I did not see a check in thread for our Gulf Coast members.

I did a fuel run this morning after getting the shutters up. Hardly anyone was out and about at 0630, and there were definitely pink skies at sunrise. I've spent the rest of the day helping elderly neighbors get shutters up before the winds start.

We don't expect the worst of it here in Pinellas, but for any of the folks in flood prone areas, there will probably be significant surge and flooding as the storm passes.

Stay safe out there tonight and our prayers are with everyone in Idalia's path.

I've been watching the storm progress on:

https://zoom.earth/storms/idal...#overlays=radar,wind

Official NHC updates are posted on:
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graph...shtml?start#contents

A friend lives in the stew near Deland. She is Not looking forward to the rain. Not needed for sure.

Man I would not want to live there.

Citrus Springs here. Did a little prep Sun and early Mon. I've lived in Florida 40+ years and always have a stash of food and water. This year is different due to up comming surgery and restrictions on lifting. Hired a guy to move all outdoor stuff into the shed and garage. Tested both generators. I'm at 110 feet so not worried about the water rise. Good luck to all.

We spent 30+ years down in south Florida and obviously made it through several storms during that time.

Now up here in Tallahassee, watching Idalia closely.

Appreciate that zoom.earth tracking link HKAngusKL, first time I've seen that one and its really nice.

I have a Forest Service friend who lives at Navarre Beach, just east of Pensacola. He didn’t seem too concerned, feeling that the storm track was hooking off east of them. Said they could actually use the rain. Hope that’s all it amounts to; I see that there are “high surf” warnings.

We could use some rain, not IAN levels though, streams and ponds are already filled nicely.

Unless it hooks east we should get maybe 30 to 50 mph winds and some rain.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:

A friend lives in the stew near Deland.

Deland should be well east of the danger zone if Idalia stays on the currently forecasted track. I am maybe twenty minutes south of Deland and really do not expect anything significant.

The area it looks like Idalia will make landfall is probably the least populated part of coastal Florida; less than 100,000 people total in Taylor, Dixie, and Levy counties combined. The vast majority of the coastline there is saltwater marsh. There’s three towns on the coast: Steinhatchee, Horseshoe Beach, and Cedar Key with a combined population of under 2,000. Getting to each requires a minimum 10 mile drive from where everyone else in those counties lives.

We’re probably not going to get a lot of checking in from forum members in those areas as I’m guessing that subset of the forum is very small.

I’ve chartered a boat out of Steinhatchie before and am friendly with the Captain and crew…..sent them a message of stay safe! Beautiful area down there

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
I have a Forest Service friend who lives at Navarre Beach, just east of Pensacola. He didn’t seem too concerned, feeling that the storm track was hooking off east of them. Said they could actuallyle the rain.

I'm right on the boarder of Gulf Breeze and Navarre and hes right, we do need the rain. Looks like the storm will be well to the east of us.

I'm in Pinellas. We just got a gust of wind and heavy rain for about 5 minutes. Patio has been cleared out and shutters are going up shortly.

Work and school canceled today and tomorrow. I sheltered in place during Irma in 2017. This is my first hurricane season since 2017, first for the wife so she's not sure what to expect.

My wife just left Anna Maria Island after being told to evacuate. Ended her family vacation early.

The latest from the Hurricane Center- Florida is so screwed!

After the damage done by flooding during the last 2 storms on the west coast - I'm really feeling bad for anyone over there during this one. Apparently the tides are at all time highs and the storm surge will stack on top of that. Guess my homeowners insurance will go up again next year.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:

This is my first hurricane season since 2017, first for the wife so she's not sure what to expect.

We’re just passed high tide and water is over most of the neighbor’s docks and some of their seawalls. Tide is +2.5’ right now, but will be -.1’ at about 10pm. The next high tide will only be +1.4’ at 4:40am. We’ll see how it goes, but I don’t think we’ll be jet skiing down the street.

Youse smug guys on the East Coast are gonna get what's comin' via the yellow strand.

Everyone in the path stay safe

Pinellas / St Pete checking in. I left for Irma and Ian, staying for this one. Secured everything I could in the backyard and packed all of my frozen goods into the standup freezer (really don’t want to lose all of my hand made pelmeni, among other things). House is on a hill (27’-32’ elevation) so I’m not worried storm surge but it’s 105 year-old stick build so I’ll see how it holds up to the wind. Will be staying somewhere safer tonight. God speed everyone, stay safe.

I am in central Fl just south west of Disney.
It looks like we are about to get some of the first outer rain bands from the storm.
So far the highest gust of wind on my weather station has been 12 miles per hour.

Everyone be safe out there.