Another Hurricane??


 
The storm is still 400 miles away and we're getting our first outer rain band. Our county went under a hurricane warning at 5:50 AM. We're 30 miles north of Orlando.

I watch our local channel 13 for weather info because the newspersons are calm. The Weather Channel and major networks where most of you get your news is over the top with drama. For folks living on the coasts it is going to be terrible but for the rest of us it's just going to be bad. I guess they're trying to scare folks. Our local broadcasters don't sound like they're calling a heavyweight boxing match. I keep expecting someone on The Weather Channel to say in a very macho tone - Let's get ready to ruuuuuuumble.

Maybe I'm jaded. This is our 9th direct hit or brush by hurricane. They were in Corpus Christi, Tx., Norfolk Va., and Deltona Fl.. Corpus was the first and worst and that was 1970.
 
Been through major earthquakes in California and major brushfires here in Arizona but nothing like what you folks in Florida and Texas are going through. Our thoughts are with you and hope for a safe outcome for all of you.
 
Lew Newby said:
I watch our local channel 13 for weather info because the newspersons are calm. The Weather Channel and major networks where most of you get your news is over the top with drama. For folks living on the coasts it is going to be terrible but for the rest of us it's just going to be bad. I guess they're trying to scare folks. Our local broadcasters don't sound like they're calling a heavyweight boxing match. I keep expecting someone on The Weather Channel to say in a very macho tone - Let's get ready to ruuuuuuumble.
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No doubt that kind of broadcast results in unnecessary consumer panic. The major networks are good at rattling people's nerves.
 
Rich Dahl said:
Been through major earthquakes in California and major brushfires here in Arizona but nothing like what you folks in Florida and Texas are going through. Our thoughts are with you and hope for a safe outcome for all of you.
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I don't know, Rich. Either one of those events sounds traumatic.
 
Lew Newby said:
The storm is still 400 miles away and we're getting our first outer rain band. Our county went under a hurricane warning at 5:50 AM. We're 30 miles north of Orlando.

I watch our local channel 13 for weather info because the newspersons are calm. The Weather Channel and major networks where most of you get your news is over the top with drama. For folks living on the coasts it is going to be terrible but for the rest of us it's just going to be bad. I guess they're trying to scare folks. Our local broadcasters don't sound like they're calling a heavyweight boxing match. I keep expecting someone on The Weather Channel to say in a very macho tone - Let's get ready to ruuuuuuumble.

Maybe I'm jaded. This is our 9th direct hit or brush by hurricane. They were in Corpus Christi, Tx., Norfolk Va., and Deltona Fl.. Corpus was the first and worst and that was 1970.
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I don't blame you, Lew. The Weather Channel are a bunch of drama queens, trying to drum up ratings.
 
I'll take Hurricanes over Earthquakes. We've had plenty of warning but that doesn't happen with Earthquakes.

Our preps are complete. Our friends and family are hunkered down and so are we. Not expecting much drama until Sunday evening at the earliest.
 
Our winds are picking up and we had a gust of 50 mph a few minutes ago. Irma is about 190 miles southwest of us. Our windows are rated to 150 mph so we're in good shape. Our 2 daughters live withing 20 miles of us and they're in good shape. I sure feel sorry for the folks in south Florida and those on the west coast. They're getting hammered. Keep them in your prayers.

The good news is that the state and local authorities in this state are second to none in dealing with hurricane preparedness and the aftermath. Thousands of vehicles and people are staged in Orlando to fan out and restore the infrastructure. There are other places around the state where assets are pre positioned. As soon as it's safe they'll get to work. My hat is off to all those good people.
 
Lew Newby said:
Our winds are picking up and we had a gust of 50 mph a few minutes ago. Irma is about 190 miles southwest of us. Our windows are rated to 150 mph so we're in good shape. Our 2 daughters live withing 20 miles of us and they're in good shape. I sure feel sorry for the folks in south Florida and those on the west coast. They're getting hammered. Keep them in your prayers.

