Hurricane Irma

YakGrl said:
I will be riding out the storm in West Palm Beach. I have a townhouse with shutters up now. I will have elderly mother in wheelchair and disabled sister in wheelchair spending the storm with me. Their assisted living is clearing out. We had storm practice again last year, so we are well prepared. I'm not looking forward to this, but we are ready.
This is a case where being FI is a blessing so I know I will have options to pay for recovery as needed.
Keeping everyone safe is the most important thing now.
Wishing everyone the best as this passes through.
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Wow... You are likely going to be hit with a cat 4 hurricane, hopefully your townhome is on high ground or pillars, but I doubt it.

If you live, please post photo of neighborhood after the storm so we can see what you survived.

Have you stockpiled water and food ? (filled the tub, etc).

How long do you think it will be until grocery stores are re-opened ?
 
Sunset said:
Wow... You are likely going to be hit with a cat 4 hurricane, hopefully your townhome is on high ground or pillars, but I doubt it.

If you live, please post photo of neighborhood after the storm so we can see what you survived.

Have you stockpiled water and food ? (filled the tub, etc).

How long do you think it will be until grocery stores are re-opened ?
Click to expand...

A townhome on pillars or even high ground will likely be blown off the support. See the photos of Crystal Beach near Galveston, TX when Ike came in. ALL the beach homes on pillars were GONE (except one)! These pictures are a warning for those crazy enough to be on a beach home when this monster comes in:

ike11.jpg

Ike_PhotoPair_crystal_bch_TX_Loc2LG.jpg

Here's a little reading:

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/2...g-part-of-peninsulas-comeback/comment-page-2/
 
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I live about 5-7 miles from the beach. I've lived here all my life. Lots of flooding issues over the years, but never had water inside the house. We will see. I have a second floor as a last option. It will be difficult to get Mom and sis up the stairs, but if we have to we will.
I am concerned but not panicked. I had an office in Miami during Andrew and saw what can happen in a Cat 5 so I am not unprepared. We have lots of food and water and a full tank of gas in the car. Very good shutters on windows and friends in the area that will help if needed, and I will help them if needed.
Hoping everyone stays safe through the storm.
 
A lot of can-do people here. I hope you all have the best of luck.

Ha
 
aja8888 said:
A townhome on pillars or even high ground will likely be blown off the support. See the photos of Crystal Beach near Galveston, TX when Ike came in. ALL the beach homes on pillars were GONE (except one)! These pictures are a warning for those crazy enough to be on a beach home when this monster comes in:

View attachment 26806

View attachment 26807

Here's a little reading:

Owners of 'last house standing' part of peninsula's comeback – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs
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Im guessing they never rebuilt those homes?
 
aja8888 said:
A townhome on pillars or even high ground will likely be blown off the support. See the photos of Crystal Beach near Galveston, TX when Ike came in. ALL the beach homes on pillars were GONE (except one)! These pictures are a warning for those crazy enough to be on a beach home when this monster comes in:

View attachment 26806

View attachment 26807

Here's a little reading:

Owners of 'last house standing' part of peninsula's comeback – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs
Click to expand...

We spent quite a bit of time there in the late 90s as Crystal Beach was a pretty good lodging location for birdwatching during spring migration. We rented beach houses a couple of times. I remember well seeing those photos after Ike. Incredible!
 
YakGrl said:
I will be riding out the storm in West Palm Beach. I have a townhouse with shutters up now. I will have elderly mother in wheelchair and disabled sister in wheelchair spending the storm with me. Their assisted living is clearing out. We had storm practice again last year, so we are well prepared. I'm not looking forward to this, but we are ready.
This is a case where being FI is a blessing so I know I will have options to pay for recovery as needed.
Keeping everyone safe is the most important thing now.
Wishing everyone the best as this passes through.
Click to expand...

Best of luck, and bless you for taking care of your mom and your sister.
 
We will likely stay put. Will decide tonight. Gas still available. We are under a mandatory evacuation but the odds of hurricane force winds is now less than 30%.
 
I am in Seattle but my brother is in Merritt Island, FLA. He is going inland tomorrow (Saturday). Also have family in Atlanta and in New Orleans.

No hurricanes in Seattle, but we are overdue for "The Big One" (earthquake).
 
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At the same time that Weather Underground was screeching about approaching Irma-geddon for south Florida, the website was displaying an ad marketing a bayfront estate for only $2.25M. An unfortunate juxtaposition, to be sure. You couldn't pay me to live in Evacuation Zone A. I'm in Zone D, which is plenty of risk for my taste. My Dad's condo isn't in an evac zone; hopefully, between the two places I'll have somewhere to live after Irma finishes having fun. :(
 
socca said:
At the same time that Weather Underground was screeching about approaching Irma-geddon for south Florida, the website was displaying an ad marketing a bayfront estate for only $2.25M.
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Boy, have they got their marketing all wrong. Someone else here just yesterday posted their FL property for sale for $12.57, much more realistic.:LOL:

Found out my nephew and his buddy are going to sit it out in Orlando. Sigh. I thought he had sense enough to be on a cruise in Australia or someplace else on the other side of the world. Hope they make it through okay.
 
