Hurricane Irma

[KarenRei]

Oh, and I hate to have to bring this up... but six of the ECMWF ensemble members for Jose (not Irma) think that areas hit by Irma deserve an encore:

 

[Acourt]

Any recent info on Superchargers along the evacuation route? Lines, or empty stalls?

I've stopped at the Brandon, Ocala and Lake City Superchargers.Ocala was empty at 12:30 AM. Lake City was 50% full last night at 3 AM but empty at 7:30 AM. Quite a few camping by the Superchargers in Lake City.

Plenty of capacity at the Superchargers if anyone is thinking of getting out.

 

[Racerx22b]

Things sure have changed but I'm still staying put. To all those that went to ATL, good luck. That town is ill equipped to deal with any adverse weather. I'd suggest going west to Birmingham area. They loose power in the blink of an eye and their roadways go into gridlock if someone sneezes. I spent a few years there and it was a joke. Remember when they got a few inches of snow and some ice? Total disaster.

Far west on the FL panhandle seems like the money move at this point.

Jason

 

[Larry Chanin]

I have been in contact with Tesla management to learn the best means of determining the status of Supercharger Stations during emergencies such as Hurricane Irma.

Go to your car's navigation system map and scroll into the particular Supercharger Station that you are interested in. Put your finger on the icon and the system will provide the status of how many stalls are available with a lag of 5 minutes. In the event of a power outage, the Supercharger station will display a “temporary closure” message to let you know the station is unavailable.

Please stay safe.

Larry

 

[DrivingRockies]

In the event of a power outage, the Supercharger station will display a “temporary closure” message to let you know the station is unavailable.

That part is new to me. Thanks!

 

[kort677]

I wouldn't be surprised if I-95 in South Florida is reversed for evacuation tomorrow.

I95 is not set up properly for any sort of reverse flow

 

[kort677]

Yeah, no question that they're longer. But look at the traffic. At least with state roads you'll get there on the same day

They really need to switch I-75 to contraflow. Georgia's being a lot more proactive - I-16 is going contraflow: Parts of I-16 eastbound to close Saturday, lanes to reverse westbound for Hurricane Irma evacuees

Unlike I 16 i75 is not properly set up for a contra flow scheme

 

[kort677]

I've stopped at the Brandon, Ocala and Lake City Superchargers.Ocala was empty at 12:30 AM. Lake City was 50% full last night at 3 AM but empty at 7:30 AM. Quite a few camping by the Superchargers in Lake City.

Plenty of capacity at the Superchargers if anyone is thinking of getting out.

Camping at that location could prove to a poor choice as the storm is likely to pass right though that area

 

[randompersonx]

We left from central florida yesterday, didn't need to stop to charge until we were outside of Florida.

We passed through Kingsland, GA supercharger ... which is co-located at a police station!
Empty, no teslas. Friendly cops, and Denny's (not my favorite, but it's the least bad option available IMHO) is about a 5 minute walk.

Then Savannah which is co-located inside an airport parking garage ... 2 other Teslas there ... Very confusing path of getting parking validated there inside the terminal. (The path to the terminal, if you pull in straight into the Supercharger stall, get out of your car, and walk towards the back of your car and keep on going, eventually you end up in the Terminal ... the Information desk is on the first floor directly behind the escalators)

Then August GA which is co-located at a Sheraton (the navigation doesn't make that obvious). One other Tesla.

All-in-all, we didn't wait at any location and were able to charge at full speed as soon as we pulled in.

Good luck to all!

 

[KarenRei]

Unlike I 16 i75 is not properly set up for a contra flow scheme

I'm not sure what you mean by "set up properly for". Converting a road to highway to contraflow requires having road crews out there to close off off/on ramps, add temporary signage, temporarily add / remove barriers in key locations, sometimes add temporary exits, etc. It's a lot of work and requires crews along its length, but it does not require a road to be "designed" for it. I'd actually think it easier for a turnpike due to the fewer number of points to enter and exit it. Once you're on, you're on; it's the points to get on and off that have to be changed for contraflow.

 

[X Fan]

Hurricane force winds now expected for entire Florida peninsula. If you can, get to North Carolina (Raleigh best) or as far West as Mississippi. Even in Charlotte metro, they are expecting Tropical Force winds which will cause damage and power outages but less severe that other parts of Southeast (i.e. Atlanta ).
Irma expected to bring heavy rain, strong winds to Charlotte

[

 

[X Fan]

 

[X Fan]

I'm not sure what you mean by "set up properly for". Converting a road to highway to contraflow requires having road crews out there to close off off/on ramps, add temporary signage, temporarily add / remove barriers in key locations, sometimes add temporary exits, etc. It's a lot of work and requires crews along its length, but it does not require a road to be "designed" for it. I'd actually think it easier for a turnpike due to the fewer number of points to enter and exit it. Once you're on, you're on; it's the points to get on and off that have to be changed for contraflow.

