Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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Here in Florida the price of gas has sky-rocketed! A BP station was holding at 2.339 rose to 2.489 and is now at an all time high of 2.699. A Chervon station closer to the Turnpike which is always high is now over $3.
Mind you we do have Port Everglades about 30 miles south of us that has big tanks. This is crazy. And it will be going up.
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Oh my oh my oh my!
To all my Florida buddies hope you are getting ready for Irma. One way or the other all of Florida will be affected by this storm. I know it's going to be playing in the Leeward Islands and then has to go over Puerto Rico and dive into Cuba and we wont forget the Bahama Islands and then skate up the coast line. She's a big storm. Prepare now, make ice, clean the coolers and make sure you have enough water on hand.
Good luck!
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Meantime, we now have extremely long lines for gas. There is no water to be found for sale in any stores. My store has NO propane or white gas for grilling food. We had only 5 coolers as of this morning as they all sold out yesterday. Grocery shelves are being cleared at a very rapid rate.
Why, you ask?
Because Irma is now up to 180 MPH. Whenever she comes close to Florida, the entire state will be ripped up. Not just a small swath, but big areas will be torn apart.
I pray for those that stayed in the Islands, no matter which Island. It will be horrible.
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Unfortunately, Irma's a bigger storm than Harvey was. Everyone in the islands, Florida and the east coast, batten down the hatches and get prepared. Don't take any chances. Protect your lives.
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06:40:02pm
In the previous topic about Harvey I mentioned my first rule of hurricanes , "Hurricanes seldom go where they seem to be heading."
It is like trying to predict where a child's spinning top will go as it crosses a slightly uneven kitchen floor.
Don't be surprised if this storm alters course and curves through Alabama or Mississippi.
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Irma is a scary storm. They said it was the most powerful ever recorded over Atlantic waters. I'm hoping it will just tack North and miss everyone.
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Boy how we get used to low gas prices over the last few years so now $2.60 is considered high!
We shall see.. a lot of 100 / 500 yr storms and now a super hurricane. We are two hrs drive inland and remember the mess from Hurricane Fran and to the west of us was Hugo - miles even further west.
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After Hispaniola, the models are still all over the place. Unfortunately, as Luree has stated, panic has set in. We all need to concerned but vigilant.
We'll just have to take each day as it comes in the meantime.
BOB
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My company has two large facilities in Puerto Rico. I was chatting with folks down there this morning as they were preparing for the worst. They closed early afternoon today. Hope things are okay!
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I looked at the projected paths and all seem to go through NC at some point. This means the weekend will be a mess. Eastern NC has not fully recovered from Matthew.
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It has been an interesting day. As some of you know, I work at a Sporting Goods Store. Yes, we selling camping equipment. So here it is, a few days before Irma will visit us in some way or another and people have the nerve to get really ticked because we don't and never have had a battery operated radio in the store. Yes, I understand we sell it on line from the warehouse, but we don't sell it in the store. Wow.
The oddest thing about this storm that we have sold this year ... life jackets. Life jackets for Mom, Dad, kids, Grandpa, Grandma and if we sold them, for their Lab! Yes, we are rather concerned about the Levee breaking the band-aid that the Army Corp of Engineers put on Lake Okeechobee, but really? Dozens of life jackets went out the door today.
The grocery stores are jammed, there is no bread or tuna fish or water.
Home Depot is a big joke. Got your lumber on the cart? Oh, wait, I forget this small item so I'll leave my cart and run and get that thing. Wait, what the heck are you doing??? That's my wood and supplies get away from my stuff. Fights are happening, people getting kicked out of the stores. Once again, WOW.
The next few days will be very trying. Remember, breath in, breath out.
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My questions are:
Don't people in hurricane zones store the plywood for the next time?
Shouldn't only new homeowners need to buy plywood?
Isn't it time for shutters to come back into vogue? Remember the movie Key Largo? All they had to do was close the huge shutters!
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We have alot of members who are in the path of Irma. All the best to you over the coming days. Maybe the storm will start to turn sooner than expected and lessen the impact.
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Larsdog, I always wondered the same thing. In fact, if they did it right, builders would include features for those expansive windows and door. But, it would add cost and likely affect the look. It may take a lot of plywood but for those on piers you could suspend it under the house where you normally park.
I have been in a number of beach houses and those sliding glass doors always look like they will leak during any wind.
Here in NC, the governor has already declared a state of emergency. We are in the center area.
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"We have alot of members who are in the path of Irma. All the best to you over the coming days. Maybe the storm will start to turn sooner than expected and lessen the impact."
I sure hope so! Preferably turn north-east right now and die in the Atlantic! Harvey was epic flooding. Irma is epic winds. Hopefully everyone is able to find safe shelter. We will all be thinking about you!
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"Larsdog, I always wondered the same thing. In fact, if they did it right, builders would include features for those expansive windows and door. But, it would add cost and likely affect the look."
It used to be stylish. The house I grew up in (in the 60's) had shutters nailed to the siding. Totally worthless. Just for show. But not many hurricanes in the Midwest! Tornados, sure, but they usually popped up too quickly to close all of the shutters on the house even if they were functional.
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The governor of Barbuda has stated that the island is virtually uninhabitable with at least 90% destruction. St. Martin is about the same. There has been no contact with anyone on the island of Anguilla, and several other smaller islands, including the Virgin Islands. (Per the news at 6:00 PM CDT.) Those islands took a direct hit.
If you remember the news footage of Rockport, Texas, where Harvey landed, that is what the footage from Barbuda looks like.
Puerto Rico is a much larger island, and has the means to survive a major storm. The governor there said that he expects most of the island to be all right, but there are many areas along the shore and villages inland (especially on the south side of the island per reports) that may see severe damage.
