Hurricane's Bonnie and Charley

If she's in Orlando, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It doesn't look like they are going to be hit too bad over there. Maybe just a lot of wind and rain, but not so hard as to damage things. Just tell her to stay away from the windows and stay like in the hallway or something when the hard winds come.
Honestly, if the natives are doing a damn thing, that should give her a clue that it's not going to be bad. Now if she were in Tampa or near the gulf side, I would worry. My mom is in Ocala and she doesn't think anything really big is going to happen, but then, my mom's a goober. LOL. She's right in the path of this thing.
We live on an Air Force base in Charleston, SC and we are already packed and the planes are preparing to get out of here when the winds get up to 40mph at minimum. We are already at HurrCON 3, and if it goes to 2, we are packing the car and waiting for word to go. We are planning on heading to my dad's in Glade Spring, Va, which is near the Va/Tn border.

I lived in Orlando for some years, & my little brother did - and now my daughter is going to school at UCF.

A catagory 1 thru 3 hurricane is no biggie that far inland. There will be very little that will be life threatening as long as she stays in. The most she'll have to worry about is rising water from the heavy rains. The winds should be dissipated by the land & buildings that far in so they won't be full force at the ground level.

There is the possibility of tornados, but those will likely happen near the Tampa area, not Orlando - extremely rare.

She should do some prep in case services are interrupted, i.e. stock up on water by filling some empty jugs with tap water for drinking, & fill the tub & use that water for bathing & flushing if needed.

General stuff if electricity goes out, like:

1. eat all the fridge food now so if electricity is out she won't lose as much food.
2. put a few jugs of water in the freezer to help keep things cold for longer.
3. Make sure she's got a week or two of canned goods & such.
4. batteries for radio & flash light.

Overall, the storms are more inconvenient than they are a threat as long as you stay inside.

How's that for re-assurance...?

Originally posted by TourDeForce:
I lived in Orlando for some years, & my little brother did - and now my daughter is going to school at UCF.

A catagory 1 thru 3 hurricane is no biggie that far inland. There will be very little that will be life threatening as long as she stays in. The most she'll have to worry about is rising water from the heavy rains. The winds should be dissipated by the land & buildings that far in so they won't be full force at the ground level.

There is the possibility of tornados, but those will likely happen near the Tampa area, not Orlando - extremely rare.

She should do some prep in case services are interrupted, i.e. stock up on water by filling some empty jugs with tap water for drinking, & fill the tub & use that water for bathing & flushing if needed.

General stuff if electricity goes out, like:

1. eat all the fridge food now so if electricity is out she won't lose as much food.
2. put a few jugs of water in the freezer to help keep things cold for longer.
3. Make sure she's got a week or two of canned goods & such.
4. batteries for radio & flash light.

Overall, the storms are more inconvenient than they are a threat as long as you stay inside.

How's that for re-assurance...?

Very well put. I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. It is very reassureing (sp) to be told by people who actually live in the same areas. Thanks alot and I'll be talking to her in a little bit.

In addition, make sure she keeps her car loaded up on gas, incase they have to evacuate. Up here in Savannah, we're getting pounded (a tornado touched down near Ft. Stewart not that long ago) and I bought the jugs of water and other dry food necessities, along with some slow burning wood for the fireplace in case I need to cook.

Keep your eyes sharpened on those clouds and on the weather maps. Those things are known to change direction at the drop of a hat.

granted i was younger,but i weathered the storm (pardon the pun) of hurricane hugo when we lived in Myrtle Beach, SC. it didn't hit MB as hard as Charleston but we stayed in the house. a little harry at times but nothing too bad. i still slept pretty well throughout the night. mostly strong winds as well as a fair amount of rain

Originally posted by SAV-ZX2:
In addition, make sure she keeps her car loaded up on gas, incase they have to evacuate.

Evacuation in Orlando is highly unlikely. If you're near the coast & have concern about the storm surge, it's an issue, but only a GIGANTIC super storm would make me feel safer leaving Orlando.

The cooking is something I did forget about. If electricity is gone, she can buddy up with a neighbor that has a gas grill and bake some potatos outside. Even then, it is not likely they'll be without power for very long - if it happens at all. The storm is not powerful enough to make a huge impact in that area.

This rain sucks. It just stopped a little while ago. We had to move into my dorm today in the rain. Tomorrow it's supposed to pour hard from 5am to 1pm.

yeah, it's been raining up here in Charleston all day today. The storm is supposed to hit tonight or tomorrow morning. We are going to head up to Virginia tonight just to go visit my dad & grandfather. It's in Western Virginia, near Bristol, so we'll be out of the way.

Good luck all

charley has shifted and is now moving just south of here, in stead of going north, so orlando is gonna be in for alot more weather than expected. storm surges of over 10 ft are hitting ft myers.

