To all those in Florida

I know there are a number of us in Florida. A few are relatively out of the way of Ian but some right in the path. A few in SW to Tampa/St Pete area right in the path. I'm right in the path but a ways inland, as far inland as you can get in Florida.

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Green dot is me.

They're saying maybe category 4 by the time landfall happens.
I hope everyone is ready if you're staying, early to leave if you're evacuating. Godspeed if you're traveling. My prayers are with all of you. Stay safe and keep us posted about your safety.

Rainfall totals for the next 3 days

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That legend at the bottom is feet.

Palm harbor here. We were in the crosshairs but seems we will miss the brunt of it. Sarasota Naples and ft Myers however are about to get hammered. Hopefully everyone gets out of the way especially those in low lying areas. 9 ft inundation is not something to fool around with. Stay safe.

Be safe Bill. I hope you're on high ground. That's still pretty darn close.

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Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Be safe Bill. I hope you're on high ground. That's still pretty darn close.

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Thanks! You too. We are.about 70 feet above sea level here. Flood rating is x500. We have rentention lake with drainage. But you know what they say! Man plans and God laughs. Lol. We shall see.

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Originally Posted by Bill31521

Thanks! You too. We are.about 70 feet above sea level here. Flood rating is x500. We have rentention lake with drainage. But you know what they say! Man plans and God laughs. Lol. We shall see.

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You still hanging in there Bill? I tried to send a PM but it wouldn't go through. I know it hit pretty hard not too far south of you.

Stay safe. Hoping Leonard posts soon. I chatted with him before it hit and he said he would be fine. I know he is on the other side of the Florida coast down south but the water and power outages have got to be messing with him too.

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Originally Posted by Gasman

Stay safe. Hoping Leonard posts soon. I chatted with him before it hit and he said he would be fine. I know he is on the other side of the Florida coast down south but the water and power outages have got to be messing with him too.

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I talked to him this morning and he is okay there. Actually he was checking one. We got lucky here and it took a hard right and missed us. We are still getting some wind but nothing like Fort Myers and Cape Coral where it hit. If someone has an email for Bill I'd like to hear from him. He is pretty close to where it made landfall.

Hope alls well for all, down there.

Still waiting to hear from my buddy in Punta Gorda. Hear there was lots of damages.

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Originally Posted by outback

Hope alls well for all, down there.

Still waiting to hear from my buddy in Punta Gorda. Hear there was lots of damages.

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They had a lot of high water. Fort Myers had over 6 feet of standing water. Hopefully he just has his plate full cleaning up or cell system is down or overloaded. Lots of people are checking on friends and relatives.

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Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

You still hanging in there Bill? I tried to send a PM but it wouldn't go through. I know it hit pretty hard not too far south of you.

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We did absolutely fine. Didn't lose power. It was a rain event here. It was windier today than yesterday. No damages at all. Hope you did ok. Many fellow Floridians didn't fare as well.

Good to hear Bill. I was a little worried about you being that close. Glad to hear you made it through unscathed.

Yeah, we are all fine here. Lee county wasn't so lucky it seems. Prayers still for those people. I was doing roofing work in Miami after Andrew and I still have vivid memories of what that was like. That was more of a wind event and solidly Cat 5 (177 mph sustained winds with gusts near 200) so it looked like a bomb went off. Ian was more of a water event so a different kind of devastation but still bad, maybe worse as it sounds like death toll may end up higher.

In Miami after Andrew. This one guy in Kendall had a stop sign in the corner in his house. He told us the story. As the storm got out of control he walked out of the bathrooom to check something and he happened to look out the front window facing the intersection and saw the stop sign twisting back and forth in the wind blowing right toward his house and he could see the pole was about to break. Just as it did he dove down behind the couch and it went through his front window, over his head, through the sliding glass door and landed in his pool.

Hard to believe a big thunderstorm could do all that. It made me feel very small and insignificant.

I've never had the misfortune to experience such a scary event thank my lucky stars.

I did visit New Orleans the year after Katrina though.

You would think that a year after a big City like that would be back to normal but, there were symbols sprayed on still doors by rescuers, cars that were ruined by the flood under the overpass, loads of them. The big arena that people evacuated to wasn't fixed and I have no idea where the locals got groceries because all the grocery stores I saw were still closed.

One of the problems is that when the levies broke, the town is very low, even the cemeteries had vaults because nobody could dig a hole for a coffin.

