Looks like we might get a direct hit in Palm Beach County.

Category 5 is possible.

Damn...... gotta leave work today and put up the shutters.

:mad:

We can't get plywood here in Orlando, at the Home Depot and Lowes near my house, there was an 8-hour line. And I think, with hurricane force winds of up to 150+ expected as far inland as 40~50 miles, boarding up is moot. The wife and I spent last night jokingly decorating "the new house"... since we don't expect this one to be standing post-Frances.

I have family on the barrier islands near Cape Canaveral. I grew up in that house. I fully expect it to be erased from the landscape. I have in-laws in Daytona/Ormond and Port St. John south of Titusville. My little brother just bought a condo in Melbourne. My mother asked me this morning if she should take her patio canopy down. I had to laugh. My only response was... "Since the house won't be there, isn't the canopy moot?"

I really am preparing mentally for the worst. Don't know any other way to think right now. It's a bitch concentrating at work right now... in all honesty, and I kid you not, right now... all I'd like is a bottle of Jack Daniels and to be left alone. If I didn't have all these people counting on me, I'd go "down with the ship" wiht a BAC as high as I could possibly drink myself.

Here's something to make folks think.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gifs/EC13516.GIF

This is a wind distribution model done by NOAA for Cat-5 hurricanes making landfall. This is wind distribution for inland areas. My house, almost 50-miles inland, will receive sustained winds of up to 125-mph (note that the map is in knots, not MPH, so use Google to convert it for your location in the state once you're estimated max winds at your location from the map). Gusts could be significantly higher.

Since the walls were vibrating and the roof was creaking under 115-mph winds, it's safe to say that my house is not safe harbor from this monster.

I'm just south of Lake Okeechobee,(the big lake in the middle, for those of you who aren't familiar w/ Florida) and 4 miles from the ocean

Definitely "red" territory.....

I knew I should have paid for the CBS block on the second story... :(

My wife and I are on our way to Gulf Shores Alabama this Friday for a week. Looks like it may be some windy days on the beach...definitely not good golfing weather. Those are certainly trivial concerns compared to what you guys are thinking about I am sure...Stay safe!

Do you think that you will evac or stick around? It sure sounds like it could be another huge one.

My first thought was to "dig in"....

but my logical side is starting to kick in....what am I crazy ??

The problem is that you need to decide to leave before you really know what's going on...if you try to leave when the threat is obvious, it'll be too late.

Home Depot is already like a battle ground....I've never seen anything like this before. The animal instincts are starting emerge...

I don't know where I'd go, though. It's not like 150 miles in gonna help...

Iowa sounds good right now....

I'm gonna give it 24 more hours before deciding.

Maybe I could go visit Jeremy Likeness :p


Man, I wish I was renting right now...

Guys, how does the system work there if your house gets totalled by a hurricane?

Does the insurance cover everything, so that you get to build a new house that is comparable to the old? Or would you get money and buy some other comparably valued property from some other location? Does the insurance pay perhaps temporary hotel accomodation costs...?

Do you get some financial help from the federal government or state?

OMG I'm feeling so bad about B's guitar collection... :d_frown:

From what I've read so far about the hurricane, they predict it will hit south of me (of course, that can change at any time). That sucks, because the north side of the hurricane is where the strongest winds are. Considering my house is about 1/4 of a mile from the beach, I'm expecting the worst. We already boarded up the house (what little good it will do) and plan on evacuating to our friends in Georgia either tonight or early tomorrow morning. We have no idea where the hurricane is going to hit, but if you wait too long to evacuate, then you'll be stuck in traffic for hours, which I can't stand.

We are taking all the irreplaceable items like pictures and stuff with us. After work today, I'm going home and taking pictures with my digital camera of every room in the house, the outside of the house, the roof, the fence, etc... just to make sure I have a record of what the house looks like before the hurricane hits.

This is the first hurricane I've ever really worried about since living in Florida. I hope I have a house to come back to after it's done.

