Hurricane Idalia

For all my fellow Florida peeps, stay safe and be prepared. Looks like a Cat 4 when it makes landfall.  
If I can help, let me know. I'm in Port Charlotte.

Yeah, it's looking like this is going to be a big one. We're in full hurricane prep mode here.

Hopefully, it will just be a lot of rain by the time it gets here. I get to spend Tuesday afternoon getting all the cars away from the woods just in case. Yay!

In reply to Tom Suddard :

I really hope it's less sever than Ian was. We're still recovering from that 11 months later. With the hot weather, I really hope power stays on for everyone, but I think we all know that won't happen lol.  

Well, thisll be fun. It's still tracking well north of me for the most part, but this will be the first time i've ever done one in a house with trees and E36 M3. 

It looks like it will miss us, though you never know. We'll probably get a bunch of rain. 
 

I need to pay more attention to the news.  I 100% did not realize a hurricane was coming through till yesterday. 

In reply to Mr_Asa :

I only know what the mouse knows. If the mouse worries, I worry. 

I'm like a mile inland from the coast in New Port Richey. We received a mandatory evac order for our zone (Zone A). My GF works for the county govt and will be working 12hr shifts at one of the shelters. I will be working in an alternate location right by USF. Luckily, the military command is paying for hotel rooms since we will still be running operations from here. I'll bring our cats with me when I report to work tomorrow morning.

They are forecasting 6-9ft storm surge but our house is only 3ft above sea level, hence the mandatory evac order. I'll prep the house tonight after I get home from work but it doesn't look good. I'm fully expecting the house to get berked up which sucks because we just dumped thousands into the interior to get it ready to sell.

I'd be lying if I said I'm not stressed out. 

I'm also about a mile from the coast (in Dunedin) but we are near the highest point in the county. No flood issue BUT if we get the predicted 6-10 inches of rain it's hard for the ground to absorb it so fast. We cleaned gutters and drains yesterday. After I get off a work call I'll go wait in line for some non-ethanol gas if there is any left and get the generator prepped. I've seen Cat 2 ratings but if it gets above that I'm going to move some other stuff inside.

I started out yesterday by putting all of the generator gas into my truck, including siphoning out what was in the generator. I then filled all of the cans and the generator with fresh ethanol free gas with Stabil. I replaced the starting battery in the generator, then ran it for 30 minutes.
 

Today I'm cleaning gutters on the garage, making sure all of my water storage containers are full, and freezing more of the gel freezer packs.

I'm hoping I don't have to board up, it doesn't look like it's that likely. To everyone on the West Coast of Florida, I'll be thinking of you. Good luck!

Tom Suddard said:

Yeah, it's looking like this is going to be a big one. We're in full hurricane prep mode here.

Maybe you'll get to test the power output capability of the Lightning! Arranging for a hurricane shows true commitment to the testing regimen.

Stay safe everyone.

I’m supposed to fly out of Daytona Wednesday around noon.

David S. Wallens said:

I’m supposed to fly out of Daytona Wednesday around noon.

Seems questionable. 

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

David S. Wallens said:

I’m supposed to fly out of Daytona Wednesday around noon.

Seems questionable. 

All David will need is a kite and a clear area to catch the breeze. Might not get him where he wants to go though.

My folks/family up in the panhandle are watching this one too. Currently on the west side of the predicted path.

Keith Tanner said:

Tom Suddard said:

Yeah, it's looking like this is going to be a big one. We're in full hurricane prep mode here.

Maybe you'll get to test the power output capability of the Lightning! Arranging for a hurricane shows true commitment to the testing regimen.

Stay safe everyone.

I already tested that! (though only for a few minutes). Worked like a charm, though I did have to buy a longer cord to reach its parking spot. Hopefully I won't need to use it for real.

My whiskey stock is low.  

I'm more worried about high water on this one so far. Pinellas beaches were given a 7pm today evac time. Looking at the tide charts, it looks like low tide around 7:20pm tomorrow in St Pete Bch. That is good news but not great news, later would be better looking at the projected arrival times.

Stampie said:

My whiskey stock is low.  

Mine...is not. 

We just had our family hurricane meeting.

Me: "You know there's a hurricane coming right?"

Lil Stampie: "Yeah."

Stampie said:

My whiskey stock is low.  

The longer you wait, the worse the selection will be!

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

Stampie knows where I live and knows I have one of his favorites stashed away. If he really needs a nip, we can work a deal. 

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

Took care of that before the family meeting.  Not trying to make light of hurricanes.  I know they are serious.  Everyone should prepare as they need for their situation.  As I've said before I can live without power.  I am prepped enough at all times that all I did today was grab whiskey and put extra cokes in the fridge.  I did go by the meat market to grab a chicken to roast but forgot it was Monday and they are closed.  I'll hit them in the morning and cook the chicken right afterwards.

Mom in Pinellas, one brother on the water in St Pete's and another brother in Pinellas park. Sister was scheduled to land in Tampa tomorrow to look after Mom who just broke an arm two days ago. That ain't gonna happen.

NOT liking the looks of this one.