Hurricane Ian

[89th]

My aunt lives in Venice, FL. Looks like she may get a direct hit, even maybe some blue sky while in the eye, in a few hours. What a rare experience that would be.

[Jolly]

Done it twice.

[jon-nyc]

@Jolly

Why don’t you evacuate?

[cathys]

@89th said in Hurricane Ian:

My aunt lives in Venice, FL. Looks like she may get a direct hit, even maybe some blue sky while in the eye, in a few hours. What a rare experience that would be.

@89th very good friends/neighbors of ours moved a little over a year ago to Venice. They have good hurricane protection on their home but it will surely be their first big test. Talked to her a day or so ago and they are as prepared as they can be.

[Jolly]

@jon-nyc said in Hurricane Ian:

@Jolly

Why don’t you evacuate?

Why would I?

[jon-nyc]

@Jolly To avoid the risk and inconvenience?

We used to evacuate when I lived in FL. We had relatives in Tampa and we’d go there.

But I didn’t evacuate for Sandy or Irene when I lived in the city.

[Jolly]

@jon-nyc said in Hurricane Ian:

@Jolly To avoid the risk and inconvenience?

We used to evacuate when I lived in FL. We had relatives in Tampa and we’d go there.

But I didn’t evacuate for Sandy or Irene when I lived in the city.

Storm surge and tornadoes kill. For me, surge is not a factor and the tornadoes will follow the track through a quarter of the country. Flooding can be a problem, especially as the area develops and drainages change, but my houseplace has never flooded (except during 1927, but that's another ball of wax). I do rarely get cut off, but the water will go down in a couple of days and if I have to get out, I'll boat out.

So, besides trees dropping or roof damage, it's mostly just inconvenient. If I lived on the coast, I'd think differently.

[89th]

@cathys said in Hurricane Ian:

@89th said in Hurricane Ian:

My aunt lives in Venice, FL. Looks like she may get a direct hit, even maybe some blue sky while in the eye, in a few hours. What a rare experience that would be.

@89th very good friends/neighbors of ours moved a little over a year ago to Venice. They have good hurricane protection on their home but it will surely be their first big test. Talked to her a day or so ago and they are as prepared as they can be.

Yeah my aunt says they'll ride it out in the bathroom. I haven't been to their home but believe it is a pretty small house (maybe 1,000 SF?) and can't imagine will be very sturdy if they get some insane gusts (or sustained wind pressure), but they seem to be in fine spirits and still have power.

[89th]

I guess the good news is they are within walking distance of Lowe's, and maybe it helps it's 1-story.

[cathys]

@89th and the bigger trees seem further away. Still bound to be getting scary.

[LuFins Dad]

They are reporting it is just shy of Category 5

[Catseye3]

"Hurricane Ian strengthened into a Category 4 storm as it barreled toward Florida on Wednesday, with the center of the storm on track to make landfall on the state's west coast as soon as the late morning or early afternoon.

"Maximum sustained winds were near 155 mph, with higher gusts, around 8 a.m. ET. That is just 2 mph away from being upgraded to a Category 5.

"The National Hurricane Center has warned of “life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding in the Florida Peninsula," with millions under evacuation orders.

"It is not yet clear exactly where Ian will make landfall, but Gov. Ron DeSantis said early Wednesday the forecast track showed it hitting Charlotte County as he warned residents it was too late to evacuate the area."

More: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/hurricane-ian-live-updates-rcna49729

155 mph!!! Where I am, I get officially nervous when winds get to 50!

[LuFins Dad]

It looks like Orlando will get a direct hit…

So now we’ll get to have the argument about whether the hurricane is because I didn’t buy a Prius in 2008 or if it’s because God wants to smite those Disney groomers…

[89th]

[Jolly]

@LuFins-Dad said in Hurricane Ian:

They are reporting it is just shy of Category 5

It'll go down as it nears shore. Some nice shearing winds in North Florida, so maybe they can tear it apart quickly.

[Copper]

This is the aviation forecast for KRSW - Fort Myers, FL airport.

The first column is the time of day (UTC)
The second column is the wind forecast.

The wind forecast shows direction, sustained speed and gust speed

Notice the direction change as the storm passes, from SE(130) then E (100) then SE (150) then SW(220) then NW(300)

So the wind not only blows everything over, it does it in a dance, in a circle hitting the airport from all sides, ugly

KRSW 281141Z 2812/2912 12030G45KT 3SM SHRA BKN008 OVC040 
     FM281500 13040G55KT 3SM SHRA BKN007 OVC020 
     FM281900 10050G70KT 1SM SHRA VCTS BKN005 OVC020CB 
     FM282100 15070G90KT 1SM SHRA VCTS BKN005 OVC015CB 
     FM290000 22040G50KT 1SM SHRA VCTS BKN005 OVC010CB 
     FM290600 30035G45KT 1SM SHRA OVC007

[Copper]

Apparently federal help in Florida is for democrats only.

Hurricane Ian is set to batter the coast of Florida this week, but President Biden has yet to reach out directly to the Sunshine state's two senators or other GOP members of the state's congressional delegation about federal help.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-snubs-floridas-gop-lawmakers-hurricane-ian-approaches

[Mik]

It's sucked the water out of Tampa Bay, exposing the sea floor.

[Catseye3]

[George K]

Everything's more complicated if...