My family is safe!

good!

I haven't seen pictures of tons of people bailing. Did most people stay or did the evacuation just go really smooth or what?

NOAA track forecast 8pm EDT

moving NE at 17 mph

max sustained wind 90 mph

Bro and Dad are in Henry Co, Al with just power loss so far. The tomorrow will reveal any tree loss or other external damages.

https://www.washingtonpost.com...m_term=.fcb57c9cf3f4

The storm surge inundated Apalachicola in over seven feet of ocean water, a new record.

video of damage at Panama City at link

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:

It was a spectacularly large and "clear" eye.

I have been through a couple that the eye was fairly small and cloud filled, nothing like that.

View from the ISS today a little before it made landfall.



It was pretty much a nothing burger for Pensacola - very thankful for that - almost all thunderstorms are far worse than what we got today.

SigMonkey, I'm glad you and yours are safe. "I live 150 feet ASL and 23 miles due norf of the water, so I am good. " was nearly not be good enough. Just luck it turned when it did or it would have destroyed us both and several other forum regulars. Maybe we can't get high enough or far enough inland, as demonstrated by this hurricane all the way into Georgia. Unreal. Well, we dodged it, so that's a good thing. Thinking about the western mountains again...

quote:

Originally posted by cne32507:
SigMonkey, I'm glad you and yours are safe. "I live 150 feet ASL and 23 miles due norf of the water, so I am good. " was nearly not be good enough. Just luck it turned when it did or it would have destroyed us both and several other forum regulars. Maybe we can't get high enough or far enough inland, as demonstrated by this hurricane all the way into Georgia. Unreal. Well, we dodged it, so that's a good thing. Thinking about the western mountains again...

I'm grateful if you are OK. I hope 45cal, 45cal's son, SC, MarsAttacks, and everyone else here in GA will be OK, too.

A hurricane eye is an eerie thing. Irene back in 1999 went right over our house and while nowhere near as powerful (lots of rain!), I'll never forget the eerie calm of the eye and the swirling clouds of the eye wall, especially since it was night time when it passed.

Glad everyone is OK so far!

NOAA 11pm EDT Wed

moving NE at 20 mph

max sustained wind 75 mph

quote:

Originally posted by mark_a:
good!

I haven't seen pictures of tons of people bailing. Did most people stay or did the evacuation just go really smooth or what?

I was going to go into work yesterday morning, but saw northbound traffic moving bumper to bumper about 5-10mph on Hwy 85 northbound near I-10 funneling traffic from Fort Walton/Niceville/Valparaiso/Destin and some of the surrounding areas, and heavy traffic east and west on I-10.

So, I turned and went back home, figured I did not need to be one more vehicle on the road.


Most people were apprehensive about the cold front pushing the storm to the east.

I had a friend who works in Navarre and lives in FWB, leaving work early yesterday and said the traffic heading westbound and up Hwy 87 (another evac corridor) were bumper to bumper all the way to FWB/Okaloosa Island.

So, folks were heading out 24 hours in advance.

There has been a good deal of road expansion to improve the evacuation, but it is still a lot of people to move, and any traffic crashes, or other impediments, stalled/disabled vehicles, out of gas and such can really screw up the flow, and once it gets slowed down, it is difficult for it to get flowing well quickly.

05:45 in Charlotte, raining like a mofo. Commutes will be a mess, but they closed schools today so that’ll help. I’ve got to go an hour north for a class today. I-85 should be entertaining...

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:


I'm grateful if you are OK. I hope 45cal, 45cal's son, SC, MarsAttacks, and everyone else here in GA will be OK, too.

Everyone in GA is good. The storm lost most of its strength in Florida.

My niece was in Mexico Beach evacuating their charter boat and lost it and the truck.

She says Mexico Beach was erased. Toucan's Grill and any structure that wasn't brick construction pretty much disintegrated in the wind.

We're already getting more wind from this one than we got from Florence here in Charleston. Very little rain here, hoping it doesn't dump more further north. I'm sure they haven't dried out from Florence yet.

I am in upstate SC, been raining very hard the last 2 hours or so.
The wind picked up as well.

NOAA 5AM EDT

moving NE 21 mph
max sustained wind 50 mph

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a number of pics and videos:

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/imag...news-topstories.html

Looks like it is forecast to remain a Tropical Storm all the way across the Atlantic as it heads for the UK. And it really starts to pick up speed. I guess that has something to do with the jet stream.

rough calculation:

from plot above, from 2AM Sat to 2 AM Sun, the storm is moving over 50 mph

There are structures in Panama City that were devastated and some that are standing. I think Mars is right on in his assessment- block/ masonry is probably okay if not wet. Same for Mexico and PC Beaches- if the surge didn't get them, it is all down to construction, luck and a higher power.

Further NE, Marianna, I have associates with trees down and windows blown out. I know directly from a friend that lives there- they HAD a house built to current code 8 years ago- nothing left of it but the CLOSET they were standing in.


I work for a large insurance carrier and it is too early to know much- cell communications are down in many areas. Hell, VERIZON is down as far east as Tallahassee.

Panama City is my hometown. I haven't been able to talk to my Dad yet, but I am hoping he's ok. Property, likely gone. I was able to exchange texts with an uncle in Lynn Haven yesterday; heavy roof damage but otherwise ok.
Homestead was never the same after Andrew. I'm afraid Panama City will never be either, especially as I see some of the footage today.