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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 10, 2017 14:35:34 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2017 16:49:12 GMT
I have been in contact with my two friends in Miami and West Palm. Both have lost electricity and are receiving numerous back to back text messages warning of tornadoes.
Soon cell towers are likely to go out of commission.
HTMB's warning of being on the right side, in this case East of the storm being high risk for tornadoes is spot on.
Personally,I would rather be in a hurricane and be able to make advance preparations whereas with a tornado they come out of nowhere.
The warnings they have received via cell have said "you have 6 minutes to get to a safe room".
With no cell power they have no forewarning.
Hopefully they have battery operated radios as long as the radio transmitters remain functioning.
I think about it and growing up in a hurricane corridor and then now living in one, we never had cell power until after Katrina and always relied on transistor battery operated radios.
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Post by Kimby on Sept 10, 2017 17:25:25 GMT
Irma is shaping up to be The Big One that Florida has dodged for decades, with localized exceptions. This has led to a false sense of security and complacency that has led to ill-advised development placing people in harm's way.
If barrier islands like Sanibel and Captiva are swept bare, do we have the sense to prohibit rebuilding? Do we have the funds to buy out property owners? Can Florida exist without the tourism income? Big questions for the upcoming weeks and months.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2017 18:22:11 GMT
The people with mega millions will rebuild.
At the taxpayers expense to boot.
I have seen this happen over and over and over on the SE tip of Long Island.
I remember as a child when there were once large dunes.
Then the mega mansions started being built.
Year after year, more and more erosion.
One fierce Nor'Easter was capable of wiping out houses and the damage to the dunes was enormous.
There are no dunes there anymore save maybe a few in Montauk that are more like bluffs and too many boulders to build upon.
The beach at high tide has diminished by many hundreds of yards.
Yet, the houses get rebuilt...
The Native Americans and even the Mayflower WASP's had the sense to not build that close to the ocean.
If they did, they built little shacks that the knew could be cost effectively rebuilt and caused no harm to the dunes.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 10, 2017 19:07:26 GMT
Without saying "they got what they deserved," the French specialists have pointed out that the population of Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy has risen about 500% in the last 30 years due to the tourism industry and with practically no regard for the building codes. While Florida has long had a quite strict building code, I'm sure that it has often been flouted as well.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Sept 10, 2017 20:15:18 GMT
Watching CNN reporters in Naples, Florida. It's pretty dramatic and scary. I hope that everybody is safe.
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Post by mickthecactus on Sept 10, 2017 21:04:46 GMT
So sorry for the people in Florida. It's terrifying.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 10, 2017 21:42:30 GMT
The Naples reports on both CNN and Fox were both impressive.
In 2004, I flew into Fort Myers shortly after Hurricane Charley (perhaps a month later), which was the last major hurricane to destroy the area, and I felt lucky even to find a service station standing to fill the rental car with petrol.
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Post by Kimby on Sept 10, 2017 23:17:01 GMT
Watching with 'bated breath the reports from Naples and Ft Myers, looking for kernels of hope to cling to. Our house on Sanibel survived the winds of Charley, but this storm surge potential is terrifying. We are bracing ourselves for a total loss, but hoping for a minor miracle. On the edge of my seat all day.
Almost didn't notice that it's a GORGEOUS day in Montana, as the smoke from forest fires has finally blown out of the valley. I'd forgotten what blue skies and a yellow (not red) sun look like!
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Post by mich64 on Sept 11, 2017 1:39:20 GMT
My cousin's son is on holiday in Cuba and they have had no contact with him since the storm landed there. Terribly worried.  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2017 3:22:53 GMT
My thoughts are with him.
Hopefully you will hear from him soon.
The chances are the cell towers and any other means of communication is nada at this time.
Please keep us posted Mich.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 11, 2017 3:27:36 GMT
Mich, what an ordeal for your family. Even though we know that of course communication is either down or over-burdened, it doesn't make that kind of wait any easier, nor lessen the worry. I'm so sorry and hope that you all get word soon. I keep checking the Fort Myers weather, which is weirdly "good" at the moment, although still under threat of tornadoes and storm surges. Irma’s eyewall passed through Fort Myers and Cape Coral just before 7 p.m., producing wind gusts of 88 and 101 mph and then passed on the west side of Port Charlotte between 8 and 9 p.m. ...
