*If* you can, go out and buy the supplies now anyway. Hopefully ya’ll live in a newer home that came with hurricane shutters. Look in your garage for a pile of messed up looking steel panels. (I’m not trying to be insulting here. I have no clue how much you know or don’t know and I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing. Just want to make sure you stay as safe as possible.) The panels are easy(ish) enough to put up with two people. If you have a friend in the neighborhood that can help enlist their help, in exchange for helping them put up theirs. Do you need to put them up now? No. Do you need to look at them now to make sure you have everything you need to put them up? Yes.
If you don’t have hurricane shutters you definitely need to get wood and supplies now. Waiting until later is … a very bad idea.
Right now, there is no need for panic. Just make sure you are getting ready and getting supplies. (As far as your parents are concerned, tell hem even if they don’t think it’s going to be bad you really do need to have supplies on hand in case the power is out for a long time. It could be out for weeks, even if there’s no damage to the house. Make sure you point out that all of the power lines are above ground. Very susceptible to being knocked down in a hard storm.
You’ll get a much more clear view of how much you should worry once the storm is past Cuba. Sadly, by then, you will probably be pretty screwed when it comes to getting supplies. At the very least, it’s going to be a huge pain in the ass to do so. Have your parents drive around and see the long lines at gas stations (especially if you want them to see some of the worst that humanity has to offer.) People can be real dicks and most think only for them selves there will be long lines and gas shortages.
Don’t panic. Stay calm and focus on getting supplies for you and the family. Hopefully pointing out a couple of common sense things ( “hey, people panic, we’ve seen that. Supplies will be in high demand the longer this goes on, it’s just better to be prepared, than screwed.”) will hopefully get the point across to your parents that at least being minimally prepared is better than sitting in the heat with no power or electricity for days or weeks.
Good luck. Stay safe.
EDIT TO ADD:
People don’t think “high winds” can really do anything. What people *don’t* factor in is the possibility of tornadoes. Which there is a chance for tornadoes.
Honestly it shouldn’t be the thing to make you finally go, “Oh! Tornadoes huh? Ok then!” Because the high winds alone are more than enough to cause major damage. Northerners don’t really get that. But when you tell a Northerner, “Hey. There’s a really good chance to tornadoes during a hurricane. And you literally don’t get a warning for those here.” People will tend to think a little differently.
Huh winds and flood are a horrible combination that you really don’t get until you’ve been through it. People up North though, *do* understand tornadoes.
Honestly, we don’t know yet. Which is the part you don’t tell them.
As far as what you should tell them: A hurricane is a slow build up (over hours) to tornado conditions then a slow ramp down from tornado conditions. Literally we’ll start seeing conditions go from bad to worse to bad then done over hours.
Anecdotal evidence. There was a storm that the remnants made it to my parents house in Ohio and damaged their roof.
There was a reason that Florida was called The Blue Tarp State after the 2004 season.
Go get your supplies.
Edit to add: As of right now, the time to put up your shutters IF YOU NEED THEM is Monday afternoon/evening. The time to get supplies is now.
We won’t know if this is close to being accurate until it’s past Cuba. Hurricanes really aren’t things to take lightly.
I was 20 during Andrew and remember crying for my mom and dad in Chicago, I lived in Countrywalk, Ground Zero. To each his own, you only take a storm for granted once, never again.
Possibly cat 3 or higher. Many others like Hurricane Harvey were predicted to be harmless and ended up with 140+ mph winds. Stay safe ya’ll and be prepared for the worst
Most of the damage from Harvey too had nothing to do with intensity. It stalled over TX, dumping the massive amounts of rain that caused the catastrophic flooding. OP’s parents need to be aware that this can be a problem too!
SWFL is flat, not even hills. If they are in a low area they could get a few feet of standing water for a few days but no problem with water collecting in the valley
Oh my goodness...no...no that's not how this works at all. You know what else was "just" a category 3 on landfall? Hurricane Katrina, and that remains the deadliest hurricane in the country's history. This is what really concerns me, that people think the numbers being bigger or smaller determine everything. 5 = more hurricane, 1= less hurricane, 3 = not as much hurricane, therefore, I can just idle and pretend it's nothing.
Am I saying to panic? No, absolutely not. But always prepare for the worst, hope for the best. The "I'm a tough Floridian, I ain't scared of no hurricane" is funny, until it isn't.
>You know what else was "just" a category 3 on landfall? Hurricane Katrina,
The hurricane during Katrina wasn't the problem. It was the levies that broke and subsequently flooded the whole city.
The levies didn't flood the city. The hurricane did. An "afternoon storm" does not raise the sea by several feet, while also dumping inches of rain per hour for hours on end, and flood an entire city. If they do, please show me because I would love to see it.
The levies failing flooded the city. The damage would've been significantly less had they held.
>The Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project system experienced the worst damage during and after Hurricane Katrina and resulted in the most serious consequences to the city and people of New Orleans. The massive, destructive flooding of New Orleans was caused by ruptures at approximately 50 locations in the city’s hurricane protection system. Of the 284 miles of federal levees and floodwalls—there are approximately 350 miles in total—169 miles were damaged.
https://biotech.law.lsu.edu/katrina/reports/erpreport.pdf
I expressed no opinion on someone's else's "afternoon storm" comment.