My heart went out to the people living there.

And then, just in the middle of my sympathy one of the locals came up to me and said,"I bet you $10 I can tell where you got those sneakers".

There were a few guys standing around, no doubt to make sure I paid up but luckily I had been warned by the hotel receptionist not to fall for it.

Their answer would have been, on your feet and i would have been $10 lighter.

The long bridge into New Orleans was closed still and as we drove along the coast from Mobil Alabama we saw signs like the McDonalds just standing there, no buildings just signs.

That was one of the most memorable experiences i had, I don't know how the locals escaped with their lives but they certainly have my respect.

I received a phone call from my daughter this morning. She and her family live in Minnesota but own a home in Cape Coral, Florida. One block away from the ocean where Ian made landfall. Her neighbor called her to let her know that my daughter's house has 3 feet of mud inside it.
At the moment she is not happy.

I appreciate your response Randy and I want to acknowledge your response but it hurts me to give a "like".for your daughters house being filled with mud. I hate that and I wish them the best in their recovery from it.

And here we go again.
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Although this one is not expected to be a category 4 another direct hit is just what we need.

...And again. This one is supposed to be serious. 90+ mph wind when it crosses us. So far they are saying Cat 3 when it makes landfall. Hopefully they're wrong. That would be the highest wind I can remember seeing from a storm in...20 years?...maybe 30.
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Weather Channel is broadcasting from my town today.

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Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

...And again. This one is supposed to be serious. 90+ mph wind when it crosses us. So far they are saying Cat 3 when it makes landfall. Hopefully they're wrong. That would be the highest wind I can remember seeing from a storm in...20 years?...maybe 30.
Attachment 349287

Weather Channel is broadcasting from my town today.

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Ya it doesn't look great.
Stay safe!!

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Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

...And again. This one is supposed to be serious. 90+ mph wind when it crosses us. So far they are saying Cat 3 when it makes landfall. Hopefully they're wrong. That would be the highest wind I can remember seeing from a storm in...20 years?...maybe 30.
Attachment 349287

Weather Channel is broadcasting from my town today.

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Batten down the hatches stay safe brorher:angel:

We're old hand at this stuff here.

We're like penguins in a snowstorm baby.

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Got everything that could turn into a sail into the garage or house. Not boarding up because that would put a bunch of holes in the stucco and siding. I'll take my chances of the flying debris. If it gets that bad we'll hunker down n an inner room . 100 mph isn't enough to pull the roof deck and collapse the walls. I worked remodel after Andrew. I know when it is time to split. It may be a bumpy ride but we'll manage.
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Hang in and be safe!

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!!!

We'll be okay here. Those people in Cedar Key are going to get it the worst. That tiny little place keeps getting hammered over and over. It's a little bitty island fishing community; great seafood there. World class clam chowder made and canned there plus their live clams exported all over the state and beyond. Anyway in 1950 Hurricane Easy hit them twice in a three day span. Hard to believe but it went inland to about Otter Creek, made a loop and hit them again. That storm still holds the rainfall record of like 39 inches in 24 hours. But that's just one of many.that has hammered them. In the 1840s they had one with over a 25 foot storm surge. It just about washed it away. The list goes on and on over the years; time and time again. My prayers go out for those people as they are going to get 125mph winds from what the forecast is so far. It may be even worse. Or, God willing, they get spared. Perhaps it hits north in between them and Steinhatchee where there isn't much. I hate to say, "I don't have to outrun the bear...,".but in these cases we all roll the dice and hope it misses us and God help those other people.

Stay safe, Paul. :tu

I've been in three.
Prayers for you
Dave

Palm harbor here. Looks to be tracking west and landfall will be northwest. Hard to say what will be going on but it looks like 8 pm tonight thru 2 am tomorrow we will know. Stay safe everyone and hope you guys make it thru ok.

Hope you're high and dry Bill. You shouldn't get a hard hit but they have been talking about a pretty significant storm surge. You'll probably still get high wind and water.

Stay safe and watch your top knot.

Well, as fortune would have it we got spared again. A few shingles blew off the roof but we are all fine and in one piece .Thanks to all for your concerns. I hope everyone else from Florida made out as well as we did.

Thankfully my friend on Mayo and her family made out safely. They lost half their roof and a shed, but the people all made it out ok.

Geek