As many long-time readers will know, we do have a little bit more than average experience dealing with the aftermath of hurricanes. I am not an expert in the before part; you need to heed the local, very local, professionals who will guide you through any preparation, and neighborhood specific guidelines, for your immediate area.
But when it comes to the ‘after part’, well, as a long-time CERT recovery member perhaps I can guide you through the expectation and you might find some value.
Consider this little word salad a buffet. If you are new to Florida hurricanes, absorb what might be of value pass over anything else.
A category-4 storm can and will erase structures, buildings and landscape.
Hurricane Ian is similar to Hurricane Charley which impacted the SW coast of Florida in 2004, only a longer duration and therefore worse. The coastal topography and barrier islands will likely change in the 40-mile-wide area of immediate impact.
Sanibel Island, Bonita Beach, Fort Myers Beach, Captiva, Upper Captiva, Boca Grande, Pine Island, Cape Coral, Siesta Key, Longboat Key, Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound could all be impacted.
There is the potential for 18+ hours of hurricane force winds and two tides with storm surges. Total infrastructure failure should be anticipated, and it will take weeks for restoration. The coastal communities are the most vulnerable; however, the inland impact of the storm will continue unimpeded until the eyewall crosses onto land.
That means communities inland for roughly 50 miles could likely see consistent hurricane force winds for several hours. That scale of sustained wind energy will snap power poles and weaken reinforced concrete.
As the backside of the storm then reverses the energy direction, any already compromised structures will not withstand the additional pressure. In many cases the backside of the storm is worse than the front. If you are inland, you too should prepare yourself for long duration of extensive wind damage followed by an extended power outage.
For those who are in the path of the storm, there comes a time when all options are removed, and you enter the “Hunkering Down” phase. You’re there now.
Ian is forecast to approach the west coast of Florida as an extremely dangerous major hurricane. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 40 miles (65 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles (220 km). (link)
Unfortunately, unlike Charley, this particular hurricane Ian will stick around for more than the 2+ hours of the 2004 storm event. That brings a serious problem with coastal storm surge (two tidal cycles). In its totality from initial impact through recovery this is going to be a long-duration event.
When the sustained winds reach around 45mph only the more dire of emergencies get an immediate response. It is almost a guarantee that around the time emergency responders stop responding, too dangerous, you will lose power from the storm. Do not expect the power to be turned back on until it is safe, in this example recovery will be delayed by the slow forward progress of the storm.
Hurricanes can be frightening; downright scary. There’s nothing quite like going through a few to reset your outlook on just how Mother Nature can deliver a cleansing cycle to an entire geographic region. The sounds are scary. Try to stay calm despite the nervousness. Telephone and power poles, yes, even the concrete ones, can, and likely will, snap like toothpicks.
The ground in Southwest Florida is also completely saturated with heavy rains even before the storm began dumping water earlier on Monday. Trees that previously withstood Irma and even Charley, could likely bend, uproot and break; the sounds are dramatic.
There’s a specific sound when you are inside a hurricane that you can never forget. It isn’t a howl, it’s a roar. It is very unique sound in depth and weight. Yes, within a hurricane wind has weight. Stay clear of windows and doors, and within an interior room of the house or apartment if possible.
That scary roar will sound like it will never quit, especially for this specific slow-moving hurricane. It will stop, eventually; but at the time you are hunkering down, it doesn’t seem like it will ever end. This is the part that makes people say they will never go through that again. It is intensely unnerving. Imagine being impacted by a tornado for a full day.
A hurricane wind is a constant and pure rage of wind that doesn’t ebb and flow like normal wind and storms.
Hurricane wind is heavy, it starts, builds and stays, sometimes for hours. This one is forecast to be the longest in my memory. The wind is relentless, it just seems like it won’t let up. And then, depending on Ian’s irrelevant opinion toward your insignificant presence, it will stop.
Judging by the forward speed being stated by professionals at the National Hurricane Center, the hurricane force wind will likely last around 18 hours before it stops. Prepare your nerves as best you can for this.
Then silence. No birds. No frogs. No crickets. No sound.
Nature goes mute. It’s weird.
We have no idea how much ambient noise is around us, until it stops.
Due to the speed of this storm, there will be convoys coming to construct a pre-planned electricity grid recovery process around nightfall Thursday. Convoys from every city, town and state from the east-coast to the mid-west. A glorious melding of dirty fingernails all arriving for the meet-up. Depending on your proximity to the bigger picture objectives at hand, you will cherish their arrival.
But first, there will be an assessment. The convoys will stage at pre-determined locations using radios for communication. Most cell phone services will likely be knocked out. Recovery teams will begin a street-by-street review; everything needs to be evaluated prior to thinking about beginning to rebuild a grid. Your patience within this process is needed; heck, it isn’t like you’ve got a choice in the matter…. so just stay positive.
Meanwhile, you might walk outside and find yourself a stranger in your neighborhood.
It will all be cattywampus.