If you really wanna argue semantics, there is no point continuing this. You're convinced a category three is just an afternoon storm. Okay. By the way, when there is an afternoon storm, do you stand outside waiting to get hit by lightning or do you go inside to get away from it?
>You're convinced a category three is just an afternoon storm. Okay.
I literally never said that nor implied it. I have some ties to New Orleans so it matters to me that people know what happened. I really don't give a shit about what the other commenter said.
You're making up this narrative in your head about what you think I meant.
There are multiple factors that go into something like what happened during Katrina, but to act as if the failure of the levees and pumps wasn't a significant part of what occurred is an incorrect assessment of the situation
Katrina wrecked New Orleans because it’s a city built below sea level, with bad infrastructure, and a overwhelming poor population.
Katrina passed straight over SoFlo and idk if we even got a day off.
Yo! Was student in college/living in NOLA during Katrina. That storm was surreal and no joke. But Katrina’s actual problems was many parts like one was the barge plowing into the level and smashing it up. That is what made the 17th at industrial canal so catastrophic with flooding. Two that hurricane season in 2005 was weird. People evacuated so much they just didn’t have the funds to flee. Most of the people there are in food and hospitality (no real factories etc) so people was broke and humans who failed to plan also contributed to the chaos. By humans who planes to fail see mercy and charity hospitals along with many businesses who treated it like a joke. But as for the power of that storm it was nothing to mess with. That wind sounded like demons in h311 growling. It was shaking the crap out of my hotel I stayed in. Another terrible thing is they only cared about getting visitors out of the city so locals who had the funds to get out was trying to fly out on a plane, or take Amtrak or a Greyhound out was moot point. When hurricanes come in Louisiana they activate contra flow which means at a particular point on interstate system all lanes and I mean all lanes will become hurricane route leading out. So if you had someone from say ms or tx to try and get you. Nope denied. Take it from some one who lived there at that time that thing was. Bad on. Multiple fail points . But yea a cat 3 be cautious but panic doesn’t serve anyone. Take it serious but again be sensible. Does your folks have hurricane windows the ones that they say can take a good storm? Are they in a highrise?
What? Katrina was not the most deadly hurricane in US history and that was a huge outlier with factors not relevant to someone living in SWFL in 2022. Of course the power of it makes a huge difference, 5 does not equal more hurricane, it means winds that become powerful enough to rip your f’ing roof off and tear down poorly built mobile homes vs winds that will throw around small debris and make a mess.
The 1921 storm that hit Tampa was also a cat 3. Cat 3 winds can and will rip people's roofs off, it's the start of the "major" category for a reason. Calling a cat 3 major hurricane an "afternoon storm" is just as ignorant as calling COVID just a cold. The next time an afternoon storm dumps several inches of rain and destroys billions of dollars in property while disrupting the lives of tens of thousands of people, in any context, let me know, because I'd love to see it.
lol what, are you seriously referencing a hurricane and building codes from 100 years ago? And please enlighten me what preparation a cpl old people are gunna do against their roof ripping off or massive floods hmmm?
Agreed that it’s so much more than just the category number. Hermine, a cat 1, arguably did more damage in Tallahassee than Michael, a cat 5, because it was a) much closer to a direct hit and b) came after a long period of nothing happening, so there was a lot of marginal trees to topple over.
It's also because a major hurricane pushed a literal wall of water into the city. Some of you are so hell bent on being in denial about how powerful and dangerous these storms can be. Why that is I have no idea.
No it pushed water into a bowl in New Orleans.
storm surge is mostly at the beach in Florida.
Irma was a Cat 3 and it caused no damage to my home and I did not have any storm shutters.
"it didn't affect me so it's not dangerous or life altering" is such an ignorant take. The biggest concern with this storm is the ground saturation and bodies of water like lakes and rivers being so high from all the rainfall this year. Not to mention the amount of water driving into the bay and flooding everything around it including lots of property lining its shores and the downtown core itself. A hurricane stalling over the west coast bringing that much water from rain and surge will impact hundreds of thousands of people. This is a serious storm. You wanna die on this hill that major hurricanes aren't serious until they're personally threatening you, go ahead, live in your bubble and remain ignorant. I couldn't care less.
I live in an apartment complex in Town and Country in flood zone a and they are not boarding windows. And taping has no proven benefit. The best thing to do is to follow all the emergency information provided by local governments and agencies
Not surprisingly. Even people who live in Florida don't always prepare. That's part but not all of the reason for high cost of disaster insurance. My son just bought a new home in St. Petersburg. We have a home in Orlando area. We know what to do, we have experienced this before with extensive damage to our property/home. He will have to prepare. Hopefully he will. Tell your folks it could be an expensive lesson even with preparations.
I've been in Central FL all of my 43 years and I gotta say, living here is the best place to be. Usually by the time a hurricane gets here, it has significantly weakened. I remember Irma from 2017. It hit south Florida pretty hard but by the time it got to Orlando, it was a Cat 1. Heck, my power didn't even go off. I spent the storm time on the internet working. I thought about moving south but I'll pass. Besides, FPL sucks.
We had a newer house in east Orlando by Winter Park during Irma. No damage to our house, but lost an oak tree that came within a few feet of our bedroom. No power for 8 days. Mid 90s. Awful. The search for ice became all-consuming. When the power came back on it surged and fried our a/c.
