We are expecting a good blow over the next few days.

Stay safe and dry...

Protect your teener at all cost!!!!!!

I definitely wish you all the best of luck! I just brought my teener back from St. Pete in July. Good Timing! My parents still live there so I'll be keeping an eye on it!

Hang in there Qarl. Hope the new house keeps you and the family dry.

It's dark and raining heavily here right now.

Miles said there was two of them coming at you guys?

I told him to sleep in the basement of his trailer.

Be safe

<_< wow. leaving tomorrow morning for a week at disneyworld. now, where's that umbrella smilie?

As of right now the eye is projected to pass over right where I live. I figure it is a good way to test the aerodynamics of the teener.

Dude, seriously! get the heck out of there!

Wussies
A little wind :finger2:
Why not come out here where the earth shakes and Mountains explode.

Be safe gang. I spent a good deal of time in Florida in my past and made many trips since. Always missed out on a good ole hurricane. Came close once in Misiissippi, but still never in a full blown blower.

Went thru the one in Houston - Thar she blows - floats on a 914 are a good idea.

I'm in NC tonight -- first big rain has already moved through. The second one seems to be arriving in late afternoon. I have a noon flight -- hopefully, I can return home to the bay area tomorrow!

kim.

I'd take an earthquake over a hurricane anyday!

Whoa....that was weird! I just e-mailed my Dad who lives down in Orlando with the subject line "Batten down the hatches", sent it, and hopped over to here. First post I saw was "Batten down the hatches" and for a second I thought I sent it to the wrong place.

But yes, good luck down there!

My car is safe.
It's on jackstands. Of course.

Tampa Bay is reported to get a 10' to 12' storm serge. I live north of Tampa so we'll be OK. But it will be a wet 24-36 hours. Just hope the power stays on.

Paul

Just to let everyone know what the geographical locations are:

Pinellas County - Clearwater/St.Pete - on the gulf coast - west coast of FL
Hillsborough County - Tampa - east side of Tampa Bay, east of Pinellas County
Orange county - Orlando - 3/4 of the way across FL

BTW, I live in Plant City, 50 mi inland in Hillsborough County

They are projecting a category 3 hurricane with winds in excess of 120 mph. There is an expected wave surge of 10 - 13' on the beach and in Tampa Bay. They announced a mandatory evacuation of level A,B,C in Pinellas County for 6:00 pm tonight. This will cause about 350,000 people to leave (which they started doing when I left work today at 2:00 pm). They also just announced that they will be going door-to-door trying to get people out. Also, there is a good probability that they will shut the power off to downtown Tampa tomorrow.

The last major storm to hit Tampa/St.Pete was in 1939 and the big one was in 1905.

Hopefully everyone that is in Pinellas County and west Hillsborough County will heed the warnings and 'got the F*&*% out of town'.

BTW, this area is famous for hurricane parties, hopefully they will be celebrating on the east coast of FL.

We should be safe tonight, the storm isn't expected to land until late afternoon or early evening tomorrow.

Pics to follow.

Just put something heavy on the seat so it doesn't blow away! Get it? Because the car is so light.?.. tap..tap...tap... is this thing on? testing...testing...

Seriously I hope everyone gets through this OK. Good luck guys.

Let me also add to Rob's post...

There in NO city named "Tampa Bay, Florida". There is a body of water named "Tampa Bay". We don't live in the bay, but we do live in "the Tampa Bay area". The Tampa Bay Buccaneers don't play in Tampa Bay. The stadium is in Tampa.

Tampa, Damn it!, Tampa, Tampa, Tampa. Get it now?
It's Tampa.

This all started in about 1974 when the pro soccer team was named the "Tampa Bay Rowdies" Great name and great team. But all the teams thereafter were named the "Tampa Bay......"

Everytime the Bucs play on Monday Night they open the show with a aerial shot of the stadium and say " Live from Tampa Bay on a hot and humid night for football..."

OK, I know I need to let go of this but I was born here and I can't get over it.

Paul

Paul I know your car is lite. But Robs burn blue 74 is just a chasis. He and I and my boy put it straight on a trailer. what maybe 800 lbs. Probably less now that he has cut everything off of it.

Some big straps and anchors in the ground. 50 miles inland this storm is still going to be CAT 2.

Actually my car has so many holes drilled in it to lighten it, the water will just flow right throught it.

