Hurricane Irma - Strongest Atlantic Hurricane Ever

[PatrioticDisorder]

I'm in Naples, this thing is looking uglier and uglier, I've had an uneasy feeling about Irma from the start, looks like any hope of it staying out in the Atlantic and not hitting anything are gone. I'm not in a flood zone and I know our drainage is good, but our water levels are pretty damn high right now.

[Eurodriver]

@Eurodriver, you back in the 727?

I'm keeping an eye on it. My duty day is actually Sunday but there's a possibility I may get called into work early sat night or held over on Monday depending on what things look like. I'm hoping Hillsborough County doesn't get smashed. Either way, I know it's early but I'm going to take it seriously. A lot of the spaghetti does have it coming up Florida, so I would imagine even if Tampa doesn't get a direct hit (unlikely) it's going to at least get a good amount of wind and rain.


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Yes.

I really wasn't worried about this storm until 5 minutes ago when I saw the latest track. It has this pulling a Charley. Charley wiped out Punta Gorda and missed us due to a literal last minute shift. I drove through there about 6 months after the fact and they still had no trees and tarps on every single roof.

Be safe at work man. My wife is part of the critical team at work so she gets evacuated. I'm not sure if I should stay in my house that was built in the 1940s but at least I have the option. I live in the hood and know for a fact things will get hairy. Staying could be "sporting" but also be a literal nightmare with the bugs and lack of ac. Fortunately I am not in a flood zone. Couldn't imagine having to be posted up somewhere while my famalam had to fend for themselves.

[Mr. Goodtimes]

Yes.

I really wasn't worried about this storm until 5 minutes ago when I saw the latest track. It has this pulling a Charley. Charley wiped out Punta Gorda and missed us due to a literal last minute shift. I drove through there about 6 months after the fact and they still had no trees and tarps on every single roof.

Be safe at work man. My wife is part of the critical team at work so she gets evacuated. I'm not sure if I should stay in my house that was built in the 1940s but at least I have the option. I live in the hood and know for a fact things will get hairy. Staying could be "sporting" but also be a literal nightmare with the bugs and lack of ac. Fortunately I am not in a flood zone. Couldn't imagine having to be posted up somewhere while my famalam had to fend for themselves.

Where I am we aren't in a flood zone either, and it's a dry area that doesn't hold much water anyway, however, I'm a little concerned about wind damage. I'm no hurry cane expert but I would imagine that if this thing makes landfall in Miami as a cat 4 or 5 and heads straight up the state it's going to still be pretty strong when it hits the Bay Area. And if it's a slow moving storm with sustained winds, that could be bad.

The girlfriend and I have made evacuation plans for her to get out with her family if I'm unable to evacuate. They have a place up around Gainesville in the middle of no where that there looking at heading too. If I'm stuck on duty I'm planning on bringing everything I need with me to the station. Depending on the timeline, If it does warrant an evac, I'll be securing the house before I leave for work Sunday morning and if possible, traveling to meet them up there Monday late morning.

If the current predictions put the storm over Cuba at 0900 on Saturday I would imagine it will be here early Sunday?

Give me a call if you need anything bro. If this storm hits the Bay Area and does some serious damage, I would imagine things will get fairly sporty in the aftermath. If you can, I'd leave it. Insurance can replace stolen and damaged things, but I would not want to ride this storm out with no roof in 100+ mph winds.


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[Eurodriver]

I'm in Naples, this thing is looking uglier and uglier, I've had an uneasy feeling about Irma from the start, looks like any hope of it staying out in the Atlantic and not hitting anything are gone. I'm not in a flood zone and I know our drainage is good, but our water levels are pretty damn high right now.

Samesies. When I made this thread I "knew" it was going to curve northeast and go into no man's land. It looks like they are pretty confident it will make it into the gulf. From there, at this stage of the forecast, it is a pinball machine as to where it will actually go. It sucks hoping that it doesn't hit here at this point, because that means it will hit somewhere else. Could you imagine if this hits Houston as a Cat 4 or 5? Goodness.

Where I am we aren't in a flood zone either, and it's a dry area that doesn't hold much water anyway, however, I'm a little concerned about wind damage. I'm no hurry cane expert but I would imagine that if this thing makes landfall in Miami as a cat 4 or 5 and heads straight up the state it's going to still be pretty strong when it hits the Bay Area. And if it's a slow moving storm with sustained winds, that could be bad.

The girlfriend and I have made evacuation plans for her to get out with her family if I'm unable to evacuate. They have a place up around Gainesville in the middle of no where that there looking at heading too. If I'm stuck on duty I'm planning on bringing everything I need with me to the station. Depending on the timeline, If it does warrant an evac, I'll be securing the house before I leave for work Sunday morning and if possible, traveling to meet them up there Monday late morning.

If the current predictions put the storm over Cuba at 0900 on Saturday I would imagine it will be here early Sunday?

Give me a call if you need anything bro. If this storm hits the Bay Area and does some serious damage, I would imagine things will get fairly sporty in the aftermath. If you can, I'd leave it. Insurance can replace stolen and damaged things, but I would not want to ride this storm out with no roof in 100+ mph winds.

