FL - Should we go or cancel?

Old Oct 26th, 2005, 12:43 AM
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FL - Should we go or cancel?

All of us with travel plans need help! Should we go to FL (Nov 12) or cancel? Reports here say power may be out "for weeks". We're staying on Singer Island. Was there widespread damage on the east coast in that area? FL people - let us know what the situation is there if you can.
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Old Oct 26th, 2005, 01:13 AM
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Power out for weeks???

You got to be kidding......
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Old Oct 26th, 2005, 02:52 AM
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On the news last night they said that some sections of Florida may be without electricity for three or four weeks!
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Old Oct 26th, 2005, 03:04 AM
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If you believe that, then I have some BIG items to sell...........

Brooklyn Bridge
Eiffel Tower

and many, many more....

please make an offer
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Old Oct 26th, 2005, 03:13 AM
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Actually, a family member lives near Palm Beach county, and was told power could take a month. Doesn't mean it will, but I guess that's what the power company(ies) is reporting.
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Old Oct 26th, 2005, 03:28 AM
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My brother lives in Lantana. Entire city is without power - they are being told 3-4 weeks for everyone to have power. No gasoline anywhere in area. Some businesses are open (even one supermarket). Some phones work, but most relying on cell phones - until the power runs out on them.

Not my idea of a good vacation spot.
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Old Oct 26th, 2005, 03:45 AM
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ok folks, let's get the facts straight,

The report says that it's possible that some parts of Dade County may not have power until 11/15.

The report also states that most, if not all of Dade County will have power in 3 days or less.

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Old Oct 26th, 2005, 04:12 AM
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palmbeachpost.com has been a good source of info in that area - I have been reading online version to my brother. They promise to have area-by-area info on power later today.

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Old Oct 26th, 2005, 04:47 AM
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As one planning a trip to Florida next week, I found the Florida Power website (fpl.com). They list outages by county. Not encouraging. They also explain that it takes a long time to first fix the generators, transformers, stations that have been knocked out. Then they get to fixing downed lines so you can see it will take some time.

With that said, our hotel website gave some good (although conflicting) information. Telling guests they are closed until November 1st. Then there's an employee notice saying that their power is back on but that the hotel was closed "indefinitely". So you don't know.

We'll go anyway since it's a business trip--if they say it's a go we go. And then on to the Bahamas which had no trouble.
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Old Oct 26th, 2005, 06:29 AM
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Here's what happens in those instances.

The power company immediately puts out a report that power could be out for a month. That sets everyone up for the long haul. Then, no matter how long it takes to get power back, anything less than a month mkaes the power co. look good.

I'm betting 90% of people have power within a week. That's what happened last year on FL's east coast when the two hurricanes hit there. The power co. put out the one-month warning and had everyone on line in about 7 days.
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Old Oct 26th, 2005, 07:13 AM
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As someone who went through this last year when we were impacted by feeder-bands and the southern edge of hurricane whats-is-name (how quickly we forget), the power situation is dire. The best that can happen is the power companies have to rely on phone calls and visual sightings of trees on lines to know where the problems are -- this is not easy. Anyway, with a much minor storm having hit here last year, there were still parts of our city that did not have power for weeks.

I posted this earlier on another posting:

At present time, one-third of Florida's entire population is without power, 3.2 million of those are in Miami-Dade, Broward, and south Palm Beach counties. Headline today's SPTimes: "S. Florida Could Stay In the Dark for Weeks". There is an 8P-6A curfew -- for adults too! Gas station can't pump w/o elec. There is no ice, people stood in lines yesterday up to 6 hrs. to get ice. There were police barricading and pushing people away from the stadium who were trying to get in to get ice. FLL & W. Palm airports were sclosed yesterday.