Paul

What are people from Tampa called?

Tampons?

And people from O are called Qarl.

You guys are sooo funny

Please stay safe and let us know how it goes.

My younger sisters live in the FLA - Naples area. I think that area is OK but I will check in with them anyway.

My parents have a condo on Treasure Island not far from St.Pete beach. I hope it's still there tomorrow.

Treasure Island that is.

We got off easy this time. Good thing because the shutters that we finally ordered won't be here for another 3 weeks.

dr

I'm 56 years old and lived in Florida for the last 55 of those years. I've been through a few storms.

If you have a sturdy house and can board up the windows, you will be OK from wind damage...but look out for falling trees. Had to help my neighbor cut one off of his roof during the eye of a hurricane once, then rush inside for the backside of the storm. Then had to cut a tree from my driveway to get out and finish helping my neighbor.

I took a week of vacation time to help a friend clean up after Andrew. He house was OK, but we spent the whole week cutting up downed trees and stacking them up.

The thing that will get you is rising water. If you live on or near the beach, GET OUT.

Storms that hit a night are the worst. You can't see a thing because the power lines are down. But you can hear every tree limb and pine cone that hits the house and the howl of the wind can be frightening.

A word of advice on protecting your car. If you cannot park it in an enclosed garage, put it in the middle of the biggest parking lot you can find away from potential blowing or falling debris. I've left vehicles in the driveway and had dents from tree limbs and heavy green pine cones (if you live in the South you know what I'm talking about).

What most first timers don't think about is the aftermath of the storm. No electricity for days or weeks means NO A/C!!! and no lights, no TV, no hot water and if the sewer lift stations don't work, you can't flush the toilet. If water mains are broken, which they frequently around the beach, no water either. The kids aren't able to go to school and you may not be able to go to work.

Any way, best of luck to you guys in S.W. Florida. I have several friends down there I'll be checking up on after Charley.

Man, I wish I had this BBS when I was still living in Tampa! My teener would be MUCH better off! There are SO many of you guys in Tampa that I didn't even know about! Argh! Not as many in Nash-Vegas.

URY914 is right, though... people think it's called Tampa Bay, FL... it's not!

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays play in St. Pete, the 2004 Stanly Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning used to play in St. Pete... I think they name them 'Tampa Bay' to have a larger audience base to draw from... psychologically.

jhs914, yeah it's going to be 'interesting' experiencing a direct hit from a Cat 3 hurricane. BTW, jhs914, please update your location, it will help when we get a Florida chapter for the 914 club meetings, but not this weekend.

Chappy, Treasure Island is a very scary place to be. They're still predicting 10' - 14' wave surge, which would be over the first floor. Hopefully your parents are long gone by now.

tdgray, Naples will take an indirect hit and will have some kind of wave and/or wind damage.

I've gone out this morning and took a lot of 'before' pics. Since the storm is expected to arrive sometime early evening, I won't be able to take any 'after' pics, but when it's over, I'm certain everyone in the 'Tampa Bay area' will be posting their experiences.

Rob,

I'm afraid I'm too far away to attend a meeting of teeners in your part of the state.

Even though you are pretty much in the middle of the state, Pensacola is about 470 miles from Plant City! Florida is a big state. It is about the same distance from Pensacola to Key West as it is from Pensacola to Chicago (over 800 miles)!

Its now 1:00 EST and it just started raining.

Bet it rains for 18 hours.

They just said it looks like it is turning a little to the east.

Going right for Plant City!!!

Run Rob Run!!!

Paul

Yeah, just heard it is expected to hit Sarasota by 5:00 pm and go through PC about 7:00pm. The first rain band is just hitting PC, 1:30 pm.

BTW, the hurricane has just been upgraded to a Cat 4, 145mph.

Just a few hours ago this bastard "Charie" was headed right for the mouth of Tampa Bay. But now it looks like the eye of the storm is going to hit south of the Tampa Bay between Sarasota and Fort Meyers. Currently a category 4.

Just spoke with my Sisters. They actually live closer to FT. Meyers (nice that I know where my own siblings live huh <_< ).

The storm is Cat 4 and is headed straight toward them. Everybody brace yourselves. Even though we are trying to keep the club religion and polictics free... wouldn't hurt to say a prayer for all of our friends and family in it's path.

