For What It's Worth


Friday, September 8, 2017

preparing for irma


20170907_095718It looks like Hurricane Irma is headed my way – we just aren’t sure of the path and intensity yet.

Because so many people have asked me on social media if I’m evacuating and are worried I’ll give you a bit of info so you can get an idea of where I’m at in relation to Irma.

I am the red spot – so I’m in North Central FL. I’m not on the coast so evacuation is not really an issue for me. When people from the coast evacuate they come here. We won’t get storm surge and Irma isn’t supposed to be a huge rainmaker (because it’s moving so fast – unlike Harvey, that sat over TX for days).


On it’s current projected path, as of  5pm Thursday night,  the eye would pass very close to us as a Cat 1 or 2 around Monday morning. I would likely get 80-90 mph winds and 5-9 inches of rain. The big worry will be tornadoes - which are very common - especially in the upper right quadrant of a hurricane - as the rain bands keep rotating into FL as Irma moves up the coast. A shift even further west than it's current track would be bad for us.

Tornadoes are super scary and are what I’m most concerned about. Florida homes don't have basements to there's no real safe place to hide during a tornado. I've jammed myself and the pets into a closet during them before so I'll be as ready as I can be.

We will likely lose power and internet but maybe not. We went through 4 hurricanes in ONE MONTH in 2004 and I never lost my Dish signal lol But…I’ve lost everything during a light thunderstorm so you never know.

A track shift to the east would be great and lessen the impact but basically, this is a big storm and will affect all of FL in some way. The big curve north is supposed to occur Saturday so really, we won't have a handle on it until then.

To answer the question – why don’t you just leave FL – there’s a huge, unpredictable storm headed your way??!!

It’s not that easy. As I said – Irma is unpredictable. That cone shows all the possible paths for Irma and they could change by the day - or hour. The area I decide to go to to escape Irma could be the path that she decides to take and then I’m stuck. Then there are jobs and life – you can’t just run away a week in advance but by the time you can leave it’s too late and the roads are packed. There's already a traffic jam from FL to GA and it's only Thursday.

In those hurricanes of 2004 that I mentioned above – people got stuck on the HWY during the hurricane trying to escape the rapidly changing paths.

I know from a distance, it seems crazy to stay but sometimes hunkering down is the safest thing to do. Not always, of course, but it’s a complex issue.

We’ve got water, food, batteries Kevin has 2 generators ready. So we’re preparing and hoping for the best.

With the current path Miami would take the brunt of the storm and for them, at a Cat 5, that would be catastrophic.

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And just to end on a somewhat silly note – what the hell is going on at the Weather Channel?? I was watching the other night and they seem to be doing the weather from... a frat house basement?? lol























There’s peeling paint, a tie hanging from a lamp, a beer tap, random cups, an alarm clock...

And you can’t see but they are behind a distressed wood bar.

I’m just completely perplexed by this set up. lol
























I’m hoping to get some posts scheduled for next week and they should post even if I don’t have power or internet but I might not be able to visit blogs or comment back so you might not hear from me for a few days.

Keep everyone in Irma’s potential path – from FL all the way up the East coast in your thoughts!

22 comments:

  1. Quote:
    "We went through 4 hurricanes in ONE MONTH in 2004".
    O_O That's...I can't even.
    And you've had your share of scares this year as well.
    I hope things will turn out well (or not THAT bad at least), given the situation, but still - I understand it's scary. And it messes with your life big time, even if you're not in the most affected areas. All the poor people who live there :(. Sometimes I can't wrap my head around Florida being a paradise-like state, and then being hit by such disasters...

    Um, maybe the weather channel got evacuated as well LOL. But the tie's purpose, I can't guess ;D.

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    1. On the plus side - we haven't had any since 2004 so that's a long stretch. I guess we're making up for it with Irma. It's so big it will affect the whole state no matter where she hits.

      I expected them to start doing shots on TWC. A drinking game maybe...lol

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  2. I saw someone on Twitter talking about TWC and their weird set. Really? Is that supposed to be comic relief or something? SO weird.
    Really hoping Florida does okay. We have good friends who had to flee their house in Houston.
    Keep us posted!

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  3. That is such a bizarre set!

    I'm thinking positive thoughts for you and all in FL. I think everyone here in Jersey has someone in FL...so we're all worried.

    I totally think your logic is sound though. EVERYONE can't evacuate safely and in time...it's not like Florida is a small town. Sounds like you guys are prepared and as ready as you can be.

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  4. Hopefully it won't be bad where you are. Stay safe.

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  5. Take care now! And keep us updated :)

    Are you sure you are watching the real weather channel and not something hijacked by a local college, lol

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  6. Girlfriend. Be safe (and have LOTTS of batteries).

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  7. Stay safe! And wth is right, were they doing it at a frat house? lol!!

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  8. I am also really perplexed by those weather channel pictures lol. But yeah, it's just not feasible for EVERYONE to evacuate, and some people don't get that. Like you said, people have jobs and lives. Also, people are getting stuck on highways as it is. If everyone tried to evacuate, the people who really need to evac would just be a in even more of a traffic mess and might get stuck on the road. Anyway, stay safe <3

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  9. Well...it looks like you are prepared, but please stay safe!!! I understand how dangerous tornadoes are. I live in Dallas, and we can't have basements here either, so really there is no where to run. So stay safe!!

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    1. Yeah. there's no good place like they tell you to go in. We don't have basements or slid center rooms. I did have my closet set up with crates for the animals.

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  10. Yeah, I can't believe that's the Weather channel. Did they evacuate to someone's warehouse or something? It looks like a school project

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  11. I'm glad you're as prepared as you can be and I hope the worst of it passes you by. I think it's headed my grandparents way, but luckily, they are high up in an apartment building so their actual home should be okay, but hopefully not too much damage around them or they'll be stuck for awhile.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. It seems like power outages are the big thing and some tree damage. Hope they made it through ok.

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  12. Mom and them in Gainesville came through okay! Did yall lose power? Mine did but got it back fairly quickly other than my grandmom who is still without. Oy.

    I didn't think it was crazy for your area to not evacuate but I had friends less than 2 miles from the coast who didn't and them...yeah, I thought they were crazy for not going. They got very very lucky this time by some last minute changes in the path.

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    1. If I was in danger of storm surge I'd be out of there in a heart beat! Ocala/Gainseville is where most people come when they evacuate.

      I think if you're not familiar with FL it seems like the whole state is in danger of storm surge but it's not.

      Then my relatives up north just see on TV the traffic in Marion county of people leaving and assumed we were required to leave too.

      A lot of my friends in Gainesville lost power. We were REALLY lucky here.

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  13. I'm so glad you are okay!

    I missed the weather channel set up. That is hilarious!

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