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Lars to answer your question about the plywood and shutters. Back when we first moved into the house a lifetime ago, we did the plywood jig. It took several days to put the blasted things up. It only took one time. The next year we skated. The following few years we skated. Then I put my foot down and said we are getting real shutters. Best thing we ever did. I have a bay window in the front and two sliding doors that have the accordions. The other windows have the aluminum shutters. Takes about a day to get them up and five minutes for the accordions. We used to store all the plywood (marine quality, so it wasn't cheap stuff) in the garage. It was a major pain.
However, it has been 25 years since Andrew came to visit Miami. Wilma was 12 years ago and thank goodness we had the shutters. Lots of people have decided to take up residence in that length of time. No real reason to get shutters, no big threat came along. So they are the multitude of people that are rushing around like crazy people to get the plywood. I do have to find the picture of my neighbor that used (ready for this, hang on 'cause it's a good one) he actually used duct tape on the wood! What a hoot! Now will all those people store the wood they just bought? Hope they do, 'cause there's two more storms brewing.
I haven't heard from Capestampman in a little while. He's in the path. Bob S. is in the path, Wine is in the path, Ernie is even in the path. Guys, let's check in when you can and please all be safe.
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My wife, and cat, and I will go to shelter if need be -- we are near Melbourne, FL. We did that last year and all went well. Good luck to all.
Cheers!
Wine
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Planning to hunker down on the east side of Orlando.
BOB
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"Lars to answer your question about the plywood and shutters. Back when we first moved into the house a lifetime ago, we did the plywood jig. It took several days to put the blasted things up. It only took one time. The next year we skated. The following few years we skated. Then I put my foot down and said we are getting real shutters. Best thing we ever did."
Thanks, Luree! I wasn't being flippant, I'm really wondering if shutters attached next to the windows ready to deploy might become vogue again.
I hope everyone and their stamps stay high and dry!
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We had friends who just landed in Orlando tonight! Their daughter bought them the plane tickets and tickets to Disneyworld, so they said they "had to go", or miss out on the chance to go to Disneyworld. They left me speechless...
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Lars, no flippant about your valid question. I often wonder the same thing. It's a pain to store all that wood and stuff. The accordions are very noisy as they rattle with each breath of wind, but they also stop a lot. They are the only shutters that are attached to the house.
One other thing I thought, a lot of new houses have been bought in the past few years. No shutters are sold with houses. It's like a new car, let me shop around for the best shutter company.
Michael, your friends are nuts! They will be going for a ride they will not soon forget.
Wine and Bob, thanks for checking in. I'm sure there are more so lets all keep an ear out for them. If Cape hasn't checked in by tomorrow, I'll try to contact him. And let y'all know.
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My house has real shutters (newly built) but I am not sure they would work well at a beach location in a hurricane. They do not stop wind driven water well. If you have seen beach houses with the large picture windows, sliding glass doors, and ornate styled windows you would never get decent shutters. Plywood or other material is the way to go.
However, I do not think it would be used except every 5 to 10 years along NC coast. This is why there is always a demand.
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Luree, I can't believe that they would have gone, and it is a great concern on my mind that they did go despite the warnings. Incidentally, they are the couple that we stayed with in Kentucky to watch the eclipse. I hope they will be safe.
They are supposed to come and visit us later this month. I'm sure they will have tales to tell.
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I see from the National Weather Service that Jose is supposed to strengthen into a major hurricane and go right over the same islands that Irma destroyed before it turns northward and heads towards Bermuda.
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Per the shutter conversation. When I was young and living in Germany all of the houses had built in shutters. (see photo below) They sat in a built in track and were not visible at all when completely open. They were moved by a belt control inside the house and worked just like window blinds. You could open them half way (or at any position) as a shade, when in the position you see in the photo, light would come in between the slats. If you put them down all the way, they'd seal tight. That was great because we lived on a hill top and the winter winds really blew. We loved those blinds and we always wondered why they weren't sold in the USA. They were quite common in Germany.
Yes, that's me as a kid showing off my brand new British Raleigh Chopper. If I had it today it would be worth a lot of money. I know, I've tried to buy one! House was in Pirmasens, Germany.
And per the comment on Disney. I just read today that Disney has a no questions asked storm policy, if the storm is in Florida or where you are leaving from. That's as long as your trip was bought directly from Disney and not from a third party.
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This morning at 7 am, my wife and two teenage kids set off to Gatwick Airport (UK) for their 16 day holiday. Where were they going? Well, Orlando Florida of course!
They were meant to be taking a Caribbean Disney cruise for the first five days but this was cancelled two days ago. Following this, the remainder of their stay was to be at Disneyland.
The cruise was chosen by one of our relations who had made all the preparations for his onboard wedding. This has been a huge blow for him and his partner.
The whole trip was arranged for quite a large group of family and friends (including my lot), who instead had to find alternative accommodation and a venue just yesterday, for the (now additional) first five days.
Despite all the warnings, British Airways have continued to fly passengers to Orlando.
Consequently, anyone booked on these flights (and Disneyland bookings/accommodation) can't pull out, unless BA cancels the flights, without losing the thousands of pounds paid out.
Aside from the above, I'm fretting here. I have no word, by phone or text from any of my family (or the group) that they have at least landed in Orlando. There is no Facetime connection either at the moment. I am also very concerned about what lies ahead of them in the next few days.
The timing of this trip could not have been worse.
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The television newscasts show the cruise ships leaving harbor. They are going out to sea to get away from the storm.
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This is from the Business Insider:
"The INSIDER Summary: The "quarter in frozen cup of water" trick could prevent you from getting really sick in the aftermath of a hurricane. You just fill a cup with water, freeze it, and stick a quarter on top. When you come back from a hurricane evacuation, if the quarter is still at the top of the cup, your food is safe to eat. If the quarter sunk, it means that your freezer lost power and you should throw your food out."
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Clive- Sorry to hear about your family's vacation. I'm sure they will weather the storm fine.
It's a shame about the Disney Cruise. We were on the maiden voyage many years ago and it was a great trip!
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The Florida location is called Disney World and the one in California is called Disneyland.
