As we wake up here on the East Coast Wednesday morning Hurricane Ian is turning into a monster storm. Overnight It strengthened from a Cat 3 to a Cat 4 hurricane and the barometric pressure continues to drop and the winds continue to rise. Right now it is about to reach Category 5 strength. Since last night the strength of the storm is not the only thing that has changed. The latest forecasts have the storm making landfall a little further south from Tampa (thank goodness), between the Bay Area and Cape Coral. The future track of the storm is also expected to push further West, which will be bad news for the people in the Appalachian region from Georgia up into the Virginias. Here's the latest data and maps from the National Hurricane Center: HURRICANE IAN https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?start https://www.nhc.noaa.gov Looks like Ian is going to be the worst storm to reach the U.S. since Category 5 Hurricane Michael in 2018, which made landfall along the Florida Panhandle. I know we have some friends here who live in Florida and I wish you the best and hope you're getting out of harm's way. Everyone's thoughts and prayers are with you today. Perhaps, we'll hear from some of you in this thread. More updates to come - it looks like Ian is going to be a history-making storm in all the wrong ways...
If anyone is at the center of the "cone", get out of there. Hurricane Andrew was a cat 5 when it hit south Florida, with memorable results. This is nothing to toy with. Wishing my best to everyone on the FL West coast.
@FatBack is near Port Charlotte and the Peace River, which they are forecasting 12-16' storm surge, and is directly in the path of the storm. I sold my house there in Punta Gorda last year. I have regretted selling that house every day.... until yesterday.
Good advice. I hope everyone is taking you up on it and bugging out. No one is going to survive the storm surge expected in some areas.
WOW.... Last I spoke with Fatty he's got a safe spot and he's all packed up and ready to roll this morning. It might not be there tomorrow.
I am up here at work and we're getting ready to close the store. I'll be the only one here at camped out in the bosses back office which is a very strong building. I have two dogs and a squirrel and a bed roll and some beer! We have a bunch of large vehicles parked in front of the building. Really heavy trucks. No one better try looting or it is not going to work out well for them here.
That's good. He needs to be well away from the river. It was in Harbor Heights, just east of I-75 on the north side of the river. We had a dock on the Peace River in the back yard. There is no question in my mind it's going to be destroyed. We sold it just in time. Bittersweet for me, because we loved it there, and we loved our neighbors.
Good luck. In my hurricane days, which are thankfully over, the advice was to get some hard cheese, salami, bread and red wine. Essentially, food that doesn't spoil if the fridge is off. Warm red wine is better than warm beer .
I've got me a couple of 18 packs and I have a cooler and there's an ice machine in the back office so I'll have ice for as long as I need that. Right now I'm sitting in my van having to constantly tell people we're close because for some damn reason they think that the smart thing to do and a hurricane like this is go to the store and get a damn sweet tea! I bet you they'll still be people coming up here during the worst of it too. This is the first time this store has ever closed in over 40 years. I'm sitting in my van in front of the store right now but I'm very close to the building if I need to book out.
The view where I am at. I'm the only one here now except for the two dogs and the squirrel. In the back office where I'm staying I have a bank of camera monitor so I can keep an eye on the store but right now where I'm at in the van I've got a bird's eye view of it anyway, the front door is just the other side of the ice machine. The cameras have battery backup but I'm not sure how long that will last. I have a feeling that life will be very different this time tomorrow.
Here in Orlando, wind is mild and rain is just misty lite. I am at work being the only one at the office today. Supposed to work from home tomorrow as boss is a diehard everyone must put in 120% at all times with no slacking. May take a PTO if I lose power. But, forecasts show max winds of about 60mph by time it reaches Orlando. Maybe 70+ gusts I reckon. Never had issues with past Hurricanes in Orlando though. I have much family and friends in Tampa and Bradenton. Supposed to play a concert Festival on Saturday in Tampa with Drummer in Bradenton. Not sure if this will still happen as I have my lead guitarists supposed to fly down from North Carolina Friday. Will see if all this happens. One thing of note regards to Hurricanes on the west coast of Florida is not the winds, but the flooding is the worst part. Years ago, Fort Myers beach was 3' under water when the storm passed through. The amount of damage is huge, but nobody stayed there through the storm. I recommend those close to shore to get the hell out.
I have my motorcycle in the van behind me. And I have 7 gallons of fuel. I have a feeling the motorcycle is going to come in very handy to get through flooded areas and debris. It is after all, a street legal dirt bike.
I'm up here in this very Stout block building that went through Irma and Charlie just fine. There's an interior area where four interior walls meet so if I hear stuff start creaking and groaning that's where I'm headed.
