# Godspeed to those in Irma's path



## HeyImBen (Mar 7, 2013)

I don't know how many members to my south and east are likely to be affected by Irma, but I just wanted to take a second and say stay safe and best of luck. Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton is and Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama are opening up their camping facilities for free to any Irma evacuees.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

That's good to know and very generous of them. 

One of my neighbors was going to evacuate and I asked where he was going to go. He said, Georgia. I was worried about that because he didn't really have a destination and had no idea where he was going to end up. His wife talked him in to staying.

The trouble with evacuating from Florida is there is only one way to go and that's north. That clogs up the roads and during Andrew, there were tons of people stalled by the side of the road, sleeping in their cars. That's a bad idea with Irma.

Even if I wanted to evacuate, I don't know when my grandson's work is going to shut down. I'm guessing he's going to have to work through tomorrow and then it's too late.

My shutters don't fit right and one window is uncovered. Two of my wonderful neighbors worked all morning putting them up. My generator is stuck in Georgia and my gas cans are stuck in Louisville. If the electric goes out, we'll survive that although a generator for the fans and fridge would be really nice.

I've lived in Florida since 1958 and I've never seen people take a hurricane so seriously or start to prepare so early.

Irma is coming to town and the music of drills fills the air.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> I've lived in Florida since 1958 and I've never seen people take a hurricane so seriously or start to prepare so early.
> 
> Irma is coming to town and the music of drills fills the air.


I'm guessing it's a combination of relatively fresh memories of Andrew and Katrina and even fresher ones of Harvey.


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## HeyImBen (Mar 7, 2013)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> The trouble with evacuating from Florida is there is only one way to go and that's north. That clogs up the roads and during Andrew, there were tons of people stalled by the side of the road, sleeping in their cars. That's a bad idea with Irma.


441 from West Palm up to Orlando and then I-75 north through south Georgia looks miserable traffic wise. And due to Harvey, the shortage of gas is a real nightmare. I pray you stay safe from this beast named Irma.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

As of yesterday, WaWa still had gas and was expecting another tanker full.

"Florida Gov. Rick Scott says he expects the state's gas stations to have fuel within a day.

Scott said Wednesday he is aware that there have been shortages and long lines, but that after talking with fuel retailers his goal is to see the stations restocked with gas by Thursday morning."

"The attorney general also said she had been talking directly to retailers such as Amazon. Bondi says the state has received complaints about excessive delivery fees for items such as water. She says the company has told her it suspended 12 third-party vendors because of gouging complaints."

I ordered gas cans from Amazon to fuel my (so far) non-existent but paid for generator. The guy said if the generators haven't arrived by 6pm today, he'll be issuing refunds because he "doesn't know if we will even be in business after Irma."

I've been stocking my freezers with containers of water both for drinking and to hopefully preserve some of my food. I've also got the big freezer turned up high and will turn up my fridge freezer Saturday morning. That's when we should be getting tropical storm winds.

I'm pretty confident that Irma will be no more than a Cat 4 and possibly a Cat 3 when she reaches my area. Not that I wish the people from Cuba any harm, but hurricanes have traditionally crossed the mountainous regions of Cuba which break it up some. So far, not this time. 

My dog definitely knows something is up and refuses to go for his walks.


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## Victoria LK (Jan 31, 2014)

Thanks for the good wishes. I'm north of Palm Beach and we will take a hit! I'm staying with my family and pets, house is secure (new roof last month) food and supplies and great neighbors all looking out for each other!
It's wonderful to see how differences can be put aside and caring can take their place. Praying for all in the path of Irma. We'll get through it-have to, there's another one out there...somewhere.
Maybe I'll get some writing time in before I loose power.


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## Eeyore (Jul 16, 2009)

Good-luck Gertie and Victoria ! Be sure you stay tuned to the National Hurricane Center for the latest official news. They update 3 or 4 times each day. And follow what your local Office of Emergency Services recommends!

Link: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Also I can recommend Levi Cowan's site. He is an expert on tropical hurricanes and typhoons and explains the latest information from the NHC in easy to understand terms. (Click on his video.) He has been with the Weather Underground nerds for many years and is finishing up his Masters Degree in Tropical Atmospheric Science. Many 'nerds' bookmark his site because he is able to receive and post the raw data that is transmitted by the Hurricane Hunters as they fly into the eye of hurricanes.