Folks in the Caribbean islands are stranded as airlines have ceased operations ahead of the storm. On many islands, the larger aircraft do not stay overnight...always down and back to hub each day. This means not many aircraft sitting around.
The track has moved west and now almost over Orlanda with 100mph winds...oh my.
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Michael, we do something similar for our lake house which is only visited on weekends during the summer, but we simply put an ice cube in a coffee saucer. How deformed, if any, the ice cube gets tells us how warm the freezer got. A little deformed and we would throw out frozen meat from the freezer and mayo and eggs (and such) from the fridge. If the ice cube totally melted and refroze as a "pond", everything gets pitched except maybe ketchup!
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Yes, that track was NOT what I wanted to see. 
I have kept plywood in my garage from 2004. It looks like it might get another use.
Blast it! I really meant to get shutters this year 
Listen, everyone keep safe, and keep in touch.
BOB
(BTW, we do that trick with the quarter as well--time to do THAT again)
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Looks like another shift westward again.
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The mb has risen!!! Good news. I've learned the lower the millibar the more dangerous the storm will be. So last night it rose from 914 to 919 and this morning it's 925. Very good thing to see. Also, it doesn't look very well formed. Could be my imagination this morning, or not being totally awake, but it looks a little messy. Anyway, we are still doing last minute prep to do. My list keep growing as I wake up. In 30 minutes I'll be hard at work outside.
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I was going to take Monday off, but I will be the only member of our team not affected by hurricane Irma (the rest of my team is in Florida). So I will be coming in on Monday to man the office.
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The track has not changed much in 24 hours. It will still be a strong storm half way up Florida.
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Orange County is now on a watch. This is Orlando. Disney will be closing at 5PM today. That is a first for them.
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Watching the news and thinking about friends and relatives who i never thought were in a danger zone before. So my cousin Claudette in Altamonte Springs is in the zone. Don't know if they are home as they do a a lot of traveling.
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Phil--Altamonte Springs is just a bit NW of me, close to where I work in Lake Mary.
Track has moved more west and 8am advisory had a significant downward revision in winds.
Might be an eyewall replacement cycle, but I'll take what I can get right now.
There is a possibility now that the storm might stay over Gulf. I don't really like that scenario.
BOB
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03:29:46pm
I hope all our members who are in the path of Irma stay safe.
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My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those persons affected by these storms. Keep safe everyone. Thanks to those who are checking in with us with periodic updates.
Liz
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Anguilla has been devastated, similar to Barbuda.
http://www.anguilla-beaches.com/hurricane-irma.html
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"There is a possibility now that the storm might stay over Gulf. I don't really like that scenario."
NOBODY wants to see THAT happen!We are all hoping for Irma to fizzle out. Best wishes to everyone in the path.
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Well, it looks like Irma has made landfall and, for now, is staying just a bit inland. It's getting a bit weaker, which is good. Naples is getting slammed right now, beautiful town. In laws are in a hurricane shelter right now in Ft Myers near Sanibel.
For here, the biggest concerns are potential tornadoes and flooding.
The east side of the state is actually getting hit with heavier rain in squalls right now and Winter Springs, just north of us, got hit.
I'll keep the group posted, but so far we are riding it out, going stir crazy, and...what else, working on stamps!
BOB
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..and the wind is howling and the rain is just relentless right now! 
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09:40:36pm
Hoping you stay safe @bobstew617
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Mary and I are OK. No more torrential rain, there may still be a shower or two, but that's it. Wind is still howling. We did not lose power, so that's a good thing.
Some branches are down, but we'll take a fuller look outside when it's safe to do so.
BOB
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I hate you Irma. Two huge tree tops fell out of the sky last night. No power for 24 hours now. Thanking God we're all safe right now.
Ernie
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This one is probably 16" diameter
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So sorry to hear of your damage, Ernie, and the loss of power. Stay safe!
BOB
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Could have been much worse. My heart goes out to the people dealing with much worse. You too Bob. You and Mary take care.
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Ok Ernie, i was going to send out a "wheres ernie? " when i heard about Jacksonville. It looks like my brothers place in Bradenton keeps escaping hurricanes. My sisters brother in law on Marco Island and some friends decided to ride it out...me, when someone tells me to git, i git and worry about it later.
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Hey Phil! Power back on! Headed out for mimosas and brunch. Life is good.
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04:00:58pm
Well, Irma is leaving Florida, My house in Citrus County ( About at the base of the letter "I" in Citrus.) survived with just a few branches down.
Power is back, my wife, three daughters and nine grand children all safe. As I expected the storm moved to the west, not as far as I thought, but far enough to be tuckered out by the time the eye passed through Citrus.
I think the eye passed right through between the dining room and the family room.
Next; Cometh Jose.
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No damage to house here, but starting 2nd day with no power. My wife and I are becoming proficient with flashlights. And we are going to set the AC soooo low when we get it back.
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When we had Hurricane Fran, we were out of power for 5 days. It was hot and humid due to all the water everywhere. Sleeping was difficult. Now, we had natural gas and water was a community well (working) so we had hot water too. We used the gas grill a lot.
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Here in upstate New York we have lost power for up to two weeks...in the winter of course. We have still not added a generator to our belongings.
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Glad to read all the posts from those living in the areas affected by these hurricanes. Thanks for taking the time to let everyone know you are safe.
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One of the major issues right now is that people who are out on the road who don't need to be. Many of the traffic lights are out, and many are not treating intersections as 4 way stops. Also, people are out when it is not yet safe to do so. A man in Winter Park (just north of us) got electrocuted. Still many places that are flooded, roads washed out , and sinkholes opening up--what a mess!
The scenes of devastation from the keys, W Florida, and even in Jacksonville I am seeing on the news are absolutely heartbreaking. Who knows how long it's going to take to get back to some sense of "normalcy"?
My office is still closed, so I am home, which is far safer than anywhere else right now!