Guys, how does the system work there if your house gets totalled by a hurricane?

Does the insurance cover everything, so that you get to build a new house that is comparable to the old? Or would you get money and buy some other comparably valued property from some other location? Does the insurance pay perhaps temporary hotel accomodation costs...?

Do you get some financial help from the federal government or state?

OMG I'm feeling so bad about B's guitar collection... :d_frown:

My guitar collection is coming with me. My garage is air-conditioned. Tonight I'm going to put them in the back of my Trans Am, and wrap them gingerly in old bedspreads and comforters. I was going to pick one and leave the rest, but that's like deciding which child you love most. I can't take the cases... obviously not enough room in a sportscar.

Insurance, in the case of a total loss, works like this... you get replacement cost. I.e., like my house... it's worth almost $150,000 if I put it on the market today. What it costs to build the house is estimated by my insurance company at $68,000. I.e., if Frances huffs and puffs and blows my house down, I get $68K plus contents replacement costs. That's why I was half-joking earlier when I said the wife and I were decorating our "new house".

The storm is expected to slow and build to Cat-5 status before landfall. If you take a second and apply some logic, at 15-MPH forward movement and 160-miles of hurricane force winds, that's roughly 10-hours of hurricane force wind at work on my house. It's projected to be Cat-3, perhaps Cat-2 when it reaches central Orange County where I live. So for roughly 10 hours, my house will be pummeled by 120+ MPH winds. I fully expect to come back to a pile of matchsticks on Sun/Mon. So much for "Labor Day Weekend".

[QUOTE=PetriJR]Guys, how does the system work there if your house gets totalled by a hurricane?

QUOTE]

Everyone keeps their own private homeowner's insurance. There is usually a higher deductable on hurricane related claims. To keep the premium down, I think I have a $10,000.00 deductable. (the amount I have to pay toward repairs before the insurance kicks in).

Most coverages are for "replacement value" , so it pays what it would cost to rebuild + personal items inside. It's pretty comprehensive. 99% of all folks rebuild on the same property. It's not usually that much of a financial loss, it's the irreplaceable items, memories and hassle of the ordeal that is devastating..

I'm sure Roger will make sure that those prize pieces are tucked away safely ;)

Do folks there have some concrete bunkers or some such shelters that would survive a hurricane hit?

It sounds like a convenient idea to have a concrete shelter underground, not for living, but for storing some or most of the personal items from the house before the hurricane strikes.

Do folks there have some concrete bunkers or some such shelters that would survive a hurricane hit?

It sounds like a convenient idea to have a concrete shelter underground, not for living, but for storing some or most of the personal items from the house before the hurricane strikes.

There's no such thing as "underground" in Florida. Dig down more than 3~6 feet (1~2 meters) in most places and you've hit groundwater.

Most of the public schools are used....they can house alot of folks, and are all constructed to high impact standards.

Of course that is my second choice. The first being 4 tickets to California. :D

Do folks there have some concrete bunkers or some such shelters that would survive a hurricane hit?

It sounds like a convenient idea to have a concrete shelter underground, not for living, but for storing some or most of the personal items from the house before the hurricane strikes.


No one has anything underground like basements. The water table is too high here in Florida to build anything like that. The only thing that people can go to for some shelter is a high school gym or a designated "safe" place that has been reinforced to the governments requirments. If this turns out to be a Cat 5 hurricane, then no matter where you go you are screwed, imo. That's why I'm leaving.

What is the time frame that its supposed to hit and pass through Florida. Im supposed to go to Miami next Thursday (Sept 9th), im wondering if its gonna be safe?

Wasn't sure where Satellite Beach, was.....

Wow, dude..talk 'bout being in the eye. You're exactly where they think it'll hit. And on the ocean to boot.

That's tough. I'd hit out of town too. Could be worse, my mom's got a mobile on the ocean. I'm grabbin' anything of mine out of there this afternoon, 'cause that baby is gonna be toothpicks by Sat.


Good luck. Let's hope for a turn in the direction tomorrow.

It'll be gone by then... it'll be in and out by Sun / Mon.

You'll have to wait and see...if we get a decent hit, you won't want to be within 500 miles of here..

How about house materials, are all houses built from wood or are there houses built from stone/concrete as well? Or are the costs too high considering the probability of a hurricane of such magnitude...?

I would imagine that it could be possible to build a sturdy house from concrete that would not be totalled by a hurricane. Maybe windows and roof would be smashed but if the walls and floors were made of concrete slabs, maybe they could survive.

That said, I have no idea in reality of the force of the winds in a cat-4 or -5 hurricane, maybe they would toss any concrete slab around like a rag...

The newer ones are all block. But, we still have alot of older homes, not up to standards.

Check it out. Hurricane Charley did alot of damage last week.

Hurricane Charley photos (http://www.schnittshow.com/hurricanecharley2004.html)

Hey AbGuy, you should get the hell out if the forecast track trends continue. You do not want to attempt to ride out a hurricane of this magnitude. This is likely to be far worse than Charley, with a much much broader area receiving the extreme winds. It's worth the inconvenience to evacuate from something monstrous like this. Even if the "official track" continues to point North of you, don't forget that Tampa was the official ground zero just hours before Charley's landfall down the coast.

Yeah, I've got alot of thinking to do tonight.

If it stays north, I may take the family down to Ft Lauderdale (to work)

I work at a pediatric nursing home, and I've got to be around to make sure these kids get taken care of.

Think I'm gonna get my situation taken care of tonight (locking up the house) so I can concentrate on the work side of things.

I feel torn both ways, (work and home) but I feel if I get the house locked up and my family out of there, I can better focus on these kids in need.


I can feel the tension in my neck.

My office just had a meeting. They're planning on Friday and Tuesday being workdays. I'm on salary... so it won't affect me being gone Fri. I doubt we'll be able to GET to the office on Tues... this storm will cripple this area because most of the electrical fixes that have been put in place from Charley are temporary and no where near designed to withstand the winds they'll be subject to. I can't imagine what the debris field will be like - there are still piles of old roof shingles, tree cuttings, etc. outside every house on my block and here near my office downtown. All of it will be come deadly missiles.

Last night, I found a 6" gash in my garage door where debris must have slashed completely through the door during Charley. What if that piece of debris had hit a window? There won't be a pane of glass in this town that's spared.

Dave, we live 50-miles inland and we're evacuating. As of the last several forecasts, with the exception of that promising but quickly renegged forecast putting the storm in Jax yesterday, have put the eye crossing directly over my area with Cat 2~3 winds. We will be leaving the area on Friday.

This is a nightmare, pure and simple. It's not an inconvenience, it's a nightmare.

Some stats to consider:

Hurricane Andrew:
Min. sustained pressure: 932 mb
Max sustained winds: 145-mph
Gusts: 175-mph

Hurricane Frances: 937 mb
Max sustained winds: 140-mph
Gusts: 165-mph

This storm is larger than Andrew was. What does this similarity and increased size over Andrew tell us? To put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye if you decide to "dig in". I barely got reservations at a hotel LAST night... I imagine by now, they're gone. My in-laws couldn't get a hotel anywhere closer than Atlanta or parts of Alabama.

My prayers go out to everyone in it's path...

Ok ....finished the last meeting of the day...


'nuff said

Finally got my hurricane shutters up....

Couldn't help but add a little humor to the moment.

The sky tells it all...

I wish all of you from Florida the best, and my prayers will be with you. As an Upper Texas Coast resident myself, I can imagine what you must be going through, although I do realize we dont get hit nearly as often or with as much force as you do in Florida. Stay safe.