Trees gone, signs gone, crap everywhere, if you don’t need to travel, DON’T.
I mean CRAP e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e.
Stay away from powerlines.
Try to stay within your immediate neighborhood for the first 36-48 hours after the storm passes. Keep the roadways and main arteries clear for recovery workers, power companies and fuel trucks.
However, be entirely prepared to be lost in your own neighborhood and town for days, weeks, and even months. Unknown to you – your subconscious mind is like a human GPS mapping system. When that raging Ian takes away the subconscious landmarks I guarantee you – you are going to get lost, make wrong turns, miss the exit etc.
It’s kind of funny and weird at the same time.
Your brain is wired to turn left at the big oak next to the Church, and the road to your house is likely two streets past the 7-11 or Circle-k. You don’t even notice that’s how you travel around town; that’s just your brain working – it is what it is.
Well, now the big oak is gone; so too is the Circle-K and 7-11 signs. Like I said, everything is cattywampus. Your brain-memory will need to reboot and rewire. In the interim, you’re going to get lost… don’t get frustrated.
No street signs. Likely no stop signs. No traffic lights.
Remember, when it is safe to drive, every single intersection must be treated like a four-way stop…. and YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION. Even the major intersections.
You’ll need to override your brain tendency to use memory in transit. You’ll need to pay close attention and watch for those who aren’t paying close attention.
Travel sparingly, it’s just safer.
Check on your-self first, then your neighbors. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never said a word to the guy in the blue house before. It ain’t normalville now.
Break out of your box and check on the blue house down the street too. In the aftermath, there’s no class structure. Without power, the big fancy house on the corner with a pool is just a bigger mess. Everyone is equally a mess.
The first responders in your neighborhood are YOU.
You, the wife, your family, Mrs. Wilson next door; Joe down the street; Bob’s twin boys and the gal with the red car are all in this together. If you don’t ordinarily cotton to toxic masculinity, you will worship its appearance in the aftermath of a hurricane. Git-r-done lives there.
Don’t stand around griping with a 40′ tree blocking the main road to your neighborhood. Figure out who’s got chainsaws, who knows how to correctly use them, and set about safely clearing the road. If every neighborhood starts clearing their own roadways, the recovery crews can then move in for the details.
Stage one focuses on major arteries… then secondary… then neighborhood etc. It’s a process.
Oh, and don’t get mad if your fancy mailbox is ploughed over by a focused front-end loader who is on a priority mission to clear a path. Just deal with it. Those same front-end loaders will also be removing feet of sand from coastal roads. Don’t go sightseeing… stay in your neighborhood.
For the first 36-48 hours, please try to stay close to home, in your neighborhood. Another reason to stay close to home is the sketchy people who can sometimes surface, looters etc. Staying close to home and having contact with your neighbors is just reasonable and safer.
Phase-1 recovery is necessarily, well, scruffy…. we’re just moving and managing the mess; not trying to clean it up yet. It’ll be ok. There are going to be roofing nails everywhere, and you will likely get multiple flat tires in the weeks after the hurricane.
After this storm half of the people living near Cape Coral, Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte are going to fit into two categories, two types of people: (1) those with a new roof; or (2) those with a blue roof (tarp).
Keep a joyous heart filled with thankfulness; and if you can’t muster it, then just pretend. Don’t be a jerk. You will be surrounded by jerks…. elevate yourself. If you need to do a few minutes of cussing, take a walk. Keep your wits about you and stay calm.
Now, when the recovery teams arrive…. If you are on the road and there’s a convoy of utility trucks on the road, pull over. Treat power trucks and tanker trucks like ambulances and emergency vehicles. Pull over, give them a clear road and let them pass.
When everyone gets to work, if you see a lineman, pole-digger or crew say thanks. Just simple “thanks”. Wave at them and give them a thumbs-up. No need to get unnecessarily familiar, a simple: “thank you for your help” will suffice. You know, ordinary people skills.
Many of these smaller crews will be sleeping in cots, or in their trucks while they are working never-ending shifts. Some will be staging at evacuation shelters, likely schools and such. The need to shelter people and recovery crews might also delay the re-opening of schools.
Once you eventually start getting power back, if you see a crew in a restaurant, same thing applies… “thanks guys”.
Same goes for the tanker truckers. The convenience stores with gas pumps are part of the priority network. Those will get power before other locales without power. Fuel outlets are a priority. Fuel is the lifeblood of recovery. Hospitals, first responders, emergency facilities, fuel outlets, then comes commercial and residential.
Remember, this is important – YOU are the first responder for your neighborhood. Don’t quit. Recovery is a process. Depending on the scale of the impact zone, the process can take days, weeks and even months.
Take care of your family first; then friends and neighborhood, and generally make a conscious decision to be a part of any needed solution.
Pray together and be strong together. Do not be bashful about being openly thankful in prayer.
It will be ok.
It might be a massive pain in the a**, but in the end, it’ll be ok.
