Glad your pipes are clean. I think the weight fluctuation was likely just due to traveling and stress.

Gl with the hurricane.

BB,

www.tropicaltidbits.com is one of the best sites for figuring out what the **** is happening with this ****, I live in Louisiana and check out his site almost daily for his videos. He does a really great job at breaking down what is currently going on with the active storms and where they could possibly go. He also has all the current model runs on his site.

Great news biggerboat - just went to the doctor today as well, for my annual check up ... always nice to get a clean bit of health

Hope Irma isn't as severe as they expect it might be? And hope your Dad-in-law is recovering well and feeling stronger with each passing day

Thanks!

Today's forecast has Irma going a little more east than they predicted yesterday. This is a good thing.

There is a place to get sandbags close to my house. Traffic is really backed up there.

We have decided not to mess with sandbags. The way my place is set up, it would have to be a perfect scenario to make a difference. If the storm surge is big enough, it won't matter. If it isn't, it won't matter either.

I just got notification from work that all production changes are on hold. A bunch of the IT staff is going to other parts of the country for disaster recovery.

People here are extremely concerned.

Our useless condo association just sent an email:

11:00 update moved the predicted track 20 miles further east. Keep going east you beast.

Not much change for the 5:00 update.

Most of our local weathermen suck. Finally found one that would make some sort of prediction.

Based on the storm track, we are looking at 50 mph winds. I didn't see any storm surge predictions but because the storm is east, I don't think it will be a huge issue.

Still not much change. The local weathermen or beyond horrible. The only one actually predicting anything is still saying 50 mph winds but the national wind prediction is more like 70.

Quite a few people on the road and still a huge line to get sandbags near me.

In other news, one of the condos in my complex burned down this morning. One dead and one in critical condition.

The forecast just out moved the storm 20 miles west. Not what I want to hear.

We are under mandatory evacuation. It isn't all of St. Pete, just certain areas near the water. I don't think that means they come knocking on doors moving people out. It's more of a government formality.

There are rumors about having to get official permits to go into a mandatory evacuation zone. We will be leaving one zone but going into another. After googling it seems that it means you need permits to get back in AFTER the storm. I think because of looting. I believe if you have a valid driver's license with you address on it you'll be fine.

Sand bag lines still long. The gas station near me is out. I'm not sure about others in the area.

The local weathermen had a long discussion about what they think will happen. The storm surge threat is really diminished when the storm is west of us. I'm not too worried about that. Nor am I that concerned about wind, although even 20 miles could make a significant difference.

Even though they moved the prediction, they are sill pretty solidly thinking it stays east.

On top of everything else, gf (she's an occupational therapist) has to go around to patients and inform them of emergency planning, shelters, etc. She'll be working long hours.

I have to admit, I'm starting to get a little nervous about this. They just showed an old image of Andrew next to one of Irma. Andrew was a horrible storm but Irma is twice the size. This is going to be devastating

Quote:

Originally Posted by biggerboat

GF reports long line to get sandbags near my house. We have decided not to get them. I don't think they do much good in my situation.

This is a pic from my back door last year. I can't remember which storm - Hermione maybe? This one gonna be so much worse.

Saw this pic you posted of your guys house in the hurricane thread biggerboat - wowee wow, looks like you've got Paradise in your backyard!! Except for the storms your climate gets


Does the government help out in any way - with a place to stay, or funding, or transit? How soon will you be able to go back home?

Hopefully there's still time for the storm to take a different path, and it moves in a different direction, out of the way of your guys home

Best of luck with all the preparation for the evacuation!

I think the government would help if I really needed it. They have opened shelters but I'm not sure what else they should do.

It looks like it is going straight up the middle of the state. Final answer apparently.

Moved all potential flying debris off the patio.



LOL my dining room.

Potted plants don't fly?

I'm hoping not.

I'm seeing predictions from 70-80 now. Yeah, I might end up bringing them in.

just want to let you know that this is not the final answer.




You are inside that cone. This means that the eye could pass directly over you- it would just take a slight wobble in the next couple days for that to happen.

Yeah, no doubt. I think we've prepared as much as we can.

There are a ton of people that booked hotels in places that were "safe" a few days ago and are now dead center in the track.

The wind has already picked up. Not the storm wind, but I guess some sort of pressure gradient wind. It is really weird having a hot north wind in the summer.

I'm no expert. But it's my impression that if the eye hits south Florida and then goes up to St Petersburg over land it will be weakened considerably. If it swings into the gulf and then comes back all bets are off.

Yeah, for sure. Hurricanes go where they want.

We are getting reports that our plan A is in trouble. We were going to go to a condo building that is concrete and were going to be on the third floor. However.....it is also in a mandatory evacuation area. We are hearing that the highway patrol is not letting anyone in. Ugh.

The hits just keep coming. Mom's longtime bookkeeper quit. No notice or anything. She handles pretty much all of Mom's finances. She knows so much.

Because of the uncertainty of where we will be able to go and when, we are going to try to get to GF's Dad's condo tonight.

I'm busy getting as much stuff off the floor and away from windows as possible.

This sucks.

I took a walk around the condo complex. It's really a mix. Some are packing up their cars. Some are staying. Some are boarding up windows and tying down boats. A lot of people don't live here so nothing has been done.

I talked to one lady (staying) that asked how long I had lived here. She said Hurricane Debbie (I googled and I'm pretty sure she meant Donna) was the worse we've had here. It came from the gulf and hit pretty close. The storm surge was above the seawall but never got in the buildings.