Hurricane Ian

[Vmass]

Earl, Dpep and any other Florida members, I hope you guys and your families are safe.

What a mess.......reports of 100's dead and it is still very early in terms of assessing damage and reaching people.

It's going to take an incredible amount of team work and money to rebuild.

[GS1150Pilot]

I think the deaths may have been exaggerated by rags like the New York Post, but I really wish people would heed evacuation warnings. Here is a reliable current take from the area:

https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/weather/2022-09-29/grim-news-as-lee-county-officials-provide-update-on-hurricane-ian

[Vmass]

I think the deaths may have been exaggerated by rags like the New York Post, but I really wish people would heed evacuation warnings. Here is a reliable current take from the area:

https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/weathe...-hurricane-ian

The Lee County Sherriff is the one who stated that deaths are in the hundreds.

https://weartv.com/news/local/lee-county-sheriff-we-have-fatalities-in-the-hundreds

[Rob S.]

There were 8 deaths reported in Cuba. No deaths reported in the U.S. so far.

[dpep]

Cautiously optimistic so far but I sure wish this thing would pick up some steam and move I spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday prepping plus my large appliances--washer/dryer, water heater, fridge--are either mounted high or on a lift platform. My large tool cabinet is on a motorcycle lift. My vehicles except for one non-running 850 are moved to local parking garages. Those were all lessons learned from Irma back in 2017.

I am not on the coast so my concern isn't initial storm surge. Instead I am maybe 300 yards from the St Johns a large tidal river that empties into the Atlantic just below the Georgia line. Or rather it empties when it isn't being blocked by a strong storm pushing water backwards. My nightmare scenario is an enormous slow moving storm dumping megatons of water into the St Johns basin and then stalling at the mouth of the river. Also throw in a full moon and high tide. That was the situation with Irma which like this storm is now was down to a tropical storm when it caused me to be flooded out.

Fortunately we have only a first quarter moon this time. High tides along my stretch today are around noon and midnight. At noon it was still a foot+ below the top of the seawall but the storm center was still well south. My period to know if I dodged a bullet will be this evening between 7pm and 1am or so. If I did I will be back to buy a round. If I didn't you probably won't see much of me on the site for a while.

Earl, I believe, is in a similar situation to me. He isn't directly on the coast but in an area flood prone from backed up streams. He was a lot closer to landfall than I but he was on the "good" side of the rotation. I hope he checks in.

[GregT]

Wishing you and Earl the best of luck. Stay dry and safe.

[Big T]

The news is showing lots of devastation in SW FL.
More to come as SAR checks dwellings.
Lots of homes with no flood insurance.

[marvinsc]

My Son in Orlando is doing OK, lot of rain and heavy wind gusts. His employer paid everyone to stay home yesterday and today. Fort Myers was devastated.

[dpep]

We were spared here in Jacksonville. It moved out into the Atlantic far enough that some strong winds well below hurricane force were the worst we got. I have retrieved all my vehicles and now need to start returning things around the property to their normal locations. As relieved as I am by my own good fortune I feel terrible for those poor folks down on the southwest coast. Devastation is the only word to describe.

[bccap]

That's great news Don ! .... I hope Earl and Rick escaped unscathed as well { can't remember what town Rick lived in } ..... When I was watching the news I was thinking of Mark ...... Were he alive he likely would be homeless as he lived in Cape Coral ......

[Vmass]

Good news, dpep. It's going to be a long road ahead, just to get everyone safe, then years to rebuild.

Be interesting to know how the whole snowbird thing works out after all this devastation. I would imagine all the displaced residents will fill those up pretty quick.

I know it's early, but it does seem as though the Lee County Sherriff's death estimate was way too high, hopefully.

[storm 64]

This picture is from inside of our condominium in Punta Gorda Florida. Supposedly the new roof was rated for 250mph winds... What probably happened, being on the top floor, the wind got into the rafters and blew the ceiling down. Well at least the chandelier made it through the storm! No flood damage to the cars below in the carport. Thankfully the water never got that high. Even the boat made it through the storm. IMG_0624.jpg

[Brendan W]

My sister's home in Tuscaloosa, Al. was one of a few that survived a tornado a few years back. It was an old house with a large 6'x4' vent into the attic space with floor vents into the crawl space.
Can't help but thinking the olds knew a thing of two about differential pressure across a roof?

[Rob S.]

DW news just mentioned "reports of at least 21 dead."

[Rob S.]

CNN just reported 45 dead.