Hurricane Irma

[KarenRei]

Speaking of storm surges, the opposite is happening in the Bahamas right now; Irma is basically sucking water away from them, leaving an unusually low tide (like one experiences when a tsunami is coming, although there's no danger of a rapid inrush there).

All of that water is coming with Irma...

 

[ModelX]

Thinking of our Florida community and wishing everyone the best! Please stay safe!

 

[Larry Chanin]

Larry, stay safe.

Storm surge will be massive in SW FL. We're more vulnerable due to flat topography (great in winter but awful now)

Suggesting a 15' level in Fort Myers and starting in area south of Marco they are projecting 17 Miles of flooding. Yep, 17 miles.

Communities on the eastern side of i75 in my neck of woods will also see flooding. We also have shutters and are a bit off coast but they're projecting 3-6' by my home.

East coast getting hammered now by tornadoes and you will see same since on ne side of storm.

So.....be vigilant and best wishes.

Hi Charles,

Thanks. We'll try to be careful.

According to our Sarasota County officials they are expecting a storm surge of 6-10 feet. Our Hurricane Evacuation Map says we are located beyond the areas that would be affected by a Category 5 hurricane and beyond a 19 foot storm surge. So that means we are beyond Zone E. Currently Sarasota County has issued a mandatory evacuation for Zone A and a voluntary evacuation for Zone B. Zones C, D and E have no recommendations to evacuate and as I mentioned we are even higher than Zone E. Whereas there is always the chance of flooding, depending on the rain totals, the likelihood of us being effected by storm surge is low. Our main concern is wind damage.

We have a home theater with no windows, exterior cinder block walls with 6" interior walls adjacent to them. It has very comfortable seating that will be our intermediate safe room. It does however have a roof over the theater. So if things get really bad, my closet would be the primary safe room. Its interior to the house and another floor is above it. Nevertheless, I don't relish being stuck in my closet for several hours.

Stay safe.

Larry

 

[AlMc]

Be safe all. @Larry Chanin. I have traded texts with Nigel. He is riding it out as well. Tough to move the animals and I believe he is on fairly high ground although that will not help much with the winds.

Sending positive thoughts to all especially an 'old friend' who is not that old! (we both turned in our blue 2013 Ss it seems). @Btrflyl8e

 

[Larry Chanin]

Be safe all. @Larry Chanin. I have traded texts with Nigel. He is riding it out as well. Tough to move the animals and I believe he is on fairly high ground although that will not help much with the winds.

Sending positive thoughts to all especially an 'old friend' who is not that old! (we both turned in our blue 2013 Ss it seems). @Btrflyl8e

Thanks very much for the information. I surmised as much.

Larry

 

[Lifeguard(ret.)]

Larry - hope you, Mary Ellen, and all in FL are staying safe. When we moved to CA, thought trading hurricanes for earthquakes was not a very good deal. At least with hurricanes you get some warning. But not so sure anymore. Please keep us posted on how you fare once Irma passes.

Jeff

 

[Swpilot3]

In the end, what would be great to know is:

• If you chose to evacuate in a Tesla, did it give you a “leg up” on everyone else since you were not affected by gas shortages or waits?
• Were there lines at Superchargers?
• Overall, would you rather have evacuated in an EV or a gas car?

 

[KarenRei]

Lots of power outages reported in southeast Florida:

FPL down? Current ouages and problems | Down Detector

 

[jkn]

Since Tesla's are super heavy and aerodynamic you can probably drive in a hurricane! But what would I know...it doesn't rain in SoCal

Everything goes well, until storm picks up less aerodynamic, lighter car and throws it to you Tesla at 50 mph...

 

[wdolson]

Larry - hope you, Mary Ellen, and all in FL are staying safe. When we moved to CA, thought trading hurricanes for earthquakes was not a very good deal. At least with hurricanes you get some warning. But not so sure anymore. Please keep us posted on how you fare once Irma passes.

Jeff

Though major earthquakes in Los Angeles are rarer than hurricanes. Through the 20th century there was one just about every 19 years. The Northridge quake was 23 years after the Sylmar quake and there hasn't been a major quake since.