Back to going through duplicates, and I'll do some clean up in the back yard--Irma pulled off the plywood that was covering my back sliding glass door. 
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I'm here. We lost power about 1:15PM two days ago. It was hot and very brutal. Sleeping in humidity and no air stirring is not a restful sleep. So you get up early and do the yard clean up for a couple of hours and take a shower to get the leaves and dirt off. Try to cool off a little bit more which does not work. Then you think of what you need to keep the food cool and go to the store to find there is water, a little bread but absolutely no ice. Groovy, just how much longer and what food will we have to toss. So you go on with life. Try to explain life to the animals is like talking to the wall. Take Reena to the Big Red Store, aka Target, to find it closed. Rats, no Starbucks either so we get her home and now I'm concerned because she is starting to over heat. No ball playing anymore. Yea, right, said to a pup who loves to play ball.
Oh but wait, it gets even better! While I'm out doing the yard cleaning thing, I'm apparently allergic to something as I have a huge welt across the back of one knee! How extremely annoying.
So we go to walk Reena in the somewhat cool of the evening, 8PM, and the first thing I notice, we have street lights. Look one way and the neighbors have lights, look the other and they have lights. Rich goes in and flips the circuit breaker and ta-da, we have lights! Crank up that AC, baby. But, we live on a circle, only the outer part of the circle has power, not the inner circle. Cool, now we can jump on the internet let everybody know we are okay and see the news. NOT!!!! Cable didn't come back until noon today, while I was at work.
Although we didn't get the eye, we got the really bad side with all the tornadoes. Really, a lot of tornadoes. Many of them sheared off quickly but if you were so bored you were watching the weather channel, you saw the Dopler and how everybody was continuing to say tornado here, tornado there, tornado everywhere. We all were tired of hearing Jim Cantore say we were under a tornado warning in our area.
And the clean up will continue. We are very blessed that there wasn't more damage, a few trees snapped, split, and just plain fell over. Leaves all over the place, pine needles all over. Wooden fences fallen over. But not that many house were damaged. I've only heard a couple were damaged by a tree falling.
Paul my brother-in-law in Fort Meyers is with water. His drain field is 10 feet above ground. He placed his golf cart on top of the drain field and the water was over the floorboard. His house is 16 feet above ground and he has 5 steps on the stairs clear of water. So the neighbors kayak back and forth. He faired well, about three trees fell and no structure damage. He also doesn't have power. About 50% of Florida is without power.
The Keys are a total mess. Everyone is being stopped in Islamorada which is the upper Keys. You can not go any further. Boats are all over the place, on the roads, on houses, IN houses. It will take some time to get that fixed.
So that's my tale, I'm safe and it was a ride I do not want to go through again! Hurricanes are not supposed to last 24 hours, they are supposed to be in and out, the end. But this one was so big we felt every powerful blow.
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Been watching everything on TV. It's good to see that so many are posting and letting us know they are ok!!!
Here in Southern Alberta we need your water!!! There's a hugh wild fire about 60-70 kil south of us, in Waterton Nat Park. Lots of people south of us have been told to leave. And the powers that be, state that more evacuations will be coming!!!
All the best to everyone
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Hey Luree. Glad you're safe! Worst flooding in Jacksonville in over 100 years.
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Glad to hear everyone checking in, and so far, relatively so good.
We haven't heard yet from Mike (capestampman) from Fort Myers.
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I heard from Mike Fisher in Cape Coral:
"We spent three days at the hospital where my wife works, in a more or less safe environment and survived quite well. Only a rather large Carrotwood tree and two flowering shrubs destroyed or damaged at our house, so we are counting ourselves very lucky."
BOB
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That's good to hear. For some reason I thought he was in Fort Myers. Who did I get him mixed up with?
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"Worst flooding in Jacksonville in over 100 years."
Glad to hear you are safe and your house is fine Ernie! I had a Skype meeting with someone in Jacksonville today and he told me the Hyatt (and I guess the Irish restaurant we ate at) had three feet of water in the lobby. That sucks!
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Thanks Tom, yeah, that whole downtown area where we were at was completely underwater. The Irish restaurant and all the others there had water to the table tops. All of those businesses are a mess and there's no clue as to when they'll reopen. We were very fortunate. My heart goes out to all the people who got much worse. Trees crashed through roof tops literally all over town.
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Michael, Dianne was in Ft Myers and Mike is in Cape Coral which is right next to Ft Myers. I believe they were in the same stamp club together and then met here or vise-versa.
Ernie, thought about you and your lovely wife when I heard about all the flooding. St. John's river just can't handle all the water. The damage is so wide spread. Just amazing all of Florida was affected by one nasty storm
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Ah. Okay.
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Glad to hear everyone is beginning to come out of the storm. Father in law is in Rockledge and they lost a tree and most of the landscaping plus some screens. They have power but no water but are using water from a small pool for the necessities. Wife's uncle is in Vero Beach but haven't heard from them as yet.
We had taken my son to college for his first year and saw some really incredible smoke from forest fires near Roslyn, WA and Ellensburg, WA on our way home. Whole state has seemed to be under a slight haze from smoke related to forest fires in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon but it has been getting better the last three days after a couple of weeks of the haze. Air quality has improved immensely.
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SO glad non of you in the Hurricane path were injured or worse!
The cleanup for many will be a nightmare!
We have seen it all on our TV here of course - where there is trouble there are TV crews and Journalists. The world is a small place now.....we all know what is happening anywhere - good or bad.
Here in Australia we have our share of cyclones.....Debbie here was bad....she blew inland and kept travelling south over the land causing havoc as she came. This was the last time we here in southern Queensland had rain. So now as you guys mop up from Irma etc. months later we are in a major drought and bush fires are everywhere fanned by huge strong winds! Crazy world we live in......extremes are now the normal.
Stay safe everyone....learn from these experiences and don't give up on the positives!!
