Hurricane Irma

[GoCanes]

View attachment 246174
Northbound entrance to the Ft. Drum rest area, where the supercharger is.

It took us about 5 minutes to get in, after which it was smooth sailing. Fortunately, the charging stalls weren't full, there were two other Teslas already parked when we got there.

It's nice to see the advantages of EV ownership in these circumstances. I was the only person in my office today who wasn't stressed over the closure of gas stations in Miami. But as a veteran of Hurricane Andrew (I lived in Country Walk, so those who are familiar with Andrew know what that means), I'd advise everyone to remember that escaping the storm for a few days doesn't avoid the real trauma from these storms. It's the many months of recovery, clean-up and picking up what is left of your household that is the real challenge presented by these storms. Good luck to everyone in Irma's path!

 

[DiamondHands]

Just finished charging at Ocala- no other Teslas but mine.

 

[Acourt]

How's the traffic out there? I just picked up my Tesla last weekend and I'm eager to road trip. I'm thinking about leaving Tampa and going to GA for the weekend.

 

[Cyclone]

Exactly my point. People need a good donut when evacuating!

Exactly why I would stop at Dunkin' Donuts. But then, I honestly prefer coffee over donuts in general.

 

[DiamondHands]

How's the traffic out there? I just picked up my Tesla last weekend and I'm eager to road trip. I'm thinking about leaving Tampa and going to GA for the weekend.

Traffic has been heavy all the way up to Ocala.

Congrats on your Tesla, welcome to the fam!

 

[ccdisce]

Traffic has been heavy all the way up to Ocala.

Congrats on your Tesla, welcome to the fam!

Are we there yet?.... just kidding if your kids could speak I guess you would have heard that too many times.

The Macon GA Supercharger was probably a drag being buried so deeply in Macon itself, locating it at the start point(s) of the Macon bypass would have been better in my opinion for me anyway, after all they meant to be for road trips not destination trips.

PM me if you need more day trip suggestions.

 

[KarenRei]

Just an update from yesterday: the 00z GFS and ECMWF ensembles are similar to the way they were yesterday - lots of deviation to either side (particularly GFS, although ECMWF is historically a bit more accurate), but the main bands running right up the east coast.

Still lots of variation, though. Stay safe all of you! At this point in time (according to Google Maps' traffic layer) it looks like your morning interstate traffic is similar to that when I last checked (around 8 PM EST).

 

[KarenRei]

GFS 06z ensemble, back west a bit:

 

[Ormond]

I'm on the east coast of Central Florida, very close to the ocean. It's always a tough decision on evacuation. I've got pets that don't travel well. Where does one put the litter box in the Model X? In the frunk?

The idea of sitting in traffic on I-95 is not appealing.

 

[KarenRei]

I'm on the east coast of Central Florida, very close to the ocean. It's always a tough decision on evacuation. I've got pets that don't travel well. Where does one put the litter box in the Model X? In the frunk?

The idea of sitting in traffic on I-95 is not appealing.

Google kort

At present, I95 is a bit over 80% green, 5% orange and 5% red, with the other couple percent dark red. Shouldn't be too bad, although there is indeed some traffic.

State highways are almost entirely green.

 

[kort677]

Google kort

At present, I95 is a bit over 80% green, 5% orange and 5% red, with the other couple percent dark red. Shouldn't be too bad, although there is indeed some traffic.

State highways are almost entirely green.

Why google me? I am already far away

 

[ccdisce]

I'm on the east coast of Central Florida, very close to the ocean. It's always a tough decision on evacuation. I've got pets that don't travel well. Where does one put the litter box in the Model X? In the frunk?

The idea of sitting in traffic on I-95 is not appealing.

I can understand the pet thing as I travel with 3 cats sometimes. The 2 females travel well but the boy cat is something else, we get to listen to him moaning for 6 hrs if we do not pacify him with some anxiety medication from the vet. placing the litter box in the frunk is a good idea to get away from that smell of fresh litter.

Traffic on I-95 could be especially bad as the eyewall of the hurricane could be running up the e-coast.
good luck and stay safe.

 

[X Fan]

Posted this on another thread.

Flew down to Naples Tuesday night & drove up yesterday (to pack up our family photos, memorabilia, etc....even though we have a late built concrete home with closed cell insulation/roof tie downs I don't want to risk our past with storm damage). Everything else is replaceable.