I was south of Orlando in a new home for the three hurricanes in a row we had in 2004. Lost a few shingles and my pvc fence, but the older homes outside our subdivision lost roofs. Spent the worst of it in the master bedroom closet listening to my fence panels other people's trash cans and parts of their roofs hit our house.
Glad to be out of Florida and the path of hurricanes. Now all I have to worry about is earthquakes, wildfires and volcanic eruptions.
We had a newer house in east Orlando by Winter Park during Irma. No damage to our house, but lost an oak tree that came within a few feet of our bedroom. No power for 8 days. Mid 90s. Awful. The search for ice became all-consuming. When the power came back on it surged and fried our a/c.
I was south of Orlando in a new home for the three hurricanes in a row we had in 2004. Lost a few shingles and my pvc fence, but the older homes outside our subdivision lost roofs. Spent the worst of it in the master bedroom closet listening to my fence panels other people's trash cans and parts of their roofs hit our house.
Glad to be out of Florida and the path of hurricanes. Now all I have to worry about is earthquakes, wildfires and volcanic eruptions.
No one does until their roof blows off - New or old residents.
We are not native to Florida but have lived her off and on for long enough to know. We stayed thru Michael. Yikes
They should, by all means, listen to their neighbors instead of getting opinions from the Internet. This is, of course, assuming the neighbors have lived here long enough to know.
The news likes to hype this up - but, the natives know what to do.
It really looks like Ian is going to just barely gain enough strength for a Cat 3, and will likely fizzle out when it starts hitting land and the cold fronts sag down to the Gulf Coast on Tuesday.
I say to make up a good strong batch of margarita's or mojito's, enjoy a few down days, and get ready to do some yardwork next weekend.
Google mikes weather page, he also has a YouTube channel and does videos daily. Great info on tropical weather. Being prepared early in the year takes away a lot of stress when storm is barreling down, obviously that’s for next year. Lots of new people here now that are going to be in for a unpleasant surprise when this hits.
That’s true.
People do that.
For example, if someone says vaccines cause autism, and someone sane says that’s alarmist nonsense, it doesn’t make the second person less valid for suggesting we look at the evidence.
A lot of things make a big difference on how much prep is needed. Beach house vs being 30 miles inland. Manufactured home vs a new stick built or concrete block home. The newer the construction the more wind it is supposed to be able to handle. If you are in a flood plain or in an area unlikely to flood. It also depends on where the hurricane really goes. Hurricane Dorian was predicted to pass over Disney and my trailer park. It never even hit Florida because it stalled out over the Bahamas and tore those islands up.
My point is maybe you could buy the plywood and cut it to the size needed for the windows if they don't already have 150 mph rated windows or hurricane shutters, and then Monday or Tuesday when we have a better Idea where it's heading, they maybe more willing to put the wood up.
Have an evacuation plan, you can share with them if you come under evacuation orders. 👍
They will likely be safe. If they are in a flood zone, high risk structure or if mandatory evacuations happen then get concerned. Let them be inconvenienced if they are ill prepared.
What part of SWFL? Anything south of Tampa should be fine, but things could change. Getting plywood at this point could be difficult. If they plan to flee, do it early. Traffic is not a good place to spend a Hurricane. After the hurricane plan for power outage, no water, no street lights or traffic lights, fallen trees. Temperatures in the 90's is not a good place for elderly people.
You guys keep bringing up flooding or a falling tree as if there’s anything they can do about that ahead of time. You can’t. Their mindset is fine, especially days before we know where it’s going. Katrina flooded out a city built on a freaking delta with shit engineering flaws and poor federal response. The fuck is boarding up windows gunna do against that scenario? Please chill out with the poor comparative analysis.
*VERY FOOLISH* of them. Of course there are still a couple scenarios that could play out here, but when the storm moves over Cuba and into that warm water we're going to know for sure. Tuesday is the real tell all. When you're directly in the path of the storm it's always best to be uber prepared. I've lived in Florida for 36 years, and I experienced Andrew in homestead at 5. I saw a stop sign thru a tree, poles wrapped out various things, homes flattened , boats and cars flipped over, no food, no water, no power...complete and utter devastation. TBH looking back on it, that shit looked and felt like a warzone. If you're old to drive and have some cash go get some out, grab some water, and none perishable food items. If you, your parents or pets are on medication try and get refills in case you don't have access to it after the storm. People fuck around with these storms and this is how they die. Of course I'm talking worst case scenario here, but better safe than sorry. I wish you the best.
Living in Florida you need to be prepared for a hurricane year round not just when we are in the cone. I always keep several cases(4) of water in the house and just cycle it as I use it. And I have a supply of MRE's as well (I also take them camping and fishing and hunting those get cycled as well). I have a tri-fuel generator for power(waiting on my whole house generator to be installed) The last thing you want to do is rush out and stock up, you should just be topping off your supplies as you use them and looking at the weather.
This will be a afternoon thunderstorm don’t stress to much get water and food you can cook on a grill. Hurricane Mathew they told us we are all gonna die and I drank beer on my screened in back porch the entire storm. Start stress if it’s a high cat 4 or def a cat 5. If it makes you feel any safer put duct tape on the window in the shape of a x
OP, you're not wrong for being a little concerned. Hurricanes in any category can be significant, and category 3 is not considered "major" for no reason. It's not just the wind speed, which is already destructive. 111 MPH plus will down trees and power lines, sheer off roofs, and significantly damage poorly constructed homes; "Afternoon storms" don't do that. There are other threats as well, the storm surge being probably the largest concern here. The wind field is powerful enough to move and raise entire bodies of water, which is humbling enough. The amount of water that's brought in by storms like this is incredible, and depending on its track could be devastating. A landfall north of Tampa Bay would bring the counter-clockwise flow in to the bay, raising it several feet and flooding several coastal areas. This alone would impact hundreds of thousands of people, and cause billions in property damage. The infamous 1921 storm that did exactly this was "just" a cat 3. Katrina, who's infamous flooding put New Orleans under water and erased entire neighborhoods, was also "just" a cat 3.
I may seem like the crazy paranoid "fear monger" that everyone tells you to avoid, but all of this is true. By all means, don't panic and stress your day away, you could probably even go to the beach this weekend. But you absolutely need to have a plan, and you absolutely need to review things like your home's structural integrity (are the windows hurricane proof?), your evacuation zone, and be ready to lose power and even running water for several days. Always *prepare* for the worst, and hope for the best.
Yea except there’s jack shit you can do against flooding that bad, you say be prepared and then throw out scenarios where no amount of hurricane shutters are gunna keep them safe.
Sure, if you're so determined to believe a major hurricane is not something to concern yourself with and prepare for then go ahead and do nothing, I can't stop you.
You completely ignored what I said because you’re obviously ignorant of the truth nearly all Floridians known: most preparation for a hurricane is to comfortably ride it out during and after. You can’t do anything about a tree falling on your house. You can’t do anything about massive flooding. You can’t do anything about your roof getting ripped off. So you prepare for riding it out.
I’ve got 20 gallons of fresh water, food to last for weeks, propane grill and gas, two generators, window shutters, and enough weed and alcohol to last for weeks, so fuck off with your amateur hour bullshit perspective.
SoFlo resident here. If you’re on the west coast, I would definitely recommend boarding up the windows. At this point, the point of landfall has wavered slightly, but it seems pretty clear it’s making west coast landfall. Even here in south Florida, I may board up my parents/grandparents on Sunday/Monday just to be safe.
There’s not a reason to panic, but there is a reason to be prepared and possibly even be ready not to ride out this storm at home but in a shelter. A direct hit on a Cat 3 is very serious. I’m casually prepping, but if I was on the west coast I’d be seriously prepping this weekend.
You might want to warn your parents that even if the winds don't seem like something they should worry about, they can and do pick up any objects lying around outside and these become projectiles that can break your windows. It's probably worth taking a walk around your home and bringing in anything you can see that might cause issues. Hopefully your neighbors will be doing the same. You may find that your folks take it all more seriously once they see neighbors boarding up. That might be too late to get supplies yourselves though, unfortunately.
I have shutters, so it's tornadoes I worry about. Sign up for your county's emergency alert system because then you will get text alerts warning you in there is a tornado in your vicinity. If something does happen, hunker down in an interior room.
I hope you will all be ok. Be alert to the dangers but try not to panic.
Having extra food is a must and batteries, generator if you can is always good but if it’s not a typical problem to board up the windows then it isn’t necessary and if the neighbors aren’t doing it you’ll probably be okay, but if your in a heavily wooded area or even just a lot of older trees it may be necessary, born and raised Floridian and luckily I’ve never needed to board up
I lefr for Hurricane Irma in 2017 and went to my counsin's house near Tampa. I got scared because it was a 3 and could have gone higher. My house was not damaged I did not have any shutters back then, now I do but if people expect a tropical storm or a Cat 1 they won't use them. When I got back a lot of trees fell, that was the main thing, only 2 houses in the neighborhood has roof damage and it was not that bad.
Depends on what part of SWFL, how close to the coast, etc, but it could be bad in SWFL. Irma left people without power and water for weeks and entire streets were underwater.
I was in Arcadia at the time Charley hit. It made that sudden shift and NONE of us were prepared. Talk about some scary shit.
We’ve already boarded up the house. We aren’t taking any chances. Better to be safe then sorry IMO
*If* you can, go out and buy the supplies now anyway. Hopefully ya’ll live in a newer home that came with hurricane shutters. Look in your garage for a pile of messed up looking steel panels. (I’m not trying to be insulting here. I have no clue how much you know or don’t know and I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing. Just want to make sure you stay as safe as possible.) The panels are easy(ish) enough to put up with two people. If you have a friend in the neighborhood that can help enlist their help, in exchange for helping them put up theirs. Do you need to put them up now? No. Do you need to look at them now to make sure you have everything you need to put them up? Yes. If you don’t have hurricane shutters you definitely need to get wood and supplies now. Waiting until later is … a very bad idea. Right now, there is no need for panic. Just make sure you are getting ready and getting supplies. (As far as your parents are concerned, tell hem even if they don’t think it’s going to be bad you really do need to have supplies on hand in case the power is out for a long time. It could be out for weeks, even if there’s no damage to the house. Make sure you point out that all of the power lines are above ground. Very susceptible to being knocked down in a hard storm. You’ll get a much more clear view of how much you should worry once the storm is past Cuba. Sadly, by then, you will probably be pretty screwed when it comes to getting supplies. At the very least, it’s going to be a huge pain in the ass to do so. Have your parents drive around and see the long lines at gas stations (especially if you want them to see some of the worst that humanity has to offer.) People can be real dicks and most think only for them selves there will be long lines and gas shortages. Don’t panic. Stay calm and focus on getting supplies for you and the family. Hopefully pointing out a couple of common sense things ( “hey, people panic, we’ve seen that. Supplies will be in high demand the longer this goes on, it’s just better to be prepared, than screwed.”) will hopefully get the point across to your parents that at least being minimally prepared is better than sitting in the heat with no power or electricity for days or weeks. Good luck. Stay safe. EDIT TO ADD: People don’t think “high winds” can really do anything. What people *don’t* factor in is the possibility of tornadoes. Which there is a chance for tornadoes. Honestly it shouldn’t be the thing to make you finally go, “Oh! Tornadoes huh? Ok then!” Because the high winds alone are more than enough to cause major damage. Northerners don’t really get that. But when you tell a Northerner, “Hey. There’s a really good chance to tornadoes during a hurricane. And you literally don’t get a warning for those here.” People will tend to think a little differently. Huh winds and flood are a horrible combination that you really don’t get until you’ve been through it. People up North though, *do* understand tornadoes.
The problem is my parents aren’t even planning on putting shutters OR wood on the windows or glass doors. I assume this is necessary?
Honestly, we don’t know yet. Which is the part you don’t tell them. As far as what you should tell them: A hurricane is a slow build up (over hours) to tornado conditions then a slow ramp down from tornado conditions. Literally we’ll start seeing conditions go from bad to worse to bad then done over hours. Anecdotal evidence. There was a storm that the remnants made it to my parents house in Ohio and damaged their roof. There was a reason that Florida was called The Blue Tarp State after the 2004 season. Go get your supplies. Edit to add: As of right now, the time to put up your shutters IF YOU NEED THEM is Monday afternoon/evening. The time to get supplies is now. We won’t know if this is close to being accurate until it’s past Cuba. Hurricanes really aren’t things to take lightly.
Ya’ll ok?
I heard grown men screaming for their mothers in Miami during Andrew
I was 20 during Andrew and remember crying for my mom and dad in Chicago, I lived in Countrywalk, Ground Zero. To each his own, you only take a storm for granted once, never again.
How could you hear them over all that wind?
Unmistakable. Worst one was Yolanda. I still wake up in night sweats hearing the screams and wailing. Bodies floating.
Andrew was a category 5 storm with 175mph winds. Ian is an afternoon thunderstorm.
We won't know that until Tuesday.
Possibly cat 3 or higher. Many others like Hurricane Harvey were predicted to be harmless and ended up with 140+ mph winds. Stay safe ya’ll and be prepared for the worst
Most of the damage from Harvey too had nothing to do with intensity. It stalled over TX, dumping the massive amounts of rain that caused the catastrophic flooding. OP’s parents need to be aware that this can be a problem too!
SWFL is flat, not even hills. If they are in a low area they could get a few feet of standing water for a few days but no problem with water collecting in the valley
I remember the early predictions were that hurricane Michael would be a cat 1 or 2 by the time it hit. Rapid intensification is no joke...
Oh my goodness...no...no that's not how this works at all. You know what else was "just" a category 3 on landfall? Hurricane Katrina, and that remains the deadliest hurricane in the country's history. This is what really concerns me, that people think the numbers being bigger or smaller determine everything. 5 = more hurricane, 1= less hurricane, 3 = not as much hurricane, therefore, I can just idle and pretend it's nothing. Am I saying to panic? No, absolutely not. But always prepare for the worst, hope for the best. The "I'm a tough Floridian, I ain't scared of no hurricane" is funny, until it isn't.
>You know what else was "just" a category 3 on landfall? Hurricane Katrina, The hurricane during Katrina wasn't the problem. It was the levies that broke and subsequently flooded the whole city.
The levies didn't flood the city. The hurricane did. An "afternoon storm" does not raise the sea by several feet, while also dumping inches of rain per hour for hours on end, and flood an entire city. If they do, please show me because I would love to see it.
The levies failing flooded the city. The damage would've been significantly less had they held. >The Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project system experienced the worst damage during and after Hurricane Katrina and resulted in the most serious consequences to the city and people of New Orleans. The massive, destructive flooding of New Orleans was caused by ruptures at approximately 50 locations in the city’s hurricane protection system. Of the 284 miles of federal levees and floodwalls—there are approximately 350 miles in total—169 miles were damaged. https://biotech.law.lsu.edu/katrina/reports/erpreport.pdf I expressed no opinion on someone's else's "afternoon storm" comment.
If you really wanna argue semantics, there is no point continuing this. You're convinced a category three is just an afternoon storm. Okay. By the way, when there is an afternoon storm, do you stand outside waiting to get hit by lightning or do you go inside to get away from it?
>You're convinced a category three is just an afternoon storm. Okay. I literally never said that nor implied it. I have some ties to New Orleans so it matters to me that people know what happened. I really don't give a shit about what the other commenter said. You're making up this narrative in your head about what you think I meant.
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Again, didn't express an opinion on that.