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Removed the growing discussion regarding hurricane Irma to its own thread.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Here in Florida the price of gas has sky-rocketed! A BP station was holding at 2.339 rose to 2.489 and is now at an all time high of 2.699. A Chervon station closer to the Turnpike which is always high is now over $3.
Mind you we do have Port Everglades about 30 miles south of us that has big tanks. This is crazy. And it will be going up.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Oh my oh my oh my!
To all my Florida buddies hope you are getting ready for Irma. One way or the other all of Florida will be affected by this storm. I know it's going to be playing in the Leeward Islands and then has to go over Puerto Rico and dive into Cuba and we wont forget the Bahama Islands and then skate up the coast line. She's a big storm. Prepare now, make ice, clean the coolers and make sure you have enough water on hand.
Good luck!
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Meantime, we now have extremely long lines for gas. There is no water to be found for sale in any stores. My store has NO propane or white gas for grilling food. We had only 5 coolers as of this morning as they all sold out yesterday. Grocery shelves are being cleared at a very rapid rate.
Why, you ask?
Because Irma is now up to 180 MPH. Whenever she comes close to Florida, the entire state will be ripped up. Not just a small swath, but big areas will be torn apart.
I pray for those that stayed in the Islands, no matter which Island. It will be horrible.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Unfortunately, Irma's a bigger storm than Harvey was. Everyone in the islands, Florida and the east coast, batten down the hatches and get prepared. Don't take any chances. Protect your lives.
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
05 Sep 2017
06:40:02pm
re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
In the previous topic about Harvey I mentioned my first rule of hurricanes , "Hurricanes seldom go where they seem to be heading."
It is like trying to predict where a child's spinning top will go as it crosses a slightly uneven kitchen floor.
Don't be surprised if this storm alters course and curves through Alabama or Mississippi.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Irma is a scary storm. They said it was the most powerful ever recorded over Atlantic waters. I'm hoping it will just tack North and miss everyone.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Boy how we get used to low gas prices over the last few years so now $2.60 is considered high!
We shall see.. a lot of 100 / 500 yr storms and now a super hurricane. We are two hrs drive inland and remember the mess from Hurricane Fran and to the west of us was Hugo - miles even further west.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
After Hispaniola, the models are still all over the place. Unfortunately, as Luree has stated, panic has set in. We all need to concerned but vigilant.
We'll just have to take each day as it comes in the meantime.
BOB
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
My company has two large facilities in Puerto Rico. I was chatting with folks down there this morning as they were preparing for the worst. They closed early afternoon today. Hope things are okay!
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
I looked at the projected paths and all seem to go through NC at some point. This means the weekend will be a mess. Eastern NC has not fully recovered from Matthew.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
It has been an interesting day. As some of you know, I work at a Sporting Goods Store. Yes, we selling camping equipment. So here it is, a few days before Irma will visit us in some way or another and people have the nerve to get really ticked because we don't and never have had a battery operated radio in the store. Yes, I understand we sell it on line from the warehouse, but we don't sell it in the store. Wow.
The oddest thing about this storm that we have sold this year ... life jackets. Life jackets for Mom, Dad, kids, Grandpa, Grandma and if we sold them, for their Lab! Yes, we are rather concerned about the Levee breaking the band-aid that the Army Corp of Engineers put on Lake Okeechobee, but really? Dozens of life jackets went out the door today.
The grocery stores are jammed, there is no bread or tuna fish or water.
Home Depot is a big joke. Got your lumber on the cart? Oh, wait, I forget this small item so I'll leave my cart and run and get that thing. Wait, what the heck are you doing??? That's my wood and supplies get away from my stuff. Fights are happening, people getting kicked out of the stores. Once again, WOW.
The next few days will be very trying. Remember, breath in, breath out.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
My questions are:
Don't people in hurricane zones store the plywood for the next time?
Shouldn't only new homeowners need to buy plywood?
Isn't it time for shutters to come back into vogue? Remember the movie Key Largo? All they had to do was close the huge shutters!
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
We have alot of members who are in the path of Irma. All the best to you over the coming days. Maybe the storm will start to turn sooner than expected and lessen the impact.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Larsdog, I always wondered the same thing. In fact, if they did it right, builders would include features for those expansive windows and door. But, it would add cost and likely affect the look. It may take a lot of plywood but for those on piers you could suspend it under the house where you normally park.
I have been in a number of beach houses and those sliding glass doors always look like they will leak during any wind.
Here in NC, the governor has already declared a state of emergency. We are in the center area.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
"We have alot of members who are in the path of Irma. All the best to you over the coming days. Maybe the storm will start to turn sooner than expected and lessen the impact."
I sure hope so! Preferably turn north-east right now and die in the Atlantic! Harvey was epic flooding. Irma is epic winds. Hopefully everyone is able to find safe shelter. We will all be thinking about you!
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
"Larsdog, I always wondered the same thing. In fact, if they did it right, builders would include features for those expansive windows and door. But, it would add cost and likely affect the look."
It used to be stylish. The house I grew up in (in the 60's) had shutters nailed to the siding. Totally worthless. Just for show. But not many hurricanes in the Midwest! Tornados, sure, but they usually popped up too quickly to close all of the shutters on the house even if they were functional.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
The governor of Barbuda has stated that the island is virtually uninhabitable with at least 90% destruction. St. Martin is about the same. There has been no contact with anyone on the island of Anguilla, and several other smaller islands, including the Virgin Islands. (Per the news at 6:00 PM CDT.) Those islands took a direct hit.
If you remember the news footage of Rockport, Texas, where Harvey landed, that is what the footage from Barbuda looks like.
Puerto Rico is a much larger island, and has the means to survive a major storm. The governor there said that he expects most of the island to be all right, but there are many areas along the shore and villages inland (especially on the south side of the island per reports) that may see severe damage.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Lars to answer your question about the plywood and shutters. Back when we first moved into the house a lifetime ago, we did the plywood jig. It took several days to put the blasted things up. It only took one time. The next year we skated. The following few years we skated. Then I put my foot down and said we are getting real shutters. Best thing we ever did. I have a bay window in the front and two sliding doors that have the accordions. The other windows have the aluminum shutters. Takes about a day to get them up and five minutes for the accordions. We used to store all the plywood (marine quality, so it wasn't cheap stuff) in the garage. It was a major pain.
