Hurricane Ian

[Lady Florida.]

An Orlando tv station reporter helped a woman who got trapped in her car in a flooded street. The top video shows him getting her out. In the bottom one he talks about it, starting around 2:18

https://www.wesh.com/article/orlando-reporter-floodwater-rescue/41439983#

[Lady Florida.]

47 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

Ian has now re strengthened and is expected to make landfall in SC as a hurricane. 
I don’t believe that was expected either.

Local forecasters have been saying that's probably what would happen. It was expected to exit on the east side of the state and when that happens it usually strengthens and often heads back to the mainland. 

[Pawz4me]

55 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

Ian has now re strengthened and is expected to make landfall in SC as a hurricane. 
I don’t believe that was expected either.

Many forecasters said yesterday that it might regain strength once it got back out over water. I'm far inland in NC and we weren't surprised when we were put under TS warnings a couple of hours ago. It's already pretty windy here.

[ktgrok]

2 hours ago, Katy said:

While I’m not a fan of his past performance/ publicity antics, it seems like DeSantis is doing an exceptional job.  I’m impressed with the competence. 

same. As someone said, he's a Florida native. Plus, whatever I think of him as a person, and his ethics, he is a very competent leader. I just usually dislike the direction he's going. 

1 hour ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

Ian has now re strengthened and is expected to make landfall in SC as a hurricane. 
I don’t believe that was expected either.

By the offical forecasts from national groups? No. By Floridians who have lived through this stuff? We have been saying that could happen. I know I was saying it - was one reason I wanted my parents to go somewhere inland, rather than stay on the coast in GA or SC. (or drive home, sigh). 

15 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

Local forecasters have been saying that's probably what would happen. It was expected to exit on the east side of the state and when that happens it usually strengthens and often heads back to the mainland. 

Yup. Channel 9 predicted the track way better than the national hurricane center. 

[ktgrok]

So, we were up until about 2:30 or so listening to the rain and wind. Then got woken up constantly during the night for "flash flood alerts" on my phone. I wanted to tell it I am on the top floor, if the downstairs floods there is nothing I can do about it anyway right now, let me sleep! I don't need a reminder every 2 hours!

Got up at 8ish and still had power. Made coffee for myself, and a hot breakfast. At 10am DH was in the bedroom getting dressed and the power went out - he didn't even get coffee first. Rain is mostly gone, just winds, but the ground is so soaked that trees and such are going down still. 

We have a generator, and he got it set up and we have a window AC unit plugged in and the fridge. He also plugged in the coffee maker temporarily and got coffee, lol. 

We had a puddle of water in one spot in the house - I THINK it was wind driven rain through gap in window seal - the windows in that corner don't seal really well. Got pictures just in case. Yard is squishy like jello in the high areas, ankle deep water in the low areas. (generator is on top of a picnic table, we figure the generator is heavy enough to keep table from blowing around at this point). 

I have friends with water in their houses, one has 1/2 inch in laundry and basement, one has a spot where roof leaked and another where slab foundation may have a crack. Neighborhood has some streets that are good, like mine, some that had cars that were parked on the street that got flooded. The parking lot for the community pool is flooded - and two people have cars parked there that are now ruined. 

Downtown Orlando has a lot of areas with bad flooding - sadly more in the poor neighborhoods from what I can see in photos 😞. Thankfully the winds were low enough (peaked around 60pmh I think?) that emergency crews were able to be out helping people - lots of photos of fire crews in inflatable boats and such getting people out of flooded houses. 

In good news it is only 74 degrees right now outside, and high is only 77 today. 76 tomorrow. That's WAY cooler than we normally have after a storm, so those without power will not be dealing with heat stroke on top of everything else. Usually we are in the upper 80s with high high high humidity after a storm and it is just miserable. 

[Lady Florida.]

@Harriet Vane have you heard from your friend in St. Augustine? I was thinking about them this morning.

[Lady Florida.]

2 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

In good news it is only 74 degrees right now outside, and high is only 77 today. 76 tomorrow. That's WAY cooler than we normally have after a storm, so those without power will not be dealing with heat stroke on top of everything else. Usually we are in the upper 80s with high high high humidity after a storm and it is just miserable. 

Yeah, it's usually brutal to be without power after a hurricane. Nothing about this hurricane was normal. 

