Too late for sand bags. We've already torn walls out. Even if the water is higher this time there isn't a lot more that could be damaged.

As it looks right now, the eye could go right over us. We still don't have storm surge predictions which will determine what we do.

Plan a is to stay put.

If the storm surge prediction is about the same as helene, we have a neighbors house around the corner that's much higher.

If the surge prediction is significantly higher we're getting the hell out.

The real problem is the exact location of landfall. 10 miles south and we're good. Direct hit or 10 miles north, not so much.

The latest forecast moved the track just a little more south. That is a good thing for us.

We still don't have storm surge predictions. But unless they are really crazy I believe we've decided to stay at our neighbor's house that is about 4' higher than ours. We've already lived through standing water so we could take a 15' storm surge maybe. I really don't think it gets that high though, based on the size of the storm. And, if it's at least 10 miles south we are good.

Is there any way to build a sea wall (or something) around your property, to try to keep at least some of the water out?

Of course not for the upcoming storm, but long-term.

No. There would have to be a wall around the entire house.

Our neighborhood is a bunch of man made canals. Even though we are on the water, we are strangely higher than the bordering neighborhood that isn't.

Anyway, you would have to either build that wall completely around the house of completely around the whole neighborhood.

When the water came up, it wasn't just in the back yard where our canal is, it covered the entire neighborhood.

yea you need a higher wall than the water and sump pumps to get out the surface water from the ground and what gets through with rain and wind and such.

but they do work.

but in hurricanes or floods, if you are not on higher ground you are going to get washed out if near water at some time.

We have a local weatherman that is beyond awesome. I remember when Irma came he speculated it would turn away from us when the forecast didn't say it would. He was right. Not only that but he posts on facebook about once an hour for days. I have no idea when he sleeps. I'm pretty much glued to his facebook page.

Anyway, I've been just waiting for the first storm surge prediction to come. It's killing me not having any idea what they are thinking.

The models are all over the place but most of them have it going just a little south of us, and they have trended southward. But not all of them agree yet.

We

the right side of hurricanes is called the dirty side which has the highest winds and the most destruction.
but i dont see it missing you to the south at all. but you never know for sure. you are going to get blasted by some big winds and a lot of rain water at the least

fox news is saying just a tropical storm. but the better ones are saying tampa bay area being hit with its worse storm ever and worse than helene.

as we know anytime you might get flooded raise anything you dont want ruined high enough off the floor. including your car.

i dont know why you want to stay in a house that may get destroyed and unlivable for a time and possible get hurt when you have time to go away and come back when all clear.

No changes to the 5 PM update. They now have it going to cat4, then back down to cat3 before landfall. They think there is some shear out there.

I dunno ray. It's my home. Our fear is if we leave we can't get back for at least a week.

Everything is as high as we can get it.

The place we are planning to stay didn't get flooded last go around.

It's killing me not getting any sort of storm surge prediction. That will decide it for us.

If we decide to leave it will be tomorrow but I'm already hearing the roads are pretty bad. We've actually thought about going south instead of north. Miami maybe. I dunno.

As of right now, the prediction is hitting landfall at low tide. Hopefully that helps.

What I think you've said is you're replacing the outlets, as they were all submerged, but the wiring is ok.

Didn't think to ask til just now: Have you been without refrigeration or cooling since the last storm? IOW, are the outlets shot, or are you replacing them just for peace of mind?

Best of luck with new storm. Best wishes.

Mr. Big, move to Italy. Stay clear of Venice. Sell out and purchase something near the border with France and Switzerland. Escape routes help with increasing your opportunities and options.

I’ll come and visit.

No, we have power everywhere but the dock right now. We turned on one breaker at a time starting with the bathrooms where the plugs were high. Then I replaced them all and we turned things on room by room. The outlets were probably good but it was close enough to replace for my peace of mind.

Our stellar weatherman is streaming.

As of right now, the prediction shows it going 30 miles south of us. Not all models have this, but that seems to be the consensus.

South of that will be the worst storm surge. The best guess is about 10' at the worst. But, where we are will have almost none if it is south of us. He's showing some NOAA models that he thinks are worst case for our area and it's not higher than last storm. I'm trying to stay positive.

We have several options. We can go to my wife's mother's house but she doesn't live that far north of us. We wouldn't have to worry about storm surge but her house probably isn't as wind resistant as ours. Our neighbors said we can stay in their place in South Carolina but I don't want to drive that far. We are still thinking about riding it out in the house down the street for us.

The storm track hasn't changed as of 5:00 AM. Not much has changed really.

Still no storm surge prediction. This is a biggie. Get on with it already.

Last night about 9:00 PM a FEMA rep called and said he will be here Tuesday (the day before the storm is set to hit). They are NOT flexible. Either you're there when he comes or you are SOL. I have no idea if we'll get anything out of that, but we will stay to meet him. That doesn't give us a lot of time to get the hell out.

Speaking of getting the hell out, we've decided to go to her mother's if we decide to evacuate. It's a 2 hour drive on a good day. Probably 8 with the roads full. Not a great plan, but a plan. I really want to stay here if we can.

Yesterday when we were putting things up high (yet again) we found some totes that were sitting in the garage, full of water. One of them had Xmas lights in it. No biggie. The other one was full of Xmas tree decorations that my wife has been collecting for years. Some that her kids made. We were able to salvage a few but most had to be tossed. It was really tough for her.

I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

Our stellar governor said that everyone needs to remove those debris piles in their yards before this storm. Like, how the **** are we supposed to do that? The landfill is closed, not to mention good luck finding anyone to come pick it up.

We just found out that one of our friends' house will have to be completely torn down. Ugh.

Our next door neighbor has already made the decision to raise his house.

We just got storm surge warnings. It looks like from the eye south a few miles it will be 8-12'. We can't do that. North of it will be OK. We'll make our decision tomorrow after we talk to the FEMA guy.

Ugh. Heard this morning it went from cat 2 to 4 in something like four hours. Still hoping for the best outcome for you guys.

We just made the decision to evacuate. Probably this afternoon before the roads get too bad.

I'm not sure when I'll post again, but I have to say that this is really really hard. We just went through the most devastating storm we've ever experienced. Our house is torn up. We've lost so many things. And now we have to deal with another storm coming that is potentially even worse.

It's tough.

sorry to hear about that, hang in there

Yeah, good luck. Hope you're able to get somewhere safe.

Good luck. I hope you stay safe.

Milton is now a Category 5 storm and 90% of the spaghetti models have Tampa taking a direct hit, which oddly enough hasn't happened in over 100 years. Yeah. Getting the hell out is paramount. Stuff can be replaced, lives can't. Thoughts and prayers for you and your wife.

Glad you decided to get out, Boat. Hope you can stay safe. GL

We're at a good place. Nowhere near the coast or any rivers. Cinder block house. All good.

Took us over 4 hours to get here. Usually an hour and a half.

Gas is an issue. Every gas station we saw was either empty because they ran out, or had 50 car lines. I filled up before we left so we should be good.

I really doubt we'll be able to get back before Saturday, if that.