On the drive yesterday, there were many folks with their pets heading north....suggest same.

Safest spot for me is Panhandle, Charlotte-Raleigh but a Tampa area hotel might work; then you could use Brandon, Sarasota, Ft. Myers, Naples (maybe...in downtown close to gulf) to get home.

Be safe, but don't stay in harms way. Been through a couple of the "lower powered" hurricanes but this one is off the charts.

 

[DiamondHands]

How's the traffic out there? I just picked up my Tesla last weekend and I'm eager to road trip. I'm thinking about leaving Tampa and going to GA for the weekend.

Traffic REALLY slowed us down, clear into Georgia!

Forget finding hotels along the way, we were hard pressed to find a spot to pull over in for a power nap at any of the rest areas.

 

[KarenRei]

Traffic seems to be getting pretty bad, according to Google, particularly on I75. Most of the route is orange or red. I95 is still mostly (2/3rds) green north of Vero Beach. State highways largely remain green. If you're going up the east coast, Hwy. 1 looks like the good bet.

 

[DiamondHands]

Traffic seems to be getting pretty bad, according to Google, particularly on I75. Most of the route is orange or red. I95 is still mostly (2/3rds) green north of Vero Beach. State highways largely remain green. If you're going up the east coast, Hwy. 1 looks like the good bet.

Here's how bad it was for us- we left at 3:45 PM yesterday. It's now about 12 PM, and we have yet to reach northeast ATL. It really is that bad.

 

[KarenRei]

Yeah - people should really stay off I-75. It's overloaded. IMHO, if you want to get out of the south, it looks like your choices are either bad traffic (I-75), state roads, or heading due north (potentially staying overnight there), then tacking west as much as you feel the need to.

Interesting that I-10 is still all green. I guess that not many people are turning west when they hit it, everyone's heading to Atlanta?

Ed: As I sit here and watch it, I-75 keeps getting worse. The patches of green keep getting smaller :Þ Don't take I-75, people....

 

[X Fan]

Yeah - people should really stay off I-75. It's overloaded. IMHO, if you want to get out of the south, it looks like your choices are either bad traffic (I-75), state roads, or heading due north (potentially staying overnight there), then tacking west as much as you feel the need to.

Interesting that I-10 is still all green. I guess that not many people are turning west when they hit it, everyone's heading to Atlanta?

Ed: As I sit here and watch it, I-75 keeps getting worse. The patches of green keep getting smaller :Þ Don't take I-75, people....

Issue is: due to lakes, gulf coastline, farms, preservation, etc. I75 is the only true West Coast FL N/S route....can use state roads to cut through middle of state but......

 

[ccdisce]

Yeah - people should really stay off I-75. It's overloaded. IMHO, if you want to get out of the south, it looks like your choices are either bad traffic (I-75), state roads, or heading due north (potentially staying overnight there), then tacking west as much as you feel the need to.

Interesting that I-10 is still all green. I guess that not many people are turning west when they hit it, everyone's heading to Atlanta?

Ed: As I sit here and watch it, I-75 keeps getting worse. The patches of green keep getting smaller :Þ Don't take I-75, people....

You could head West on I-20 to SR 231 then North on SR 231 to Dothan AL and merge with I-85 up to Atlanta GA however the are no Superchargers on this route, the one in Dothan is not open as yet as far as I know. The Columbus GA Supercharger may not be open either, You may need to cross over to Auburn AL to recharge to get to I-20 and head into Atlanta GA from the West.
There may be ChargePoint stations on the way you would have to check with the ChargePoint App.

An alternate route is to continue on I-20 West to SR 331 and head North to Supercharger in DeFuniack Springs FL......over to I-65.. Supercharge in Greenville AL...up to I-85....Supercharge in Auburn AL and get to Atlanta via I-20 from the West.

You may want to gather a few electrons from the Tallahassee Supercharger off I-10,

I have a lot of sympathy for you folks who are travelling, good luck and stay safe.

 

[DiamondHands]

Well friends, almost 24 hours after having left Palm Beach, we've finally arrived at our destination in ATL.

FYI for anyone who has friends planning on driving an ICE vehicle up north. There are numerous accounts of gas stations running out of gas. As I was checking in at our hotel, another guest called to cancel their reservation, saying they were stuck in Ocala due to not being able to fill up. Since all hotels are booked, they said they were going to sleep in a hotel lobby.