My father and brother live in Tampa. My girlfriend is still in the hospital right now in fort Myers and they were trying to send her home on Tuesday but fortunately some doctor that had better sense than the rest of them said we're going to keep her until after the storm. I'm in DeSoto county about 35 miles north of punta Gorda. They're saying this thing might do just what Charlie did, just go right on up Charlotte harbor and follow the Peace River. The Peace River is going to flood like hell but I'm about 3 mi away from it and I'm on pretty high ground.
People keep steady coming up to the store. I stopped even opening the door of my van to tell them it's closed. They'll figure it out when they pull the door handle and find it locked. People need to take their asses home not be out driving around right now for no good reason.
I was going to go in the store with my bedroll because it will be cooler in there even when the power goes out, on account of the recently blowing air conditioner. But the damnedest thing is this.... The door only locks from the outside. You cannot lock the door to the store if you are in the store. I think I'm going to try to get some sleep. I hope I have a mobile home to come home to. Worst case scenario I have a very good tent.
This is a poor choice if you're in the surge area my friend. That building is going to be underwater. Go somewhere to wait it out and come back seems like the plan. Good luck
We're high and dry here. This building survived a direct hit from Charlie in 2004 just fine. I'm about 50 miles inland from the coast. I'm not going anywhere... I am now burrowed in for the duration
I'm supposed to work tonight at 10:00 but I really don't think we'll be opening until probably sometime tomorrow. The roll up bay doors on the shop had not been closed in probably close to 20 years. They were a b**** to get close but I finally got them closed.
I just heard that the eye is going to be passing directly over us about sundown, the winds will start getting very intense by 5:00 p.m.. I'll be all right or I won't. But by God I have beer! And a bed roll to go lay down in when I get ready. I expect I'll probably be losing cell service around that time.
Sounds like you'll be having a very interesting evening, bro. I just read that Ian hasn't gained strength since I posted the OP 4 1/2 hours ago - hopefully it will lose some steam before it reaches you. Smart move pulling the trucks up front, too - God only knows what will be flying around...
Might as well get those winks in now....unless you're one of those people who can sleep through a Cat 4 hurricane. I know I can't....
I hope my van will be okay but that big box truck in front of me should make a good wind break. But the winds do funny things during a hurricane. They come from this way and then they come from the opposite way a minute later.
That's kinda scary, too - ya never know when a tornado is going to spin up in those winds. Is the water in the toilet rocking yet? That always trips me out...
Send us a shot of the sky when the eye passes over! Once, when I was a kid, a storm came directly over us. Then everything went suddenly quiet as the eye passed over. We could hear people coming out of their houses and see beams of flashlights shining around checking for damage. We all ended up looking up at the stars. It was so calm and peaceful until the storm got back to shredding the area.
If possible but I'm thinking I'll probably be bunkered in the building by that point. You definitely don't want to get too far away from immediate shelter to check out the eye.... Because the back side's coming right behind you.
If the eye passes directly over @FatBack , he'll have about 3 hours of calm in-between thrashings. They're still calling for 18 feet of surge up to where he is.
People are still steady coming up to the store. I guess they think it's a joke or something... Like they're out for a Sunday afternoon drive. What they better do is get their ass somewhere to shelter. If they get caught out on the road they're going to regret it.
Yikes. The eye wall is reportedly coming ashore now. Fox live stream (via YouTube): I see Clearwater Beach is still above water....for now....
My friends live right on the Peace River. Their house flooded during hurricane Irma in 2017 and the Peace River reached a peak height of 19 and a half foot. I have a feeling it's going to exceed that by a good 3 ft. I think the river right now is that probably 12 ft which is 1 ft above minor flood stage. It was recently at almost 15 ft about 2 weeks ago. Not good to have the river already in flood stage before any hurricane. But my friends have evacuated to a block house with boarded up Windows on higher ground. They were living in a shed after the flood of Irma to remodel their flooded house. One of our friends went out there and put their shed on a trailer and got it out of there. They did not put drywall back in the house though. The walls are galvanized roofing tin. Which will help tremendously with the cleanup..
God bless the linemen. They will be busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger. We have been out of gas but we shut the pumps off at around 1300 gallons so employees have gas and also if first responders need some. Between all of our tanks including diesel I believe that we can hold up to 12,000 gallons I have my motorcycle handy with 7 gallons of gas in cans in my van. That is easily a five or six weeks supply for the bike. When it becomes safe to leave this place I will unload the bike and go see if I still have a trailer left. Many roads will be unpassable to regular vehicles for a period of time due to downed lines and limbs and other debris. I'm glad I've got two wheels handy that can travel through mud off-road or anything like that. We have a really big propane tank that we refuel small tanks with. I hope it doesn't go anywhere but it's empty right now because of course people bought that out.
Good thing you're inland. It looks like all of Central Florida is gonna get walloped one way or the other.
It's starting to get rough in Punta Gorda now - I can't believe the power is still on.... LIVE STREAM c/o NBC via YouTube:
