Pending Hurricane Ian

[linda040899]

For those who don't know, I live in Central FL, pretty much close to where tropical storm Ian might be expected to make landfall next week at a Cat 3 hurricane. All is well with me and I'm prepared for this kind of weather (or any disaster) 24/7/365. Our governor has declared a state of emergency and we Floridians have been told to begin preparing for what might be coming by Wednesday, October 28th. While it's still very uncertain, after Andrew in 1992, Floridians take this VERY seriously! I will try to keep this thread updated so you all know what's going on. Prayers and good thoughts would be appreciated.

[Z28Taxman]

Hunker down, batten down the hatches and all that......

Figures, my parents are planning on heading down there week after next. They've arleady cancelled this trip 3 times.

[linda040899]

Hunker down, batten down the hatches and all that......

Figures, my parents are planning on heading down there week after next. They've aleady cancelled this trip 3 times.
Already battening down the hatches by getting ready to put up our hurricane panels to protect windows from debris. End of September through the end of October are our busiest time of the year for hurricanes. I'glad I live inland, as Cat 3 is 111 - 125 mph sustained winds. Should a window break from debris, there's a good chance we would lose our roof so our panels are flexible so that the impact from whatever might hit them prevents an actual strike to the glass. Your parents may find that travel plans might need to be altered again during the next 5-6 weeks. Fiona stayed off the FL coast but Puerto Rico got slammed and now Fiona is headed to Canada, Nova Scotia area.

[Z28Taxman]

Already battening down the hatches by getting ready to put up our hurricane panels to protect windows from debris. End of September through the end of October are our busiest time of the year for hurricanes. I'glad I live inland, as Cat 3 is 111 - 125 mph sustained winds. Should a window break from debris, there's a good chance we would lose our roof so our panels are flexible so that the impact from whatever might hit them prevents an actual strike to the glass. Your parents may find that travel plans might need to be altered again during the next 5-6 weeks. Fiona stayed off the FL coast but Puerto Rico got slammed and now Fiona is headed to Canada, Nova Scotia area.

Yep, the track seems to be shifing west and they're going to Pensacola.

Good thing we don't get those here, only the rain from them. the last one that actually came through here and still had any significant strenght was Sandy.

[michael]

According to the current weather reports Ian may escalate into a category 4 before making landfall. So far fortunately, the relatives and friendlies have done well to board up there. Others I know have since moved back to Ohio having tired of weather patterns that appear to get worse and worse every year. - At any rate, hope everyone stays well, and remain safe for the duration.

[linda040899]

Ian is expected to increase in strength to Cat 4 but will run into wind-shear which will knock the intensity back down. We won't know a lot more until Ian crosses Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico. We bought hurricane fabric protectors for our windows (Asgroguard) and Ken was installing them this week-end. Our house faces North so the front will be the protected side. Tomorrow I will be outside securing anything that could become airborne from wind. Not sure if our chickens will remain in their coop or we will transfer them to crates in our concrete block shop. The chickens are on the south side of the house and they had enough trauma after a direct lightning strike to their coop in June. Other than those couple of items, I'm completely prepared, to the extent that I can be.

[Z28Taxman]

Ian is expected to increase in strength to Cat 4 but will run into wind-shear which will knock the intensity back down. We won't know a lot more until Ian crosses Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico. We bought hurricane fabric protectors for our windows (Asgroguard) and Ken was installing them this week-end. Our house faces North so the front will be the protected side. Tomorrow I will be outside securing anything that could become airborne from wind. Not sure if our chickens will remain in their coop or we will transfer them to crates in our concrete block shop. The chickens are on the south side of the house and they had enough trauma after a direct lightning strike to their coop in June. Other than those couple of items, I'm completely prepared, to the extent that I can be.

The chickens must have been terrified with the lightning strike. At least you didn't have fried chicken.

My dad's brother lives in Milton which is a bit northeast of Pensacola. They're right on the western edge of the current prediction cone.

[linda040899]

The chickens must have been terrified with the lightning strike. At least you didn't have fried chicken.

My dad's brother lives in Milton which is a bit northeast of Pensacola. They're right on the western edge of the current prediction cone.
Ken's son lives in that area so they should be fine. Ian is moving eastward which puts it closer to the west central coast. We have mandatory evacuations for mobile/manufactured homes and even if I lived in a concrete block home, I would be going at least 20 miles inland. I'm not in an evacuation zone and I'm more than 20 miles inland so what we have to do is batten down the hatches. Ken is planning to tie down the chicken shed but I may move all of them to crates inside our shop, just in case. The prediction, as of right now, is that Ian will be a cat 4 when the storm gets here and that's some pretty significant wind! Although we have brand new impact resistant windows in the FL room, parrot cages against those windows will be moved either into the lovebird room or to a location inside the house. Everyone will be in a cage, for safety purposes. I'm about as prepared as I'm gonna get but unexpected things always happen!