[Harriet Vane]

10 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

@Harriet Vane have you heard from your friend in St. Augustine? I was thinking about them this morning.

Thanks for asking. She sounded much calmer when I spoke to her about an hour ago. They are dry and the house is still standing and they even have power. Glory hallelujah. Still watching and waiting of course (as we all are) until this blows over completely, but really glad they're doing well right now.

[Jaybee]

My sister is fine. When I heard from her this morning, she had not lost power. I don't know about later. House seems fine. She hadn't had a look around outside yet because it was still raining at that time. Birds were singing. 

[ktgrok]

22 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

Yeah, it's usually brutal to be without power after a hurricane. Nothing about this hurricane was normal. 

Truth! SUCH a weird storm. Lightening??? Stronger winds in Brevard and Volusia than I had in Orlando, even when Orlando was much closer to the storm, due to some dry air front over in the atlantic or something? Just...weirdness. 

 

[ktgrok]

9 minutes ago, Jaybee said:

Birds were singing. 

During the worst of the storm last night the frogs were SO loud! (and this morning I have frog eggs floating in my yard)

[ktgrok]

Little Wekiva Rd is right by where I used to go to church, and near the park we used to go to. Lots of stuff about this general area. 

 

 https://www.orlandosentinel.com/weather/hurricane/os-ne-hurricane-ian-tropical-storm-ian-florida-thursday-20220929-4tuz5phczvhkfcbgqopxkw4kzm-story.html

[stephanier.1765]

We managed to convince one of the local ferals to come into the garage. Because the temps are comfortable, he is comfortable in there and living the luxury cat life. He got a plate of wet food and a plate of dry food. We made him a bed out of a cardboard box and old towels. Gave him some cat toys and set up our emergency litter box. He's "killed" the toys and tucked them into bed with himself and has successfully used the litter box (whew, that was my biggest worry). For a wild boy, he has been absolutely quiet about being caged in the garage. We thought for sure he'd cry the entire time. A pleasant surprise and a relief for us to not have to worry about him. He's probably smart enough to know this was a safe place to ride out the storm. We hope the other ferals are faring as well, too.

[sassenach]

2 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Little Wekiva Rd is right by where I used to go to church, and near the park we used to go to. Lots of stuff about this general area. 

 

 https://www.orlandosentinel.com/weather/hurricane/os-ne-hurricane-ian-tropical-storm-ian-florida-thursday-20220929-4tuz5phczvhkfcbgqopxkw4kzm-story.html

We used to live in Dr. Phillips where some of those flooding pictures were taken. This storm seems like it had more flooding and less winds than the 2004 storms?

[fairfarmhand]

4 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

The one and only bridge to Sanibel has been washed out. 

Yeah I saw that. I worry for what the Island will look like when they actually make it out there. 

[Indigo Blue]

4 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

Many forecasters said yesterday that it might regain strength once it got back out over water. I'm far inland in NC and we weren't surprised when we were put under TS warnings a couple of hours ago. It's already pretty windy here.

Just came in from picking up a few things. I see that we, too, are under TS warming. Stay safe!!

[fairfarmhand]

Haven’t heard from my cousin in Orlando. She had a generator, so I’m thinking she may have no cell service? Or maybe her house flooded? Has a pond behind her house sooooo….

 

this is her first big storm, she and her family have only lived there 2 years.

Edited September 29, 2022 by fairfarmhand

[stephanier.1765]

2 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

Yeah I saw that. I worry for what the Island will look like when they actually make it out there. 

I wonder what's going to happen if some people still have livable homes. Will they continue to be able to live there? Will there be enough infrastructure left to allow that? And if there is, how will they get on and off the island?

[stephanier.1765]

I just saw one of the other feral cats hiding in our front bushes. I took him some soft food because at least that is something that isn't going to blow away. I went inside and watched from the windows and he did come out of the bushes to eat on our front porch. I can't figure out why none of them will shelter on the porch but whenever bad weather pops up they disappear.

[Katy]

3 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

I wonder what's going to happen if some people still have livable homes. Will they continue to be able to live there? Will there be enough infrastructure left to allow that? And if there is, how will they get on and off the island?

If they can afford a house on Sanibel they can afford a boat. If they can find one. I only know one family with one of their houses there, he’s a retired doctor. I checked prices when we considered a second home and decided we couldn’t afford there. 