Well Im down in Ft Lauderdale and we're already getting the hurricane warnings. I live on the 4th floor of a 5 story building. At least I dont have to worry about my roof coming off. Im planning to go to my parents who live about 10 minutes away. I was ok till i started reading this thread. Now I have visions of THEIR roof coming off (they live in a house) Sigh, ive lived here all my life and have been thru some storms (only suffered minor damage from Andrew) but this is starting to get really scary...Keep us Floridians in your prayers.. I'll try to take some before and afters too. :d_frown:

Not to worry ya..but 10min away?? It would only take me 10min. to leave to go 300 miles away but then I'm in Idaho and we don't have to deal with these..

Abguy

I'm still laughing at the humor in the sign.. It's great to put a little humor in this.. but get the heck outta there! :jumping:

My prayers to all of you.

I live in Boca Raton and plan on going to my dad's in Stuart on Friday morning. This my first hurricane and I will admit I am in no way shape or form preparied for it. My expensive belongings are wrapped in garbage bags and my other stuff will be at the mercy of the hurricane. Thanks for the prayers - we will be needing. And for my fellow floridians - hang on tight!!!

I work for a very large insurance company and we have about $50 mil in claims from Charley. This is mostly because we quit writing new policies in FL about 22 months ago because we had better rates and coverage than most everyone else who writes there. This one looks to be even worse.

I live in Oklahoma City and all we have to worry about is 300mph tornadoes, but they come and go pretty quick.

Everyone be safe and get out of there if you can

It's pretty quiet here right now... the lion's share of the fun will start tomorrow and persist into Sunday. We appreciate the words of encouragement... the storm took a positive turn for my area last night, according to the NHC's latest predictions, it'll be a bit south of here, and weaker by a little bit when it crosses.

The crappy part is, I thought my house, having been built post-Andrew, was subject to higher building code standards. You know what really stinks? There's a "congress" at the state capitol that examines and publishes building code restrictions, upgrades, etc. The actual forced standards due to Hurricane Andrew weren't passed and required by law until 1997. Andrew was in 1992!!! So some people may be mistakenly secure in the belief that since their home was built after 1992, it's built stronger. Wrong answer. As late as 1997, home builders had the option of constructing homes without the addition of post-Andrew strengthening techniques. Luckily, I researched it, and the gentleman who had my house built, in late 1992, used a home inspector to monitor progress on this house. The house is reinforced concrete block with "hurricane straps" securing the roof truss system to the block. With the new shingles/roof in place after Charley, and with the storm being a little weaker and further to the south than first anticipated, I'm confident we'll be safe here.

It doesn't make me feel any better about the cleanup effort I'll be doing... AGAIN... on Monday. But at the very least, this time, my roof is highly unlikely to leak. That is, if it stays on the house...

Off to the gym to take out some aggression...

-R

Finally got my hurricane shutters up....

Couldn't help but add a little humor to the moment.

The sky tells it all...


wow man, nice digs :tu:

It doesn't make me feel any better about the cleanup effort I'll be doing... AGAIN... on Monday. But at the very least, this time, my roof is highly unlikely to leak. That is, if it stays on the house...

Off to the gym to take out some aggression...

-R

shit bro, if you get in trouble just go outside and start yelling at the hurricane to GET THE EFF OUT OF MY STATE!

my experience, 135MPH winds are NO match for one pissed off New Yorker. :lol:

my experience, 135MPH winds are NO match for one pissed off New Yorker. :lol:

I have a house full of pissed off New Yorkers. Brooklyn Italians, no less. :D The storm doesn't play nice, we'll put out a hit on it. ;)

I have a house full of pissed off New Yorkers. Brooklyn Italians, no less. :D The storm doesn't play nice, we'll put out a hit on it. ;)


lol my moms from Brooklyn before she moved to Jersey with my Dad and popped me out.

It was like having a hurricane in my house 24/7.

At least Francis has been downgraded to a Cat 3. I mean 135mph is nothing to sneeze at...but it could be a lot worse.

Well, its almost 4 and its very grey and getting pretty windy. Have already had some power glitches so I think in a little bit i'll pack it up. The storm may have been down graded but its still huge so we're gonna be having rain for awhile. They predicted like 9" here.

