quote:

Journal entry: Day three, still no power.

Re-supply convoy has not been sighted.

Food running low. Might have to eat the goldfish.

Please keep us updated. That was funny. It reminds me of the Donner Pass adventure. Please do not resort to cannibalism.

Well my post at 2:14 Monday morning was a bit premature. Lost juice at 3:45, one of those 100ft oaks committed suicide two doors down and decided to take the power lead with it.

Ice is now the most valuable commodity. Fortunately have great neighbors and we found a Publix with power, cold beer and beautiful ribeyes, so we had an after the storm block party in the street this evening.

Estimates on power range from Sunday through all of next week...

Starting to appreciate cold showers

My friend e-mailed me this evening that he has power at his place in Naples, crediting his sharing the power grid with the local hospital for the quick repair work.

A small oak tree fell, blocking his doorway, so his neighbor, who is keeping an eye on the place, can't get in yet. All things considered, his place is doing OK. It was a very small oak tree!

I get to rest a bit now after working through the storm. But that's ok - still no power by me. Prefer AC than sleep.
we got the "dirty" end of the storm - winds at ~110MPH, 'Storm Surge" - never really paid attention to that term. All of a sudden its important during seal level rise. Then I found out its really the rising tide from the storm in old familiar English. We had some nice Storm Surge.

But thank god, no real structural damage (well, except for 2 construction cranes supposed to withstand 135mph winds that collapsed at ~75MPH), oh, and the destroyed marina's all over. Boats on land, in parks, smacked up yachts, cats & dogs sleeping together, its a mess.

Now we get to clean up, and watch the poor souls in the Keys try to survive cut off with no supplies. The US Navy is supplying them with basic needs.
We got hit mostly cosmetically, they lost nearly all structural.

Amazingly, we are full with mostly non life-threatening problems. At least so far.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigfest:
Did Tampa, around the bay, get the storm surge? Son lives on ground floor, about 500' from bay in an Apt. Bugged out to Tn. Not sure what to expect when he gets home.

Nothing major.

Fwiw, about power outages in the TB area.

"-Duke Energy expects complete restoration by midnight Friday for Pinellas and Pasco Counties, and midnight Sunday for the rest of its customers. Severely impacted Hardee and Highlands Counties could take longer.

-FPL is aiming to have power back for all west coast customers by September 22.

-TECO expects all customers to be back on by Sunday night.

-Lakeland Electric said the majority of outages will last less than a week but some could last up to two weeks.

-Withlacoochie River Electric Cooperative estimates it'll take 7 to 10 days for the majority of accounts.

-Peace River Electric Cooperative was unable to provide estimates."

quote:

Originally posted by Sigfest:
Did Tampa, around the bay, get the storm surge? Son lives on ground floor, about 500' from bay in an Apt. Bugged out to Tn. Not sure what to expect when he gets home.

My cousin lives in Tampa but she bugged out and went to her parents in Miss. She's on her way back to Tampa now

Hope she has a safe trip. There's a lot of backups on I-10 in Mobile.

I found this site on FDOT that gives traffic counts around Florida in the days leading up to, during, and after Irma. Shows 10 times or more than normal traffic volumes heading north, then dropping to very little, and then 10 times or more heading south. What really struck me is how even the volume of traffic is no matter what time of day or night it is during the evacuation and return. So much for my plan to avoid it by leaving at 3:30am.

FDOT Traffic Volume

East Orlando checking in. We have power as of early yesterday morning. House had a tree fall onto it but no damage that I can find. My dad got up on my roof and cut the branches off of the roof (before I could stop him, crazy old codger!) We then proceeded to head up the chainsaw brigade and work our way around our area.

My business sustained no damage, thank God. I hope and pray everyone else reaches some state of normalcy soon.

Jacksonville/south Duval county here. No damage to our house, lots of branches down. No downed trees on my property, but lots in the neighborhood. Power went out about 2000 Sunday, still out. JEA isn't even giving an estimate for repair. The generator is going 24/7, so have the fridge, ceiling fans, well pump, and a water heater going. Running to get gas about once a day, sporadic stations running dry.

I have shingles all over the yard, they are ridge caps, I'll be re-attaching them late evening the next few days. I have a screen of Arica Palms surrounding the back yard, there are a ton of bent and broken fronds. So far, that looks.like all. My cousin in Orlando caught some one looting next door. He called 911 and the police were there lickity split and took the yoot away in cuffs!

quote:

Originally posted by Tommydogg:
...My cousin in Orlando caught some one looting next door. He called 911 and the police were there lickity split and took the yoot away in cuffs!

The Coroner was not involved? Too bad, maybe next time.

FEMA or whatever government agency has setup a website for those in areas that were declared a disaster relief area.

You can enter your address and see if your house is in the declared area. I have no idea what assistance is offered but thought I would put this up here for those that haven't seen it. Saw it on the Lee County Emergency Operations site. I've been monitoring this for my grandmother since she doesn't do the internet.

click me

I have power but no cable/internet. I'll take that trade.

quote:

Originally posted by Wreckless:
I have power but no cable/internet. I'll take that trade.

In a way, that's a blessing!

After 56.5 hours without power, it has been restored. The generator saved us in the house, but without power, the sewage lift stations could not pump, and we had some raw sewage backing up into the street.

For those planning to return via I-75:

"Evacuees have been slowly returning to their Florida homes since Hurricane Irma left for good. The main vein of travel through Florida’s spine is Interstate 75. However, the travel time might increase.