However, it has been 25 years since Andrew came to visit Miami. Wilma was 12 years ago and thank goodness we had the shutters. Lots of people have decided to take up residence in that length of time. No real reason to get shutters, no big threat came along. So they are the multitude of people that are rushing around like crazy people to get the plywood. I do have to find the picture of my neighbor that used (ready for this, hang on 'cause it's a good one) he actually used duct tape on the wood! What a hoot! Now will all those people store the wood they just bought? Hope they do, 'cause there's two more storms brewing.
I haven't heard from Capestampman in a little while. He's in the path. Bob S. is in the path, Wine is in the path, Ernie is even in the path. Guys, let's check in when you can and please all be safe.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
My wife, and cat, and I will go to shelter if need be -- we are near Melbourne, FL. We did that last year and all went well. Good luck to all.
Cheers!
Wine
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Planning to hunker down on the east side of Orlando.
BOB
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
"Lars to answer your question about the plywood and shutters. Back when we first moved into the house a lifetime ago, we did the plywood jig. It took several days to put the blasted things up. It only took one time. The next year we skated. The following few years we skated. Then I put my foot down and said we are getting real shutters. Best thing we ever did."
Thanks, Luree! I wasn't being flippant, I'm really wondering if shutters attached next to the windows ready to deploy might become vogue again.
I hope everyone and their stamps stay high and dry!
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
We had friends who just landed in Orlando tonight! Their daughter bought them the plane tickets and tickets to Disneyworld, so they said they "had to go", or miss out on the chance to go to Disneyworld. They left me speechless...
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Lars, no flippant about your valid question. I often wonder the same thing. It's a pain to store all that wood and stuff. The accordions are very noisy as they rattle with each breath of wind, but they also stop a lot. They are the only shutters that are attached to the house.
One other thing I thought, a lot of new houses have been bought in the past few years. No shutters are sold with houses. It's like a new car, let me shop around for the best shutter company.
Michael, your friends are nuts! They will be going for a ride they will not soon forget.
Wine and Bob, thanks for checking in. I'm sure there are more so lets all keep an ear out for them. If Cape hasn't checked in by tomorrow, I'll try to contact him. And let y'all know.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
My house has real shutters (newly built) but I am not sure they would work well at a beach location in a hurricane. They do not stop wind driven water well. If you have seen beach houses with the large picture windows, sliding glass doors, and ornate styled windows you would never get decent shutters. Plywood or other material is the way to go.
However, I do not think it would be used except every 5 to 10 years along NC coast. This is why there is always a demand.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Luree, I can't believe that they would have gone, and it is a great concern on my mind that they did go despite the warnings. Incidentally, they are the couple that we stayed with in Kentucky to watch the eclipse. I hope they will be safe.
They are supposed to come and visit us later this month. I'm sure they will have tales to tell.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
I see from the National Weather Service that Jose is supposed to strengthen into a major hurricane and go right over the same islands that Irma destroyed before it turns northward and heads towards Bermuda.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Per the shutter conversation. When I was young and living in Germany all of the houses had built in shutters. (see photo below) They sat in a built in track and were not visible at all when completely open. They were moved by a belt control inside the house and worked just like window blinds. You could open them half way (or at any position) as a shade, when in the position you see in the photo, light would come in between the slats. If you put them down all the way, they'd seal tight. That was great because we lived on a hill top and the winter winds really blew. We loved those blinds and we always wondered why they weren't sold in the USA. They were quite common in Germany.
Yes, that's me as a kid showing off my brand new British Raleigh Chopper. If I had it today it would be worth a lot of money. I know, I've tried to buy one! House was in Pirmasens, Germany.
And per the comment on Disney. I just read today that Disney has a no questions asked storm policy, if the storm is in Florida or where you are leaving from. That's as long as your trip was bought directly from Disney and not from a third party.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
This morning at 7 am, my wife and two teenage kids set off to Gatwick Airport (UK) for their 16 day holiday. Where were they going? Well, Orlando Florida of course!
They were meant to be taking a Caribbean Disney cruise for the first five days but this was cancelled two days ago. Following this, the remainder of their stay was to be at Disneyland.
The cruise was chosen by one of our relations who had made all the preparations for his onboard wedding. This has been a huge blow for him and his partner.
The whole trip was arranged for quite a large group of family and friends (including my lot), who instead had to find alternative accommodation and a venue just yesterday, for the (now additional) first five days.
Despite all the warnings, British Airways have continued to fly passengers to Orlando.
Consequently, anyone booked on these flights (and Disneyland bookings/accommodation) can't pull out, unless BA cancels the flights, without losing the thousands of pounds paid out.
Aside from the above, I'm fretting here. I have no word, by phone or text from any of my family (or the group) that they have at least landed in Orlando. There is no Facetime connection either at the moment. I am also very concerned about what lies ahead of them in the next few days.
The timing of this trip could not have been worse.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
The television newscasts show the cruise ships leaving harbor. They are going out to sea to get away from the storm.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
This is from the Business Insider:
"The INSIDER Summary: The "quarter in frozen cup of water" trick could prevent you from getting really sick in the aftermath of a hurricane. You just fill a cup with water, freeze it, and stick a quarter on top. When you come back from a hurricane evacuation, if the quarter is still at the top of the cup, your food is safe to eat. If the quarter sunk, it means that your freezer lost power and you should throw your food out."
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Clive- Sorry to hear about your family's vacation. I'm sure they will weather the storm fine.
It's a shame about the Disney Cruise. We were on the maiden voyage many years ago and it was a great trip!
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
The Florida location is called Disney World and the one in California is called Disneyland.