Link: https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/

And Victoria, do what Gertie is doing with containers of water in the freezer. When the power goes out, ice is GOLD. A solid block in the form of 2 liter soda bottles or 1 gallon plastic containers lasts much longer than a bag of ice in keeping things cool. 

All the Best.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Victoria, I see you're about 45 minutes north of me. I'll see if I can slow Irma down a bit before I send her on to you.  

Writing, yes, that would be a good thing. And I've got my AlphaSmart Neo so I don't need power. 

Right now, she's moving at 16mph. Pretty fast clip considering Harvey only got up to about 6mph. The problem with Irma is she's a big brute. Tropical Storm winds are 185 miles out from the center which means we'll be feeling the effects as early as Saturday morning. 

SiL was here for two hours trying to get up the last of the shutters but the masonry kept crumbling. He's mostly done, but he'll have to finish the second one tomorrow night.

When this is over, I'll be getting prices on accordion shutters. I don't care if I have to put a second mortgage on my house. I don't even care if we never have another hurricane and I never get to use them. I'm not going through this again and not putting my family and neighbors through helping me while they try to secure their own houses. 

I've been watching the National Hurricane Center and also trying to get news updates. The problem is, they keep recirculating the same stories because Irma is holding steady to her course.

Anybody have an idea why my standing freezer should suddenly be getting burning hot on the top and sides?


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## deckard (Jan 13, 2011)

Sitting here in Gainesville watching as things develop. The most recent path prediction has Irma's eye passing a few miles to our east. It looks like no matter where you are in Florida, you're going to get hit.

Be safe everyone.

Deckard


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

deckard said:


> Sitting here in Gainesville watching as things develop. The most recent path prediction has Irma's eye passing a few miles to our east. It looks like no matter where you are in Florida, you're going to get hit.
> 
> Be safe everyone.
> 
> Deckard


By the time Irma reaches the panhandle, she'll at least have weakened some.

Yes, we're all going to get hit. It looks like I'm right in the path of the eye but she hasn't turned yet. Not, as you said, that it's going to make a lot of difference.

My generator arrived this morning. Now I just need my gas cans to get here so I can go out and search for gas to run it.

My SiL's ex left 3:30 yesterday morning from Pembroke Pines and it took them 13.5 hours to get to Pensacola. My cousin and his wife left Ft Lauderdale yesterday and it took them six hours to get 100 miles.

I've only got one working flashlight and, since I just moved, my candles are still packed somewhere. So are the matches. Finding them is high on my list of priorities today.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I have relatives in Naples and friends 40 miles west of Panama City. Things look better on the west / gulf coast than on the east?

*ETA:* The European model forecast has Irma making landfall in the Naples area Sunday morning. I have a cousin there who went incommunicado with family a few years ago?? Their family business. I wonder what she / they are doing.


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## HeyImBen (Mar 7, 2013)

The Euro has performed best with Irma. I'm curious if she continues her west trend at 12Z. Wouldn't take much to keep this thing off the west coast of Florida. Crazy, crazy storm. I live just northwest of Atlanta and we are even looking at some tropical storm force winds and 2-5 inches of rain.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

If Irma makes landfall at Naples, that puts the bad side of the storm on the east coast. Not good. Well, really, there's nothing good. 

My generator just arrived. All set up and gassed. Working fine. Of course, I can't use it during the storm. It would be a shame to survive Irma and then die of carbon monoxide poisoning.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

My gas cans, scheduled for delivery yesterday but delayed in KY, are now scheduled to arrive on the 9th. Tomorrow. Uh-huh. Like they are going to be delivering anything in Tropical Storm conditions. Even if they deliver, I'm guessing the gas stations will be all buttoned down tomorrow. But my neighbor gave me his gas and he's going to refill his 6 gal gas can. There seems to be plenty of gas for now.

DD has 15 gals and maybe she can spare half a can. We'll see. I don't plan on running the generator full tilt until it runs out. When I see the ice melting, I'll turn it back on for half an hour or until the ice is forming again.


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## Eeyore (Jul 16, 2009)

Sandpiper said:


> I have relatives in Naples and friends 40 miles west of Panama City. Things look better on the west / gulf coast than on the east?
> 
> *ETA:* The European model forecast has Irma making landfall in the Naples area Sunday morning. I have a cousin there who went incommunicado with family a few years ago??


