PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic Hurricane Ian and Florida

We wish the absolute best to our Florida friends and all others regarding Hurricane Ian.

I'll second that. Let's hope for the best and pledge our help if it should come to that.

Good luck! Especially those in the Tampa/St. Pete area.

+1, I agree!

I'm on the East Coast, across from Tampa. Right now, they are expecting only 60-70mph winds here, so it shouldn't be a big problem for me.

We might lose power. I have gas for the generator (we have well water, so without electricity, we have no water), LED lights, emergency crank/solar/battery radio.

I have food in the pantry, will fill up the bathtub so I cal flush the toilet, store drinking water in glass jugs (formerly cheap wine bottles - hey - it was a sacrifice).

I put storm panels on the picture window, dropped the two storm awnings that are difficult to drop, and for the rest of the windows, it's a wait-and-see attitude.

The prep is in case the storm turns. I'll drop the rest of the awnings to keep the wind from blowing them off the house, in case it gets worse. We've had 60mph winds in some of our summer thunderstorms.

My house was built in 1950, before the developers watered down the building codes for their convenience and profit, I'm 32' above sea level, so I should be fine.

I've weathered every hurricane since Donna in 1960 so I know what to do. The highest winds I've been in were 210 mph gusts.

On the West Coast, they are in for a ride. Thanks to global warming and our excessive abuse of fossil fuels, the hurricanes are getting stronger and stronger.

I do hope everyone in its path prepares, even if it includes going to a shelter or evacuating. And I wish everyone in its path, good luck because we all need a dose of that.

Notes ♫

32'??? I guess we'll be safe here in northeast Ohio at 1004'! LOL!!

Which of the annual hurricanes have been the worst you encountered? I almost moved to Clearwater in 2004. I went down there on July 1st. I had never been to Florida between March and October so I never saw the real hot season. When I got there and saw the place I was going to rent, and then saw my dog panting like she was at 10am in already 94 degree humidity filled heat I said "Nope" and drove right back up here. About 6 weeks later Charley came through and eliminated the apartment complex I was going to be living in. When I read that I immediately thought about the possibility that I might have been out working and my dog be home alone to go through that and maybe die without me being there. That was the minute I decided that I wanted no part of Florida. I will visit my cousin in St Augustine in late fall (We need to do more of that before one of us dies) but I'd rather deal with the chance of one bad snowfall up here every winter than weather like Florida gets EVERY year.

Button up and be safe Notes!

Hey Bob,
Here's wishing you and everyone else safe passage thru this hurricane.
Personally I think we should start considering seeding the upper atmosphere with reflecting particles to reflect some of the sun's energy. We're just moving too slow on reducing greenhouse gas emmisions. We'll probably get it wrong at first, but the status quo is making safe living for millions less and less probable.

Regarding water. Those heavyduty plastic garbage cans work well. A pair of them will give you 60 gallons and they can be used for other things when not needed for toilet water storage.

We've been considering a solar/crank emergency radio.
How do you like yours?

Personally, the worst hurricane I encountered was actually a trio, Frances, Jeanne and T.S. Ivan.

I forget which one, Frances or Jeanne, we were in the eye wall for about 12 hours. It came from the east just below us, so we got the northern part of the eye wall. It curved north as if we were the pivot, so we got the eastern part of the eye wall, wobbled a bit so we got the eye for a few minutes, and then veered to the northeast so we got the southern part of the eye wall. The eye wall are the most intense winds.

We were in the eye of the other hurricane as well

I live on a short dead end street of a 15-mile road that goes alongside of a lagoon (Indian River). Most of the lots are 50+ acres, and there are fewer than a half dozen little dead end spurs. My lot is 1/2 acre and we jokingly call our little section "The servant's quarters."

TS Ivan was the wettest of the 3 consecutive storms by far, and it washed out a few sections of the road along the lagoon. We had to drive across people's lots to get to and from anywhere.

The worst part of it for us was losing power for 10 days after both hurricanes. Only a few after Ivan. The power company gets the most people they can on first (rightfully so) so a street with huge lots and only a few short side streets gets restored last.

We have a water well, in the first storm my next door neighbor lost prime so we ran a hose to his house. Second one, we lost prime and he returned the favor. The benefit was taking a shower in the late afternoon, the sunlight heated the hose so I got warm water (without power the water heater doesn't work). Our street was crisscrossed with hoses and extension cords.

We lost some tree limbs, and the mast that feeds the power to our house came loose and needed to be repaired. Our water softener got destroyed. I think a tree limb must have hit it and toppled it over.

I've weathered every storm since Donna in 1960.

I know how to prepare, and I know what kind of house to buy, and where to buy it.

The out-of-state developers sell a lot of frame houses with asphalt shingle roofs. I'd never live in one. The big bad wolf can blow those stick houses down.

They build new developments on low ground that wants to return to swamp land. I will only live on the eastern sand ridge. The water damage is worse than the wind damage.

A lot of people want to live on the barrier islands, and I'd like to live that close to the ocean myself. But when I was a child, I saw about 1/4 mile of barrier island disappear in a hurricane. They tried to dredge sand back, but the new sand just washed away in the tides. It's gone forever.

Hurricanes are getting worse, thanks to our abuse of fossil fuels. But I still feel safer hunkered down in my house than I would on the road with all those crazy drivers if I evacuated.

Notes ♫

I like my radio OK. It an Epica brand and it'll run on solar, crank and cells. I've made sure all my AA and AAA rechargeable cells are charged.

The way I see the problem with seeding the clouds, although I think it would work fine, is that there is no way to make a profit from that, and corporate world will not do anything if it won't make the stock go up.