[Katy]

Just now, stephanier.1765 said:

I just saw one of the other feral cats hiding in our front bushes. I took him some soft food because at least that is something that isn't going to blow away. I went inside and watched from the windows and he did come out of the bushes to eat on our front porch. I can't figure out why none of them will shelter on the porch but whenever bad weather pops up they disappear.

Instinct? Maybe if you had a closed box or crate or something enclosed with a gap big enough for a cat to get in.

[sangtarah]

We lost power around 10am today. We have a generator for the fridge, but no water - the well pump doesn’t have a generator. Trees are down at our place, so we will have lots of clean-up. It’s still windy and raining here! I’m ready for it to go away!! 
I’m thankful it’s cool outside - it makes having no AC easier. 

[stephanier.1765]

1 minute ago, Katy said:

Instinct? Maybe if you had a closed box or crate or something enclosed with a gap big enough for a cat to get in.

Each winter I put out an insulated plastic tote for them to escape into when the weather drops but this year I'm thinking about building them one. I'd probably put it in the backyard though because no sun hits our porch and this way the sun can warm the house during the day and which will hopefully keep it snug over night. But before next hurricane season, I'll have to consider a good way to make the porch more attractive to them, like you said, a box or crate or maybe even build something there for them as well. 

[stephanier.1765]

2 minutes ago, sangtarah said:

We lost power around 10am today. We have a generator for the fridge, but no water - the well pump doesn’t have a generator. Trees are down at our place, so we will have lots of clean-up. It’s still windy and raining here! I’m ready for it to go away!! 
I’m thankful it’s cool outside - it makes having no AC easier. 

It really does make a huge difference to miserable you are with no A/C. If the temps hadn't dropped, we wouldn't have been able to put the feral cat in the garage. It would have been more cruel to do that to him with the temps in the 80's and 90's than to leave him to find his own shelter. I hope you get electricity soon!

[teachermom2834]

My ds, girlfriend, her sister and BIL and three dogs did well riding it out in his apartment in Sarasota. They amazingly never lost power. They had the extreme wind advisory and spent several hours with the very high winds and rain but the worst of it stayed just south of them. Truly seems like they missed the worst of it by a matter of miles. They really aren’t far from Venice and she has co-workers who live there and seeing the video and pictures out of Venice it is hard to believe they did not get it worse than they did. The lack of surge in Tampa Bay also spared her sister’s home which would not have withstood what was forecasted let alone what truly came ashore in Ft Myers with the strengthened storm. 
 

So they all came through ok. Just some trees down and fences and signposts down around the apartment property but their cars are all fine. Sister and BIL were not able to return to their home in st Pete as of a couple hours ago because of bridges and roads impassable and power not yet restored. And that is with it “missing” St. Pete. 
 

Such a horrific and destructive storm. What happened in Ft Myers- nothing is going to withstand that. And so much destruction so widespread. 
 

I was watching the local news coverage for days and while I understand storms are unpredictable and it was a possibility for it to do what it did, the local news really didn’t prepare people for that I don’t think. The local weather folks had evacuated their families to Orlando and kept telling everyone as long as they got west of the I-75 they would be fine. They also repeated over and over the winds weren’t going to be strong and that it was going to be mainly a water event so we knew ds shouldn’t flood so we weren’t really worried. Well it obviously was a wind event and it obviously wasn’t safe west of I-75. So I do understand how people were caught off guard with just a few hours to prepare late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. I was watching the coverage closely and really didn’t see this possibility floated. And I do understand the complications of evacuation. Obviously it’s an easy call if you are on a barrier island but a couple miles inland it just isn’t as obvious as the judgy people make it seem after the fact. 
 

Anyways, we learned quite a bit about hurricanes and the geography of FL over the past week. I’m exhausted. 

[importswim]

22 hours ago, Jane in NC said:

A question for Floridians:  News organizations have been pointing out the number of new residents who have moved to Florida in recent years.  Do these new folks know that even if their mortgage provider doesn't require it, buying FEMA flood insurance is often the wise thing to do?  Those 100 year flood plains are becoming 10 year flood plains.  Without flood insurance, many people find themselves in the cruel reality that homeowners insurance has its limitations.

