What happened to Ira's post on Wilma II???

[cracker39]

I read Ira's new post on Wilma, then tried to reply, and it was gone.

What happened? Ira, did you pull it?

[madjack]

Well only the author or admin can delete a post and I didn't touch it, so.....................i dunno
madjack

[IraRat]

Hey--someone noticed!

What happened was that an hour after I posted it, I look at the news, and I see the thing is moving really FAST now, and like everything they predicted an hour okay is totally irrelevant now. So I don't know WHAT the heck to write and deleted it.

Anyway, here is that exact post, 99% of which I think means nothing now. (I had copied it to my clipboard prior to deleting. Clever of me, huh?)
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Since the other hurricane thread was approaching 6 pages, and since it degenerated to discussions about the black goop on my TD and hair products (which was also fun to discuss), I figured I would start another thread to get the subject back on track.

And the track now has it heading for some of us here in South Florida, but this could affect ANYWHERE in the state. And here's the rub:

Most home protection (shutters, etc.) on the east coast of Florida are made to protect from storms coming from the EAST [I just corrected my mistake in this reposting], hitting on the coast, not the other way around. Since this one will be hitting us from the back side, there are going to be some surprises.

Next, putting categories aside, even a 1 can do a lot of damage, but the RAIN from this one is going to be ridiculous. It's only moving 3mph right now, and although it should strengthen to at least a cat 2 now that the eye is off land, that doesn't mean it's going to move any faster. They predict that it WILL though, but I think this is just a guess. (Woody, feel free to correct me on any of this.) So they have the outer rain bands making landfall in Naples like 2AM Monday, with us closer to the east coast feeling the effects of the first bands in the afternoon, and feeling them for hours.

That means a definite day off from work, which is a good thing, but I think that's the only good thing.

I'm in way west Broward, right next to the Glades, and there's A LOT of water there too. I remember Irene, which wasn't even that big a deal at the time, and the flooding in my area was pretty bad. Not New Orleans bad, of course, but it was no picnic.

So here we go again, and anyone who lives in the Keys and doesn't evacuate is a total nut.

And oh--I forgot tornadoes. They say that this is the kind of hurricane that spawns a lot of them.

[cracker39]

Well Ira, I to copied my reply to your post. Some it may be outdated now that you updated yours, but here is what I posted:

Ira, it's still a cat 2 right now. Will it pick up steam? I think it depends on what it encounters coming across the gulf. If this cool front moves in, it will change direction towards us, but may not get too strong. I'm hoping the cool air causes it to just pick up forward speed, rather than intensity, so that it will race across the state sparing us a lot of damage. Like I said in the other thread and I'm sure you will agree, they can predict all they want to, but we don't know what it will actually do until it does it. Hurricanes are notorius for making fools of the forecasters. but, then, some of the forcasters don't need any help proving them to be fools (i.e. lady in canoe, water turns out to be ankle deep). Some of them will do anything to make it seem more than it is.

So, you and Woody batten down the hatches and secure the perimeters. And Tom, hope there is some campground left for November camping.

[IraRat]

I just read Dale's post--while watching the obligatory segment on the news:

People at HD trying to buy ply, and the Florida City HD is out of stock.

If you haven't lived in FL, you have no idea how SICK most of us get from watching this same news piece being done storm after storm, on every channel.

And the question still remains--where does all of this ply DISAPPEAR to?

Anyway, I'm off to the boatyard now with my younger son to further batten down the hatches on The Crab. I don't know if it will do any good if the guy with the 75' Sport Fisherman next to me isn't doing the same.

If it lands on The Crab, that's it--I'm buying a Scadabout. But I'll make sure to take pictures.

[cracker39]

Ira, do you suppose after this hurricane season, we can drive around and buy a lot of used plywood cheap to build trailers? There are areas in Florida where I'd board up windows, but I've never lived in an area in Florida where I've felt the need to put plywood on the windows. I did hang some old tarp (that ripped off my portable garage last year) and a few pieces of scrap plywood around my back sun porch screening to try to keep the water out this time. During the 'canes last year, the screen blew loose in a couple of frames and leave and sticks blew in all over the porch...what a mess.

[Grandadeo]

Just finished boarding up and putting all the yard stuff away at 1:30 PM. Dragged myself into the shower and off to the Nuc Plant to observe the shutdown. Should get home around midnight just in time for the show to start. I think I hear the Carolinas calling me.

Lee

[asianflava]

My parents don't usually do anything to the house in preperation for the storm. But without fail, the soffit vents come off. There isn't much you can do to prepare those.

[cracker39]

I've done more than I usually do to prepare, trying to keep the rain out of the sun porch/workshop. I did bring in the plastic lawn chairs off the front porch so they won't blow away. And, in case the power goes out for a while, I put a few bags of ice in the freezer to help it stay cold and put the flashlights and candles in each room. Other than that, I guess we're ready. We'll probaby be woke up by the noise before morning.

[madjack]

Wilma is not as bad as she could be but will still be bad anyway...any hurricane is. Glad to see y'all preparing, I wish the best of luck to ya and say "keep ya head down and your powder dry"
madjack

[Steve_Cox]

This old joke from last year isn't too funny anymore!!

Steve in St Augustine

p s Just got back from a long weekend camping at the Suwannee River Music Park in Live Oak, FL... great weather all weekend and really great music... Magnolia Music Festival was the greatest.

[cracker39]

I don't care what anybody says....that's funny right there...GIT R DONE!!!

[TomS]

Take care of yourselves down there. I hope you all get through it OK.

[IraRat]

7PM Sunday and I'm going NUTS from the boredom. Another news segment making fun of the surfers on Ft/ Lauderdale Beach, and I'm learning to truly despise Max Mayfield's face.

OKAY! I'M HUNKERED DOWN LIKE YOU SAID! I WON'T GET IN MY CAR NOW TO GO SURFING! BUT I ONLY HAVE LIKE 197 DOUBLE-D BATTERIES!!! IS THAT ENOUGH!?

Oy, oy, oy.

I didn't do any boarding up, because if the roof goes, that ply doesn't help. Plus, I'm not using my two pieces of $30 oak ply for anything else but my galley. I tied up some chairs, put $50 of gas in the truck (that gave me a whopping half-tank!), and I'm rolling in ice, food, beer, cigarettes and toilet paper.

And I have to give props/kudos to the Publix near me:

This place was unbelievably well-stocked on EVERYTHING. And yes, people are taking this seriously, so there were a lot of them shopping.

In honor of Wilma and my TD that I hope survives, I'm making snow crab tonight. At $4.99 a pound, it was a no-brainer. (King crab at $19.99 a pound was a no-can-afford.) I bought a bunch of crap snacks too, so I figure by the time the storm passes tomorrow afternoon, I should gain at least 11 pounds. ("Honey! We just HAVE to have these eclairs for this hurricane!")

Anyway, off to eat now. The fireworks should be starting around midnight here, the light fireworks anyway, so if my wife isn't in the mood, I'll probably be posting again in the wee hours.

Which means I'll be posting again in the wee hours.

ANYONE WANT AN ECLAIR!?

[cracker39]

If you have power to use the PC in the wee hours. It's nearly 8PM and the weather channel has those dreaded BEEP, BEEP, BEEPs with the warnings crawling across the bottom of the screen about tornadoes sighted in our area, most to my south, but moving northward. The rain has started and if we have a pre-hurricane thunderstorm, I may have to shut down. I'll pass on the eclair, Ira. Just had some strawberry shortcake with my Michelob.