I75 is not a Turnpike....Kort is right.

Outside of Savannah and Charleston population is rural whereby I75 has population centers from Naples through Tampa. Also, there are special gates and traffic flow stuff to manage properly whereby I75 is not setup that way.

btw: As a resident of Naples and a home in coastal NC which requires a commute through Ga & SC I know this area very well.....

 

[cgiGuy]

You know things aren't going to be really bad when you hear the disappointment in the voice of Jim Cantore when he explains the new predicted path. Especially when he starts saying "You're not out of the woods yet". That is weather person speak for "You are out of the woods".

 

[ccdisce]

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.

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

I95 is not set up properly for any sort of reverse flow

plus the Florida governor is reportedly to have recently said that he will not order a reversal as gas tanker trucks need to bring gas to the south Florida areas....no gas.

on the panhandle side gas can be transported by barges on the intercoastal passage.

 

[kort677]

I'm not sure what you mean by "set up properly for". Converting a road to highway to contraflow requires having road crews out there to close off off/on ramps, add temporary signage, temporarily add / remove barriers in key locations, sometimes add temporary exits, etc. It's a lot of work and requires crews along its length, but it does not require a road to be "designed" for it. I'd actually think it easier for a turnpike due to the fewer number of points to enter and exit it. Once you're on, you're on; it's the points to get on and off that have to be changed for contraflow.

You really are not well versed on these matters and IMHO your arm chair quarterbacking and excitement about this pending storm is to me a bit tedious.
All the things that you've noted that would need to be done to a a reverse flow possible cannot be accomplished in such a short time period. Are yo aware that i95 and i75 are almost four hundred miles each month to south? That' a lot of road to modify in a day or so. Please calm down and stick to providing your weather maps which are useful to many, but this line of thought needs to be in the bit bucket

 

[kort677]

Fwiw: once the storm does hit it will very difficult to get any info about impacts in the areas hit, in addition comms will be impacted as well. I would advice everyone to limit the speculative posts and try to make comments based on factual info. The storm hitting us will only be the beginning of some big problems for many people.

 

[X Fan]

^^^^^
This...Korts last two comments plus:

I'd add part of problem for I75 commute is that some of highway is only two lanes and currently under construction expanding to three (big issue north of Tampa with a smaller stretch north of ft myers). Thank goodness much of Naples to Tampa was recently completed this past year or jams would be much worse.

Chamber of Commerce comment:
Charlotte/Raleigh right now is a non-humid 75 degrees. Great time to visit NC, enjoy the sights and perhaps some college FB in Chapel Hill tomorrow

 

[nativewolf]

Fwiw: once the storm does hit it will very difficult to get any info about impacts in the areas hit, in addition comms will be impacted as well. I would advice everyone to limit the speculative posts and try to make comments based on factual info. The storm hitting us will only be the beginning of some big problems for many people.

Exactly, no water for many, no flushing toliets for weeks for sure for thousands, no electricity, no school, work issues, hourly folks are going to feel lots of pain. The reverse commute is going to be..no issue by comparison.

On top of which...there is almost no chance in the hades that the Krispy Kreme's are all going to be operating normally. Good luck Florida.

 

[KarenRei]

I75 is not a Turnpike....Kort is right.

No. The Florida Turnpike is a turnpike.

You really are not well versed on these matters and IMHO your arm chair quarterbacking and excitement about this pending storm is to me a bit tedious.

Well, I'm sorry that having people disagree with you on the internet is such an inconvenience for you.

All the things that you've noted that would need to be done to a a reverse flow possible cannot be accomplished in such a short time period.

Except that Texas accomplished it in less than half a day with Rita after witnessing the chaos that was going on on the interstates (I-45 to Dallas, I-10 to San Antonio, and State 290 to Austin). But let's not let a good fact get in the way of griping about people having a different view from you.

Florida already has contraflow plans in place for I-75, I-10, I-4 and the Florida Turnpike (Want a reference? Fonseca, D.J., Moynihan, G.P., Johnston, J. and Jennings, J. (2010) A Simulation Tool for Hurricane Evacuation Planning. Modelling and Simulation in Engineering, 2009, Article ID: 729570). Texas had none. It was improvised on the spot. They laid concrete barriers across entrances and had police guard them.