Originally posted by TourDeForce:

Originally posted by SAV-ZX2:
In addition, make sure she keeps her car loaded up on gas, incase they have to evacuate.

Evacuation in Orlando is highly unlikely.

Weather Channel now projects Charley's eye wall to go just BARELY few miles east of Orlando. It's also been upgraded to a Category 4 (145+/- mph) hurricane. After hearing that, I'd leave voluntarily, whether or not a mandatory evacuation had been issued.

As is typical, the storm is weakening as it moves overland. Orlando will have some trees down & such, but structural building damage will be limited to only the oldest & weakest buildings. Should be exciting, but no big deal in its overall effect.

i was ust watching cnn and they reported many casualties in punta gorda (sp?), and the damage total is expected to be already over 15 billion for florida. almost 1 million people in orlando are without power.

Winds are supposed to get up to 60mph here tomorrow, that'll be interesting. Went for a drive today and there was a lotta traffic leaving the Georgia coast.

Originally posted by TourDeForce:
As is typical, the storm is weakening as it moves overland. Orlando will have some trees down & such, but structural building damage will be limited to only the oldest & weakest buildings. Should be exciting, but no big deal in its overall effect.

Time will tell.

charley mutilated the central part of florida. Port Charlotte is in rought condition and Punta Gorda is worse. Orlando got it pretty bad and daytona got some stuff to. As a matter of fact, my sisters car got a tree thrown onto it. She's in Daytona. She was scared sh!tless. It hit a lot harder than what many people were expecting. Unfortunately, lives have been lost and peoples homes have been demolished. But as Gov. Jeb Bush said, god does not follow computer predictions. It's going to be a while until everything is back to normal, and some things may never return to normal. I lived through Hurricane Andrew and that was probably the most terrifying event that has ever happened in my life. Hurricanes may be the only natural disaster you can see coming, but it's also one of the most dangerous if you don't prepare correctly for them. The people in central Florida had a very short warning time and were not expecting it. That is part of the reason the damage is so great. All we can do right now, is provide support, prayers, supplies, and money.

When Charlie hit land, it was a category 4 that had built up quite suddenly. I was not expecting that, & neither were the "experts". That is a MAJOR storm. My intent was to allay the fear of our friend Wa2tuff. By the time it reached Orlando it has weakened somewhat to a cat 2 or so. Damage in the Orlando area will be extensive, but mostly from trees & trailers. The typical home & appartment building will have little structural damage from the winds, & loss of life will be GENERALLY limited to those in trailers & those who ventured out into the storm. Wa2tuffs daughter should be just fine & I hope we get an update soon.

There was definately a lot of crap flyin' around the Olando area. I was in Homestead in the aftermath of Andrew performing cleanup & repairs on the remediation systems that my old employer had in that area. The devistation left me absolutely speachless. What remains after a storm like that simply defies description.... Not even the images from the TV networks could do justice to the scope of what was left in the wake of Andrew.

Anyone know how hard Haines City / Winterhaven was hit? I have a cousin in that area, but only have his email address. He works in a hospital, so even if he does have power at his house, he may not have time to check it.

I must admit no one seemed to take this storm very seriously, but we have been without power for 3 days (you don't know what you take for granted until it is gone). Plenty of structural damage all around and with the continued rains water damage is now the main problem. I am lucky enough to have some friends in the area who still have power. The worse news of all is that Charlie has damaged my csvt badly, sad sad day. On top of that my reef tank that I have easily invested well over $1000 into is a total loss. Just a real bad weekend, which is a complete understatement.

Originally posted by TourDeForce:
As is typical, the storm is weakening as it moves overland. Orlando will have some trees down & such, but structural building damage will be limited to only the oldest & weakest buildings. Should be exciting, but no big deal in its overall effect.

I went and took a look around Orlando the night after the hurricane passed, 95% of the power was out. There's still a few hundred thousand people w/o power, including me. Huge tree's were toppled over in the middle of roads and on houses, steel signs were wrapped around poles. A friend's house was struck by 3 tree's, my mom's screened in pool is leveled. G-parent's are gonna need a new roof, there was shingles blown all over the road. I'm at a friends house near I-drive and Universal Studios so they still have power(can't piss off the tourists too much). No one else I know has power yet. Half the traffic light's are still out.

Driving around a metro area with a population of a million plus that is completely dark is a rather surreal experience. It's like your the last survivor in one of those end of civilization movies.

Good Central Florida pics

A question: I'm going to drive to Miami this Friday from TN (i.e. I-75 then all the way down the turnpike).

Any extra precautions I should take ?
(possible delays on the turnpike, problems getting gas outside the Orlando area etc)

Thanks,

Tiv

Fill up on gas before you get outta Georgia. Florida sucks on gas prices (good on beer prices though).

If I didn't know this was a result of Hurricane Charley, I'd find it pretty funny.