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Florida gals and SE coasters, whatcha thinking about Matthew?


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Sending prayers for safety for all our south coast friends! My elderly (in their late 80s) aunt and uncle live in Titusville, FL. I'm hoping they evacuated to their son's place in (inland) SC.

 

Edited to Add: Phooey! They have NOT evacuated because my stubborn uncle won't leave. They haven't even put on their hurricane shutters - we think because my Uncle doesn't want to admit he's not strong enough to do it. My cousins are calling them every hour to check in. 

Edited by Ethel Mertz
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I believe I read once that if you leave a pet in an natural disaster situation, you will not be eligible for FEMA help afterwards.  Anyone know if that is true?

 

I'm full of nervous energy and flitting from one thing to the next so as something to do I tried to find something on this. The only thing I found on FEMA and pets was the Pets Act that's been put in place since Katrina. Not only was Katrina a disaster for household pets and their owners, they've discovered that people are much more likely to evacuate if they can take their pets with them. While I understand a human life should come before an animals, it does make me feel good that people feel that much responsibility for their pets. 

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Dh and I just woke up from a nap a short time ago. Ds took one earlier. We know we won't be able to sleep tonight when the worst is here, so we thought we'd get some sleep now. It was surprisingly easy to fall asleep.

 

Are you getting any gusts or feeder bands yet? 

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I'm worried about my parents as they are old and alone in the Orlando area.  They live on the St. John's river (big river in Florida) in a flood prone area, but are too _____ to move or even go to a hotel.  They have a generator, but their house is mostly glass, so it's not the best house for a hurricane.  Don't like the thought of two 84 year olds alone....but they refused my offers of help.  Tried to get my Mom to go to a friends' house (not on the river), but she said no.  Say a prayer for them, please.

 

 

I'm praying. I'm sorry this is happening. Please let update us as you find out. 

 

:grouphug:

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Dh and I just woke up from a nap a short time ago. Ds took one earlier. We know we won't be able to sleep tonight when the worst is here, so we thought we'd get some sleep now. It was surprisingly easy to fall asleep.

 

We all napped here (Orlando), too. It was a busy morning moving patio furniture and potted plants and generally battening down the hatches, And, like you, we figured there might not be a full night's sleep later. 

Edited by Jenny in Florida
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Here's a link which helpfully shows exactly where the eye is right now. While it's a bit nerve-wracking to look at, I thought some folks might want to get some exact info. It can be difficult to tell where things are just from radar or satellite. The slider can help with future predictions as well.

 

:grouphug:

 

ETA: If you wait a moment for the wind speeds to load, you can see the direction from which wind will be approaching your location. This may help you decide where to be in a building.

 

Another ETA: The link inherently contains the time in it so it will be out of date when you click on it. Be sure to use the date option and slider at the bottom to get the latest.

Edited by idnib
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Here's a link which helpfully shows exactly where the eye is right now. While it's a bit nerve-wracking to look at, I thought some folks might want to get some exact info. It can be difficult to tell where things are just from radar or satellite. The slider can help with future predictions as well.

 

:grouphug:

 

ETA: If you wait a moment for the wind speeds to load, you can see the direction from which wind will be approaching your location. This may help you decide where to be in a building.

 

That is a trippy link!

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The 11:00 advisory is so much better! The eye moved slightly east and instead of a low 4 it will be a high 3. Still a very bad storm and those who evacuated did the right thing, but so much better news.

That is good! I,ve been hoping it wouldn,t move west.

 

Umsami, holding your parents in the light.

 

Nan

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Note to those using the link I posted:

 

The link inherently contains the time in it so it will be out of date when you click on it. Be sure to use the date option and slider at the bottom to get the latest. I'll add this to the original link as well.

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Update from my area - Brevard County: Melbourne is getting slammed now. We've been hearing the roaring wind all night. Our household is all up now, and expecting the worst in the next hour or two.I woke up a short time ago to find that dh has been up about an hour and ds 19 hasn't been to bed.

 

It's still a good thing the people who needed to evacuate did. There are about 66k people in my county without power. We still have power and that might or might not hold (just heard the tv lady say the number of people without power doubled in a matter of minutes). Our internet goes in and out. I haven't tried using data so I don't know if cell towers are working.

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Update from my area - Brevard County: Melbourne is getting slammed now. We've been hearing the roaring wind all night. Our household is all up now, and expecting the worst in the next hour or two.I woke up a short time ago to find that dh has been up about an hour and ds 19 hasn't been to bed.

 

It's still a good thing the people who needed to evacuate did. There are about 66k people in my county without power. We still have power and that might or might not hold (just heard the tv lady say the number of people without power doubled in a matter of minutes). Our internet goes in and out. I haven't tried using data so I don't know if cell towers are working.

Thanks for the update. The wind speed in Melbourne was mentioned on our weather radio channel. It was a surprise to find you being listed along with Nantucket and Boston.

 

Hold on tight everyone!

 

Nan

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We're starting to feel it here in Jacksonville, but it won't get bad until later this afternoon.  Because it moved a little off shore, they downgraded some of the storm surge potential....but the St. John's River (major river through Jacksonville...goes to the Atlantic) is already close to overflowing.  Really hoping we keep power, but doubt we will.  Have bathtubs filled with water, which the new kitty is fascinated with.  Keep trying to tell him that water is the enemy....

Edited by umsami
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Thinking of everyone. Dh an I have WESH 2 (local Orlando) on the television thanks to Amazon Prime.

 

Wait, how? We have Amazon, and no cable. I have streamed it to my TV from my laptop, is that what you mean? Or is there a prime app for it on the firestick, or?