Folks in the Caribbean islands are stranded as airlines have ceased operations ahead of the storm. On many islands, the larger aircraft do not stay overnight...always down and back to hub each day. This means not many aircraft sitting around.
The track has moved west and now almost over Orlanda with 100mph winds...oh my.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Michael, we do something similar for our lake house which is only visited on weekends during the summer, but we simply put an ice cube in a coffee saucer. How deformed, if any, the ice cube gets tells us how warm the freezer got. A little deformed and we would throw out frozen meat from the freezer and mayo and eggs (and such) from the fridge. If the ice cube totally melted and refroze as a "pond", everything gets pitched except maybe ketchup!
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Yes, that track was NOT what I wanted to see.
I have kept plywood in my garage from 2004. It looks like it might get another use.
Blast it! I really meant to get shutters this year
Listen, everyone keep safe, and keep in touch.
BOB
(BTW, we do that trick with the quarter as well--time to do THAT again)
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Looks like another shift westward again.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
The mb has risen!!! Good news. I've learned the lower the millibar the more dangerous the storm will be. So last night it rose from 914 to 919 and this morning it's 925. Very good thing to see. Also, it doesn't look very well formed. Could be my imagination this morning, or not being totally awake, but it looks a little messy. Anyway, we are still doing last minute prep to do. My list keep growing as I wake up. In 30 minutes I'll be hard at work outside.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
I was going to take Monday off, but I will be the only member of our team not affected by hurricane Irma (the rest of my team is in Florida). So I will be coming in on Monday to man the office.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
The track has not changed much in 24 hours. It will still be a strong storm half way up Florida.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Orange County is now on a watch. This is Orlando. Disney will be closing at 5PM today. That is a first for them.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Watching the news and thinking about friends and relatives who i never thought were in a danger zone before. So my cousin Claudette in Altamonte Springs is in the zone. Don't know if they are home as they do a a lot of traveling.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Phil--Altamonte Springs is just a bit NW of me, close to where I work in Lake Mary.
Track has moved more west and 8am advisory had a significant downward revision in winds.
Might be an eyewall replacement cycle, but I'll take what I can get right now.
There is a possibility now that the storm might stay over Gulf. I don't really like that scenario.
BOB
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09 Sep 2017
03:29:46pm
re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
I hope all our members who are in the path of Irma stay safe.
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04:56:48pm
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those persons affected by these storms. Keep safe everyone. Thanks to those who are checking in with us with periodic updates.
Liz
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Anguilla has been devastated, similar to Barbuda.
http://www.anguilla-beaches.com/hurricane-irma.html
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"There is a possibility now that the storm might stay over Gulf. I don't really like that scenario."
NOBODY wants to see THAT happen!We are all hoping for Irma to fizzle out. Best wishes to everyone in the path.
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Well, it looks like Irma has made landfall and, for now, is staying just a bit inland. It's getting a bit weaker, which is good. Naples is getting slammed right now, beautiful town. In laws are in a hurricane shelter right now in Ft Myers near Sanibel.
For here, the biggest concerns are potential tornadoes and flooding.
The east side of the state is actually getting hit with heavier rain in squalls right now and Winter Springs, just north of us, got hit.
I'll keep the group posted, but so far we are riding it out, going stir crazy, and...what else, working on stamps!
BOB
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..and the wind is howling and the rain is just relentless right now!
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10 Sep 2017
09:40:36pm
re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Hoping you stay safe @bobstew617
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Mary and I are OK. No more torrential rain, there may still be a shower or two, but that's it. Wind is still howling. We did not lose power, so that's a good thing.
Some branches are down, but we'll take a fuller look outside when it's safe to do so.
BOB
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I hate you Irma. Two huge tree tops fell out of the sky last night. No power for 24 hours now. Thanking God we're all safe right now.
Ernie
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
This one is probably 16" diameter
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So sorry to hear of your damage, Ernie, and the loss of power. Stay safe!
BOB
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Could have been much worse. My heart goes out to the people dealing with much worse. You too Bob. You and Mary take care.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Ok Ernie, i was going to send out a "wheres ernie? " when i heard about Jacksonville. It looks like my brothers place in Bradenton keeps escaping hurricanes. My sisters brother in law on Marco Island and some friends decided to ride it out...me, when someone tells me to git, i git and worry about it later.
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Hey Phil! Power back on! Headed out for mimosas and brunch. Life is good.
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
11 Sep 2017
04:00:58pm
re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Well, Irma is leaving Florida, My house in Citrus County ( About at the base of the letter "I" in Citrus.) survived with just a few branches down.
Power is back, my wife, three daughters and nine grand children all safe. As I expected the storm moved to the west, not as far as I thought, but far enough to be tuckered out by the time the eye passed through Citrus.
I think the eye passed right through between the dining room and the family room.
Next; Cometh Jose.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
No damage to house here, but starting 2nd day with no power. My wife and I are becoming proficient with flashlights. And we are going to set the AC soooo low when we get it back.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
When we had Hurricane Fran, we were out of power for 5 days. It was hot and humid due to all the water everywhere. Sleeping was difficult. Now, we had natural gas and water was a community well (working) so we had hot water too. We used the gas grill a lot.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Here in upstate New York we have lost power for up to two weeks...in the winter of course. We have still not added a generator to our belongings.
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Glad to read all the posts from those living in the areas affected by these hurricanes. Thanks for taking the time to let everyone know you are safe.
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One of the major issues right now is that people who are out on the road who don't need to be. Many of the traffic lights are out, and many are not treating intersections as 4 way stops. Also, people are out when it is not yet safe to do so. A man in Winter Park (just north of us) got electrocuted. Still many places that are flooded, roads washed out , and sinkholes opening up--what a mess!
The scenes of devastation from the keys, W Florida, and even in Jacksonville I am seeing on the news are absolutely heartbreaking. Who knows how long it's going to take to get back to some sense of "normalcy"?
My office is still closed, so I am home, which is far safer than anywhere else right now!