The good news is that the state and local authorities in this state are second to none in dealing with hurricane preparedness and the aftermath. Thousands of vehicles and people are staged in Orlando to fan out and restore the infrastructure. There are other places around the state where assets are pre positioned. As soon as it's safe they'll get to work. My hat is off to all those good people.
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I have kin in Tampa, and near Orlando, but I haven't heard of their status yet.

Are residential power lines supported by wood poles or something else, Lew? Maybe they're buried.

Our severe weather radio sent out high-wind warnings this afternoon for western NC, upstate SC, and northern GA.
 
It's 11 PM and we've had increasing wind and rain for 8 hours. Our wind has gotten to 60 MPH. The storm is still about 5 hours south and our local meteorologist have it tracking to just west of Orlando. Core wind speed has dropped to 100 MPH and I hope they continue to drop.. Our power blinked an hour ago and I don't know how long it will stay on but THANK GOD it's still on. 50% (4.5 Million) of Florida's total power customers are without power and more transformers are blowing every hour. Our daughter lost power at 7:30. Tornado warnings are being broadcast about 5 per hour. Florida is getting hammered hard from coast to coast. This is much worse than Charlie in 2004. It's an exciting night.

Rusty, power lines are above ground on wood poles or concrete poles. Tampa and Orlando should both avoid a direct hit but conditions are bad in both places. Unless they live in a manufactured home and get hit by a tornado they should be OK. I'm not saying they're having fun but they'll be OK. I don't know if I can help but if you give me specific locations I will see if I can get you some info..
 
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2:30 AM Monday. Couldn't sleep. Irma is now a Cat 1 and the eye wall is about 40 miles south, headed for Atlanta where it's already raining.. Once it passes the worst is over.
 
Here in the southern piedmont, and more so in the upstate (SC), reports of wind damage, and power outages, are already coming in from downed trees & such, and the winds are expected to pick up through the night. I've moved my cars to safer locations for now.

Thanks for the offer, Lew. I don't have exact addresses at the moment.
 
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Hi guys, I'm Lew Newby's son and he has asked me to post a status update for him. He and my mom came through the storm just fine. No apparent damage to the property. They are currently still without grid power but the generator is chugging away. They have a few lights, the fridge, freezer and a radio and of course his collection of smokers and grills.

Just giving an update.
 
LewNewbyJr said:
Hi guys, I'm Lew Newby's son and he has asked me to post a status update for him. He and my mom came through the storm just fine. No apparent damage to the property. They are currently still without grid power but the generator is chugging away. They have a few lights, the fridge, freezer and a radio and of course his collection of smokers and grills.

Just giving an update.
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Great news! Thanks for the update!
 
Duke Energy restored our power at about 7:30 last night and the cable came on while we slept. I didn't expect that this soon. My generator is 5500 watts so I could power the fridge, freezer, a floor lamp, and two window air conditioners on the sun porch. They kept the whole house at a lower temp than it was outside so we lived comfortably. I used small appliances one at a time and never came close to overloading the generator. Central Florida is steadily working our way back to normal. It just takes time.

Dan, did it get to you?.
 
Glad you're back to full power Lew.
There's nothing like seeing lights flicker back on, ceiling fan blades start to turn, and hearing the a/c start to hum.
 
Great to here that the power is coming back on for a lot of folks. That's got to make life a little easier in this disaster.
 
Lew Newby said:
Duke Energy restored our power at about 7:30 last night and the cable came on while we slept. I didn't expect that this soon. My generator is 5500 watts so I could power the fridge, freezer, a floor lamp, and two window air conditioners on the sun porch. They kept the whole house at a lower temp than it was outside so we lived comfortably. I used small appliances one at a time and never came close to overloading the generator. Central Florida is steadily working our way back to normal. It just takes time.

Dan, did it get to you?.
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Luckily for us, it had pretty much fallen apart by the time it got up here. There were some downed trees and lots of small branches and leaves, but it never got too bad here. I never lost power, tv, or internet. I think the damage last year from Hermine was worse for us than this was. Glad you're ok.
 
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