Forget all that shit! WAFFLE HOUSE IS CLOSING STORES ALL OVER THE AREA!!!
The local meteorologist said that, historically, wobbles in this area go either south or east (rarely north or west). And a slight change in trajectory hundreds of miles offshore can have a big impact on where it ultimately lands.
Meaning, Sarasota/Bradenton is now sweating a little more, and my area (Pasco county, which is the county north of Tampa’s Hillsborough) is breathing a slight sigh of relief.
Then again, this thing is huge. None of the Bay Area is in the clear.
I’m watching (from a safe geographic distance) the Weather Channel and Fox Weather and they seem to be in general agreement on just how dire this thing will be. They’re warning, for example, that the east coast will also get hammered, though not as brutally as the west.
I do wonder where all the weather reporters who are currently in the to-be-belly of this beast will ride it out.
Something I’ve always been morbidly, and, arguably, tastelessly curious about. What would happen to someone who stayed in downtown Tampa Bay on the 5th floor of a sturdy modern high-rise. Would they be just fine? Would windows break? Any chance a sizable building would just flat out collapse?
I was wondering about this as well. In my memory, I can’t recall a major building falling down in a hurricane. Even in Mexico where building standards are somewhat optional, the buildings that are several stories high come through the storm still standing. The windows may be blown out and there may be minor damage, but the core of the building seems to handle the storm just fine. I would guess that if you rode out the storm in an interior room of a high-rise, you would be safe.
Seriously‽ That’s scary.
Sturdy modern high rises usually do well structurally in hurricanes. If they stayed away from the windows and didn’t need any utilities (power, water, sewer…) they’d probably be okay.
Buildings in Florida made in the last few decades are going to be made to withstand the winds. But windows do sometimes get broken by flying debris, so it can be advisable to avoid them during the storm.
I’m going to be in my bed (it’s going to land in the middle of the night), but if it gets a little hairy I’ll move to my closet.
Being from tornado alley, I’m glad I don’t get days notice to contemplate my demise. 20 minutes max.
I have quite a few relatives in the Tampa area. I’m very concerned about my aunt and uncle, who are both near 80 years old. My Tia is on dialysis and so I’m especially worried for her. They made it through Helene ok, but now we have not been able to make contact with them.
Hopefully their daughter is with them and they are evacuating to a safe place with an ability for medical treatment. It’d be nice nice to hear from them though.
So, in case anyone cares, my wife will be stuck in Orlando. I mentioned she’s there on business, but I didn’t mention that since her elderly parents live there, she’s staying with them. Thus, even if she could have got an earlier flight out, she didn’t.
The parents have only been there for a couple of years, so I think this is their first big one. They don’t seem too concerned, but I don’t know if that’s naivete or based on what they’re being told.
I’m not super happy about the situation.
I have a close friend in the Tampa Bay area. He’s several miles inland and i guess on what passes for “high ground” in Florida. Anyway, i offered him our guest bedroom, and he replied that he’s decided to shelter in place, and has invited friends who live in more vulnerable locations to stay with him.
I expect he’ll be fine, but I’m going to worry.
Like others, quite a few family in Central FL. Most report having taken the needed precautions as may apply to their situation, but there are some who are not in great health so the big deal would be keeping communications and access. At least almost every one has some experience with major ones from back home in PR.
Oh shit! Time to evacuate!
If they are in reasonable health, don’t need supplies (especially medical) for at least a week, are ok living without electricity for a while, don’t live in a low lying area prone to flooding, and can deal with some moderate wind damage to their home, then they should come through ok.
If they’ve never been through a hurricane, they may find they aren’t quite so sanguine after, but they should be physically fine, excepting any existing health issues that require infrastructure to be in place (regular need for dialysis or refrigeration of meds can be a big one during extended power outages).
Yeah, @Great_Antibob nailed it for folks who’re far enough away from wherever the storm surge is. A week without power & running water can be a very dreary experience.
When my late wife was ailing, we used to leave 3 days before a potential TC. Beat the rush. We never encountered panic buying, fuel or hotel shortages, or traffic. We tried to stay at least 2 days ahead of the braying panicked horde. Our building was well-armored, but somebody in raggedy health does not need to be exposed to a week of summer temps w/o air conditioning and no water.
Local report from southern Palm Beach County at 11am on Wed.
I’m sitting at an outdoor eatery 1/4mi from the beach enjoying a slightly extra-breezy meal. I drove over with the top down on the car. We have had sunny, hazy sun, or mostly cloudy by turns and have had only a bit of sprinkling since pre-dawn. The air is portentously humid, especially for Oct; it feels more like July. The temp is a pleasant 86/30 & NWS says our local wind is 17mph. We’re still sitting at about a 50/50 chance of breaking the 34mph Tropical Storm barrier on our winds overnight tonight = Wed and tomorrow = Thu.
It’s gonna suck unbelievably pretty much everywhere from Tampa to Naples. Worse in some places than others, but it’s gonna suck a bunch everywhere.
With an honorable mention for Orlando, Melbourne, etc. as the storm crosses the peninsula. That area will be mightily inconvenienced, as opposed to whereever the storm surge is, which will simply be destroyed in detail.
What a cool site! Thanks!
Windy.com is a similar website with (surprise) gives wind info.
Brian
@Crafter_Man & @N9IWP …
Here’s my go-to site for that kind of visualization:
Far more than just wind can be displayed. Click the small word “earth” and/or the hamburger menu at lower left to see what data layers you can play with. You can also drag the globe around to see other parts of the earth or look down from the poles, or …
tres cool.
Tomorrow was supposed to be my final dissolution hearing via Zoom. Not anymore! To be rescheduled later. Oh well.
Thank you for your real-time eye witness report. Far easier for me to visualize and take in than the dueling news report available. Please drop by often and keep us up to date.
I’m holding good thoughts for all the Dopers who might be affected~hang in there, follow the advice of your local authorities whether that is “evacuate now” or “batten down” with needed supplies and ride it out or just “be sensible and stay out of the way”.
Where I am, we’re not expecting anything beyond a windy day. So I’m not sure what use my local reports will be. The breathless newscasters are all over on the other side of the state where the twisted wreckage will soon appear.
I was in coastal Fort Myers back in April of this year (2024) and took a lot of pix of the widespread destruction still sitting there mostly untouched from Ian (Sep 2022) that was then 19 months ago and is now 25 months ago. They’re all gonna get whacked again at least some.