Coast of Florida Under Hurricane Warning
 

The coast of Florida from Craig Key to Flagler Beach is now officially under a Hurricane Warning.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the names, basically that's all of the very long east coast of Florida with the exception of the very northern end (Jacksonville area). But that also doesn't mean the adjacent areas including all the way up the Carolinas are out of danger!

Everyone in the path of this monster is in my thoughts and prayers. I have Fodorite friends, non-Fodorite friends, and even relatives in the projected path, so I'm very concerned about this one.

Frances passed north of me this week and I was extremely relieved to only experience a small portion of her. Now I only wish the same for the rest of you, but that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment.

I'll be keeping an eye on Frances and thinking of you all. Please stay safe and don't take unnecessary risks. You can replace "stuff," but you can't replace your life.

I just watched a press conference on TV with various officials including Governor Bush. Normally before any hurricane (including Charley) everything is "in the event of. . .", "may hit. . .", and "possible threat of damage". Today there isn't a word of that. It's all about "when it hits. . .", and "as soon as the damage has occurred. . ." Scarey one, this Frances. We don't know where, but it is impossible to believe that huge devastation is not about to take place!

The buzz words du jour: "cone of uncertainty".

The only good news that I can offer is that I have been in touch with friends in the TCI (where it just passed through) and they said it was bad, but all in all, they got through it without too much destruction.

There was a lot of foliage damage and some tin roofs blown off the wooden houses, but not as much structural damage as they had feared basically being right in the path of the storm.

I guess at this point, those of us possibly in the path can finsih our preps and leave if need be, hope for the best, and be thinking of and praying for those affected...

The TCIs were just south of the eye. The worst winds are on the north sides of these storms. Still, it is amazing that they got off as easy as they did.

Besides the strength of Francis, the slow forward motion of the storm means that hurricane winds will have to be endured for 10 hours in the area of the strike. Hurricane force winds extend about 80 miles out from the eye so we're looking at hurricane force winds in a swath 160 miles across and strong tropical force winds in an even wider area.

To make matters worse, it looks like it might make landfall as the tide is high adding 12' to 14' of storm surge to the high tide.

Get away NOW if you are in the warning area.

Patrick, just got off the phones with friends in Palm Beach who are evacuating to Naples. They don't want to try to go north to outrun Frances.

Anyone else remember the Floyd Evacuation horror stories?

My sister and brother in law are out of their condo in Miami Beach but are working through the storm.

Diana: That is great to hear about your friends in TCI. I did read that somewhere but was wondering how accurate that info was.

"Get away NOW if you are in the warning area. "
Sorry, the interstates are clogged, fights are erupting at gas stations, barges with gas are not coming in.
We had a fiasco on Memorial Day weekend with contaminated fuel, now a Labor Day hurricane. Locusts at Christmas?

Just spoke with my customer in Miami. They sent everyone home at 2 and are boarding up now. He says although the storm seems to be hitting a little north they are really nervous. They don't plan to re-open until Tuesday.

A couple quick things. They said there was a slight northerly movement in the storm over the past couple hours as it is passing over the islands and the pressure has risen slightly. The next couple hours will tell. Here is a link to a website for the islands.
http://stormcarib.com/index.htm#reports
If you go to discussions or to pleas for help there are updates of what has happened on the islands.
Also, here is a link for a live web cam from Elbow Cay, Abaco Bahamas. http://www.rockybay.com/webcam/webcam_page.htm

It updates every couple minutes but hasn't been able to broadcast continuously.

Statia, did I read somewhere that you are on St. Kitts? (We are visiting there in early December and would love some insider advice :)

"but it is impossible to believe that huge devastation is not about to take place!"

No doubt very reassuring, non-hysterical words for Floridians reading this post!

Yes, Patrick, when a Hurricane is as big as the state of Florida, one would imagine the damage to be huge.
Good luck all you Floridians!
We should have a huge End of Hurricane Season party in October :)

inthechips, no I'm not on St. Kitts, but have a great view of it from our property. I'm on the next island north. I'd be glad to help you where I can though. Just post on the Caribbean board.

And it is hoped that one can post about the hurricane in such a way so as not to fuel the anxiety of Floridians who are already keyed up over storm preparations!

Hurricanes by their very nature are unpredictable-no one knows yet what the hurricane will do, or even if it will come ashore in the same storm category -it could veer offshore at the last minute, or not-But one thing's for sure: when living in Fla. you have to listen to emergency broadcasts when there is a hurricane watch or warning, and like a Boy Scout, be prepared to move when told.

