Hurricane Ian path

[Farside]

  My Florida Valkyrie friends if you need a place to hang out while the weather passes I got room. I've got 3 bedrooms each w/ a bathroom. Let me know if I could help you out. No pets sorry.    Prayers for North of Tampa and South along the FL west coast. I'm in Milton, FL and we look like we will be clear of Ian. Prayers for all in the path be smart.   Be SAFE! Leave me a PM. 

[Steel cowboy]

Thank you Keith for your generous invite.
I believe I’m ready.
Both bikes fueled
Both e-bikes charged
Jeep fueled
Pick up field
Camper stocked
20 gallons of fuel stored
Generators (4) up and running
I parked the camper and the trailers close to the house too. looks like Hernando county will be impacted by high tropical winds and heavy rain.

[OLDFRT]

If we are given a Mandatory Evac order, we have a place to go in Western NC. Thanks for the offer, Keith.

[Chrisj CMA]

Praying for all you in the path. Been there, I know all the thought processes.
Hotels will fill up fast. Now is the time to evacuate if you think you are going to.

We don’t have a big house but we have one spare room and I can fit one more Valkyrie in my family room. We’re in the panhandle a little east of Pensacola.  Call if you need a place to hide out.

850 eight six five-5378

[flsix]

Thanks for the offers guys Kieth and Jeff.
I'll bet the drive from the SW Fl. area would be a 2 day ordeal by now.
My wife and daughter headed north during Wilma which was almost 17 years ago now and could only make it as far as Mount Dora in 14 hours. Normal drive time is about 4 hours. If you plan to leave from down here you need to hear out at least 3/4 days before predicted land fall.

[_Sheffjs_]

I was thinking,,,, that you must be thinking, finally, it is not us (arm pit to panhandle) and for a bit it looked like it might be west of us. Now they are warning Fort Myers, and that is an earlier than forecasted hit, meaning less time to prepare and that area might not have prepared to the extent needed feeling that they were not in the cone of doom or if so not the center of it. Anyway, Sherry and my sister are up in NC, smart move to stay another week.

[_Sheffjs_]

Thanks for the offers guys Kieth and Jeff.
I'll bet the drive from the SW Fl. area would be a 2 day ordeal by now.
My wife and daughter headed north during Wilma which was almost 17 years ago now and could only make it as far as Mount Dora in 14 hours. Normal drive time is about 4 hours. If you plan to leave from down here you need to hear out at least 3/4 days before predicted land fall.

I have been saying this for a few years and with the huge influx of new citizens it is only worse. How long have I lived here and the same two major routes are still the only ones to escape north. But what the heck, build more. Another 4000 house development over here and over there. My gov job includes FEMA, I can’t leave.

[Farside]

Thanks for the offers guys Kieth and Jeff.
I'll bet the drive from the SW Fl. area would be a 2 day ordeal by now.
My wife and daughter headed north during Wilma which was almost 17 years ago now and could only make it as far as Mount Dora in 14 hours. Normal drive time is about 4 hours. If you plan to leave from down here you need to hear out at least 3/4 days before predicted land fall.

I have been saying this for a few years and with the huge influx of new citizens it is only worse. How long have I lived here and the same two major routes are still the only ones to escape north. But what the heck, build more. Another 4000 house development over here and over there. My gov job includes FEMA, I can’t leave.

Well, good thing Sherry is out another week. Yes, it's always a guess until about 24 hrs before landfall. Hurricane Sally hit us in 2020 after it was forecasted elsewhere. Then in 24 hrs later we were in it. We did prepare for Ian up this way Jerry just in case it bounced up the coast and got back out in the Gulf. You never know but you all would of been on the worse side still.  Good luck and hunker down.

[OLDFRT]

I can tell you from experience that the quickest and least stressful route out of Florida is to STAY OFF THE INTERSTATES as much as is humanly possible. I would also add US 19/98 to stay away from. About 5 years ago we were gonna get hit pretty hard here in Citrus County, and we decided (for the 1st time) to evacuate. We went East to Sumterville to drop off my wife's Cat, then headed up US 301. Traffic was pretty heavy until we hit the US 301/US 441 split, North of Ocala. From there to McDonough, GA, we had very little traffic, and no problem finding gas,

[_Sheffjs_]

I can tell you from experience that the quickest and least stressful route out of Florida is to STAY OFF THE INTERSTATES as much as is humanly possible. I would also add US 19/98 to stay away from. About 5 years ago we were gonna get hit pretty hard here in Citrus County, and we decided (for the 1st time) to evacuate. We went East to Sumterville to drop off my wife's Cat, then headed up US 301. Traffic was pretty heavy until we hit the US 301/US 441 split, North of Ocala. From there to McDonough, GA, we had very little traffic, and no problem finding gas,

Good choice, now Sarasota to RT 50 on a good day is stupid traffic.

[_Sheffjs_]

Something tells me that insurance is going to go way up………….