 

I'm a native Floridian and live in a beach town on the gulf (not near Ft Meyers) but far enough back that we're not in a "flood zone" (even though south of us and north of us are part of one 🙄. I know a lot of people who live here that don't have FEMA flood insurance because they're not technically in a flood zone and it's crazy to me. I would say that we are very rare in that we do have it. I have to fight with DH every year to spend the $500 to keep the coverage but you just never know. If a cat 3 or higher were to hit us then there's no way we'd be without flooding in our house. I would bet that some of those people, especially a bit inland, don't have the insurance.

[Jane in NC]

47 minutes ago, importswim said:

I'm a native Floridian and live in a beach town on the gulf (not near Ft Meyers) but far enough back that we're not in a "flood zone" (even though south of us and north of us are part of one 🙄. I know a lot of people who live here that don't have FEMA flood insurance because they're not technically in a flood zone and it's crazy to me. I would say that we are very rare in that we do have it. I have to fight with DH every year to spend the $500 to keep the coverage but you just never know. If a cat 3 or higher were to hit us then there's no way we'd be without flooding in our house. I would bet that some of those people, especially a bit inland, don't have the insurance.

I bought flood insurance for years when we were not in a flood zone.  New maps now place us in a zone of medium risk.  We had previously figured that a Cat 4 or 5 at high tide would impact us.  Then, a few years ago, a Cat 1 at a seasonal high tide flooded a neighbor's place.  She's on pilings so she lost tools and a second fridge under the main part of the house as well as her car.  We were stunned.  So much damage from a Cat 1!  But the seasonal high tide played into it.

[fairfarmhand]

Sanibel looks terrible. 
 

https://apple.news/AKxUxKR4SRQaUHT36pYcOmw

[fairfarmhand]

1 hour ago, fairfarmhand said:

Haven’t heard from my cousin in Orlando. She had a generator, so I’m thinking she may have no cell service? Or maybe her house flooded? Has a pond behind her house sooooo….

 

this is her first big storm, she and her family have only lived there 2 years.

Just got a text from her. No phone or cell service at her house 

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, fairfarmhand said:

Haven’t heard from my cousin in Orlando. She had a generator, so I’m thinking she may have no cell service? Or maybe her house flooded? Has a pond behind her house sooooo….

 

this is her first big storm, she and her family have only lived there 2 years.

Cell service is VERY sketchy right now

[Lady Florida.]

2 hours ago, Katy said:

If they can afford a house on Sanibel they can afford a boat. If they can find one. I only know one family with one of their houses there, he’s a retired doctor. I checked prices when we considered a second home and decided we couldn’t afford there. 

Yes, that one very expensive sandbar. And that's all Sanibel is really, a sandbar. It was always vulnerable.

Even those who can easily afford to rebuild though lost their homes. They likely lost precious sentimental items too. 😥

[73349]

1 hour ago, Jane in NC said:

So much damage from a Cat 1!

There's been some talk about adjusting the rating scale, because people tend not to think a lot about the fact that the current one *only* considers wind speed. Not overall size of the storm, not how fast it moves, not how much rain it will disgorge... If you're very close to the coast, getting hit with that storm surge, the rating is almost irrelevant: your house can float away down the street, as I just saw a video of a building doing, its roof perfectly intact.

[Faith-manor]

1 hour ago, 73349 said:

There's been some talk about adjusting the rating scale, because people tend not to think a lot about the fact that the current one *only* considers wind speed. Not overall size of the storm, not how fast it moves, not how much rain it will disgorge... If you're very close to the coast, getting hit with that storm surge, the rating is almost irrelevant: your house can float away down the street, as I just saw a video of a building doing, its roof perfectly intact.

I support this. The rating system is not nuanced enough to accurately convey the risks.

[ktgrok]

We have power! Got it back at 6:30pm today. So grateful. Some friends are still without, some had water intrusion into their homes. 

[ktgrok]

On 9/29/2022 at 4:55 PM, teachermom2834 said:

I was watching the local news coverage for days and while I understand storms are unpredictable and it was a possibility for it to do what it did, the local news really didn’t prepare people for that I don’t think. The local weather folks had evacuated their families to Orlando and kept telling everyone as long as they got west of the I-75 they would be fine. They also repeated over and over the winds weren’t going to be strong and that it was going to be mainly a water event so we knew ds shouldn’t flood so we weren’t really worried. Well it obviously was a wind event and it obviously wasn’t safe west of I-75.