√Andrew
√Jeanne
√Frances
√Ivan
√Charley
√Irma
√Michael
Ian
Keep a good thought. Who knows, we might even end up shaking hands.
It will be OK. Promise.
Ian is twice the size of Charlie.
The smaller the storm the more concentrated (usually) the eye is with surrounding winds….Sally sat over my house with 100mph winds for 5 hours. Brutal. Frederick 1979 Ivan were the worst to hit our area …both were smaller compact storms. Frederick had at least close to 100 tornadoes land with it onshore and a wall of water that took out 2 floors of the State Park Resort. I have high anxiety just thinking about what the folks in Florida will go through . I Pray it will be a total dud.
I live in Broward. Last night we had several tornadoes, one which touched down and seriously damaged several homes just a few blocks from my house. And that was just from being in the outer bands of what was then a Category 3.
If this hurricane turns to the right, my area will be FUBAR. Please pray for us!
Prayers indeed.
Praying!
Prayers for you G-pol and for my family members and all others in harms way. We are praying for all affected.
Praying and crying for God’s mercy on all of you in the midst of this storm.
🙏 Praying 🙏 God Bless be safe everyone!
Category 5 storms tend to build and intensify rapidly.
Thanks, Sundance. Great advice, as usual. To those Treepers in Ian’s path, stay safe, hunker down. See you on the other side.
Great words!
Also watch out for scam artists.
If losing food, might as well get together in neighborhood and cook up on grill all meats and share.
Great about thanking power crews After Isabelle when power crew came from another state we thanked them, offered what we could for food, bathroom, etc.
Another detail to bear in mind: some of the rivers on the East Coast of FL flow Northeast. Import? Heavy rains South will take a few days before driving water level surges “downstream” further North (i.e., surges well after the hurricane has passed through).
The Withlacoochee River(southern, as there are 2 of them) flows northwest then back slightly southwest before dumping into the Gulf. All the rain hitting the Green Swamp will take days to flow out..
The St John’s flows north.
Advice from a Hugo survivor: Animal life will be as shell shocked as you are, more so even. Look out for them.
When we were expecting Frederick in 1979 God let the animals know….They all headed north of the beach area ….turtles , rabbits, deer, even the gulf sea life came up into canals for refuge. Quiet the sight.
Yes
Our Vet is gone. She always heads out to the disaster areas to help with animal rescue and recovery.
My family was stationed in Houma, Louisiana (USAF) in 1969. That year it was Camille.
Camille hit me and my family that night at 11 pm on the MS Gulf Coast, just a few miles from where it made landfall with it’s 25′ tidal Storm Surge and winds of over 200 mph, with too many tornadoes in them.
The next day the Coast, for over 30 miles, looked like Iwo Jima, per an Army General who flew over it in his helicopter with President Nixon.
About 250 people lost their lives that horrendous night, most from the storm surge. They didn’t get adequate, timely warning of just how fierce and destructive Hurricane Camille would be, until it was too late to escape,…. just 5 hours before all Hell broke lose on the MS Coast that historic, tragic night.
As I recall Camille wasn’t taken seriously until last minute…Folks had hurricane party’s on the beach and many died. I was in the 6th grade and will never forget that night.
We just missed Camille…..sad so many died. They sent my Dad over with the Corp Engineers to help with the rebuild. Washed away coffins all over the area.
I didn’t expect to cry but I am.
The very worst and then the very best.
May GOD have mercy, on us all.
Having empathy for human limits and fears brings us to tears and prayer, as well as action when that’s possible..
Yes, it does.
Praying for the linemen headed south. I noticed a comment from someone sharing their own experience over the years, reporting that almost every time there are one of these mass responses by linemen across the nation that there is almost always at least one fatality among the linemen as they work. 18 months ago there was a horrific ice storm here in Oregon that took power out for ten days and up. The linemen came from Montana, Idaho, Washington, and other states, and yes – there was a fatality…..so, praying for the linemen and the families they left.
…and let’s include the Cajun Navy as well.
So many things, Ma, aren’t there? Lots of emotion and, as you express, we do well to allow our sense of helplessness to take us to prayer.
Amen
A friends good husband quit his lineman job to go to Florida. My prayers are with him and his family left here and all linemen and their fams
Interesting…. 1st advisory was almost perfect.
Storm has stayed within cone of uncertainty.
Thanks for providing this great advice and wisdom.
I think I’ve told you this before but I love your user name. 🙂
Rough ride into Ian….
Heroes. Most of us can’t imagine how they do it and it would certainly work as an extreme form of torture for me…
Father, I come before you this morning, to offer You my prayer for protection and safety
God Bless to all my fellow Treepers.
I know. The Dem plan to move everyone to electricity is crazy.
This is not nature, it’s another part of the Globalists planned chaos. Time to Pray without ceasing. God bless us all!
Well, they certainly won’t let this go to waste. They’re already blaming the “rapid intensification” of the storm on global warming.
These globalists never miss a beat, do they?
