For the past ten years I've had declining interest in hurricanes. The first few years I had the charts, did the batteries and water in June and watched and waited. Complacency set in and by the time Hurricane Charlie was a reality, I was detached.....well, Frances looks like she could go anywhere.....that is how it is with hurricanes. Thought I'd set up a watch...It could do SE Florida, it could hit the keys, it could turn and go north or go through the bay to the Gulf. I'm ready to split this time. Patrick, how about you? LMF

I'm worried about Statia. What are they saying for you chick? You just seem to be smack in the middle of harms way for about every storm that develops. We will will it away from you--strong and effective karma here...tested and proven.

Here we go again

I am hoping that the storm skips Statia and her little island. And I hope it forgets about the US & Florida too !

Now about Gaston, is everyone OK in SC, Ga, NC and the beaches?

The morning Charley was headed our way, we packed up (moved all my files from my 5' above sea level den across from the bay to the upstairs) and spent the day with friends high and dry. But when I checked with my next door neighbors, they laughed and were staying put. "I've been hearing about these things for years, and it's no big deal". What an attitude. These storms are nothing to scoff at. We were so lucky we didn't get the storm surge here in Naples they were predicting even when they thought the storm was going to be about 25 miles further out and heading further north than it did.

So I'm ready at a a day's notice to get out while the getting's good. But of course, we hope we don't have to.

Actually this is the first year in many I've been around here during August and September, so my hurricane worries have usually been long distance.

Thanks so much for your concern OO and Scarlett. We have been watching Frances very closely as it looked like she was headed towards us as of last night. However, she is still on a northwest track, so it looks as if she's going to miss us (thank goodness). We may be under tropical storm watch by tomorrow night, but that will be all. Provided, of course, that she doesn't start treking due west.

However, I'm now concerned for all you folks in Florida. You certainly don't need any of Frances' attention at the moment. She's already a category four, so I'm now willing her away from you!

Ever since we got flattened by Fran and nearly drowned by Floyd, I've been much more jumpy about hurricanes, despite having "grown up with them" in Mass. in the 50s-60s (woops, gave away my age).

Then came Charley and my mother (who was inadvisedly living alone in Sarasota) freaked out, got very tense and did something horrible to her spine/sciatic nerve (altready diseased) shlepping water bottles to the refrigerator, etc. and is now in the hospital with probably permanent damage, never to go home again most likely. The hospital is overwhelmed with refugee patients from Port Charlotte and other hospitals, and the nurses are scarce.

She's due to be moved to a rehab/nursing facility Mon. or Tues. and my sister has done her best to secure the house before she (sister) had to leave to go back to home in DC. My mother keeps talking about the images of the nursing homes crushed in the hurricane, and I can't get down there for a couple of weeks. So we're both jumpy.

Therefore: Less enchanted by live-shots of dumb surfers and TWC reporters standing in the surf 48 hrs. before landfall than I used to be. Less inclined to shrug off predictions and assume, "eh-- they exaggerate everything." Everyone from the Mississippi East -- take a deep breath and blow HARD to the east at 6 pm EDT/ 5pm CDT tomorrow night.



So I'm not calling anyone paranoid.

Call me DEPRESSED.

This has been a strange season.
Mother nature needs to spit out her wheaties at this point!

I'm not trying to make light of what could be a very dangerous situation, but when Scarlett said she's depressed, the first thing that came to my mind was "a tropical depression?"

Seriously, I will say a prayer tonight for my Florida Fodors friends. Scarlett, I hope you can find a place where you feel settled and happy, be it in Florida or somewhere else. It's no fun feeling out of your element.

"I will say a prayer tonight for my Florida Fodors friends."

AND Statia and her DH, of course.

Exactly! I am having a Tropical Depression of my very own

I send best wishes to everyone. Since I am really clueless about all things hurricane, I am most likely not making weather sense when I say that I hope it fizzles out before it threatens land, anywhere!

Thank you Jocelyn

Thanks, Jocelyn.

We are not removing the boards we placed on our north facing windows when Charley was predicted to hit here (Bradenton/Sarasota). They will come down the day after hurricane season ends!