Back to going through duplicates, and I'll do some clean up in the back yard--Irma pulled off the plywood that was covering my back sliding glass door.
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I'm here. We lost power about 1:15PM two days ago. It was hot and very brutal. Sleeping in humidity and no air stirring is not a restful sleep. So you get up early and do the yard clean up for a couple of hours and take a shower to get the leaves and dirt off. Try to cool off a little bit more which does not work. Then you think of what you need to keep the food cool and go to the store to find there is water, a little bread but absolutely no ice. Groovy, just how much longer and what food will we have to toss. So you go on with life. Try to explain life to the animals is like talking to the wall. Take Reena to the Big Red Store, aka Target, to find it closed. Rats, no Starbucks either so we get her home and now I'm concerned because she is starting to over heat. No ball playing anymore. Yea, right, said to a pup who loves to play ball.
Oh but wait, it gets even better! While I'm out doing the yard cleaning thing, I'm apparently allergic to something as I have a huge welt across the back of one knee! How extremely annoying.
So we go to walk Reena in the somewhat cool of the evening, 8PM, and the first thing I notice, we have street lights. Look one way and the neighbors have lights, look the other and they have lights. Rich goes in and flips the circuit breaker and ta-da, we have lights! Crank up that AC, baby. But, we live on a circle, only the outer part of the circle has power, not the inner circle. Cool, now we can jump on the internet let everybody know we are okay and see the news. NOT!!!! Cable didn't come back until noon today, while I was at work.
Although we didn't get the eye, we got the really bad side with all the tornadoes. Really, a lot of tornadoes. Many of them sheared off quickly but if you were so bored you were watching the weather channel, you saw the Dopler and how everybody was continuing to say tornado here, tornado there, tornado everywhere. We all were tired of hearing Jim Cantore say we were under a tornado warning in our area.
And the clean up will continue. We are very blessed that there wasn't more damage, a few trees snapped, split, and just plain fell over. Leaves all over the place, pine needles all over. Wooden fences fallen over. But not that many house were damaged. I've only heard a couple were damaged by a tree falling.
Paul my brother-in-law in Fort Meyers is with water. His drain field is 10 feet above ground. He placed his golf cart on top of the drain field and the water was over the floorboard. His house is 16 feet above ground and he has 5 steps on the stairs clear of water. So the neighbors kayak back and forth. He faired well, about three trees fell and no structure damage. He also doesn't have power. About 50% of Florida is without power.
The Keys are a total mess. Everyone is being stopped in Islamorada which is the upper Keys. You can not go any further. Boats are all over the place, on the roads, on houses, IN houses. It will take some time to get that fixed.
So that's my tale, I'm safe and it was a ride I do not want to go through again! Hurricanes are not supposed to last 24 hours, they are supposed to be in and out, the end. But this one was so big we felt every powerful blow.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Been watching everything on TV. It's good to see that so many are posting and letting us know they are ok!!!
Here in Southern Alberta we need your water!!! There's a hugh wild fire about 60-70 kil south of us, in Waterton Nat Park. Lots of people south of us have been told to leave. And the powers that be, state that more evacuations will be coming!!!
All the best to everyone
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Hey Luree. Glad you're safe! Worst flooding in Jacksonville in over 100 years.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Glad to hear everyone checking in, and so far, relatively so good.
We haven't heard yet from Mike (capestampman) from Fort Myers.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
I heard from Mike Fisher in Cape Coral:
"We spent three days at the hospital where my wife works, in a more or less safe environment and survived quite well. Only a rather large Carrotwood tree and two flowering shrubs destroyed or damaged at our house, so we are counting ourselves very lucky."
BOB
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
That's good to hear. For some reason I thought he was in Fort Myers. Who did I get him mixed up with?
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"Worst flooding in Jacksonville in over 100 years."
Glad to hear you are safe and your house is fine Ernie! I had a Skype meeting with someone in Jacksonville today and he told me the Hyatt (and I guess the Irish restaurant we ate at) had three feet of water in the lobby. That sucks!
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Thanks Tom, yeah, that whole downtown area where we were at was completely underwater. The Irish restaurant and all the others there had water to the table tops. All of those businesses are a mess and there's no clue as to when they'll reopen. We were very fortunate. My heart goes out to all the people who got much worse. Trees crashed through roof tops literally all over town.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Michael, Dianne was in Ft Myers and Mike is in Cape Coral which is right next to Ft Myers. I believe they were in the same stamp club together and then met here or vise-versa.
Ernie, thought about you and your lovely wife when I heard about all the flooding. St. John's river just can't handle all the water. The damage is so wide spread. Just amazing all of Florida was affected by one nasty storm
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
Ah. Okay.
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Glad to hear everyone is beginning to come out of the storm. Father in law is in Rockledge and they lost a tree and most of the landscaping plus some screens. They have power but no water but are using water from a small pool for the necessities. Wife's uncle is in Vero Beach but haven't heard from them as yet.
We had taken my son to college for his first year and saw some really incredible smoke from forest fires near Roslyn, WA and Ellensburg, WA on our way home. Whole state has seemed to be under a slight haze from smoke related to forest fires in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon but it has been getting better the last three days after a couple of weeks of the haze. Air quality has improved immensely.
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re: Hurricane Irma and Florida and Jose and One Big Mess
SO glad non of you in the Hurricane path were injured or worse!
The cleanup for many will be a nightmare!
We have seen it all on our TV here of course - where there is trouble there are TV crews and Journalists. The world is a small place now.....we all know what is happening anywhere - good or bad.
Here in Australia we have our share of cyclones.....Debbie here was bad....she blew inland and kept travelling south over the land causing havoc as she came. This was the last time we here in southern Queensland had rain. So now as you guys mop up from Irma etc. months later we are in a major drought and bush fires are everywhere fanned by huge strong winds! Crazy world we live in......extremes are now the normal.
Stay safe everyone....learn from these experiences and don't give up on the positives!!
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