Hurricane Ian

[caveman]

I've got a bad feeling about this storm.  It is projected to be a slow mover.  When I was driving north today, I noticed that all of the rivers and swamps were close to full or near flood stage. That will lead to a lot of blown over trees and flooding.  On a personal note, my parents have a place on Anna Maria Island, which is on the southern end of Tampa Bay.  There is a projected storm surge of up to 10' in the bay.  Their insurance was cancelled on 9/20 due to couple of chipped shingles on the roof.  I have been asking the insurance company for a picture of the roof damage so I could fix it since 8/1.  The chipped shingles were likely due to debris from Irma in 2017.  I finally got the pictures last week.  Insurance was cancelled on 9/20.  I have a customer/friend who is a roofer who planned to go down there this week to measure how much metal he would need to put a new roof on the place.  Hopefully, next week there will be a place to put a roof on.  We'll deal with this like everything else.  

The slow movement of this storm and the fact that the ground is already saturated will cause a lot of trees to be blown over which will result in a lot of property damage and power outages.

[Walnut Beast]

They are predicting this one is going to be a rough one. The last nasty one was 1912 that Tampa had. Stay safe! 

[Guydreads]

Prayers go out to all on the east coast. I've got family up a little north of there in North Carolina that could be hit as well, but certainly not with the force down in Florida

[customsawyer]

Yup they are drawing the path to be close to my shop again like it was with Michael a few years ago. If we get half of what we got back then I will have plenty to do next week. I still won't get it near as bad as y'all down there. Hunker down and hold on tight.

[aigheadish]

Good luck y'all! I have a buddy in Orlando I'm kind of worried about. I don't really have a concept of how this kind of storm goes, but I think they cover entire states at a time, so I don't know what can really be done. edited due to not knowing which way it was going...

[Corley5]

I've got friends north of Tampa.  They retired to the area a few years back but summer up here.  They're quite proud that they've got generator fuel and provisions including first aid supplies and they feel their place is storm proof.  They're going to ride it out to care for people in their community that can't leave.  Noble for sure.  I told them a storm like this is nothing to trifle with and to load those people up and head for Tennessee.  There's no comparison between a Northern  Michigan blizzard and Cat 4 hurricane.   I hope they reconsider and bug out.

[petefrom bearswamp]

We have friends and acquaintances in various parts of the state.
hoping and praying that all in the storms path stay safe.
Is Raider Bill home yet?

[firefighter ontheside]

Sitting at my kitchen table waiting for a phone call that may or may not come.  Numerous FEMA search and rescue task forces have been deployed from Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and maybe even California.  I'm expecting that MO will be called up too and I will likely be on my way to Florida today.  Storm surge is always the big killer with these storms.  Those who are in the path of forecasted storm surge are the ones who really need to get out and I hope they do.  

[aigheadish]

Is Raider Bill home yet?

He posted on the WDH thread about 10 minutes earlier than your post here, looks like yes but I may be mistaken.

[Raider Bill]

I'm home Pete.

As of this morning the storm track has a coming ashore bullseye on my house. I live just a couple miles from the gulf in the Tampa Bay area. Supposed to make landfall here.

We are hardening up and getting projectiles put away. I have a solid concrete safe room in the center of the house. If the roof stays on and the huge oak tree in my front yard doesn't fall on the house we will be ok. I am at a whopping 48 ft above sea level on a ridge so flooding isn't a issue.

Got the generators running, of course one of them now has a fuel petcock leak and is not servicable..

Like Caveman our home insurance was cancelled last month due to a roof older than 10 years [it is 15].
Everyone stopped selling homeowners or went insolvent so 100's of thousands of Floridian are without insurance this time around.
My rentals are all uninsured for wind.

They will be shutting down all the west bound bridges over Tampa Bay probably later today and open them for eastbound only for evacuation. West bound to the beaches is closed.
Not sure where everyone going as all the interstates out are parking lots.

Mobile homes and flood zones are under a mandatory evac. Once the winds hit 50 MPH the Fire and Police Dept will not respond to calls for service. You are on your own.
Schools and businesses are closing.

My drinking Buddy is supposed to fly back this afternoon from Pittsburgh but that's not looking good so I'm going to have to go up to his place and try to get it in order. He has a open woodshop with only a roof over and one wall so everything has to go inside. his house. I'm sure his wife is going to appraiciate me more when I clutter up her dining room with tools, wood  and equipment.

As normal, stores are picked clean, plywood, propane and gas are gone. People are starting to lose their minds and tempers.

I've been here 36 years, been through several storms but this one has me worried.

[Old Greenhorn]

Started watching this one last evening on the radar. This morning the eye wall was just hitting the north coast of the west end of Cuba. Lets see what the track does when it's fully over water again. Those predicted slows speeds scare the heck out of me. 3-4MPH?! That could be the worst part of it. Having been through a few of these I know that once it hits all I could think about was how long before it passes? When that eye comes over you get a weird sense of relief, then it starts all over again, sometimes even worse and take a while for it to clear. This one doesn't look good.
 Keep your heads down folks and stay as safe as you can. Bill, if you get the call, well, you know the drill. Everybody goes home, right?

[Andries]

Get as prepared as you can, all you Southerners. Wishing you all the best of luck.