But there things we can do. Here are a few:

• Paint our roofs white. That would reflect more than seeding the clouds would do, but nobody seems to care (I did mine)
• Get rid of those gas-guzzling 1.5 to 2.5-ton, 4-door pickup trucks that haul nothing heavier than a week's worth of groceries
• Quit mowing the lawn, as 10% of the carbon in the air comes from mowers. I planted shade trees, and put ferns under them, and re-wilded a meadow in the back 1/4 acre of my 1/2 acre lot.
• Plant trees. I put about 30 native trees, plus a couple of established, non-invasive exotics on my half acre 30 years ago
• Hang your laundry outdoors. Why use energy to dry clothes when the sun will do it and sterilize them at the same time.
• Quit using air conditioners. The AC uses energy which comes from the grid. That pollutes the air making the world hotter, which means you need to make the AC work harder which uses energy from the grid, that pollutes the air, making the world even hotter, which makes the AC works hotter etc., etc., etc.
• Drive like you are in the historic Mobil economy run. By slow acceleration and coasting as much as I can before using the brakes, I get 100 more miles per tankful than my car is rated for.
• Consume less. Know the difference between need and want
  

There is plenty more we can do, but that's a good start.

Ian is drifting again, and now they are predicting 70-80 mph winds where I live. So tonight I'll drop the rest of the storm awnings. I'd guess tomorrow afternoon's outdoor gig is cancelled. That'll cost me money, and probably Thursday's as well.

And when the storm is over, cleanup will be a necessary PITA.

But there is nothing we can do except deal with it. We could curse mother nature all we want and it won't change anything.

Good luck to all in the path. After you prepare, the rest is luck.

Of all the natural disasters, tornadoes, landslides, tsunamis, earthquakes, avalanches, floods, dust storms, I'll take hurricanes. We know when they are coming, and if we know how to prepare it's survivable unless you are extremely unlucky.

Notes ♫

Moved 500 cows to higher ground. The Myakka ranch is only about thirty miles from the gulf. Not good. Could get pretty high winds and lots of rain. The other ranch is 90 miles inland. I don't expect many problems there.

The last big hurricane in Tampa was 1921. Looks like the storm is going to miss Tampa but the surge may still be pretty bad. I may take a direct hit at the ranch. The cows will likely survive as there is high ground.

My business partner went to the Keys to take the boat out of the water. I would have had to drive 280 miles one way.

Hurricanes are a fact of life in Florida. We have insurance but every time we have a hurricane it cost a least 100 to 300 thousand to repair the farm in Homestead. It's just part of the cost of doing business here in south Florida.

Nothing to do but just deal with it and hope you don't get hurt in the process.

Billy

Well, It's drifting farther south again, and getting stronger and bigger. I've done all the prep and shouldn't get the worst winds, so unless I'm extremely unlucky, I should be OK.

The hotel we play at is full of Tampa escapees, the owner wants us to play and if he can figure out a way for us to play and stay dry, we'll be happy to do so.

Good luck to all in a more direct path than we are.

Notes ♫

Well, just stay safe y'all

You are going to drive into the eye of a hurricane FOR A GIG?????

I've been watching another YT poster who has taken leave from his normal job and has been preparing his property for the past two days. He is very serious about what might be arriving. Everything he can tie down has been tied down, shutters screwed to windows and doors. Heavy vehicles, trucks etc parked in a circle around smaller outdoor buildings, sheds etc for protection. Just hope any issues are minimal.

Firstly we have forum members on the Fl west coast. So even more best wishes to them and all Floridians.

Secondly a little perspective. Our homestead is 250 miles inland from the gulf and the “remnants” of Hurricane Irma took down multiple 100 year old trees on our property. It’s hard to imagine what some folks are going to experience with a near Cat 5 landing.

Bud

This one is going to be a Biggie, so to my Fl PG friends do what you have to do to keep safe.
Coincidentally I have family currently vacationing in central Florida at 'Villages' resort, having just left Longboat Key which looks like its going to get a battering.
Hold tight everyone. Take care and keep safe
Bests
Ian

Center of the eye has officially made landfall....

Stay safe those affected.

Tony

We're not getting the eye, it's coming in on the west coast and we're on the east. We're over 130 miles from where it made landfall.

I've been in every hurricane since Donna in 1960, so I know when to duck and hide and when I don't need to.

Ian is going diagonally N.E. across the state, so its closest approach to us will be tomorrow.

The winds here today didn't top 50mph, which a typical summer thunderstorm produces.

But the owner couldn't figure out how to keep us dry so he told us to take the day off.

The hotel is full of Tampa escapees, so it would have been fun to play. It would have been a hurricane party. But we can't have our gear get wet.

Tomorrow the winds are supposed to get stronger, so I doubt we'll be working.

I've seen some pictures from Ft. Meyers, and things look bad. Storm surge reaching the second floor of buildings. Waterfront buildings always get the worst of the storm, followed by low-lying land that wants to return to swamp.

And the media always finds the worst disasters to report.

This is the main reason why I won't live either on the barrier island or anywhere inland except the eastern sand ridge. I'm 32' high and if we have a 32' storm surge, we are all going to be wiped out.

Still, I feel badly for the people, as most of them don't have decades of living in Florida experience, and I must admit, I'd too love to live on the water, but I know better. The Realtor won't tell the new folks that they are moving into a danger zone.

I hope nobody loses their lives. Property can be replaced.

When this is over, I'll do what I can to help.

Notes ♫

I guess the trade off to living up north at 1000' is the 28 inches of snow we get overnight twice every winter.

Hope you come up to Herbstock in spring!!