Remember, do not get fixiated on the exact path of the hurricane. Concentrate on the "cone" that the National Hurricane Center has shown. There is always an error 24 hours out from landfall of +/- 25 miles because their are so many variables involved. With Irma they are dealing with the Bermuda High pressure area to the east, a high pressure area to the west near Texas, and a low pressure front that is moving down around Arkansas/Mississippi that has the jetstream pulling down with it. All are constantly moving and will affect Irma's motion to the east or west.

And yes, the European models have been the most accurate predictor for the past two major hurricanes.

All the Best.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Eeyore said:


> Remember, do not get fixiated on the exact path of the hurricane. Concentrate on the "cone" that the National Hurricane Center has shown. There is always an error 24 hours out from landfall of +/- 25 miles because their are so many variables involved. With Irma they are dealing with the Bermuda High pressure area to the east, a high pressure area to the west near Texas, and a low pressure front that is moving down around Arkansas/Mississippi that has the jetstream pulling down with it. All are constantly moving and will affect Irma's motion to the east or west.
> 
> And yes, the European models have been the most accurate predictor for the past two major hurricanes.
> 
> All the Best.


I was living a few blocks from the corridor that Andrew was supposed to come down. At the last minute, he turned 4 degrees and walloped South Miami. The models have vastly improved since 1992, but no matter what they say or predict, a hurricane has a mind of its own.

We had a short hallway between a bathroom, a bedroom, and a linen closet. I put down a mattress and that's where DD and I slept. Had there been flying glass, we would have been protected. I didn't have any shutters at all. We all criss-crossed our windows with masking tape in hopes if the windows blew, the tape would hold the shards together.

This time, the mattress is going down in my walk-in closet and GS and I (and the dog) will be sleeping there. We have hurricane shutters but Irma's high winds could send them flying.

Right now, I'm defrosting and cooking all the raw meat I have in my freezer. Then I'll refreeze it so if we lose power for weeks, it will last a little longer. A generator can't keep us going forever, not without a steady supply of gas.

Don't forget to fill up your tubs and have a bucket handy so you can flush. Make sure you have bleach so if the water supply is contaminated, you can purify it with the bleach.


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## deckard (Jan 13, 2011)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Make sure you have bleach so if the water supply is contaminated, you can purify it with the bleach.


I brew my own beer so water isn't a problem for me. I have a 7 gallon and another 5 gallon fermenter, a 6.5 gallon carboy and a 5 gallon carboy, 2-5 gallon jugs I use for reverse osmosis water, and a 5 gallon bottling bucket. All will be filled with water tonight. That should last my wife and me a couple of days!

Deckard


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

deckard said:


> I brew my own beer so water isn't a problem for me. I have a 7 gallon and another 5 gallon fermenter, a 6.5 gallon carboy and a 5 gallon carboy, 2-5 gallon jugs I use for reverse osmosis water, and a 5 gallon bottling bucket. All will be filled with water tonight. That should last my wife and me a couple of days!
> 
> Deckard


I think you're well supplied. 

Important safety tip: Don't try to cook while you are bringing things inside. Charred meat won't last any longer than well cooked meat. Oh, well. The next batch goes into the pressure cooker with an automatic shut off.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Hanging in. 

SiL brought over enough gas to fill up my generator and left the can with me. WaWa still has gas and no lines, so I was able to fill up the can. I filled up my car on Tuesday and have barely driven it since then.


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## Victoria LK (Jan 31, 2014)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Victoria, I see you're about 45 minutes north of me. I'll see if I can slow Irma down a bit before I send her on to you.
> 
> Writing, yes, that would be a good thing. And I've got my AlphaSmart Neo so I don't need power.
> 
> ...


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Victoria LK said:


> 10:20 and we're getting our 1st rain. I bit of a relief to see she's swinging a bit west-at least for now!
> It funny how close you are to me.
> I think I'm going to look into a alpha smart and add it to my hurricane supplies. Although now that I have time to write, I can't. My mind keeps going to Irma.


We got our first heavy rain just as I took Angelo out for his morning walk about 7am. We only made it about halfway before the rain increased substantially. He didn't mind but I did.

The problem with Irma swinging west means we are on the bad side of the storm. On the other hand, there probably isn't a good side.

I wish we had new information. All the reports seem to be a rehash of the earlier reports.

I keep thinking of things I still need to do, but the main thing is I have a generator filled with gas and an extra can.


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## Eeyore (Jul 16, 2009)

Good morning! Hurricane Irma seems to be slowly bouncing along the coast of Cuba. Speed has slowed as well as intensity (strong Category 3) from it's interaction with the coast.