I'm very concerned that Frances could be in the same class as Andrew unless it loses some of it's punch as it heads north. Where it lands is a crap-shoot, but we'll be long gone at even a hint that it's headed our way.

best discussion site I've found for tropical weather. It hasn't exactly reassured me but I like all the links to the charts and graphs these weather geeks put up.

http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewforum.php?f=1<BR>

Unpleasantness may be back sooner than we think. It exhausts me to think about it.

LMF

Meantime...Gaston snuck in and is eying a trip to the Charleston area perhaps. It's a strong tropical storm and GoTravel is right on the coast. Wishing you well GT!! Hopefully it won't intensify further.

I was looking at a NHC discussion on Frances this morning. They were saying she's in an environment that is conducive to intensification and that "she could reach a category 5 intensity any time during the forecast period".

I'm glad she's staying clear of you Statia...now let's see if we can't collectively push her harmlessly out into the north Atlantic as Cassandra suggested. 6PM EDT, 5 Central, everyone outside and blow hard to the east!

FL emergency resources are stretched thin and would be overwhelmed by another storm hitting anywhere in the state. I don't know how many Red Cross workers we've got staying with us...last I heard it was around 70, and they'll be here through October. They've set up their headquarters in Bradenton so it's about an hour drive twice a day for them, but they could not get closer as the rooms are filled all through the area with evacuees. Volunteers are here from as far away as Alaska and there is a severe shortage in some critical areas...nurses and mental health workers. A second storm, especially if it develops into a 4 or 5, could sink this ship!

Meantime, I've adopted one of the Red Cross workers staying in our hotel who has a room near us. She comes to use my washer and dryer and computer for her email. I've dosed her with my Sudafed for the cold she got, and brought her some books for her free time. We discovered we are from the same little town in the Berkshires, so we've had some enjoyable "remember when" chats.

OK...remember the drill. Everyone outside a 6 EDT, 5 central. We can do this!

Been reading some of what is on that link LMF.

LMF, Thank you for that link..I think
I hope Statia is going to stay OK.
I hope we (Florida) will stay OK.

There is nothing like being prepared. Every year I have the same plan. To take the dog and its crate, the cat and her box, my son and myself and head to higher ground. I always make a hotel reservation for the night of the expected landfall. This last hurricane I gave my reservation to friends who, though they've been in Florida now for 7 yrs, found themselves freaking out at the last minute with nowhere to go and pets to boot.

You can escape from a hurricane and you can do it without injury. The key is to have a plan, to be equipped to pick yourself up and move out of harms way. This year I drove to stay with family in Lakeland, then had to drive back to Tampa as Charley turned and came my way. For the first time in the years that I've had this plan, I put it into use with some changes. To my to-go list I added boxes of files and films (my work) as well as a box of photos and my home and rental house insurance papers. And I went through my house and put many things up off the floor onto cabinets onto desks and tables in case of flooding. It wasn't fun, but it made me feel like I'd done the best I could.

LMF, you are paranoid. But it is a good thing. Better to be paranoid rather than like the 18 or so individuals in Punta Gorda who decided to sit it out and are now deceased. As for the survivors, what fun can it possibly be to cower in one's hallway or bathroom for hours? Or to wade in water up to your knees in a house w/o electricity. Thank goodness there was no storm surge this hurricane but that is very unusual.

Keep your eye on the weather. Make a plan and, if the storm comes your way, get out of town. And then pray your electric company and insurance company will be able to respond and get you back in business. Trees will grow again. Houses can be re-built. The key is to keep yourself and your pets and loved ones safe.

Sending all my hurricane-thwarting vibes to those of you in vulnerable locations (although Floyd brought considerable havoc even to us here in Philadelphia).

Had dinner last night with a friend who just returned from Barto, Florida, where she was a volunteer for an organization (Noah's Wish) that helps take care of animals (pets and livestock) in the aftermath of natural disasters such as Charley. They had over 200 dogs, about 40 cats, some rabbits, reptiles, birds etc. The stories she had to tell! Some of them were not pretty, but the stories of people being reunited with their pets seemed to make it worthwhile.

figuers that a hurriacne will hit charleston as i am getting ready to move there, hopefully my hotel will have power when i arrive on wed