good.

I read that temperature in SF hit 106F last Friday. Holy Moly!

We were at 108F and it felt hot. And then, that's outside temperature, not the inside air-conditioned temperature.

Most San Franciscans have no AC, and I bet their humidity is not in the single-digit range like we have. I would die.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

We are booked to go to Cuba on Friday . Ha Ha That is not happening !

We're sailing out of FLL for an Eastern Caribbean itinerary in a week and a half. Irma will be gone by then but our ports of call are currently Nassau, San Juan, and Philipsburg. Irma sure looks like it's going to just pummel San Juan and Philipsburg. I feel really bad for them because there's no where to go except to hunker down. Whereas, I suspect my cruise will just end up doing a Western itinerary as these place will be cleaning up for a while.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

You might want to check the vegan section:

The Kosher and vegan section are the last to get wiped out.