All the news coverage I saw indicated it would be a major storm - strong winds - with a really bad storm surge -  for those on the coast. The inland central florida area was warned it would be a major rain/flooding event. 

Now, at first they were hoping it would hit a front that would sheer it and weaken it, but there was always the possibility it wouldn't, and that was what happened. Maybe you were watching different coverage, or maybe I just had in the back of my mind all the previous coverage about how they can predict WHERE a hurricane will go to some extent (general path with a wide cone of uncertainty) but are not good at predicting how strong it will be, so I filtered it through that lens?

But to me, it seemed that the coast was being warned the whole time? Again, I was watching central florida news so can't really speak to what the tampa and ft meyers stations were saying, but here we were hearing that the coast would get a wallop at LEAST from a REALLy bad storm surge, and also potentially major wind. And then inland it would be a really bad rain event with a ton of flooding as ground was already saturated. 

Which, pretty much, is what happened. 

But, maybe those coastal stations didn't stress enough how dangerous the rain/flooding would be, and focused too much on the surge, so that people not in the area of the surge didn't realize they should get out if they were in low lying areas?

GENERALLY they say to run from water (evacuate) and hide from wind (hunker down in a sturdy building with storm shutters). Now, cat 4-5 wind and you better run from that too - which usually is the same area as the storm surge so usually works out to be the same people. Maybe not this time? 

Most of the devestation I'm seeing is in the barrier island areas, west of i-75, but I don't know that area well enough to say that for sure.

I do wish they were more general with advice - "could hit anywhere on the coast, and we don't know how strong it will be. Make plans now."

You can always cancel a hotel reservation, better to prepare and not need to leave than the other way around, for sure. Heck, people are SUPPOSED to have a plan before hurricane season even starts, but that is hardly ever mentioned these days. The start of hurricane season used to be a really big deal, when I was growing up - tracking maps handed out at the grocery store, sales, etc. Lots of news stuff about planning and knowing what you will do, having your supplies ready, etc. I do think they have dropped the ball on that in recent years. 

 

[ktgrok]

And, although I feel SUCH sympathy for those in devestated areas, no matter where they are, I do feel we as a society need to have hard conversations about what is and is not actually land that should be inhabited. 

I have a relative with some rental property that has now flooded 4 times. At what point do you just accept that mother nature has rezoned and you can't have houses there - at least not ones that are not on stilts? 

[bookbard]

1 hour ago, ktgrok said:

I have a relative with some rental property that has now flooded 4 times. At what point do you just accept that mother nature has rezoned and you can't have houses there - at least not ones that are not on stilts? 

Yep, I know a guy who is renting in what is now a flood zone (we've had 3 floods this year so far, another one possible before the end of the year). He's desperately looking for another rental to relocate his family but of course so is everyone else . . . no luck so far. 

[bookbard]

11 hours ago, Corraleno said:

 

Since the floods here in Eastern Australia, FB has been going crazy with 'cloud seeding by the government' conspiracies. I'm not sure why the govt would want to flood all these places, but?? I personally think this sort of thing is started by people who profit from fossil fuels etc, as the reality - this is all caused by climate change, esp the heating oceans - is not good for their bottom line. All they need to do is feed a few crazy ideas to the usual cranks, and there they go. 

[Carrie12345]

6 hours ago, ktgrok said:

But to me, it seemed that the coast was being warned the whole time? Again, I was watching central florida news so can't really speak to what the tampa and ft meyers stations were saying, but here we were hearing that the coast would get a wallop at LEAST from a REALLy bad storm surge, and also potentially major wind. And then inland it would be a really bad rain event with a ton of flooding as ground was already saturated. 

Which, pretty much, is what happened.

My impression from far, far away was always that pretty much the entire state was in danger, especially the whole west coast.

We did have the news on for several days straight because Dh works in storm clean up and because ds is on the east coast. His area did see flooding, TS winds, etc. Fortunately, all is well with him.

I never saw anything that suggested any part of the west coast was safe, just different levels of storm surge, all more than none. And, yes, talk of concern for central Florida.   
Jacksonville did seem like a last minute realization from the coverage we were watching. Or maybe just de-prioritized. 

[Katy]

3 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

My impression from far, far away was always that pretty much the entire state was in danger, especially the whole west coast.