I also noticed last night that all the major networks juxtapositioned the J6 proceedings with Hurricane Ian coverage. They all broke for J6 at the exact same time, using the exact same soundbites. I think it was Brett Hume who looked very smug and self-satisfied as he jumped over to the J6 propaganda.
I kept switching channels and seeing the exact same coverage.
Yah, global warming. Meanwhile up here in the north central (IL-WI) we were near freezing last night and the daytime highs have been 10-20 below average for more than a week. And people are running their furnaces. My mother said she had noted last year when she first used the furnace, Oct 17. This year, Sep 17. Global warming y’all.
We kicked ours on today here in central Indiana.
And they should be SHOUTED DOWN THE MINUTE THEY OPEN THEIR EFFING MOUTHS.
This is the damned vanity that this generation of non-producers loves to believe, as if NATURE has not been POWERFUL, MAJESTIC, FRIGHTENING, BEAUTIFUL, all these things, until THEY WERE ON THE EARTH AND CAME OF AGE, as if only THEY have faced these wonders.
Yes, they wish to push a political narrative, but they wish to do so because they are egocentric.
George Carlin has a prescient riff regarding the hubris of men who wrongly assume that our planet cannot possibly survive another year without their assistance.
They should be shouted down when it comes to the Ukraine, Border and our economy. Where are our people?
I believe the same thing ….they have been manipulating the weather for some time….actually were suppose to abandon this form of warfare. I knew they would hit DeSantis…and may continue over the entire Gulf Coast. We use to not have this many storms….First one of my lifetime was Camille in the 6th grade then the next one was Frederic I was 22. The next big storm was Ivan 2004 after that Katy bar the door. Models years ago use to predict my area had less than 2% chance of a storm hit…..not now.
I always felt that Superstorm Sandy in 2012 was no accident, either. That storm was massive when it hit the northeast coastline, precisely during a full moon high tide.
FEMA was a horrendously inefficient bureaucracy, purposely burying homeowners in paper for years, instead of rebuilding lives. I think this was a land grab, in accordance with UN’s Agenda 2021 plan to reclaim coastal and rural areas.
As I recall, there was a lot going down in Ukraine back then, too, after Snowden fled to Russia. Another reason for a weather diversion.
What are you talking about? There have been fewer hurricanes in 1960-2017 than there were in 1900-1959, by about 48.
Don’t listen to the propaganda.
This is only the 5th year in the last 40 where there were zero named storms in August.
For any hit today by Ian’s tidal water storm surge and eye wall:
Life saving, last minute survival tip from Hurricane Katrina survivors in NOLA – if you experience storm surge tides that invades your house and you go to the attic to escape the FAST rising water on the 1st floor, take a Hatchet or Axe with you and yours, in case you have to escape your attic from still rising water by cutting a hole in the roof to escape it.
AND – If you have life vests (USCG flotation device) put them on before going to the roof,… you may need them in howling winds and surging water outside your house or apartment to stay afloat.
Don’t panic, assess your situation the best you can, try to keep your cool and find the highest structures to swin to if you have to,.. your life may depend on it. Then, stay put, rescuers will come as soon as the winds subside.
God Speed and stay safe today,… and know that many are praying for you and you love ones’ safety, but you have to make the decisions to save yourself, as well.
I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who blasted his way out of his attic with a 12 gauge shotgun…he was left standing on a three foot wide strip on the peak of his roof in Bridge City, TX.
Hide from the wind, run from the water.
Prayers.
Tell that “Guy” that I said, “Buckshot or dear slugs work wonders, when absolutely, positively needed!”, eh?
I was in Houston for Alicia, she blew out the glass windows in the downtown skyscrapers, the streets were all littered with broken glass,… the low pressure popped them out into the 110 mph winds. That ended the Houston Emergency plan to evac people into the skyscrapers for hurricanes.
The Emergency Evacuation Route for Hurricane Alicia that year for college alums was:
U of Tx – take I-10 West to Austin
Rice – take I-45 North to Dallas
TX Aggies – take the I-610 Loop.
/s
ATTIC: Keep a stash of meds up there too if you need them for survival
https://www.survivopedia.com/how-to-disaster-proof-your-attic/
Stay safe everyone, and you too Sundance!
One Hurricane Hunter flight just landed:
Another just took off.
The C-130 is an awesome aircraft. Been around as long as I have with first flight 1955. My father and I both paratroopers jumped from that aircraft. Though Dad did most his jumping from the old C-119 Flying box car.
That plane is even legendary in song!
“C-130 rollin’ down the strip….”
The first one might have been going through during the eyewall replacement cycle. Things get messy in there during those transitions.
Sanibel Island and Ft Myers beach taking a pounding right now. Link to live storm cams:
When the Cape Coral Chiquita Locks cams went offline a few minutes ago, this was the view of the lock area looking east, which is where the water from the ocean enters the inland waterway. The lock structure is flooded and we’re only just past low tide.
My BIL is in Cape Coral . Last night when we talked to him he said he
wasn;t really worried about flooding cuz the canals had locks..but today
he sent us a video to. He said his house is concrete and his roof is metal
and storm shutters are on he got a message that it is to late to evacuate.