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We're starting to feel it here in Jacksonville, but it won't get bad until later this afternoon.  Because it moved a little off shore, they downgraded some of the storm surge potential....but the St. John's River (major river through Jacksonville...goes to the Atlantic) is already close to overflowing.  Really hoping we keep power, but doubt we will.  Have bathtubs filled with water, which the new kitty is fascinated with.  Keep trying to tell him that water is the enemy....

 

If you fill up your (top loading) clothes washer, you can close the lid.  This is what I did to make sure the little ones didn't fall in a bathtub full of water.

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Wait, how? We have Amazon, and no cable. I have streamed it to my TV from my laptop, is that what you mean? Or is there a prime app for it on the firestick, or?

Remember I have the British Prime but it's one of our choices under the app labelled news.

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All is well here in SW Orlando. Our power went out shortly after 4:00 a.m., but so far that is the only issue. It's rainy and windy, but not terrible. My husband says our winds are running less than 35 MPH and will likely taper off until the evening.

 

Our daughter was scheduled to fly in from NY tomorrow morning for a quick visit. She has reluctantly decided to cancel, since the event she had planned to atrend has been cancelled and we don't know if we'll even have power back. So, we're all bummed about that but acknowledge it's a minor inconvenience compared to what might be happening right now.

 

Hope everyone else in the area continues safe and sound!

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We woke up around 11:00 this morning after being up through the wee hours. We seem to have slept through the worst of it. Our house held up well and we still have power. I don't think we ever lost it - it we did it was very brief. Others in my area aren't as lucky. I think the fact that we have underground power lines makes the difference. 

 

We have lots of yard damage. Big sections of our fence are down and large tree branches in the yard, but that's the worst of it. We're still feeling strong gusts since we're on the back side of the storm, but the worst has passed us now. It's heading towards Jacksonville, off the coast around Daytona now.  

 

Thinking of you NE Florida gals!

 

 

 

My 17 year old stayed up all night. I think mostly to squeeze in as much electronics time as possible before we lose power. 

 

Mine and his friends were online as long as they could be. Then they moved to texting. 

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My parents are in Port Saint Lucie. They did evacuate to some friends' house on the west side of PSL, as my parents live on a pond east of Route 1. They just went back to their house. Never lost power. Everything is fine. We also own a place in Fort Pierce on North Hutchinson Island on the ocean. My parents have been there, yet. Hoping that is fine, too. 

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We woke up around 11:00 this morning after being up through the wee hours. We seem to have slept through the worst of it. Our house held up well and we still have power. I don't think we ever lost it - it we did it was very brief. Others in my area aren't as lucky. I think the fact that we have underground power lines makes the difference. 

 

We have lots of yard damage. Big sections of our fence are down and large tree branches in the yard, but that's the worst of it. We're still feeling strong gusts since we're on the back side of the storm, but the worst has passed us now. It's heading towards Jacksonville, off the coast around Daytona now.  

 

 

Glad to have the update. The update from my Aunt and Uncle in Titusville as of last night is that the contractor who built their subdivision came around and put on their hurricane shutters. I'm very grateful for that!

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Jacksonville....friends lost power, and my neighbors lost their big beautiful loquat tree.  We lost power for a few minutes, but it came back....but it's just now getting bad.

 

Some idiots in my neighborhood left their dogs out in this.....but thankfully they are now sheltered.  Across the street neighbor saw three teen boys on bikes out in the storm, and her husband (a police officer) took them home...and spoke to the parents and the parents knew they were out!!  What the falafel!!! 

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Across the street neighbor saw three teen boys on bikes out in the storm, and her husband (a police officer) took them home...and spoke to the parents and the parents knew they were out!!  What the falafel!!! 

 

When I was growing up, a boy in a nearby neighborhood died that way. He was swept into a fast-moving water flow which went into a storm drain and his head was caught in the bar blocking the drain and he drowned. We were both 10 at the time so I didn't pay any attention to whether his parents knew he was out or not. My parents still live in the same house and when I go visit I still think of that boy every time I drive by that drain.  :crying:  And that wasn't even a hurricane! 

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When I was growing up, a boy in a nearby neighborhood died that way. He was swept into a fast-moving water flow which went into a storm drain and his head was caught in the bar blocking the drain and he drowned. We were both 10 at the time so I didn't pay any attention to whether his parents knew he was out or not. My parents still live in the same house and when I go visit I still think of that boy every time I drive by that drain.  :crying:  And that wasn't even a hurricane! 

 

.  :crying:  How horrible.

 

 

It's flickering here, and people in another part of my neighborhood have lost power.  Apparently over 1 million people in the state are without power.  So.... probably saying goodbye for awhile....

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It is right off the coast of Jacksonville Beach right now....so maybe 20 minutes from our house.  It is really really windy out there.  I know St. Augustine was hit bad....lots of flooding.  I'm sure JAX Beach is pretty soaked too.  Jacksonville is a city divided by a big river...so it's a city of bridges.  All are closed.  We still have power.  It was flickering a few hours ago, so I made some beef stew in my Instant Pot.  Haha. (Thanks WTM).  Warm and comforting on a rainy night.  Hoping we keep power.  Friends lost theirs hours ago, and a JEA electric worker got electrocuted trying to fix lines in her area.  Apparently, he's at a local hospital and doing O.K.  

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We still have power. Yay!

 

Parents had a tree come down on one of their vehicles, crush their shed, and the back half of their garage. Big tree! Thankfully all the living areas and the living are fine.

 

The gusts are crazy! We've only had a few branches come down  so far but I'm amazed at what these trees can take.

 

The dog is not thrilled with peeing during a hurricane.  She's already learned to stand still when she comes back in so someone can rub her down with a towel.

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