Updated: Here is an interesting live link from Marathon Resort in Key West. Hope it lasts. Don't mind the picture the owner of the site put up...


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I'm quite a bit north of the Keys, but the wind and rain are starting to kick up.


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## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

Harvey is making many of us more nervous about Irma. Our friends don't plan to leave. It seems like good idea if one can and have place to stay out of Irma's pathway. I really wish every body the very best and feel in my heart that everything will be fine.


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

I am just north of Fort Lauderdale and the wind is picking up. Tomorrow will be challenging. My heart goes to my beloved city of Key West where first responders and meteorologist are still working. Thank you all for good wishes.
BTW, those hurricane shutters were money well spent 🙂


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

anguabell said:


> I am just north of Fort Lauderdale and the wind is picking up. Tomorrow will be challenging. My heart goes to my beloved city of Key West where first responders and meteorologist are still working. Thank you all for good wishes.
> BTW, those hurricane shutters were money well spent &#128578;


I think I can look for your current conditions to reach me in about 12 hours. I just took the dog out for a walk. It's just drizzling and the wind was okay, until a gust hit me. So, I guess I'm done walking Angelo until probably Monday night. At least I got out of the house. I've only been on lockdown for about five hours and I'm already suffering from cabin fever.

Anguabell, I'll be trading in my regular shutters for accordion shutters. Not only am I getting too old to wrestle these things onto the windows, but so are my neighbors.


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## HeyImBen (Mar 7, 2013)

Margaret, looks like you folks on the east coast of Florida may escape Irma's core, although I imagine the tornado threat is strong. This thing just wants to keep going west. Now the panhandle's in play.


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## Reign Waters-Gray (Apr 4, 2017)

HeyImBen said:


> Margaret, looks like you folks on the east coast of Florida may escape the worst of it. This thing just wants to keep going west. Now the panhandle's in play.


Hello Acworth, I'm about 30-40 miles from you 

The thought that some projections show ATL getting a tropical storm is still horrible for here, I can't imagine being in FL right now


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## HeyImBen (Mar 7, 2013)

Reign Waters-Gray said:


> Hello Acworth, I'm about 30-40 miles from you
> 
> The thought that some projections show ATL getting a tropical storm is still horrible for here, I can't imagine being in FL right now


Hi neighbor! Stay safe come Monday and Tuesday!


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

HeyImBen said:


> Margaret, looks like you folks on the east coast of Florida may escape Irma's core, although I imagine the tornado threat is strong. This thing just wants to keep going west. Now the panhandle's in play.


Just got an alert on my phone that there's a tornado warning here until 8PM. That's about another half hour. I've got my closet door open and ready to pop in. Just hope I can grab the dog to get him in with me. GS has never been through anything like this. He's closest to the bathroom. His bathroom has a doorknob. None of the other rooms do because we were painting the doors.

Nothing else going on right now.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I finally found a streaming news channel about 50 miles south of me. The good news for us is it's moving so far west (euro model) that during the worst of it, we'll have sustained winds of about 35mph and gusts up to 75mph.

It looks like the biggest danger on our west coast is a 12-15 foot storm surge. Our biggest threat is tornados.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

We're just getting the outer bands here. I'm about 270 miles north of Key West and Irma is just about to make landfall there. That gives you an idea of how massive this storm is.

We're going to get the worst of it about 10pm to 4am. I hate night-time storms. It seems so much scarier in the dark.


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> We're just getting the outer bands here. I'm about 270 miles north of Key West and Irma is just about to make landfall there. That gives you an idea of how massive this storm is.
> 
> We're going to get the worst of it about 10pm to 4am. I hate night-time storms. It seems so much scarier in the dark.


It's 4:30 pm here and we are in the middle of it. The building is shaking, water seeping in from the neighbors. It is scary but it's nothing compared to Naples. Next 2 hours will be difficult. How are you Gertie?


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

anguabell said:


> It's 4:30 pm here and we are in the middle of it. The building is shaking, water seeping in from the neighbors. It is scary but it's nothing compared to Naples. Next 2 hours will be difficult. How are you Gertie?


Good. I can hear stuff hitting my house but it's holding fast. Looks like the tree across the street is going to go. Yes, they changed it to an earlier time but it should be tapering off at 2am.

Lights are flickering. but we're still okay.