Thanks man. Glad to hear about your girlfriend. I know your AO and always thought you were lower. Glad to hear you're not in a flood zone but I hear you about the winds. Literally nothing in my house is built up to modern code. The glass windows are just single pane sheets of glass. Your house is concrete block, right? When will your work inform you that you need to stay? Aren't you glad you got that TRD?

What sucks about this whole thing is that you literally have no idea where it can go until the day of. They have the center of the forecast track damn near right over the Keys at 0200 on Sunday. That means a Sunday night landfall for our AO if it shifts north, but no one knows when that turn will be right now. I just wish these forecasts were more accurate. As I know you know (but maybe our other M4C'ers don't) while the cloud coverage of these storms looks impressive sometimes the most intense winds and storm surge is confined to an area as small as 40 miles wide, and it usually is confined to the "right" side of the storm. We had Charley's eye wall damn near come over our house and we lost 3 or 4 shingles because we were on the left side of the storm.

I think by Thursday we will have a really good idea for where it will go. The 3 day forecast is infinitely more accurate than the 5 day.

[Watrdawg]

We got hit by Matthew last year pretty good. So we are hoping this isn't a repeat. Thankfully my house ins't anywhere near being in a flood zone. Regardless we are already stocking up on water and other essentials. I already have a generator and have had it for 5-6 years now. It will keep the fridges running so we won't loose anything there. House is on natural gas so stove ans hot water heater will run if we don't lose water. Last year was an adventure though. My son goes to The Citadel and they evacuated the school before Matthew hit. We had 4 cadets and my son at our house. Getting down there to pick them up was easy. Dropping them off and getting back was a different story. I95 was close in multiple areas so we took a ton of back roads and a bunch of them weren't even passable. In preparation for IRMA The Citadel has already prepared an evacuation roster and we will have 3 cadets plus my son with us again. Hopefully I won't have to resort to back roads gain this time if Irma hits. We will see what happens.

[Alex V]

The older tracking showed it making the turn north earlier and heading right for NJ like Sandy did. Looks like it won't happen but FL is gonna get hammered. Stay safe guys and keep your powder dry!

[HeruMew]

Days like this make me very happy that the worst Natural Disaster we can have is a huge Blizzard.

We got an old wood stove, a few months worth of wood and wooded property on 3 of four sides. We are surrounded by thick woods otherwise.

We have water filtration and heat for years if we ever really needed it. Food is where it gets freaky in the winter, but seeing as we have enough stores for at least a couple months for 4-5 people, we could make due in the mean time.

We did get bad rains one year, but we have amazing drainage and our area doesn't get a whole lot of basements under water.

Nonetheless, godspeed, I hope everyone will be safe and sound when this blows over.

[flenna]

We got hit by Matthew last year pretty good. So we are hoping this isn't a repeat. Thankfully my house ins't anywhere near being in a flood zone. Regardless we are already stocking up on water and other essentials. I already have a generator and have had it for 5-6 years now. It will keep the fridges running so we won't loose anything there. House is on natural gas so stove ans hot water heater will run if we don't lose water. Last year was an adventure though. My son goes to The Citadel and they evacuated the school before Matthew hit. We had 4 cadets and my son at our house. Getting down there to pick them up was easy. Dropping them off and getting back was a different story. I95 was close in multiple areas so we took a ton of back roads and a bunch of them weren't even passable. In preparation for IRMA The Citadel has already prepared an evacuation roster and we will have 3 cadets plus my son with us again. Hopefully I won't have to resort to back roads gain this time if Irma hits. We will see what happens.

I was attending The Citadel in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo struck. We were evacuated the day before it made landfall and getting out of Charleston was a nightmare due to traffic. Getting back was just as bad because of debris and road closures.

[SilverBullet432]

Texas is a South Western state, it is also a Southern state, and a Gulf Coast state. We have hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, wild fires, and our earth quake activity as been increasing over the last decade or two.







Woohoo, the "non-shortage" gas shortage will only get better!

Broooo. Don't get me started on that "shortage "....

[ramairthree]

Hurricanes are weird.
What year was the one that flooded land locked Vermont?
Not newsworthy as a bunch of self reliant rural types just kept plugging on.
They were used to big snowstorms now and then and not having empty pantries.
Trees were dragged off the road with their skidders and tractors and many other acts.

Maybe this hurricane will do something weird and offer something for everyone.
A last minute change in direction, riled up into the biggest hurricane in history, and smack DC caught with their pants down.

Gaia lovers will get millions of deaths to ease the burden on Mother Earth.
The bastion of dead white European Christian males will be leveled and bring democracy to its knees.
Tons of hood rats will drown.
So will a bunch of rich Jews.
And a bunch of Muslim taxi drivers.
And a ton of affluent WASPs in the surrounding areas.
It will be a sign from God that he wants Trump out.
Or a sign for the swamp drowning the republic to get their act together and support him.