[flsix]

Jerry I'm sure you are right.

[Skinhead]

My son lives in New Orleans, and just the other day he told me several Insurance companies in LA have declared bankruptcy and left the state after last years hurricane.  He also said that insurance rates have increased dramatically. 

Best of luck to you Floridians.

[Pappy!]

Lots of branches hitting the roof now. Starting to pick up a little but I think we have dodged a bullet here in Eustis/Mt. Dora. Cannot imagine what you went through down there, Jeff, if you stayed.

[Steel cowboy]

Looks like we dodged a bullet in Hernando County too. My friends in Orlando weren’t  so lucky, we might be bringing over some generators and fuel to them this afternoon if power is not expected to be restored anytime soon.

[crow]

Whew, really close again.  Been to a shelter once. Not a pleasant experience.  Charlie was headed directly for Crystal River but went south to Punta Gorda.  Ian was headed west of us so we would be on the bad wind side. But turned East, this time not much at all.  Thanks for all the offerings from the Florida folks and prayers to our friends who got hit.  

[Farside]

Glad some of you made it through with little issues and thx for posting to let us know but what about others we haven't heard from? Have any of you got  update on folks. I know not having power will be a huge issue. I was in another storm that started with an "I" Ivan, Bad Bad hurricane. Any update from
Nick - Jack - Don - Billyboy - Jeff - a few that come to mind.  I heard a report that hundreds dead around the Ft. Myers area?  Prayers for all impacted. 

[Farside]

Glad some of you made it through with little issues and thx for posting to let us know but what about others we haven't heard from? Have any of you got  update on folks. I know not having power will be a huge issue. I was in another storm that started with an "I" Ivan, Bad Bad hurricane. Any update from
Nick - Jack - Don - Billyboy - Jeff - a few that come to mind.  I heard a report that hundreds dead around the Ft. Myers area?  Prayers for all impacted. 

    I  just spoke with Jeff McKay. He and his wife are fine and the home is good, he even has power. Cell service is weak though. He recognized how Blessed they are. 

[OLDFRT]

All is well at our home. Winds never got over 35, and relatively little rain. Other than a few small limbs down, no damage at all. We have had more limbs down from small thunderstorms.

[Farside]

All is well at our home. Winds never got over 35, and relatively little rain. Other than a few small limbs down, no damage at all. We have had more limbs down from small thunderstorms.

  Good news Don. Glad you and Roxy had little issues, Thanks for the update bud. 

[Farside]

  I just got a text from Jack; they lost power around 10pm, one tree down and several screens blown out on the pool enclosure. Other than those issues they feel very fortunate.   

[Farside]

  I just got a text from Billyboy and he said he is Good

[Farside]

  Nick sent a text and said he made out ok too! 

[Farside]

  Our good friend Bert lost power got some wind and rain but is liking the cooler weather. 

[_Sheffjs_]

All is well just waiting for power. The Honda Gen is doing the refrigerator and small items. Oh the coffee maker, that is important.

[flsix]

Doing well here. Spent yesterday evening checking on friends and handing out gas cans and cables for generators.

The heavy damage went north of us.

Praying you all are ok.

[John Schmidt]

So glad to hear all my old Fla. friends are OK, was kinda holding my breath on this one. It appeared to take about the same path as Charley back in '04, that one went right over our house in Winter Park and caused $100k in damage. Plus it almost blew off the large dormer that makes up the ceiling to the living room. We would have had an indoor pool if that happened. The bathrooms were the only rooms that didn't need ceilings fully replaced...including the garage. Quite a mess, we stayed away for 3 weeks while work was being done, only going back during the day to keep an eye on things and let the workers in. A 70' tall pine tree about 30' away in the 7th fairway is now about 15' shorter. The top of it snapped off in the storm and landed in the center of our pool enclosure, leaving only the vertical portion at both ends still standing...the rest and the branches were in the pool.

I've been here in the Green Bay area just over 3 years now, having moved here following Rita's passing. This is the only time I'm glad I was 1400 miles away, the rest of the time they can have this place. I was born/raised in Iowa and all my USAF stations were in cold weather locations so it's not as though I'm unfamiliar with that kind of weather. But having lived in Florida for 53 years made this move difficult, but it's near my youngest daughter so.....

I was 29 when I moved to Fla. so adjusting to the summer heat was relatively easy. Now I'm closing in on 85 and adjusting to the winter cold, but not with much success. I am taking a break from the cold next March. My daughter and husband have rented a house in Port Richey for the month of March and I'll be joining them for 2-3 weeks. Here's hoping I'll get to see some of you then, doubt I'll be bringing the trike however...no trailer.

[Pappy!]

