Tropical Storm Dorian May Hit Florida as Hurricane over the Weekend

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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The 5am Advisory looks somewhat encouraging—slight degradation of storm and more shift to the east, putting the coast of Florida tentatively out of the cone of [del]silence[/del] uncertainty. Hopefully, the risk to Georgia and the Carolinas will likewise be lessened.

Earlier, one of the model spaghetti stands took a beeline right over our house (in Ponte Vedra), so my blood pressure downgraded to a category 1 with the latest update.

My dog, cat, daughters and I took refuge at a shelter during Hurricane Matthew. Don’t want to go through that hellish experience again. The shelter show runners did an admiral job, but boy howdy, a significant portion of guests were a showcase of Florida’s worst & dumbest.

Fights broke out. The cops and National Guard were called in. We were each allotted a 5’x2.5’ space on the bare floor. The lady in the space below me turned me in the authorities for my feet extending a couple inches into her space (hey, sorry for being 6’ tall in a 5’ space).

A guy with big, crazy eyes kept staring at my daughters, so I kept my eye on him.

A kooky bird lady and a criminal latched on to my daughters and I. They were neighbors with a history and hated each other. Bird Lady had a big Cockatoo in the pet room and complained constantly that they wouldn’t let her keep her bird in the people room—kept threatening to call the governor (who she knew personally) and get the shelter indicted for bird trauma or something.

The criminal (who Bird Lady said spent more time in prison, than out and once stabbed a man to death over some minor infraction) was perpetually drunk the entire 3 days. He cracked a joke about my legs (I was wearing shorts), but I let it slide. I figured it wasn’t in my best interest to instigate a drunk who once stabbed a man to death.

The shelter provided 3 meals per day—mini cinnamon pancakes, served cold after the power went off.

Some nimrod woke everyone at 2am singing and playing guitar. Most (sane) people bring necessities to a shelter. This guy brings his guitar, which he couldn’t play and sang worse than my cat yowling in heat.

They had a big screen TV set up in the room. The last thing we saw was St. Augustine (15 miles south of us) being flooded. Then the electricity went off (and stayed off for the following 2 days). We were in total darkness when the winds came and the roof started rattling. Bird Lady started crying about the fate of her bird. At least crazy eye guy couldn’t stare at my daughters any more. Guitar man broke into song. Who knows what criminal dude was up to—probably picking pockets.

Good times.

Heart goes out to the Bahamas and all affected by Dorian.

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We spent all weekend getting ready. Picking up yard debris and burning it, putting away all the outdoor furniture and loose objects outside, re-sealing the garage door, etc. At least we’ll be ready for the next storm (maybe we can get that bad tree removed in the meantime)!
However, I’m still concerned about my mom and grandma in Palatka. They live right on the St. John’s River, and Irma really did a number on them.
I can’t even wrap my head around what it must be like for the people in the Bahamas.

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Vero Beach resident here, a 12-minute drive to the coast. We just bought our first house three months ago, and this is our first hurricane. We are currently LOVING our new roof, which the insurance company made us get when we moved in (we were upset at the time but now are so glad they did!).

Being cooped up for days with metal shutters on the windows is no fun, I can tell you. But other than that, all is well. We put all our lawn furniture in the garage, bought water a few days ago, we’re playing lots of games, having karaoke singalongs. Basically just trying not to go full-on Jack Torrence up in here.

Horrible what’s happening in the Bahamas. We’re supposed to get the worst of it tonight and frankly, I’m just eager to get it over with. Best wishes to anyone and everyone who’s being affected!

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Still pretty much stalled. I believe that somewhere in an attic there’s a painting of a hurricane racing ahead getting stronger and stronger.

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:smiley: That’s the spirit!
It’s never a good idea to be alone during a hurricane. Obviously, you wouldn’t have help if anything went wrong, but also, they’re scary as crap.

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I was a little surprised in the run up to this that the predictions were not far more dire.

I saw the track, saw the magnitude and saw the prediction of 7-8m surge and 170+ winds. I said to my wife that the Bahamas were pretty much going to be wiped out and the pictures coming in now seem to confirm that.

It may be that over here on the other side of the Atlantic we didn’t get the same degree of urgency for this in the media but I wonder, how exactly do they/did they evacuate and what safe refuge was there?

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The wind and rain are starting to pick up here. [Bette Davis] Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.[/Bette Davis]

Time to pop a trough of popcorn before the power goes out.

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My folks in Palatka have sandbags, and what looks like a moat! The storm for them is starting now, should be over by nightfall. I think they’ll be okay. * fingers crossed *

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I take Amtrak from Palatka when I have to go to Orlando, then Uber. Saves me the hassle of driving and the cost is little more than the gas I save.

I think your folks will be fine. I’m a couple blocks from the beach in PVB and my daughter, cats and I are enjoying a cool breeze in the lanai right now. May get a bit worse in a couple hours, but not too bad. Michael and Irma were much worse. Michael felled a large tree that missed my roof by a couple feet.

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Thanks to your post above, I darn sure won’t be advising them to go to a shelter! :smiley:

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Well, at least tell them not to bed down near a guy with a guitar, or a gal with a bird.

And, of course I meant hurricane “Matthew”, not “Michael.” I was just watching a movie with Matthew McConaughey—I should have known better.

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Stupid hurricane made it so I couldn’t watch America’s Got Talent yesterday…and we barely got more than a windstorm!

On the positive side, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Universal Studios emptier in my life. I rode a ride quite literally completely by myself and there were probably more workers in the park than guests.

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Florida Man has a plan!

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<snip>
Think you got problems? My power went off at lunchtime and didn’t come back on for **10 **whole minutes! I was frying my homemade gourmet McNuggets and they got oil-sogged with the decreased temp!

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A statement traditionally made on the eve of a storm. Because that’s what it’s all about.

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It’s over us now in Charleston. No power and high winds.

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Stay safe!

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My thoughts are with you guys, Jonathan. I wish this darn thing would hurry up and move on out to sea!

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Try huddling under some oak trees with your butt to the wind.

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Well, the power just came back so we lost it for about 5+ hours or so.

My patio is going to need some work. The pergola over the hot tub is - literally - a twisted set of steel bars at this point. I might need a welding torch to clear it out.

Hell, the Waffle House in town in on limited menu. Uh oh.