.so they are riding it out..but he says where he is is flood zone C I guess thatis not a high flood zone..said he was not too nervous..but a bit..
I watched that a bit – sometimes a wave laps up over the camera. Really sad to see. Praying all got to safety.
Some of those coastal islands are almost certainly going to have channels cut right through them.
The morons can’t help themselves. Don Lemon has to be in the top 5 of the dumbest media persons on TV.
National Hurricane Center chief shuts down CNN’s Don Lemon trying to link Hurricane Ian to climate change | Fox News
……and that is no small achievement given the competition.
Heads Up, FL Ian receivers near Venice to Sarasota,.. per Wind.Com site, since about 7 AM this morning, H. Ian has been taking a more Northerly course heading that may take it ashore near Venice, if it continues to hold that course heading,… but Ian can jog at any time to the East and go ashore closer to North Port.
Wundermap(dot)com now reporting multiple tornadoes on the West Coast of Fl, one at Frostproof, FL at 12:08 PM heading NW at 18 mph.
That makes my daughters rushed text ten minutes ago make sense. Omg.
Thank you for posting multiple tornadoes. Idk what but something made her last text read omg.
Dear lord…. 🙏 for all.
Prayers now for all in Ian’s way.
Prayers for Sundance and all good people down there.
Below is a live camera from the space coast.
My girls at Daytona Beach have decided to hunker down and ride it out. However, since Laura is a Dean of the online program of a university if they lose essential services for any amount of time, which for her includes internet for her job, then they’re gonna pack up and come stay with us for awhile.
My dear friend lives in Lake Helen, not too far from Daytona beach.
I will be watching for your updates.
Praying for all Floridians. 🙏
Florida Treepers,
Be careful with enforcing your structure during the eye, it comes back fast, and flying debris will mess you up.
(my sister had her foot cut open in this scenario, then you have a huge crisis in the middle of a crisis)
Ive been through a few of these, but only one dead center eye.
Stay safe, don’t panic, mistakes can be deadly.
Praying for all in the path.
May God bless and protect Sundance and crew.
“Stay safe, don’t panic, mistakes can be deadly.”
Very good advice.
I’ve been through one typhoon (Guam) and multiple 6+ earthquakes (S. California & Japan). In all of those the only ones hurt or killed panicked and did crazy things.
Please stay safe out there Sundance and thank you for helping so many people before and after these awful storms. It’s getting very very windy here in Orlando, tons of rain, but nothing to bad yet here. Keeping everyone in Florida in my prayers.
Severe Studios camera #9 in Ft Myers Beach is now basically underwater. Horrible storm surge:
Cars and boats floating in streets in Ft. Meyers. Parking garages flooded. Trees bent in half. Storm surge reported in other nearby cities. Over 400,000 without power in surrounding areas.
Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa, FL approximately an hour ago.
This hurricane is a high end Cat 4; almost a Cat 5 when it made landfall. Ian might be as catastrophic as Hurricane Andrew or Katrina, if not worse.
You, SD, are an awesome motivator with a well written soul!!
Stay safe, stay strong!!! Thank you today, and everyday!
My Father, My God, and My Lord. A storm approaches, and we have been told and warned of it, but still, we are unprepared. Please protect us and protect our friends and neighbors and anyone in the path of the storm. Father, you can calm any storm with but a word, and if it is your will I ask that you do so, but if we find ourselves in the middle of the storm, I know you will be with us always. May your name be glorified in all things. I love you and thank you. Amen.
I am fully agreeable to persons making “informed” choices for their lives and actions. However, IF they make choices which are contrary to best information available. . . .then they should be responsible for the consequences and not put others at risk for their bad choices.
I am listening on Broadcastify to Lee County Fla Fire and EMS. I have heard in just a very short period of time, 4 requests for water rescue, anothr for a woman in a mobile home. Why would anyone choose to stay in a mobile home when they are told the chances of them being destroyed is extremely high?
All these persons are placing rescue persons in peril.
Sanibel and FT Myers are taking the worst of it at the moment.
When you are dirt poor sometimes you do stupid things like choosing to stay and guard whatever trivial crap you own. Some people don’t have $100 for gas to drive to a relative’s house with no promise they’ll have the money to return before other low lifes have a chance to loot their homes. Some people would rather die than to let others know exactly how poor they are. Not all are substance abusers, lazy, stupid or criminals.
A friend of mine – single mother, two toddlers – lives in a converted bus in Florida. No car, bus no longer runs. No money. She stayed. It has nothing to do with stupidity and everything to do with limited options.
What some here are NOT grasping is that by leaving to seek shelter provided by caring folks, the ones seeking that shelter know with certainty that they will be even poorer than they were just hours ago. The constant embarrassment of dire poverty makes the risk of death not such an unthinkable alternative.
You play the hand dealt you. 10% chance I die if I stay here against 98% chance I will lose everything I own if I go to a shelter.
