[beachmouse]

Considering how the state gets most of its gas by fuel barge along the Intracoastal, it's generally worth keeping gas tanks topped off even with a moderate tropical storm generating cones because a disruption in shipping by water can lead to shortages at the pumps fairly far from landfall. My area only got a light drizzle from Katrina but had a decided period of gas shortage afterwards because our gas is typically barged in from refineries in Louisiana.

Other than that, not much planned here even though the cone is edging toward the western Panhandle with every model run. We're in a location that doesn't flood even when you get 18 inches of rain in 36 hours (one of those springtime stalled fronts a few years back) and the power lines in town are buried so we never lost electricity or cable during Hurricane Ivan even though 98% of the rest of the area did. Will keep an eye on the number of pleasure boats moved to moorings in relatively protected Rocky Bayou so they aren't smashed against the docks in rough conditions (it's been an oddly accurate predictor of how bad a storm will be) and if there start to be a lot of them, then we'll revisit preparations early next week.

[Restrain]

Worst damage we ever experienced was when we lived on the southeast side of Houston. Had a Tropical Low come in, had as much as 42" of rain in 24 hours in some areas, over 2' where we lived, flooded us out. They were evacuating people by running air boats down the freeways, aka rivers.

[alex_ct]

Our condo association in Islamorada just ordered full closure of all hurricane shutters etc by tomorrow.. But this looks more like a rain rather than a wind event now....

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by StarfishKey

Cat 1s can also spawn multiple tornadoes, as hurricanes and even tropical storms do throughout SFL.

The number of the hurricane is not the measure of the severity of the expected storm damage or its potential danger - it is only a measure of its expected wind speed. That doesn't include rain, flooding, tornadoes, any of that. Some tropical storms are absolutely devastating. Some Cat 2s do very little damage at all.

Amen!

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by annerk

I buy in early June for the year as far as water and shelf stable food. Starting in November I start to use it up and then refresh the following year.

You are an inspiration!

[Miss Hepburn]

Cat 1?
Gee, there is a lot of warm water for it to get stronger, yikes!

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Sweetbottoms

Ha! Preparing for a Cat 1 is like stocking up for a thunderstorm.
Unless its 3 or above I'm not doing anything.

I see your point in Naples!

[jambo101]

Get out now while you still can!!

[StarfishKey]

Most of Florida is looking pretty lucky right now, although they still seem to have little idea of just where the storm is really going, or even if it's going to remain a system long enough to hit places like the Keys, West coast, and Panhandle.

Two factors were at play here though that needed to be considered for possible level of impact. Even though the wind speeds appeared to have dropped down, we are apparently reaching a point of what is called "king tide" here in SFL. It just so happens that the full moon was lining up with the sun in just such a way that for several days, tides will all be 6 inches higher than they usually are. Even without a storm, king tides often cause flooding to many areas, especially to below-flood areas like the majority of the Keys, or Miami Beach. So if you add the close to a foot of rain that this storm has been dropping on various islands, even without any wind at all, that could still cause a lot of damage for some areas.

Hurricane Sandy had so little rainfall, but even so the majority of damage (and deaths) stemmed from a similar unusually high tide event which caused crazy high storm surge. So it's a good thing to keep in mind for the future, that these storms are complicated, and the wind speeds actually tell very little of the story.

The other thing to consider is that even for people outside of the "cone of doom," lol, the majority of rainfall is on the East side of the storm - which is most of us now. So to some extent, people with less chance of any high winds, have more chance of flooding. We do need the rain for the reservoirs, but it might still be a lot for fairly parched earth to take in such a short time.

Had we had a Category 1 hurricane hit directly, WITH the king tides, the slow-moving system that this seems to be, and the high rainfall that Erika also has, that could have been pretty disastrous, especially in coastal areas of SFL. Even without the king tide and the hurricane-force winds, Erika has killed anywhere from 20-51 people at this point, with 31 people still missing in Dominica, and their nation in utter destruction. Rain and flooding do a huge amount of damage, even without very fast wind speed. We don't have the mountains to have mudslides fortunately, but rising water can still cause a lot of damage to first-floor buildings.

Hopefully this has been a good dry run for a lot of people in various counties, to get prepared and rethink their hurricane strategies. Florida is not going to go forever without a strong hit from a real hurricane, so we need some practice from time to time. Apparently there is another tropical wave out there with 60% of becoming a storm, so we still have to keep our eyes open.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

I see your point in Naples! :D

Well, I woke up to the news WESTERN FL is going to get it...lots of rain, that is.
So sorry, Naples is going to get it! :(