I hope everyone gets through this safely. We're monitoring this one closely. We have one friend in West Palm Beach who is intellectually brilliant, but thinks he's the smartest guy in the room about everything. He believed the storm was no big deal and stayed in place. We haven't heard from him in a couple of days and I hope he made it to a shelter. It's not unusual for him to go silent for months at a time, so that in and of itself isn't unusual.

Another lives in Sarasota in evacuation zone D, but she got out to another friend's in Atlanta just before everyone else decided to leave.

What is it with all the natural disasters at once? There are more wildfires in the west than ever seen before and two huge hurricanes a few weeks apart.

 

[kort677]

Speaking of storm surges, the opposite is happening in the Bahamas right now; Irma is basically sucking water away from them, leaving an unusually low tide (like one experiences when a tsunami is coming, although there's no danger of a rapid inrush there).

All of that water is coming with Irma...

This typical after a storm like this

 

[kort677]

Though major earthquakes in Los Angeles are rarer than hurricanes. Through the 20th century there was one just about every 19 years. The Northridge quake was 23 years after the Sylmar quake and there hasn't been a major quake since.

I hope everyone gets through this safely. We're monitoring this one closely. We have one friend in West Palm Beach who is intellectually brilliant, but thinks he's the smartest guy in the room about everything. He believed the storm was no big deal and stayed in place. We haven't heard from him in a couple of days and I hope he made it to a shelter. It's not unusual for him to go silent for months at a time, so that in and of itself isn't unusual.

Another lives in Sarasota in evacuation zone D, but she got out to another friend's in Atlanta just before everyone else decided to leave.

What is it with all the natural disasters at once? There are more wildfires in the west than ever seen before and two huge hurricanes a few weeks apart.

Fortunately for him in palm beach the shift to the west will lessen the effects of the storm but it will still get real rough in SE FLA

 

[Larry Chanin]

Larry - hope you, Mary Ellen, and all in FL are staying safe. When we moved to CA, thought trading hurricanes for earthquakes was not a very good deal. At least with hurricanes you get some warning. But not so sure anymore. Please keep us posted on how you fare once Irma passes.

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for thinking of us. The NOAA estimated storm track continues to move west. It was directly over us a few hours ago, now we are about 13 miles to the east of the track. I guess that put us in the worst quadrant.

The Euro model estimates our maximum gusts at 119 mph. Local AccuWeather estimates sustained winds peaking at 82 mph from the north at around 5 pm tonight. Current winds are 24 mph ENE.

Larry

 

[KarenRei]

This typical after a storm like this

Not saying that this is something unique to Irma. It's a reminder of storm surge.

That said, the keys are getting lucky with a hit at low tide. Key West in particular, which has the winds blowing offshore; they'll only be onshore in the weak southwest quadrant.

 

[KarenRei]

Landfall was in Cudjoe Key. Looks like she's aiming for Naples, at least at the moment - a bit east of the centreline track.

Surge levels were surprisingly low, even given the low tide. Thank you, deep waters off the keys! Surge dropping at Marathon, but still rising at Key West.

 

[Cyclone]

For perspective of just how big this storm is

Thankfully, all my friends who stayed in Miami, Lauderdale, Tampa Bay, and further north are so far ok. Thinking of them and everyone else that their status doesn't change for the worse.

 

[Racerx22b]

Drone footage from this morning. This is Southern Blvd. I live just over that bridge on the left. This artery is a MAJOR east/west connector from Wellington to West Palm Beach. This is about 1 mile west of the FL turnpike. The image is looking west.

My house is the one with solar panels in the 2nd pic.

Nothing exciting here yet. We did lose power but I have the generator going and the entire house is operational.

I'm doing an expense report right now.

 

[Racerx22b]

And here is some GoPro footage from back yard.

 

[KarenRei]

Okay, Irma, that's just showing off..

 

[Btrflyl8e]

Be safe all. @Larry Chanin. I have traded texts with Nigel. He is riding it out as well. Tough to move the animals and I believe he is on fairly high ground although that will not help much with the winds.

Sending positive thoughts to all especially an 'old friend' who is not that old! (we both turned in our blue 2013 Ss it seems). @Btrflyl8e

Things keep changing as it approaches, and while the news for me is a little better now, it's worse for my friends to the south @Larry Chanin, @NigelM and others. Check in later when you're able...