[Raider Bill]

Last model I saw has it coming ashore near Venice.
It's 300 miles wide, slow moving at may hit Cat 4 status.
Someones going to get pounded hard on the west coast.
I hope it's not me and feel sorry for where it does.
We have hardened as much as we can. Lawn pots and figurines are picked up, anything that may fly. Took my flag pole down.
Always wish I had more gas cans but all 6 of mine are full as are all the bikes, car and truck. Plenty of propane, food and water. I'll get ice tomorrow at my friends restaurant.
One of my employees lives in a M/H so she and her Aunt are going to stay with us. She lost a M/H with Irma.
We are now helping the neighbors.
Tonight we will go out for pizza and beer.
Tomorrow friends that do not have garages will bring their bikes over to mine.
Starting tomorrow evening it's going to get real sporty around here.

[caveman]

I started tying down the piles of lumber (oops, I just remembered one behind my shop I need to attend to), ratchet straps over the kiln frame and a tall lumber pile, boarded up my house and put corrugated commercial roofing panels over a mostly glass 20' wall on my parents' house, aluminum diamond plate over my mom's bedroom sliding glass door, and parked a loaded trailer in front of the windows in the room my dad now sleeps in.  John had to work until noon and then he came over to help.  We may board up his house tomorrow.  If this thing goes ashore south of Tampa Bay that is a better scenario for Raider Bill and my folks' place on AMI.

 Folks with livestock often paint their phone numbers on the sides of their cattle or horses.  One of our good, repeat wood customers lost a couple of heifers during a storm several years ago.  I first met him when he was looking for them out in front of my place.

Beach house on Anna Maria Island.  I fixed the soffit the last time I was there and rebuilt the a/c stand (It is about 9' above the ground).
 
 

 

 
I had prenumbered and predrilled plywood to install over the windows of our house. We did this in 2004, when we had three hurricanes hit our county in the month of September.  I store them on top of a pallet rack in the shop.  They have been used on numerous occasions. Based on the latest forecast, we will have the brunt of the storm to deal with at our place, north of Lakeland, during the day on Thursday.  This is better than Irma, which came in the night in 2017.  Irma sounded like a freight train when it came over our house but we were fortunate to only lose a lot of trees. 
 
The younger two cavegirls helped JMoore and me hang metal over the larger windows to hopefully protect them from debris.
 

A worst case scenario on the storm surge would put the dock about 9' under water and would be most of the way up the garage doors on the blue house which is on this canal that is on the southern end of Tampa Bay.  

Tree of the DAY.  What is the tall tree above the boat's t-top on the horizon?

[Old Greenhorn]

Caveman, I hope you, Raider Bill, and all our other members down there have an easier go of it than is expected. You guys all know the drill. Carry on and Godspeed.

[Ianab]

Tree of the DAY.  What is the tall tree above the boat's t-top on the horizon

My guess is Araucaria columnaris, New Caledonia pine. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_columnaris
Closely related to Norfolk Island pine, but noticeably more slender. It's also very salt and wind resistant, it should survive most hurricanes. 

Looks like you have done all you can to prepare, so good luck. 

[caveman]

Thanks, Ian.  Happy spring.  I believe it is a Norfolk Island Pine.  At least that is what I assumed it was.  The only Araucaria trees I'm familiar with are the monkey puzzle and Norfolk Island Pine.  I need to brush up on my Araucarias.

[Ianab]

Yeah, very similar to Norfolk Island pine, possibly even sold as that in plant shops? But Norfolks tend to be more tapered  with larger spreading lower branches and a more pointed top. A tall column form like that is probably a NC. 

[florida]

I've been out in the rain since noon yesterday getting stuff ready but you can never be ready enough. I bit the bullet today and boarded up all the windows which I hate doing and before this happens again I'll have all new Impact-rated windows and doors. I turned the big potted plants on their sides and set empty garbage cans under the eves of the barn so they'd fill with rainwater tonight and not blow away tomorrow. After Irma I put more SS diagonal cables on the pool cage so hopefully, I'll be okay there, it took me a year to get the screens replaced after they blew out.
Landfall is only about 30 miles away if it hits as predicted so at this point I hope it turns east toward us. I'll take the eye over the east side winds anytime. If we get the full winds I'm afraid I could lose a bunch of big pines and a couple are close enough to hit the house. I don't know how many hurricanes I've been through, certainly 20, maybe 30 or more, who counts, but this one worries me.

[customsawyer]

That tree looks like one of those new fancy cell towers. Get your blades sharp.

[Stephen1]

Good luck in the south, A lot of prep goes into getting ready. We were in Hilton Head a few years ago and watch all the islanders prepare for a hurricane. We left with the locals as they turned all the highways east and north. It was quite an experience. 

[pigman]

My wife's grandson and family live a few miles east of Bradenton. They will be safe from  storm surge, but looks like they will have high winds. We were planning to go down in two weeks. Now we will just wait and see how things turn out.
 

[Raider Bill]

Now we wait..

[Mooseherder]

We are back here if you guys need something please don't hesitate.  
I can load up and bring it but can't leave here until October 3rd.

[florida]

This is torture. I think it's time for several adult beverages.  It's raining cats and dogs, wind is gusting to about 60 and they are predicting as much as an 18' surge.  The creek is already full to the top. We've got another 24 hours of this.