Walt34 said:
Boy, have they got their marketing all wrong. Someone else here just yesterday posted their FL property for sale for $12.57, much more realistic.:LOL:

Found out my nephew and his buddy are going to sit it out in Orlando. Sigh. I thought he had sense enough to be on a cruise in Australia or someplace else on the other side of the world. Hope they make it through okay.
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He should be safe as Orlando is nothing but solid concrete after 35 years of building Disney, highways, hotels, retail, etc, etc. It's like being in prison. (I was stationed at Orlando Air Force Base in 1965 when it was orange groves, ants, other bugs, the base, etc)
 
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My daughter lives in Orlando with her family and one year old son. :) We've been in constant touch for the past week. They're getting the same warnings and such, but in reality, they are much safer than the folks on the coasts. If anything, they are overprepared.

In fact, if we should choose to stay permanently in South Florida, spending a hurricane with them is not a bad option.
 
Now it is back to a Cat 5 and direct hit on the Keys.

You think everyone is out of there by now?
 
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W2R said:
What is the video you linked to? Can you give a description, or opinion or something? Thanks
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Meadbh said:
Watch until the end for the demo....

https://youtu.be/e0J7RzZHdh0

And good luck to you all.
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The video in the link is entitled "Hurricane Irma Update 8 September" and it is by Juan Browne on the blancolirio channel. Browne is a pilot who has an interest in environmental and flood management and has been following the Oroville dam situation since February. His balanced, factual coverage has won awards and he is now admitted as a fully fledged member of the press to tour the site. He is commenting on Irma from a distance but has put together some interesting facts, figures and footage which may be of interest to forum members. I hope that is helpful.
 
Meadbh said:
The video in the link is entitled "Hurricane Irma Update 8 September" and it is by Juan Browne on the blancolirio channel. Browne is a pilot who has an interest in environmental and flood management and has been following the Oroville dam situation since February. His balanced, factual coverage has won awards and he is now admitted as a fully fledged member of the press to tour the site. He is commenting on Irma from a distance but has put together some interesting facts, figures and footage which may be of interest to forum members. I hope that is helpful.
Click to expand...

Yes, it is! Thank you very much. :)
 
After five days of being glued to the weather channel for updates, I wish they would sign up some new advertisers because I have three days to go and I've seen their entire library of commercials at least 100 times. The latest computer models all seem to agree that owning a home on a Caloosahatchee canal system lot in Cape Coral is a really bad idea this weekend.


Spent a boat load on impact glass and a 200mph rated garage door but I can't come up with an answer for 12' of water rise in the river.


Currently wondering how much of my house in paradise and two favorite cars will be left come Monday.
 
Meadbh said:
Watch until the end for the demo....

https://youtu.be/e0J7RzZHdh0

And good luck to you all.
Click to expand...

I watched the video and it was very interesting.

The demo was amazing. South of New Orleans, after Katrina, we saw a U-Haul truck not only torn apart like that, but high up in a tree, maybe 15 feet above the ground. That was a sight I'll never forget!

In stronger storms, like Hurricane Andrew, I saw photos showing that most of Homestead, FL was blown away (although I did not see that in person).

Thanks again for the link. :)
 
MichaelB said:
Here's a live cam of Duval Street - see for yourself. http://www.liveduvalstreet.com

Edit to add - live cam of the highway getting out of Key West http://www.a1aweather.com/florida-keys.php

Looks like everyone is either gone or hunkered down.
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I just watched Duval Street for five minutes. Counted 7 cars, plus a 30-year-old couple on bicycles. The woman had fresh flowers in the basket on the front of her cycle. Perhaps they are wondering why it's so quiet downtown on a Friday evening, and why the florist was having a close-out sale?

Edit: check out this picture. The guy in the blue shirt just parked his pickup and started walking around the intersection, apparently taking pictures on his tablet. "Gee Mom, you won't believe how quiet it is here!"

duval.png
 
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aja8888 said:
A townhome on pillars or even high ground will likely be blown off the support. See the photos of Crystal Beach near Galveston, TX when Ike came in. ALL the beach homes on pillars were GONE (except one)! These pictures are a warning for those crazy enough to be on a beach home when this monster comes in:

View attachment 26806

View attachment 26807

Here's a little reading:

Owners of 'last house standing' part of peninsula's comeback – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs
Click to expand...

As some of the commets say it depends on the quality of construction. For example were hurricane clips used to hold the floor joists to the post structure, were they used to hold the studs to the sill and top plate, and to hole the rafters and ceiling joists to the top plates. In addition was the place framed with screws rather than nails which makes for a stronger structure as it takes a lot more to pull a long screw out than a nail. (IMHO these things should also be required on new construction in tornado country as they would reduce damage there.
One thing they learned from Andrew is that hip roofs are better than gable end roofs in a storm, partly because gable end roofs can blow over, and present a higher profile to the winds (found out in Homestead)
So just like we know how to make a place wild fire safe, we can make places more hurricane and tornado resistant, but the question is cost do you trade that for less fancy interiors?
 
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