Stay away for your own safety and well-being. Naples seems to have faired better but honestly, who wants to travel in an area where trees are down EVERYWHERE? There are more pleasant areas in Florida and if you must come to Florida, go where that storm did not go.
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Old Oct 27th, 2005, 03:38 AM
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With all due respect to AAFreqFly (whose posts are always informative and accurate) - the situation in Palm Beach and adjacent counties really does seem that bad. For some reason having to do with specifics of damage, it appears that power-related problems are far more severe than the 3 hurricanes that area endured last summer/fall.

Virtually all of Palm Beach county is still without power - and while OP asked about 2 1/2 weeks ahead and I would hope things will be approaching electric normalcy by then, who knows.
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Old Oct 27th, 2005, 04:29 AM
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I am living in Miami and as I understand it, the eye of the hurricane exited between Palm Beach County and Broward County, hence they got hit the hardest. We were hit pretty hard and got our power back this morning. However, the dates they give are estimates.

I had to wait 5 hours for gas and that is getting there in the middle of the night - and I am not in the HARDEST hit areas. We bounce back fast, but lack of power, gas, eats, and things like that are beyond our control. Imo, Palm Beach won't be back by the 12th of November. The East Coast was actually hit HARDER than the West Coast of Florida (for some reason) However, check fpl.com and call the hotel you were going to stay in. Good luck!
Here is the latest from fpl.com as of this date and time:

Palm Beach
Out: 578,700
Restored: 84,800
Affected:663,500

Miami-Dade County
Out: 635,300
Restored: 321,200
Affected: 956,500

Broward County:
Out:709,800
Restored: 153,000
Affected: 862,800
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Old Oct 27th, 2005, 04:35 AM
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Last I knew, Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, etc there was no water yet.
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Old Oct 27th, 2005, 05:43 AM
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The East Coast was hit harder, because Wilma did something most hurricanes don't....she picked upspeed and strength as she traversed the state.
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Old Oct 27th, 2005, 05:45 AM
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PS Tandoori...that was Francis!!!!
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Old Oct 27th, 2005, 06:25 AM
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Cira,

My heart goes out to everyone who was affected by Hurricane Wilma (and all the others previously as well). But we have a debate raging here at the office about why so many people seemed to be unprepared for this storm, when there was notice given several days in advance. We saw news clips of people screaming for food and water, but doesn't everyone (and especially those in hurricane-prone areas) have at least a 3-7 day supply at hand? It seems to us that many people who have been affected by these emergencies are now depending on government assistance as soon as the storm has passed and perhaps never felt the need to be prepared for a crisis.

Again, our thoughts & prayers are with you.
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Old Oct 27th, 2005, 07:04 AM
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We saw news clips of people screaming for food and water, but doesn't everyone (and especially those in hurricane-prone areas) have at least a 3-7 day supply at hand?

That's a nice thought Leona but most assuredly not true. There seem to be two types of people, those who feel it's their responsibility to take care of themselves and those who feel someone else, particularly the government, should take care of them. And before I get slammed for that statement, I do realize there are those who cannot provide for themselves.

I have lived in hurricane country most of my life (although we left for good this year) and it is evident after each storm that some people will simply never prepare, no matter how many times they are warned to do so. They complain two days after a disaster that they don't have food, water or medicine and they expect someone to provide it to them. And let's face it, someone usually does, whether it be volunteer organizations or FEMA.
 
Old Oct 27th, 2005, 11:31 AM
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This brings to mind post from a few days ago asking what disaster preparations has everyone made.

I agree that few should be crying for supplies 24-48 hours post-disaster unless they have some severe disability or their house blew or washed away.

My sympathies to those living thru this - no electricity gets very old after a few days.
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Old Oct 27th, 2005, 11:41 AM
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Hoping Cira will respond...

We are to be at the Trump Sonesta Sunny Isles beginning next Tuesday for a business conference. Would you be concerned? They have power and water and they're open. My concern is more for taxis, rental cars, food, etc. I know they need the revenue but do you think they'll be able to do for us what we would expect from a business conference? Seems trivial compared to your inconveniences. I'm just trying to figure out if my husband's firm is just contributing to the problem by sticking to its original plan--and some good marketing on the part of Trump's staff.
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