I lived in Florida for 12 years and when I was in Okahumpka, a funnel cloud passed directly over our house sounding like a freight train. Only a few hours later we went to see the destruction caused by that tornado and people were already looting.
SHAME can be a powerful motivator.
The issue is looting.
Thanks for your comment. For some working poor, $100 for gas may be completely out of reach. Or hotels for what could be a long stay before people are allowed back.
Does anyone know if local and state govt emergency plans take this particular impediment to evacuation into account? I was thinking along the lines of offering free transportation to safe zones w access to a gym floor to sleep on?
Many schools and government buildings are open as temporary shelters. I would imagine people can try to get rides to the closest shelter, as they would do anywhere else they go.. ie.. grocery shopping or a doctor appointment. I have not heard of any ride shares, although it would be a good idea, particularly for the elderly.
Brevard had buses running to take people to shelters according to a TV news report I saw.
For some working poor, $100 for gas may be completely out of reach. Or hotels for what could be a long stay before people are allowed back.
Exactly. I just read somewhere (I’ll try to find it again) that the average cost to evacuate is $1200, and that was probably pre-Bidenflation. Some people just don’t have that, and a lot of people don’t have credit cards either.
It’s been at least a couple of decades since Minnesota state law was updated to reflect those realities with regard to blizzards: if roads are closed, barriers are up to prevent people from getting on highways/interstates, and announcements have been made–and people do it anyway – no one is obligated to go and try to rescue them.
Why would they stay in a mobile home in these conditions?
Because they want to. A high percentage of stupid and risky decision-making really isn’t all that complicated, unfortunately. Kind of like driving the wrong way on the freeway.
I hope the first responders have the option of not responding in such cases.
Thank you Sharon! I see you get it. I have great empathy for the poor and unfortunate whose lives were dictated perhaps by chance rather than choice, BUT. . . . in this instance, the warnings were heard across this country everytime the Gov DeSantis made a statement. SHELTERS were set up for people who had no other options. I suspect there was also transportation available for those with small means.
I just heard a water rescue call for two adults and a BABY in a Toyota 4-runner. The streets of Ft Myer have been full of surging water for a while now. Rescues must be nearly impossible. Just watching the amount of debris in the flood waters in the cam video above says it all. What were they thinking? I assume escape, but they are way past escape time.
WHY do they want to stay in a dangerous situation?
If Jesus Christ was a first responder, what do you think HE would do?
Your theological gotcha query is noted. (Actually, sometimes He didn’t accept the responsibility to be everyone’s first responder. Sometimes He responded with, “Let the dead bury their own dead.” etc.)
Why did Jeffrey Dahmer kill people and eat them?
Why did the Democrat party steal the 2020 election?
Why does the FBI hate us?
Why do so many overdose on hard drugs?
Why do some men/women beat their husbands/wives/children?
Why do some people run red lights?
Being able to reason through the reasons for bad choices that result in death and mayhem is not a particularly good use of time as the events are unfolding.
The consequences of bad decisions on an individual’s part cannot always be made someone else’s responsibility.
That’s part of what has gotten this country to where it is today.
“Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”
I’m familiar with the sentiment.
Didn’t that same Man also die on the Cross for sinners?
Didn’t that same Man also say that there was no greater love than he who would lay down his life for his brother?
Walk on water?
Calm the storm?
Stay in the boat and sleep soundly?
My sinful human mind cannot begin to think what the Lord of all creation would do, but I can ponder the times He told us about already.
‘Peace, be still’, and the wind and the waves obeyed.
I hope that people’s humanity takes precedence.
On an earlier hurricane thread, people were talking about Hurricane Ike and the complete devastation and loss of life it caused. Someone had the audacity to ask why the governor didn’t warn people. Now I think the government is pretty stupid and irresponsible, but that statement is ludicrous!
OF COURSE the governor, all the way down to the local police, ordered people to evacuate, just like in this situation. I remember watching a live messaging feed prior to Ike, and you had IDIOTS talking about how they were planning to have a “hurricane party” at the end of a pier as Ike hit, and another man decided to weather the hurricane in his pickup truck up on top of an overpass!
Before Ike hit, the EMS and police told people, if you decide to stay past this point, don’t call us because we can’t help you. The same is true for these people in Florida. At some point, your own stupidity or stubborness or lack of planning makes you “unrescueable”! So don’t blame the rescuer; blame yourself!
I think you may be referring to my post. I asked if the governor ordered evacuations, not if the governor warned people. I have no idea what the state leadership of Texas was at that time of Ike, so I WONDERED at their efforts. I have lived in Florida for over 40 years. I know the efforts of our state and local leadership during a state of emergency for hurricanes. There will be people who will ignore evacuation orders for whatever reason despite the warnings, and the consequences are their own to bear.
Before and during the storm – !
wow, that water offers the force of waterfalls in some of our highest mountains.
I recall reading this…
My son was going to be called Andrew… then… well, he got a different name. Karma, the mother in law said.