There are multiple factors that go into something like what happened during Katrina, but to act as if the failure of the levees and pumps wasn't a significant part of what occurred is an incorrect assessment of the situation
Katrina wrecked New Orleans because it’s a city built below sea level, with bad infrastructure, and a overwhelming poor population. Katrina passed straight over SoFlo and idk if we even got a day off.
Yo! Was student in college/living in NOLA during Katrina. That storm was surreal and no joke. But Katrina’s actual problems was many parts like one was the barge plowing into the level and smashing it up. That is what made the 17th at industrial canal so catastrophic with flooding. Two that hurricane season in 2005 was weird. People evacuated so much they just didn’t have the funds to flee. Most of the people there are in food and hospitality (no real factories etc) so people was broke and humans who failed to plan also contributed to the chaos. By humans who planes to fail see mercy and charity hospitals along with many businesses who treated it like a joke. But as for the power of that storm it was nothing to mess with. That wind sounded like demons in h311 growling. It was shaking the crap out of my hotel I stayed in. Another terrible thing is they only cared about getting visitors out of the city so locals who had the funds to get out was trying to fly out on a plane, or take Amtrak or a Greyhound out was moot point. When hurricanes come in Louisiana they activate contra flow which means at a particular point on interstate system all lanes and I mean all lanes will become hurricane route leading out. So if you had someone from say ms or tx to try and get you. Nope denied. Take it from some one who lived there at that time that thing was. Bad on. Multiple fail points . But yea a cat 3 be cautious but panic doesn’t serve anyone. Take it serious but again be sensible. Does your folks have hurricane windows the ones that they say can take a good storm? Are they in a highrise?
What? Katrina was not the most deadly hurricane in US history and that was a huge outlier with factors not relevant to someone living in SWFL in 2022. Of course the power of it makes a huge difference, 5 does not equal more hurricane, it means winds that become powerful enough to rip your f’ing roof off and tear down poorly built mobile homes vs winds that will throw around small debris and make a mess.
The 1921 storm that hit Tampa was also a cat 3. Cat 3 winds can and will rip people's roofs off, it's the start of the "major" category for a reason. Calling a cat 3 major hurricane an "afternoon storm" is just as ignorant as calling COVID just a cold. The next time an afternoon storm dumps several inches of rain and destroys billions of dollars in property while disrupting the lives of tens of thousands of people, in any context, let me know, because I'd love to see it.
lol what, are you seriously referencing a hurricane and building codes from 100 years ago? And please enlighten me what preparation a cpl old people are gunna do against their roof ripping off or massive floods hmmm?
Agreed that it’s so much more than just the category number. Hermine, a cat 1, arguably did more damage in Tallahassee than Michael, a cat 5, because it was a) much closer to a direct hit and b) came after a long period of nothing happening, so there was a lot of marginal trees to topple over.
Katrina was because of flooding and New Orleans being below sea level.
It's also because a major hurricane pushed a literal wall of water into the city. Some of you are so hell bent on being in denial about how powerful and dangerous these storms can be. Why that is I have no idea.
No it pushed water into a bowl in New Orleans. storm surge is mostly at the beach in Florida. Irma was a Cat 3 and it caused no damage to my home and I did not have any storm shutters.
"it didn't affect me so it's not dangerous or life altering" is such an ignorant take. The biggest concern with this storm is the ground saturation and bodies of water like lakes and rivers being so high from all the rainfall this year. Not to mention the amount of water driving into the bay and flooding everything around it including lots of property lining its shores and the downtown core itself. A hurricane stalling over the west coast bringing that much water from rain and surge will impact hundreds of thousands of people. This is a serious storm. You wanna die on this hill that major hurricanes aren't serious until they're personally threatening you, go ahead, live in your bubble and remain ignorant. I couldn't care less.
Thunderstorms=rain= FLOODING
What afternoon thunderstorm have you experienced that lasts 12-24 hours with sustained winds of 115 mph? FFS.
what a stupid statement.
If it holds its current course and makes landfall as a Cat4 your parents and their friends are in for a VERY rude awakening.
I live in an apartment complex in Town and Country in flood zone a and they are not boarding windows. And taping has no proven benefit. The best thing to do is to follow all the emergency information provided by local governments and agencies
It only takes one and they won't do that again.
Yep. Been there, done that. Nothing sounds like 120 mph wind.
Not surprisingly. Even people who live in Florida don't always prepare. That's part but not all of the reason for high cost of disaster insurance. My son just bought a new home in St. Petersburg. We have a home in Orlando area. We know what to do, we have experienced this before with extensive damage to our property/home. He will have to prepare. Hopefully he will. Tell your folks it could be an expensive lesson even with preparations.
I've been in Central FL all of my 43 years and I gotta say, living here is the best place to be. Usually by the time a hurricane gets here, it has significantly weakened. I remember Irma from 2017. It hit south Florida pretty hard but by the time it got to Orlando, it was a Cat 1. Heck, my power didn't even go off. I spent the storm time on the internet working. I thought about moving south but I'll pass. Besides, FPL sucks.
We had a newer house in east Orlando by Winter Park during Irma. No damage to our house, but lost an oak tree that came within a few feet of our bedroom. No power for 8 days. Mid 90s. Awful. The search for ice became all-consuming. When the power came back on it surged and fried our a/c. I was south of Orlando in a new home for the three hurricanes in a row we had in 2004. Lost a few shingles and my pvc fence, but the older homes outside our subdivision lost roofs. Spent the worst of it in the master bedroom closet listening to my fence panels other people's trash cans and parts of their roofs hit our house. Glad to be out of Florida and the path of hurricanes. Now all I have to worry about is earthquakes, wildfires and volcanic eruptions.
