Florida Peeps...here comes Ian.

If we can be thankful about one thing at least it's not hitting the shore at full blast in the middle of the night.

That is always the worst, especially if power goes out and you are in total darkness with that NOISE just completely surrounding you.......*shiver*

 

My girlfriend’s mom is in Cape Coral and refused to evacuate…hoping it turns away and spares the area.

 

Best of luck to you all. This one looks bad, very bad for a lot of people.

 

I live between the 41 and 776 signs in north port.

 

After Katrina me and the missus went down to the evacuee center in Gonzalez LA with a pickup full of whatever we could scrounge and beg. My wife insisted that we stop at every dollar store on the way and buy feminine hygiene pads. You'd have thought that we brought solid gold when those ladies saw those!

Pads, hypo-allergenic baby formula, dog crates, cleaning supplies. If anyone is going to take a truck down afterwards , those are the most needed items.

We might drive down ourselves in a couple of weeks. Not sure. Have to see how it goes with government and NGO responses.

 

"Tampa Bay is now on the side of the storm where Hurricane Ian’s powerful counterclockwise winds are blowing out to sea, which is draining the bay instead of flooding it. The same thing happened during Hurricane Irma in 2017. Along Bayshore Boulevard in South Tampa, the bay is now only a foot deep in some spots."

-NY Times

Hopefully GA is ok this weekend....Mets vs Braves is a huge series.

 

I'm in Wesley Chapel, about 20 minutes north of Tampa, and will be heading south daily to work claims in the areas hit for the coming weeks/months. If anyone needs anything, let me know and I'll do what I can to help.

 

Leave! <---hope this is done already. That close is not safe.

 

The storm just grazed my parents’ place near Marco island, but the surge is no joke. They have water coming in the house now and have decided to head to higher ground while they still can.

 

Hmmm, I wonder how accurate that will end up being. I'm right on the edge in the upper right of where the incoming blue stops in Buckingham.

 

That’s crazy. I lived on Bayshore blvd for a year and would run along the bay.

 

https://twitter.com/EFisherWX/status/1575098892311412736

 

That's what happens when the kids leave their toys out in the yard.

 

I just heard the eye is 35 miles in diameter, a " normal " hurricane is around 20. He's a big fucker.

 

Good luck to anyone affected, this seems pretty bad indeed.

 

I hope the folks currently just on the north side near the shore are ready for Ian to go from suck to blow with that storm surge. It can come in really fast.

 

I was there for Andrew. We taxied something like 50 aircraft into the Piper factory hangars. We only got a little rain.

 

At the risk of being a little premature, I am starting to think that this will not age well.