Take care out there.
“Best thing you can do to prepare for a hurricane is to get vax’d or boost’d.” — Joe Biden
“Clueless Joe From Hurricane Mo”
Ass.
Naples looks like a river…
Police declare city wide curfew
One of our good friends lives there. Hope she’s OK, my wife talked to her yesterday and she’s riding it out but it’s not her first rodeo.
those vehicles
make sure you get the Car Fax when you buy
Question about the cars from you or anyone … if you know a hurricane is coming and it will cause a storm surge, would you leave your car on a low level area sure to be flooded? Are there no parking garages with levels above ground? Even if I had to walk a mile after stowing my car, or take a cab if the distance were farther, I’d do it.
When I am away from home and hail or tornados are in the vicinity, I put my car in a protected area.
yeah, good thinking, Serena
my relatives near Atlantic City were at low ground level and they’d drive family cars to one of the nearby casinos and park a level or two up in the parking structures
but your hail example is a good one too, I’ll remember that one
I’ve no experience with hurricanes.
Do birds survive them? Especially a 3 and up? IF so, how?
I guess if any animal is going to be scooped up in the air and blown all over God’s Creation it had better be able to fly or at least glide if it wants to survive. I’ll also guess most birds survive but they are now living in a completely different neighborhood. Probably good if you owe a bigger bird a lot of money.
They usually seek refuge in trees from danger, but trees are no refuge in a hurricane.
I learned from reading about how birds survive winters that birds are really adept at finding hiding places including knots and crevices in trees. But I imagine some of them don’t survive. And the poor creatures who burrow underground … I hate to think about it. 🙁
Except moles. I am always happy when we get a drowning rain that wipes them from my yard.
Before Katrina there were extremely noisy native parrots in neighborhoods all over New Orleans. The day before the storm the city was eerily quiet. The parrots…and presumably the other birds as well… had gotten out of there.
I’m always reminded of the terror and relentlessness Zora Neale Hurston described in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.”
May God keep you and your family and your animals safe.
Great novel! Great description of a hurricane, too!
My niece and her husband live in Holiday. Looks like their place is right above Tampa, where Ian may make landfall.
Hubby’s sister and her family live in Jacksonville, another niece lives in Milton, and a nephew is in Daytona Beach.
Praying for everyone, whether family or not, asking the Lord of all creation — and The One who can calm both the storm and our hearts — for His great mercy on those in the midst of the storm.
Sundance always offers wise words: prepare, prepare, prepare, and remember always, we are no match for Nature. We must live with it and respect its majesty and its force. We are of it. We must be mindful of what we can and what we cannot do.
Hurricanes remind me of the great literature that has examined man’s arrogance in thinking he can outwit, outfight Nature. Yeats examined man’s vanity in his poem “The Second Coming” and of course, Thomas Hardy did the same in “The Convergence of the Twain,” in which man’s greatest- yet invention at the time, the “unsinkable” Titanic, met squarely with Nature’s invention:
In a solitude of the sea
Deep from human vanity,
And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she.
II
Steel chambers, late the pyres
Of her salamandrine fires,
Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres.
III
Over the mirrors meant
To glass the opulent
The sea-worm crawls — grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent.
IV
Jewels in joy designed
To ravish the sensuous mind
Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind.
V
Dim moon-eyed fishes near
Gaze at the gilded gear
And query: “What does this vaingloriousness down here?” …
VI
Well: while was fashioning
This creature of cleaving wing,
The Immanent Will that stirs and urges everything
VII
Prepared a sinister mate
For her — so gaily great —
A Shape of Ice, for the time far and dissociate.
VIII
And as the smart ship grew
In stature, grace, and hue,
In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too.
IX
Alien they seemed to be;
No mortal eye could see
The intimate welding of their later history,
X
Or sign that they were bent
By paths coincident
On being anon twin halves of one august event,
XI
Till the Spinner of the Years
Said “Now!” And each one hears,
And consummation comes, and jars two hemispheres.
__________________________________________________
Humility saves lives.
It sounds like this is going to be a huge flood event as well, please stay out of high water in a vehicle. After Hugo (50.4 inches of rain at my house in W. Houston) it took weeks for the creeks, streams, and rivers to carry the flood waters away.
Stay safe, thoughts and prayers for all facing Ian.
That POS scumbag FJB hasn’t even had the decency to speak to Gov. DeSantis.
He’s too busy looking for a person that died a month ago to be bothered by the living.
Nah he’s busy shooting a commercial for Charlie (turncoat) Christ to use against RD.
Apparently he’s going to fund raiser tonight. Admittedly, there’s nothing he can contribute worthwhile. But optics are everything. And all of a sudden I am remembering Benghazi, when the “Brains” of this outfit trotted off to a massive campaign fundraiser in LA, right after he left four Americans to their deadly fate.
Dems really are the Party of Death. Godless, soulless, depraved.