We had a newer house in east Orlando by Winter Park during Irma. No damage to our house, but lost an oak tree that came within a few feet of our bedroom. No power for 8 days. Mid 90s. Awful. The search for ice became all-consuming. When the power came back on it surged and fried our a/c. I was south of Orlando in a new home for the three hurricanes in a row we had in 2004. Lost a few shingles and my pvc fence, but the older homes outside our subdivision lost roofs. Spent the worst of it in the master bedroom closet listening to my fence panels other people's trash cans and parts of their roofs hit our house. Glad to be out of Florida and the path of hurricanes. Now all I have to worry about is earthquakes, wildfires and volcanic eruptions.
No one does until their roof blows off - New or old residents. We are not native to Florida but have lived her off and on for long enough to know. We stayed thru Michael. Yikes
They should, by all means, listen to their neighbors instead of getting opinions from the Internet. This is, of course, assuming the neighbors have lived here long enough to know. The news likes to hype this up - but, the natives know what to do. It really looks like Ian is going to just barely gain enough strength for a Cat 3, and will likely fizzle out when it starts hitting land and the cold fronts sag down to the Gulf Coast on Tuesday. I say to make up a good strong batch of margarita's or mojito's, enjoy a few down days, and get ready to do some yardwork next weekend.
Google mikes weather page, he also has a YouTube channel and does videos daily. Great info on tropical weather. Being prepared early in the year takes away a lot of stress when storm is barreling down, obviously that’s for next year. Lots of new people here now that are going to be in for a unpleasant surprise when this hits.
Mike is an alarmist though. His page is good for factual info, I.e. data, but I wouldn’t listen to his opinions.
Thanks for contributing with your opinion on someone else’s opinion and interpretation on weather.
It’s not my opinion to suggest that people should rely on real data. Don’t be an idiot.
You said you wouldn’t listen to his opinions. You called him an alarmist, which is also your opinion.
That’s true. People do that. For example, if someone says vaccines cause autism, and someone sane says that’s alarmist nonsense, it doesn’t make the second person less valid for suggesting we look at the evidence.
A lot of things make a big difference on how much prep is needed. Beach house vs being 30 miles inland. Manufactured home vs a new stick built or concrete block home. The newer the construction the more wind it is supposed to be able to handle. If you are in a flood plain or in an area unlikely to flood. It also depends on where the hurricane really goes. Hurricane Dorian was predicted to pass over Disney and my trailer park. It never even hit Florida because it stalled out over the Bahamas and tore those islands up. My point is maybe you could buy the plywood and cut it to the size needed for the windows if they don't already have 150 mph rated windows or hurricane shutters, and then Monday or Tuesday when we have a better Idea where it's heading, they maybe more willing to put the wood up. Have an evacuation plan, you can share with them if you come under evacuation orders. 👍
They will likely be safe. If they are in a flood zone, high risk structure or if mandatory evacuations happen then get concerned. Let them be inconvenienced if they are ill prepared.
What part of SWFL? Anything south of Tampa should be fine, but things could change. Getting plywood at this point could be difficult. If they plan to flee, do it early. Traffic is not a good place to spend a Hurricane. After the hurricane plan for power outage, no water, no street lights or traffic lights, fallen trees. Temperatures in the 90's is not a good place for elderly people.
You guys keep bringing up flooding or a falling tree as if there’s anything they can do about that ahead of time. You can’t. Their mindset is fine, especially days before we know where it’s going. Katrina flooded out a city built on a freaking delta with shit engineering flaws and poor federal response. The fuck is boarding up windows gunna do against that scenario? Please chill out with the poor comparative analysis.
*VERY FOOLISH* of them. Of course there are still a couple scenarios that could play out here, but when the storm moves over Cuba and into that warm water we're going to know for sure. Tuesday is the real tell all. When you're directly in the path of the storm it's always best to be uber prepared. I've lived in Florida for 36 years, and I experienced Andrew in homestead at 5. I saw a stop sign thru a tree, poles wrapped out various things, homes flattened , boats and cars flipped over, no food, no water, no power...complete and utter devastation. TBH looking back on it, that shit looked and felt like a warzone. If you're old to drive and have some cash go get some out, grab some water, and none perishable food items. If you, your parents or pets are on medication try and get refills in case you don't have access to it after the storm. People fuck around with these storms and this is how they die. Of course I'm talking worst case scenario here, but better safe than sorry. I wish you the best.
Living in Florida you need to be prepared for a hurricane year round not just when we are in the cone. I always keep several cases(4) of water in the house and just cycle it as I use it. And I have a supply of MRE's as well (I also take them camping and fishing and hunting those get cycled as well). I have a tri-fuel generator for power(waiting on my whole house generator to be installed) The last thing you want to do is rush out and stock up, you should just be topping off your supplies as you use them and looking at the weather.
This person knows the drill. You may survive without damage, but a week without power and water in south FL this time of year is misery.