The Santa Fe River, under I-75, has rapidly risen 15 feet in the past 36 hours due to heavy rainfall over North Florida following Irma, according to Florida Highway Patrol. The agency is monitoring, and it’s possible a portion of I-75 from south of Interstate 10 and north of Alachua County can completely shut down. If the river rises to an unsafe level, the bridge will be impassable in both directions, and would be closed immediately.

The Florida Department of Transportation says it is actively working with WAZE, Google Maps, the Georgia Department of Transportation and other transportation industry partners to communicate the potential reroutes to the public. Floridians should consult www.FL511.com for up-to-date information on road closures and travel routes." http://www.fox13news.com/weath...rida-evacuees-return

Here's a link to a drone video of Daytona/Daytona Beach

There are millions on the road on the way back, Daytona flooded quite a bit, anything on either side of the
river got flooded, gas is available but she will be waiting in lines, traffic on 95 is very very heavy, there are
parts of 75 in Alachua County (Gainesville) that may close due to the river coming over the interstate forcing
more folks down 95.

Power is out for millions, last I heard at least 5 million still without power, lots of crews working.

Here is a link to a video drone over Daytona, The hotel in the beginning is off main st at the pier, lost it's decorative roof,
at .35 that's where Main and Beach St intersect right down
from the Indian Store off the Hallifax River, starting at 44 that is the western side of the loop north of Main before
Ormond Beach the road runs right up the river that is normally a park that juts out into the river there.

At 1:51 to the right when it widens out is where Smoky Yunicks garage was, that is Beach St
where it starts and goes under seabreeze ave...



http://www.news-journalonline....looded-daytona-beach

My story. By bubbatime.

I came. I saw. I conquered. I am a survivor.

I live on the water in Charlotte county, FL just north of Fort Myers, and south of Sarasota. Local officials gave a notice of 3 ft storm surge, then 6 foot storm surge, then 9 foot storm surge, then 10-15 ft storm surge. My house is barely above sea level, perhaps 6 feet.

Wife and I decided that drowning in a 10-15 ft storm surge sounded disagreeable, so we decided to evacuate to Jacksonville to the wife's sisters house. Her elevation is at 25 feet, so at least we wouldn't drown to death. Bonus.

Loaded up two cars with all our life's valuables, 50 plus guns , pictures, mementos, and 15 gallons of gas in gas cans for the return trip home (which came in EXTREMELY handy) etc, and decided to hit the road. Turned the key to the car and .... NOTHING. Dead battery. What the F***??!! Put the battery on the charger for 15 minutes, hit the key, and success! Car barely started, but it started baby! As I previously said in another post somewhere, the best time to evacuate is almost immediately before the storm when winds are picking up. You'll find the roads empty, and smooth travels. Which I found to be the case. Empty roads and smooth sailing all the way to Jacksonville. Stopped for gas near Daytona. Car wouldn't start again. WTF? The alternator has been charging it for hours. Should have started. Jumped started the car, got it running, and completed our journey with no other problems.

When I got to Jacksonville, I put the multi-meter on the battery and found it at 9.5 volts. Dead cell. Dead battery. No good. Needs replaced.

I was stuck in the house with sister in law (dumb as shit) and brother in law (dumber than shit) for a couple of days. Nothing in common with this guy, and nothing to talk about. I read a book instead.

Storm spun off a tornado very close to my sisters house, which did considerable damage to the neighborhood. Sisters house lost some shingles and some fencing, but that's all.

Had to buy a new car battery, which proved problematic as everything was closed. Had to wait to get one. Finally found an Autozone that had just opened. Five guys in line buying....wait for it.... car batteries. I guess the storm killed a lot of folks car batteries. Store computers were down, phone lines were down, credit card processing machines were down. Even the employees were down, as they stood around like robots with broken computer code with no task to do. The employees had no idea what to do, or how to do it, when the system was down. I told the five guys in line (credit card purchases, not happening) to step aside, as a real deal cash purchase was about to occur. I handed the clerk the cash, he wrote out a hand written receipt, and I was on my way with my new car battery. The five would be credit card customers were awed with my prowess, skill, and knowledge to get freaking cash out before any emergencies. Idiots.

Back at the house, battery installed, cars loaded up, back on the road home.

Told the wife who was following behind me in her car, "Traffic will be bad, I have a few ideas to avoid the traffic. Follow me. " What does she do? She does what women do, "she knows better". She doesn't follow me, and decides to go her own way. Oops. I make it home in record time. NO traffic AT ALL. 85 mph the entire way home. I was confused as the media said traffic was a bitch. At any rate, I got home a full 5 hours before the wife did. She, in all her infinite wisdom, decided that I-75 would be the best road home. I specifically avoided that route, as I KNEW it would be bad. I didn't see ANY gas the entire way home, and neither did the wife. I did have to top up my tank to get home, so the 15 gallons of gas in cans I brought did come in handy and gave me a lot of piece of mind. The wife on the other hand, limped back into town on the gas light.

Back at my house, my street is flooded, but my house is fine. Not a single scratch at my house. Didn't even a lose a screen on the pool cage. Power is on and working fine. Only lost power at my house for about 10 hours, according to Florida Power.

So in conclusion, I evacuated to a place that got it worse than I did. I lost a car battery. I overpaid slightly, for a a new one. And my superior intellect and experience really impressed the wife when she was driving for 5 hours longer than I was. Winning.

All good in Jacksonville Beach. A nerve racking few days but we have been exceptionally lucky with Irma and Mathew!

quote:

Told the wife who was following behind me in her car, "Traffic will be bad, I have a few ideas to avoid the traffic. Follow me. " What does she do? She does what women do, "she knows better". She doesn't follow me, and decides to go her own way.

My wife must be related......