Poor Ft. Pierce. Poor Naples.

My poor dog wants to go out so bad.


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

It is getting better, slowly. Best wishes to Gertie and her dog, keeping my fingers crossed for you. May the good KBoard vibes protect you.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I got to take Angelo out this morning. Whew. 

We're still under tropical storm warning but that's gusts. We had gusts up to 99 mph yesterday. Mostly the wind is abating. We've still got sustained winds near tropical storm but by noon, we should be back to our normal rainy season.

My house is in pretty good shape. I lost a few shingles and my trees are about 50% bare of leaves. Neighbors fared much worse.

Florida is pretty much out of gas, but supplies are coming in from Houston, of all places.

17K power company linemen have come from as far away as California. I know my cousin's husband's work is sending 90 teams down here. I'm among the lucky 23% in my county that still has power.

Martin County sheriff are stopping people trying to come into the county or are out and about during curfew hours. The Sheriff just said some of their marked cars have even stopped some of their unmarked cars.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

And, lest we forget, today is 9-11.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Victoria, we haven't heard from you. Let us know how you are as soon as you can. My cousin lives in your area and he lost power.

My cousin is a chef and he's on his way to Miami to cook for the workers who are cleaning up and restoring utilities.


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## Eeyore (Jul 16, 2009)

Gertie--glad you and Anguabell are okay. Still no word from Victoria or Reign or Deckard? Keeping my fingers crossed. Lots of power outages across the state according to CNN.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Eeyore said:


> Gertie--glad you and Anguabell are okay. Still no word from Victoria or Reign or Deckard? Keeping my fingers crossed. Lots of power outages across the state according to CNN.


Hope we hear from them soon. I haven't heard about any serious injuries.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

So glad to hear from some of you. I hope the others are ok also. I been watching all day and its just heartbreaking all that has been going on. Even though they said it would be bad, I was so hoping it would not be. Just devastating all across Florida and the islands.


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## deckard (Jan 13, 2011)

Lots of wind and rain in Gainesville. Still cleaning up. No land line phone or internet---using my work computer. Had some large tree branches fall and lots of debris. Luckily, no damage to the house. Several trees down in my neighborhood but no house damage that I have heard of. Several co-workers got flooded and many without power. I just saw where they are closing part of I 75 due to flooding of rivers.

Deckard


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

deckard said:


> Lots of wind and rain in Gainesville. Still cleaning up. No land line phone or internet---using my work computer. Had some large tree branches fall and lots of debris. Luckily, no damage to the house. Several trees down in my neighborhood but no house damage that I have heard of. Several co-workers got flooded and many without power. I just saw where they are closing part of I 75 due to flooding of rivers.
> 
> Deckard


So good to hear from you. I hope they restore power for you soon. I understand that it will be at least a week for some areas. Clean up is probably going to take even longer.

We're on the same grid as a hospital ER and a Fire Station, so we don't really lose power. I have a generator anyway. My daughter has power but all the people across the street from her do not.


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

deckard said:


> Lots of wind and rain in Gainesville. Still cleaning up. No land line phone or internet---using my work computer. Had some large tree branches fall and lots of debris. Luckily, no damage to the house. Several trees down in my neighborhood but no house damage that I have heard of. Several co-workers got flooded and many without power. I just saw where they are closing part of I 75 due to flooding of rivers.
> 
> Deckard


Good to hear from you. We got power restored today, which was good because the combination of 95 degree heat and soaking wet carpeting was making me a bit dizzy. I know the utility companies are working 24/7, so I'm hoping they will fix all the lines ASAP.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

We lost power for about ten minutes today. I'm guessing they were doing repairs and cut power so they could do it safely.


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## deckard (Jan 13, 2011)

We have power and AC. It took 4 days to get our land line back working. Still no internet at home (I'm using my work computer!).

Deckard


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

deckard said:


> We have power and AC. It took 4 days to get our land line back working. Still no internet at home (I'm using my work computer!).
> 
> Deckard


Congrats on the power and a/c.

When they repaired someone else's Internet, they stole my wire pair and gave it to another customer. That's why my Internet went down for the last 2.5 days. I'm back up. First the inside tech came, then the outside tech and he was here all yesterday afternoon and this morning. I can't believe they came out so fast.

Now to get the shutters down. We can't take down two windows and the back door because of the new patio going in. So, they'll just have to stay up for at least two weeks after the concrete gets poured. Whenever that is.


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