Patrick, thank you for the Hurricane Preparation email, we are still laughing.
We (here in Jax, Fl) just finished with the boarding of our windows. I am going into a new business...I will paint pretty pictures on wood sheets then when people have to have them nailed over their windows, they will have something prettier than wood to look at.
Anyone who wants to join me in my little Florida Hurricane business, send money and I will let you know when we are ready to start painting :D

Didn't mean my earlier comments to be anxiety fuel.

It's just that this is the first time I've heard them NOT say things like "of course, it could die out before it gets here", or "it still may turn away from land". It is just so unusual for all the forecasters to only talk about "where and how strong", not "if".

Naples is indeed busy. I went out to pick up a prescription at Costco and it was the busiest I've ever seen it, then I got stuck in a big traffic jam. Meanwhile Aligator Alley tolls have been lifted and the entire population of Dade and Broward counties seem to be headed over here. There are NO hotels available and I'm not sure where people are going.

Patrick...Thanks for the humor post...laughter the best medicine,maybe........How do we get to your house?????? Helping my twin bro get his s%#@ together and get the hell out of dodge...he doesnt want to leave his collection of antique bird cages....grrrrrrrr.

Here we go again...Here in NYC, while George is up here clearing his throat for the big speech tonight, I'll be watching the weather news instead, and keeping all of you in my thoughts. I think some of the Florida delegates have been trying to get home to be with family and friends.
Hang in there and stay as safe as you can. Our very first thoughts are with you.

Janeg, no there will be no locusts at Xmas , rest easy. I think they are all swarming over Northern Africa, where the swarms are so big they can be viewed by Satellites.

Scarlett, I love your spirit and sense of humor!
Hold on to it for the End of Hurricane season party, Maybe I can come down and crash it, because we just lost a bunch of stuff in the Gaston floods in Virginia. A miniature (if muddy) loss to be sure, since we only went down in summer.

Take very good care of yourselves, I'm thinking of you all.

My neighbor just drove from Orlando to Tampa -- it took her 4 hrs. (usually 1:15).

But hey! I'm hearing that this thing is starting to get a little ragged and undefined. I'm praying that's a silver lining in the cloud. Maybe it will dissipate. Maybe....

The Weather Underground site says that Frances has gone down to a strong Cat 3 Hurricane..at 125 mph winds.
I hope she continues to weaken and none of us will suffer from this storm.
Fingers Crossed !

I've heard the storm will re-gain force and be a Cat. 4 for landfall. But...what I'm hearing is that landfall is now pushed back to 8P on Saturday. And the winds are predicted to be hurricane force through most of its passage across Florida (>80mph) but will diminish to tropical storm force (60mph) about 2/3s of the way across the state. This is great news for people in Tampa. I don't know about storm surge, what it will be. There is still going to be a lot of flooding. 10-14" of rain -- egads.

Everyone hold tight. Keep those little boats handy.

Hoping everyone is holding on there and is safe, Now thry're saying 20" rain possible.
Please let it diminish back to a 3! Thoughts and prayers for all of you in FLorida!

Best of luck to all ya'll in Flaarda, and to all the volunteers and first responders. I really hope to hear some good news from OO, Scarlett, Tandoori, Patrick, et al soon! You're in our thoughts and prayers. As Bill Murray exhorted in Stripes, "Lighten up, Frances!!"

Hey Scarlett, we need to postpone that Hurricane Party to December because the season doesn't end until then. Actually, there was a hurricane and a tropical storm last mid December. Who knows?

T.D. Ivan is being watched. sigh!

There's a TD Ivan? :( Where's it at?

Thanks, hibiscus. I've been so busy watching Frances that I didn't realize there was another one lurking my way. I'll have to keep an eye on Ivan, but am more concerned with Florida facing Frances at the moment. Stay safe everyone!

FYI for Statia:
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/..._gif_full.html

Where is your home again?

Dear Statia, do let us know how Ivan looks from there.
Stay safe *hugs* S~

Hibiscus, thanks for the link. I'm on St. Eustatius in the northern Leewards, right between St. Maarten and St. Kitts. So, it looks as if this one is going to pass south of us, which is good news, as long as it stays small. If it becomes large, we will be on the northern (worst) side. We definitely have to keep a close eye on it.

Thanks Scarlett. I'm glad to hear that things are still fine in your area and that it doesn't look like you'll get too much from Frances. I've been keeping up with the news all day and West Palm and Melbourne are looking pretty bad, and the center isn't even over land yet.