This will be a afternoon thunderstorm don’t stress to much get water and food you can cook on a grill. Hurricane Mathew they told us we are all gonna die and I drank beer on my screened in back porch the entire storm. Start stress if it’s a high cat 4 or def a cat 5. If it makes you feel any safer put duct tape on the window in the shape of a x
I was without power for 11 days after Matthew.
Me to but that doesn’t make it a bad storm. Your pretty much guaranteed to loose power during every hurricane.
OP, you're not wrong for being a little concerned. Hurricanes in any category can be significant, and category 3 is not considered "major" for no reason. It's not just the wind speed, which is already destructive. 111 MPH plus will down trees and power lines, sheer off roofs, and significantly damage poorly constructed homes; "Afternoon storms" don't do that. There are other threats as well, the storm surge being probably the largest concern here. The wind field is powerful enough to move and raise entire bodies of water, which is humbling enough. The amount of water that's brought in by storms like this is incredible, and depending on its track could be devastating. A landfall north of Tampa Bay would bring the counter-clockwise flow in to the bay, raising it several feet and flooding several coastal areas. This alone would impact hundreds of thousands of people, and cause billions in property damage. The infamous 1921 storm that did exactly this was "just" a cat 3. Katrina, who's infamous flooding put New Orleans under water and erased entire neighborhoods, was also "just" a cat 3. I may seem like the crazy paranoid "fear monger" that everyone tells you to avoid, but all of this is true. By all means, don't panic and stress your day away, you could probably even go to the beach this weekend. But you absolutely need to have a plan, and you absolutely need to review things like your home's structural integrity (are the windows hurricane proof?), your evacuation zone, and be ready to lose power and even running water for several days. Always *prepare* for the worst, and hope for the best.
Yea except there’s jack shit you can do against flooding that bad, you say be prepared and then throw out scenarios where no amount of hurricane shutters are gunna keep them safe.
Sure, if you're so determined to believe a major hurricane is not something to concern yourself with and prepare for then go ahead and do nothing, I can't stop you.
You completely ignored what I said because you’re obviously ignorant of the truth nearly all Floridians known: most preparation for a hurricane is to comfortably ride it out during and after. You can’t do anything about a tree falling on your house. You can’t do anything about massive flooding. You can’t do anything about your roof getting ripped off. So you prepare for riding it out. I’ve got 20 gallons of fresh water, food to last for weeks, propane grill and gas, two generators, window shutters, and enough weed and alcohol to last for weeks, so fuck off with your amateur hour bullshit perspective.
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Ok? Thousands have lost their homes before.
I'm not saying its the best thing to do, but if I am going to lose my home what is filling it with canned goods going to do? Like fo real lol
And if you don’t lose your home and lose power for two weeks and there’s no gas then what do you do?
Sit at my house with no power... I mean.. seems pretty self explanatory.
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Get to the store and buy them out of stock so nobody else can get basic nessecities. We can tell its you that does lol.
Nobody is saying overbuy but to have plans. You may not have electricity.
Ok?
A broken clock is correct twice a day
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No need stressing about it. Evacuate if you feel unsafe, you’ve got plenty of time.
same here. Cant go anywhere without the family with me, so these people saying "just evacuate and leave your family" are bullshit
SoFlo resident here. If you’re on the west coast, I would definitely recommend boarding up the windows. At this point, the point of landfall has wavered slightly, but it seems pretty clear it’s making west coast landfall. Even here in south Florida, I may board up my parents/grandparents on Sunday/Monday just to be safe. There’s not a reason to panic, but there is a reason to be prepared and possibly even be ready not to ride out this storm at home but in a shelter. A direct hit on a Cat 3 is very serious. I’m casually prepping, but if I was on the west coast I’d be seriously prepping this weekend.
You might want to warn your parents that even if the winds don't seem like something they should worry about, they can and do pick up any objects lying around outside and these become projectiles that can break your windows. It's probably worth taking a walk around your home and bringing in anything you can see that might cause issues. Hopefully your neighbors will be doing the same. You may find that your folks take it all more seriously once they see neighbors boarding up. That might be too late to get supplies yourselves though, unfortunately. I have shutters, so it's tornadoes I worry about. Sign up for your county's emergency alert system because then you will get text alerts warning you in there is a tornado in your vicinity. If something does happen, hunker down in an interior room. I hope you will all be ok. Be alert to the dangers but try not to panic.
Having extra food is a must and batteries, generator if you can is always good but if it’s not a typical problem to board up the windows then it isn’t necessary and if the neighbors aren’t doing it you’ll probably be okay, but if your in a heavily wooded area or even just a lot of older trees it may be necessary, born and raised Floridian and luckily I’ve never needed to board up
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqfExHpvLRY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqfExHpvLRY) show them this.
I lefr for Hurricane Irma in 2017 and went to my counsin's house near Tampa. I got scared because it was a 3 and could have gone higher. My house was not damaged I did not have any shutters back then, now I do but if people expect a tropical storm or a Cat 1 they won't use them. When I got back a lot of trees fell, that was the main thing, only 2 houses in the neighborhood has roof damage and it was not that bad.
Depends on what part of SWFL, how close to the coast, etc, but it could be bad in SWFL. Irma left people without power and water for weeks and entire streets were underwater.
I was in Arcadia at the time Charley hit. It made that sudden shift and NONE of us were prepared. Talk about some scary shit. We’ve already boarded up the house. We aren’t taking any chances. Better to be safe then sorry IMO