Considering Biden’s progressive decline, I would like to see evidence he actually attends something tonight. I just remember my mother’s decline and her increasingly combativeness from an otherwise normal gentle spirit in the evening hours. Sundowners syndrome.
I am sorry about your mother, Phil. Many have told of their experiences with very much loved family members’ personality changes as that insidious disease progressed. A dreadful, terrible thing to experience for both those afflicted and those who watch a person they knew become someone they don’t.
I don’t know how much longer the increasing decline of this grotesque man can be covered up as it gets to the stage that no amount of drugs will work. He is getting worse exponentially,and should be nowhere near any levers of government. Fundraiser speeches are usually reported upon. We’ll see. Proof of life and all that.
DeSantis said that he spoke with Biden earlier. I think it was last evening.
We live just north of Tampa. Wind is picking up with gusts around 40mph now. Rain has been sparse which is good because our ground is saturated from the rains we had last week. I just wish this hurricane would pick up speed. IT is crawling along at 9mph.
Don’t know where you live, SD. But be safe with your family.
I’m just about 1/2 hour north of Orlando, as the crow flies. The Fox35 weather app says the wind speed for each hour, for the next two days or so.
Right now it says 29 mph. Next hour, 31 mph.
This is a lie. It’s about 5-7 mph in reality, on the ground, with gusts to 14. I checked Ventusky site, toggled the options to ground level, and it’s closer to the truth. Switched it to “100m above ground” and AHA! The Fox35 weather app is oh so helpfully giving us the wind speed at 100m altitude.
Why do they lie about what we can plainly see?
Like this reporter?
Haha! I think there’s another video with a guy pretending to struggle in the wind, and then another guy walks by very casually with no difficulty. 🙂
OH! You posted it directly below! Great. 🙂 Thanks for the laughs. 🙂
Is the bamboozle because they want eyes on the television?
Buildings can block wind while adjacent buildings can be grouped in such a manner as to funnel wind to higher speeds. It could easily be that the folks walking across that street are in the lee of a building and the news reporter is standing near the apex of a high speed wind channel created by buildings we can’t see.
I think the reporter’s defenders at the Weather Channel are totally ignorant of the venturi effect created by buildings.
Architects in Hong Kong try to emphasize it to cool pedestrians while London architects try to diminish it.
http://www.industrial-electronics.com/engineering-industrial/images/mech-elec_3-29a.jpg
4:45 . Naples. Lots of downed trees. Still have elect. So far. Most of the weather people report from the gulf. Big difference with tidal surges on the gulf or 1 mile inland. Pine island hit especially hard. Cape coral has no gulf beaches. All canals. Pray and help others .
For engineering enthusiacts ,Cape Coral was 1 of the largest projects in the US. Brothers in the 1950,s dug out all those canals. Check it out.
Back in 1980 when we would fly into Fort Myers (in to the old airport) plane would circle over Cape Coral and all you could see was canals and green grass. No homes were built. I worked with a guy at the airplane manufacturer in St Louis who had been stationed somewhere near there and he bought one of those empty Cape Coral lots for almost nothing. When we were talking about it, maybe in 1990, he still hadn’t built on it. I bet he made a nice profit.
Many people in the Midwest bought those canals lots. Appr. $5000. It took to almost year 2000 till they took off.
Landline phones are out in certain areas. Cell phones are intermittent. Daughter and wife are 30 minutes away but many texts are not being sent. I know they are fine. I am sure your friend is fine. If you get too worried give me his address and I will drive there tomorrow. Roads should be clear by Thursday afternoon. Pray and help others
The weather channel just showed what appeared to be one of those office trailers like you see at construction sites floating down the street in Ft. Meyers.
No reason they still shouldn’t be working in there. People work in ships and they move on water.
The eye of Ian has almost disappeared on radar.
Weathernerds Satellite Data
I see that on the GOES view too. That would be a good thing, correct?
Please be extra patient and understanding with the electric guys bucket crews. Those guys cannot go up in the buckets safely until the wind dies down enough for the bucket guys to be safe – 35 mph iirc.
Thanks.
Continued prayers without ceasing.
jeans, how have you been? You have been missed. I tried to email, but it was bounced back. Hope to hear from you soon.
I decided to park on twitter for a while to watch new tweets. Wow, what a slimepit twitter is. The same 5 videos are being reposted by hundreds of different people, and 2 of the videos were either fake or old. And the libs are allowed to lie freely about DeSantis, Trump, Gaetz, and any other GOP politician they irrationally hate, there is no fact-checking of lib comments but I’m sure if I posted something with “MAGA” in it I’d be banned for life and placed on an FBI terror list. I feel like I need to take a shower after being there, to wash off the stupidity.
It’s a sewer – and yes, you’d be banned for “violating their terms.”
God bless you all in Florida, and everywhere else. Stay safe. Stay strong. Keep the faith.
My aunts house is gone..she lived on Sanibel…feet of water and she’s 85
Is she OK?
i pray she is ok!
Cherie – I’m so sorry about your aun’t house.. And I love Sanibel..