Yep, Sarasota/Ft. Meyers is the new target, which is south of the Tampa Bay area.

Hey Qarl, looks like you'll be getting a nice soaking and wind. With the new house, you'll be able to gauge the quality of construction, and within the normal 1-year warranty.

Everyone be safe and we'll keep the posts coming, as long as we have power.

I was a kid in 1964 when the remnants of Hurricane Dora blew threw Jacksonville, where I lived. Debris is indeed one of the major hazards as is rising water. Mom cleaned out the bathtub and filled it with water, it was what we drank, washed, and cooked from for 3 days. Light came from kerosene lanterns.

And we got off easy!

Earthquakes last seconds and they are mighty dangerous but you haven't experienced anything until you've listened to the howl of a hurricane at night. 40 years later I still remember.

Good luck, Floridians! I spoke with a buddy in Panama City Beach this morning and they got off light this time. Last time this happened, the water was 4' high in their house, and they built their house 4' above their neighbors as a defensive measure.

I have family in FT Myers (where my family originates from) and when I talked to them a few minutes ago, they were having a big party..... No evacuation for them, just waiting it out...

My B in Law is in Ft Meyers (Cape Coral) . Luckily, he's an attorney so if the waters do rise, the professional courtesy he receives from alligators and sharks should hold him in good stead

Question to Floridians: Lake Okechobe (sp) is 16 feet above sea level, so does a 17 foot wave entering Tampa bay go all the way to Yeehaw Junction?

And yes, I used to live in the sunshine state

Hurricane Charley hit land at Captiva Island and is currently over Port Charlotte. This area is about 2 hours South of Tampa.

Got a report of Charley being CAT 5 with gust to 170.

DAMn that ain't no joke now. Plus there is a new Tropical depression #5 real close too.

Qarl thought he was in hell last week!

My supervisor just called to tell me we are the third area to draw from in line for assisting with claims down there. We have 150,000 policy holders within 50 miles of Tampa!

The local stations are saying it's currently a category 4 with winds at about 127. There were surges up to 170 which approach the category 5 but right now they are saying the winds are in the 120's in the Punta Gorda area.

Just got a response from an email I sent to a former GF. She lives on Marco Island, as do her folks. She evacuated last night with Pets and essentials only. Her house is older and sits low compared to the new construction around her and is expected to be "at least 10 feet underwater". She is off of a canal. Her parents are on huge lot on the sea wall and are expecting the same. Water temp is 93 degrees. It's sounds nuts down there.

Howard,

Regarding your question about tidal surge crossing Lake Okeechobee, it has happened before. One of the biggest hurricanes of the last century, in 1928, crossed Lake Okeekchobee and killed 1,800 people. This was the second deadliest hurricane in U.S. history, behind the 1900 Galveston storm. I believe the tidal surge was from the lake itself, not from the ocean.

Tomorrow we will hear and see horror stories from Port Charlotte similar to Hurricane Andrew. The trailer parks directly in the path of the eye will disappear. When I was in Homestead after Andrew, my buddy who grew up there took me for a drive. We stopped at the former site of a mobile home park. All you could see was twisted aluminum and trailer frames. While we were there a man drove up and asked where the mobile home park was. He was looking at it and did not recognize it.

Jake, I hope your relatives survived OK. Hurricane parties can stop being fun real quick in a Category 4 hurricane.

Thanks, jhs, and welcome to the club. Always though that was a possibility. Scary stuff.

And it's Friday the 13th too!

Yipee!

Been raining but no real winds yet.

Look out Q, its headed for you!

Paul

PS. I like to sit back and listen/read to all the misinformation given out.

My Dad lives in Orlando (Lake St. Mary), haven't got any response from an email I sent him, can't call him from work, but the weather channel said something about Charlie hitting Orlando around 6:30....actually, right about now

phone call in the morning!

http://tbo.com/

Special K,
It has two hours before it hits Qarl's house (I mean Orlando). Track it on the link above.

Paul

Paul,

TBO = Tampa Bay Online...

The "bay" has it's own website?

Cool!

Are the people that live in Tampa (i.e., Tampons) allowed to use it?

Q,
There are so many Tampons that live in Tampa Bay that we can absorb the entire bay.

So the storm surge would have been no problem.


Paul

You guys stay safe,

I expect I'll be there working by monday, if not sooner...........