Ended up with tons of branches down all over the place. Some snapped power poles took out the power but it was amazing how fast these were replaced. Internet went with the power and took a lot longer to come back. Part of yesterday and lots of today was spent cleaning from the roof down to the ground and piling stuff up in a big high pile for pick up. Could not run the generator for a long time since the wind/rain was blowing directly into the garage. Finally did. Cold front apparently pushed it to the East so we caught a break and ended up on the rain side. Had a 5 gallon bucket empty outside and blocked. It ended up around 20" of rain or so here. Good thing I am on the top of a gentle hill.
We ended up with 4 more poor bedraggled squirrels. All ice cold and soaking wet. One around 6 weeks old that I would have sworn was not going to make it. We dried him off with a towel and put him in with 3 smaller ones. They all climbed on top of him and warmed him. When we got power Lesa dried him with a hair dryer and gave him formula. Little guy slept for almost 18 hours straight. Only got him up to check on him. We then took in 3 pinkies. Looked to be 2 days old. Fresh scabs on their umbilical cords. Again freezing cold. All little gals. Sadly two did not make it and died today. I buried them together. Last one is working hard at surviving. With that front moving through and all the rain I believe that many died of exposure.
Lots of them we raised showed up after the storm and were happy to take food. Cannot believe what they must have gone though.
Anyway......glad we are all okay in our long lived little group of friends.

[_Sheffjs_]

Going north on I-75 two different times seeing convoy lines for literally a mile or more long of police or government utility trucks pulling generators, mobile rv trailers and box trailers makes the hairs stand up in the neck. It is when see this you realize the magnitude of what happened in the town just south of us all the way down to Jeff M and it seams he was fortunate to be that town spared directly to the south of it. Reports out will be staggering. Note, there were many of these convoy lines seen on these two trips, they all had the red blue flashing lights. Our power came back up two nights ago. You could see the attempts to bring back power to our area starting at 2am it took until 4am to finally clip in for good, it was a welcoming sight. I bought the Honda Generator after the 2004 hurricane season and this is the first time used in a power outage. I run it every month just to keep the spiders out. It performed perfect and it is sooooo quiet. Being Government employed I can’t leave, however I prefer my entire family always leave, and that opinion was formed after H-Andrew 1992!

[Jims99]

We lost three trees, some fences bunch of branches and debris. Had to temporarily but broken fence pieces up so the dog and chickens could go out. Lol. But with all that, never lost power or internet and no major damages. And yes, this cool air is great. Sounds like we all made out pretty good.

[_Sheffjs_]

Yes the Honda Gen has new oil and a spark plug.    

[Farside]

Ended up with tons of branches down all over the place. Some snapped power poles took out the power but it was amazing how fast these were replaced. Internet went with the power and took a lot longer to come back. Part of yesterday and lots of today was spent cleaning from the roof down to the ground and piling stuff up in a big high pile for pick up. Could not run the generator for a long time since the wind/rain was blowing directly into the garage. Finally did. Cold front apparently pushed it to the East so we caught a break and ended up on the rain side. Had a 5 gallon bucket empty outside and blocked. It ended up around 20" of rain or so here. Good thing I am on the top of a gentle hill.
We ended up with 4 more poor bedraggled squirrels. All ice cold and soaking wet. One around 6 weeks old that I would have sworn was not going to make it. We dried him off with a towel and put him in with 3 smaller ones. They all climbed on top of him and warmed him. When we got power Lesa dried him with a hair dryer and gave him formula. Little guy slept for almost 18 hours straight. Only got him up to check on him. We then took in 3 pinkies. Looked to be 2 days old. Fresh scabs on their umbilical cords. Again freezing cold. All little gals. Sadly two did not make it and died today. I buried them together. Last one is working hard at surviving. With that front moving through and all the rain I believe that many died of exposure.
Lots of them we raised showed up after the storm and were happy to take food. Cannot believe what they must have gone though.
Anyway......glad we are all okay in our long lived little group of friends.

Pappy, wow +/- 20'' of rain in 24 hrs or so is amazing so glad you are on a small hill. Glad no structure damage to your home. Sorry about the baby squirrels. They were fortunate to have you care for them. I hope the stronger one survives. Prayers for a speedy recovery for you and Lesa

[Farside]

We lost three trees, some fences bunch of branches and debris. Had to temporarily but broken fence pieces up so the dog and chickens could go out. Lol. But with all that, never lost power or internet and no major damages. And yes, this cool air is great. Sounds like we all made out pretty good.

Jim glad ya'll had no house damage. Sounds like the steady winds finally brought down the trees after the soaked ground. I bet the chickens were all confused. Hard to believe you didn't lose power with the damage that was around ya'll.  I remember when Ivan came thru Pensacola and will never forget the others but Ivan was the worst. Prayers for strength and patience as your community recovers. 

[OLDFRT]

Very glad to hear that everyone seems to come out of this one in pretty good shape. We never lost power, and had virtually no damage, other than a few small limbs down. We pulled a canvas off our carport out back before the storm got anywhere near us, and it wasn't in great shape anyway. Will pick up the new one next Saturday.