In Ft. Myers, waters levels were rising through 10 p.m., but not as dramatically as they had in Naples. source, from @20 minutes ago. So true, Casimira. As you know, I lived in northern coastal North Carolina. Every time there was a storm, people on Virginia Beach and on the Outer Banks seemed to be totally surprised that land was washing away under the pilings of their houses. *sigh* In Gainesville, it's not great but apparently not as terrible as feared. The power outage shows more people than not have power. Hope Htmb is one of them! weather.com/weather/today/l/Gainesville+FL+32611:4:USWould anyone know if Huckle might be in Europe rather than Florida right now? |
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Post by htmb on Sept 11, 2017 7:13:00 GMT
Our cable is out, but my cell is still receiving a decent signal. We have power, though it's been off a few times as the wind picks up speed. Irma is now a category 1 hurricane.. The worst for us is supposed to be at 6 am, in three hours.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 11, 2017 8:22:28 GMT
Glad that everything is (almost) all right where you are. Just a few more hours and then people can start cleaning up...
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Post by Kimby on Sept 11, 2017 12:19:03 GMT
Huckle PM'd before the storm that she spends hurricane season in Paris every year,
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Post by lagatta on Sept 11, 2017 13:26:02 GMT
Cuba OFTEN has poor communications. On the other hand, they have an extremely good record of natural disaster management and relief.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 11, 2017 16:07:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2017 18:42:36 GMT
I read on the Weather Forum a post from Kimby that Sanibel was spared save some minor "inconveniences".
I'll let her share the glad tidings when she comes back on.
Talk about a close call...
YAY!!!
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Post by mickthecactus on Sept 11, 2017 21:13:06 GMT
I've just been watching looting. How appalling is that?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2017 21:26:46 GMT
Looting was extremely prevalent post Katrina. I remember finding all kinds of brand new clothing discarded in our back yard (our fences had fallen down) from a neighborhood department store
(I guess after stealing them they decided they didn't like them or whatever..)
Some "excusable" looting included stealing boats to rescue people in.
That I could understand.
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Post by htmb on Sept 11, 2017 22:29:00 GMT
There's been plenty of roof damage in my city from the winds (Gainesville is known for its tree canopy), and some serious, localized flooding, but my neighborhood seems to be fine. I'm without internet and my cell service has just improved enough so I can get back online. Otherwise, I'm pretty much out of the loop when it comes to information about the rest if the state. I'm feeling extremely fortunate though.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2017 22:38:43 GMT
That's great news HTMB.
I haven't from my South Beach or West Palm buddies so I assume they lost cell power as well.
Otherwise, I believe they are safe from what reports I hear about those places.
Meanwhile the folks up in North Carolina where I was in August are bracing for possible flooding, mudslides and lots of fallen trees.
The Smokey Mountain National Park has shut down.
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Post by Kimby on Sept 12, 2017 1:52:05 GMT
Causeway to Sanibel (& Captiva) reopened at 3 PM today following inspection for damage to the road and bridge spans. Our community's groundskeeper was one of the first to cross and has made a preliminary sweep of our neighborhood and.saw no trees on houses or torn-off roofs, and no sign of sea water incursion. Our roads and bridges, and clubhouse and pool fencing, all intact. Lots of down vegetation, of course, but I think we can live with that! What a surprise. Yesterday I was bracing myself for a total loss.
I'm wondering if somehow Mr. Kimby's Mom wrapped her angel wings around her beloved island... Sanibel is about 75 miles from Naples where winds were clocked at 142 mph! Our highest recorded wind speed was 58, and Captiva clocked 75. Storm surge was bad in Ft. Myers, at the other end of the 3-mile long causeway.
We got SO lucky! Sounds like Htmb is OK too.
Maybe I should be buying lottery tickets!
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Post by htmb on Sept 12, 2017 3:00:34 GMT
That's really good news, kimby.
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Post by mickthecactus on Sept 12, 2017 8:00:17 GMT
Great news Kimby! Really pleased.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 12, 2017 12:42:13 GMT
Meanwhile, President Macron of France and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands are both on Saint Martin/Sint Maarten today but it is unlikely that their paths will cross.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2017 19:20:39 GMT
More disconcerting activity in the Atlantic.
Tropical Storm Jose followed by Lee and Maria brewing.
One model shows Jose swacking SE Long Island TWICE. One hit and then doing a loop de loo.
I am chanting No Way Jose....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course I am hoping that the islands , Florida and Texas etc. are all spared. Let them all go out to sea please!!!
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Post by Kimby on Sept 15, 2017 21:32:39 GMT
Amen to that Casi!
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 16, 2017 21:44:33 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Sept 16, 2017 22:26:02 GMT
Cute, K2, but they actually call the wind Mariah. In the US, anyway.
Hope Maria stays a Tropical Storm and then peters out before making landfall...
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