We did have the news on for several days straight because Dh works in storm clean up and because ds is on the east coast. His area did see flooding, TS winds, etc. Fortunately, all is well with him.

I never saw anything that suggested any part of the west coast was safe, just different levels of storm surge, all more than none. And, yes, talk of concern for central Florida.   
Jacksonville did seem like a last minute realization from the coverage we were watching. Or maybe just de-prioritized. 

De-prioritized. Locals have been preparing the whole time. 

[freesia]

11 hours ago, Corraleno said:

 

 

Crazy. I wonder how NY got hit by Sandy and Irene.  🙄 

[importswim]

11 hours ago, ktgrok said:

All the news coverage I saw indicated it would be a major storm - strong winds - with a really bad storm surge -  for those on the coast. The inland central florida area was warned it would be a major rain/flooding event. 

Now, at first they were hoping it would hit a front that would sheer it and weaken it, but there was always the possibility it wouldn't, and that was what happened. Maybe you were watching different coverage, or maybe I just had in the back of my mind all the previous coverage about how they can predict WHERE a hurricane will go to some extent (general path with a wide cone of uncertainty) but are not good at predicting how strong it will be, so I filtered it through that lens?

But to me, it seemed that the coast was being warned the whole time? Again, I was watching central florida news so can't really speak to what the tampa and ft meyers stations were saying, but here we were hearing that the coast would get a wallop at LEAST from a REALLy bad storm surge, and also potentially major wind. And then inland it would be a really bad rain event with a ton of flooding as ground was already saturated. 

Which, pretty much, is what happened. 

But, maybe those coastal stations didn't stress enough how dangerous the rain/flooding would be, and focused too much on the surge, so that people not in the area of the surge didn't realize they should get out if they were in low lying areas?

GENERALLY they say to run from water (evacuate) and hide from wind (hunker down in a sturdy building with storm shutters). Now, cat 4-5 wind and you better run from that too - which usually is the same area as the storm surge so usually works out to be the same people. Maybe not this time? 

Most of the devestation I'm seeing is in the barrier island areas, west of i-75, but I don't know that area well enough to say that for sure.

I do wish they were more general with advice - "could hit anywhere on the coast, and we don't know how strong it will be. Make plans now."

You can always cancel a hotel reservation, better to prepare and not need to leave than the other way around, for sure. Heck, people are SUPPOSED to have a plan before hurricane season even starts, but that is hardly ever mentioned these days. The start of hurricane season used to be a really big deal, when I was growing up - tracking maps handed out at the grocery store, sales, etc. Lots of news stuff about planning and knowing what you will do, having your supplies ready, etc. I do think they have dropped the ball on that in recent years. 

 

I've watched Denis Phillips in Tampa for all of the tropical weather over the years and he was saying all of these things starting from days out before Ian's landfall. I have no idea what the Ft Meyers wx stations were saying.

[ktgrok]

In other conspiracies, I've decided, given our sudden fall weather post hurricane, that summer must be powered by the electrical grid and the power to run it got knocked out by the storm. 

[ktgrok]

5 hours ago, freesia said:

Crazy. I wonder how NY got hit by Sandy and Irene.  🙄 

political comment: please take this conversations to the political boards.

Edited October 1, 2022 by emzhengjiu
political

[freesia]

46 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

 

Wow! I don’t even know what to say about that. 

Edited October 1, 2022 by emzhengjiu
deleted political quote

[ktgrok]

35 minutes ago, freesia said:

Wow! I don’t even know what to say about that. 

Please take this conversation to one of the private boards.

Edited October 1, 2022 by emzhengjiu
comment about conservative Christians

[Lady Florida.]

2 minutes ago, freesia said:

Wow! I don’t even know what to say about that. 

Pat Robertson actually said that about the devastating fires we had in the summer of 1998. It was because Orlando had gay days. 

[Katy]

5 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

Pat Robertson actually said that about the devastating fires we had in the summer of 1998. It was because Orlando had gay days. 

Many pastors said that from the pulpit that year. I heard it in Pensacola when I visited a church there. “This is the only county in the state that doesn’t have a fire.” And on & on they went about God’s judgment. Never mind the drought, being in fire season, or how kudzu had covered most of the state in an overgrown jungle the previous 10 years.