Its funny, this morning ast I went to my friend's building to go move some things in her apt away from the windows I saw quite a few units with the "X's" of tape. Well they must have been listening to the same radio station I was because this afternoon when I got up on my bed to lock my windows I looked over and saw everyone had taken the tape off (someone had called and asked if taping does any good and they said no, all it does is leave yer windows a sticky mess) So Im glad I didnt.

Other than that im just preparing for a boring night and day tomorrow. And ear plugs to drown out the loud rain..... Be safe everyone, Be checking back in probably around Sunday night... :gl:

Well, downgraded to a catagory 2.....if we are lucky, it will be a tropical storm by the time it reaches Orlando. Keep your fingers crossed :)

Well, after being prepared to stay for 48 hours at work, the recent downgrades made it possible for me to go home for the night. The outlook seems better, but anything can happen

Had to break the curfew to get home..........


check out I-95 at 10:00 tonight....


ghost town.. not a car in sight.

I won't see that again in Florida in 50 years.

Well, after being prepared to stay for 48 hours at work, the recent downgrades made it possible for me to go home for the night. The outlook seems better, but anything can happen

Had to break the curfew to get home..........


check out I-5 at 10:00 tonight....


ghost town.. not a car in sight.

I won't see that again in Florida in 50 years.


Cool pic :)
I think you are exempt from curfew if it's job related.

starting to feel some affects now but its still a good 100 miles offshore. woke up with no power but luckily came back on...Lord, already getting cabing fever (been home since Thursday) and its only just the beginning. LOL, i know I'll safe just pray I dont go stir crazy hahahaha :spaz:

Just got my internet connection back

So far so good....

House is still here. :D Some trees in the yard down and a coach light on the front of the house blew off. So grateful that it looks like we'll survive this. It's still a weak category 3, but much better than a 4.
We should be in the eye within the next 5 hours.. :spaz:

My prayers are out to all my fellow Floridians, especially those north of me.

Biggest problem is the damn thing is moving so slow ! :mad:

Note to self: Look for Seattle property on Tuesday

Our power was out briefly, but it's back on now. We are getting very mild feeders on and off.


Be safe, ABguy :)

Our power was out briefly, but it's back on now. We are getting very mild feeders on and off.\

We've had power blinks all day, but it hasn't gone out. I just wish the damn thing would get here, get it over with and move along... this waiting, waiting and more waiting is driving me nuts.

-R

\

I just wish the damn thing would get here, get it over with and move along... this waiting, waiting and more waiting is driving me nuts.

-R

Amen, Brutha. I'll end up losing 10 lbs during a "bulk" !

I just wish the damn thing would get here, get it over with and move along... this waiting, waiting and more waiting is driving me nuts.

Yes, I wish it would get here and pass, as well.

I had power loss for about 24 hours. Most damage here is tree stuff and loss of power (thank God that was all)

I have no idea how this happened, but there was no loss of power, no loss of cable/Internet, I didn't lose a single piece of my new roof, and other than a few roof tiles (from other houses) laying in my yard, this place is perfect. Not a single problem to report here, except that if they don't open the barrier islands back up and get my folks out of here, I'm going to kill them.

Anybody look at the projected path on Ivan? Could be the next one on our doorstep. Bring it on...

-R

Still no power over here :mad:

Had some moderate damage to the cars, roof and yard, but I guess I should be thankful.

Sewers are backing up too.... Not a pretty aroma in the neighborhood.

Finally have internet at work.

If I have to sleep another night w/o air, I'm gonna lose my mind !

Schools are cancelled in PBC until Monday.

Looks like we're the only ones in town that don't have their power back on.

I work in Lauderdale, and it's back to normal down here, so hopefully it won't be much longer.

Glad to hear that John, Lisa and Roger made it through.

I think the gym is open. I have some agressions I need to work out today.

Peace all.


Brian