[Z28Taxman]

Ken's son lives in that area so they should be fine. Ian is moving eastward which puts it closer to the west central coast. We have mandatory evacuations for mobile/manufactured homes and even if I lived in a concrete block home, I would be going at least 20 miles inland. I'm not in an evacuation zone and I'm more than 20 miles inland so what we have to do is batten down the hatches. Ken is planning to tie down the chicken shed but I may move all of them to crates inside our shop, just in case. The prediction, as of right now, is that Ian will be a cat 4 when the storm gets here and that's some pretty significant wind! Although we have brand new impact resistant windows in the FL room, parrot cages against those windows will be moved either into the lovebird room or to a location inside the house. Everyone will be in a cage, for safety purposes. I'm about as prepared as I'm gonna get but unexpected things always happen!

yeah, a cat 4 is no joke. Stay safe.

[linda040899]

Track has changed.......again. According to what I'm seeing, place of impact has moved south, closer to Sarasota. From there, it will go north/northeast towards Orlando. That puts me on the west side of the storm which means not as much rain but more wind. Honestly, I'll believe what is being predicted when Ian gets closer. After all, Hurricane Charley (2004) was supposed to make landfall at the mouth of Tampa Bay but took a hard right turn and Punta Gorda got hit hard. Evacuations from Tampa went to Orlando, only to be greeted by Charley!

[Maxie]

I?ll pray that you and your flock are all safe.🙏❤️

Hurricanes are not something to take lightly, even if you are inland. Wind storms are so unpredictable. I remember being on vacation in Florida, Clearwater Beach, when hurricane Andrew hit. We weren?t in the eye of the hurricane but from what I remember it was very windy and we had a lot of rain. The water on the beach covered almost the whole beach.

[linda040899]

The track of Ian has changed and landfall has moved significantly south, Sarasota County specifically. This reminds me of Hurricane Charley more and more. It appears that Ian will go inland and then turn North with the eye going over Lakeland. It's a slow moving storm which means more sustained wind and a LOT more rain. My area could get as much as 20+ inches of rain. FL soil is sand so it's porous but enough rain fast enough will cause flooding. They are saying that Ian could have winds as high as a Cat 5 storm which is a scary thing to me! Right now, we are fine and Ken is going to put up the last 2 hurricane panels this morning. I'm going to do some cooking so that we have food that can be eaten cold, if necessary, should we lose power and can't use our generator until the storm has passed. I will continue to update this thread as long as I can.

[Z28Taxman]

Stay safe down there. Might want to build an Ark. You've certainly got enough critters to fill it. :rofl:

[Maxie]

Stay safe!!🙏❤️

[Maxie]

Linda,
How are you? All ok after the storm?

[Z28Taxman]

Linda made it through the storm ok. She has no power or internet but she has a generator so everyone is ok.

[linda040899]

We just got power and our Internet connection back about 30 minutes ago. Whew! It's been a LONG 4 days! I've always said since I've lived in this area that Tampa Bay is leading a charmed life. Apparently, it's not so easy for storms to come into Tampa Bay and Ian was not exception. He made a couple of last minute track adjustments as he was passing the Keys and made landfall in the Ft. Myers area, almost in the same place that Hurricane Charlie did in 2004. The major difference between Charlie and Ian is that Charlie was a small, compact storm with an eye that was only about 3 miles wide. Charlie's whole storm diameter was roughly 33.5 mile wide. Unlike Charlie, Ian was 400 miles wide with an eye that was 33.5 miles across. All of Charlie would have fit in the eye of Ian! Our area has damage, mostly from wind rather than rain. Personally, the only damage our property sustained was the loss of roughly 70' of 8' wooden privacy fence. Our roofs are fine. Ken tied down our chicken shed and the chickens are all safe. We have a whole house generator, so other than being on generator power and no computer access because our provider was down, we are fine. One thing I did learn is that living off grid is not as hard as you might think and we found out what does and does not work.

[Maxie]

Glad to hear all is well.❤️

[linda040899]

FL established a hurricane recovery fund several years ago and we contribute to that with our property taxes each year. The result, since we haven't had any major tropical events, is that we have a resource with a surplus of millions that will be used to finance some of our recovery. Thank you Gov. DeSantis!

[Z28Taxman]

What's left of Ian is still hanging around here. Been raining since friday. Not complaining, a little rain is nothing compared to what hit florida and we needed it anyway.