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Irma biggest ever Hurricane?

Even here in NC I am bracing for high winds and rain. I hope that the trees that surround my house don't drop on my or my neighbors' roofs. Even have offered to take in evacs from FL if they get this far.
 
Just got off the phone with my folks who moved to Fort Myers 2 weeks ago. They're now in the revised predicted path. Apparently most of their neighbors are staying. So far they've had 2 contractors fall down on them for installing their hurricane shutters but finally getting a crew there this afternoon and hopefully getting out of there by this evening.
 
Just got off the phone with my folks who moved to Fort Myers 2 weeks ago. They're now in the revised predicted path. Apparently most of their neighbors are staying. So far they've had 2 contractors fall down on them for installing their hurricane shutters but finally getting a crew there this afternoon and hopefully getting out of there by this evening.

they right on the coast?
 
they're almost 4 miles inland and more than 20' above sea level. the house is fairly new and supposedly exceeds hurricane code compliance. the concern for them is the crew will only have enough time/man power to shudder the south and eastern side of the house (supposedly the most vulnerable) so they're still at risk for shattered windows and projectiles from the rest of the house.
 
they're almost 4 miles inland and more than 20' above sea level. the house is fairly new and supposedly exceeds hurricane code compliance. the concern for them is the crew will only have enough time/man power to shudder the south and eastern side of the house (supposedly the most vulnerable) so they're still at risk for shattered windows and projectiles from the rest of the house.

hope they got the windows shuttered.

they may just want to evacuate... according to this, the track is shifting west and could hit Ft Myers directly.

sounds like the keys are going to be completely destroyed
 
Thanks. They got the windows shuttered by early evening and are on their way to Tampa.. Hopefully they'll have a better indication of the path by tomorrow and can figure out the best direction to take from there. They were a little cagey about their plans making me worried they weren't gonna leave so it was a relief to get the email that they were on the road.

My cousin is supposed to get married in key largo in January - pretty good chance they'll need a backup venue somewhere else.
 
Glad they got their house shuttered. Looks like it is hitting Cuba now, hopefully it weakens it more. Also, hoping it keeps pushing further west and doesn't go up the coast line. My brother and nephew is just north of Fort Myers in Port Charlotte. My dad lives there also but left for Nashville earlier in the week. We all went through Charley in 04 and wouldn't wish it on anyone.
 
is your brother staying? my folks were definitely considering it but decided to leave after repeated calls from their kids. plus, they were able to get all the windows shuttered and once they saw how dark their house was they realized if they lost power they'd miserable even in the best post storm case.

looks like Nashville's the end if the projected path. should be much less threatening by then but your dad may still get a small taste of it.
 
Latest Irma map indicates that it will track mainly through the western side of the FL peninsula and Miami will avoid a direct hit, although @ cat 4 and being wider than the state, the city will still experience significant storm surge, hurricane-strength winds and rain. One computer model indicates that it could continue to track further west and skirt the peninsula entirely, instead entering the GoM, then tracking north and making landfall at the western half of the Florida Panhandle. If so the slow-moving hurricane might strengthen into a cat 5 again.
 
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I guess if Irma moves up the coast, storm surge won't be as bad; it's the worst when the hurricane hits the coast at a 90 degree angle, or straight on.
 
is your brother staying? my folks were definitely considering it but decided to leave after repeated calls from their kids. plus, they were able to get all the windows shuttered and once they saw how dark their house was they realized if they lost power they'd miserable even in the best post storm case.

looks like Nashville's the end if the projected path. should be much less threatening by then but your dad may still get a small taste of it.

Yeah he is staying. I just tried to get him to go to the other side of the state with friends. He said he is a lot more prepared than the last one were we had no warning.
 
Yeah he is staying. I just tried to get him to go to the other side of the state with friends. He said he is a lot more prepared than the last one were we had no warning.

good luck to him and everyone else. hopefully you'll be able to stay in contact with him.

ever since Sandy we've kept cases of bottled water and non-perishables in the basement. it's a pain in the butt rotating new water a now and then to keep it fresh but we don't want to get caught unprepared again.
 
good luck to him and everyone else. hopefully you'll be able to stay in contact with him.

ever since Sandy we've kept cases of bottled water and non-perishables in the basement. it's a pain in the butt rotating new water a now and then to keep it fresh but we don't want to get caught unprepared again.

You could get like, all Hollywood man, and just stop drinking tap water.

Then you would get used to rotating the new water and it wouldn't feel like a chore anymore.
 
You could get like, all Hollywood man, and just stop drinking tap water.

Then you would get used to rotating the new water and it wouldn't feel like a chore anymore.

I suppose I could but it's not only a waste of money but also generates a lot of plastic waste. wouldn't want to be one of those Hollywood hypocrites, flying private, drinking bottled water and packing my kids' lunches in disposable plastic bags...
 
glad to hear...but why would they stay? That makes no sense.

I know it sounds crazy but some people develop emotional attachments to their homes... and in the abstract, the concept of "home." they feel safe there and don't want to leave, especially when under stress. And they also want to stay and protect their property.

on top of that, evacuating is horribly inconvenient, often incompetently managed and planned for by authorities, and for those on fixed incomes or the poor, may be prohibitively expensive.

And as bad as hurricanes are, most people in affected areas survive them, so people are willing to take what they see as a relatively minor risk.
 
sounds like the Florida Keys had it rough.

NOAA has a website where you can see what storm surge inundation & depth is projected, based on hurricane category strength.

my understanding is that while storm surge is the most dangerous aspect of a hurricane, it's effects are the easiest to calculate and avoid. find your elevation above sea level, match the estimated storm surge depth to that, and if you're gonna be underwater, move AWAY from the coast toward higher ground.

wind speed & its effects on a structure is more of a gamble. the amount of rain & rain related flooding is also a big unknown. I learned than even the flood plain maps here in Houston that insurers use are not only out of date, they don't take into consideration the effects of over-development and loss of natural defenses against flooding. And on top of that, no one knows how to quantify and plan for the effects of warmer seas and rising sea levels due to climate change when they plan for this kinda thing.

Smart decision going forward: stop building things on the coasts. move inland.
 
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