Popcorn and M&Ms are stocked, that and a couple of bottles of red wine, we should be fine.
KalKahuna would be proud, I think :D

The track looked bad for us last night, but I saw it as good news, because they rarely seem to hit the area they initially predict, and it now looks as if Bonnie will go in south of us.

Unfortunately, because DH has a loooong list of things that have to be implemented at the hotel, anything we need to do for ourselves has to be done early. We are going down shortly to adjust lines on the boat and get the bimini down, maybe sails off depending on the next update. I'm hoping and pretty sure all this will be for naught and by the weekend we'll be undoing all the preparations we made.

As we've been inundated with rain for the past week (10.8 inches in 8 days) more of that is a concern for the Tampa Bay area, and they are calling for 6" inches here. :(

Am thinking of Heather of the "Moving to FL" thread. Our news just said Bonnie is now a hurricane and seems to be rushing to meet and greet her. Hope we all luck out and that Heather isn't discouraged by her introduction to FL.

Is the popcorn popped? If you lose power, you will not be able to pop the popcorn.

Oooh, turn your AC down to 55 degrees and put on the parkas. If you lose power, it will stay cool in the house for several hours.

... and there's always the ears, lol.

... oh, lol, now the rain reports. Jeeez, next it'll be the traffic. Wow, FL is always on the cusp of the next catastrophe. What fun! :>

Wow, what memories from when we lived in the south! The kids were little and I remember keeping a stash of "hurricane diapers", lol!

Make that Charley headed in south of us.

Uh, Blacktie I do believe that was you who beat me to the punch, checking in earlier with your rain gauge, yes? :D

Scarlett, we've got a good supply of Pinot Noir....you bring pb&j...not sure how much we'd find in the hotel.

Yummy, Scarlett! Well, glad to know nothing goes to waste!! We have taught Miss Killer ((@)) many things but refinement is not one of them...once she gets wind of this she's going to want mom to round up some mice ears :-)

OO - are you kidding? I love a good storm! Of course, I'll be arriving Saturday night... Isn't there another one predicted for then? Maybe not such a good introduction, but NOT going to scare me off! (The thing to do that would be a sunny day, high 90s, with no breeze and no clouds in the sky. A hurricane I can handle) :D

I just made another reservation for a room in FLL. Lee county were we live, will be hit directly, could land between Naples or Charlotte. This is pretty dangerous stuff.....lots of lives in jeopardy, and poperty damage predicted. FYI JUDY

Heather!! It's exciting, no? We will trade newcomer war stories LOL

blacktie, I am glad you find this fun. It takes all kinds, I guess.

Scarlett - isn't it sad? Most people move to Florida thinking of sunny days, warm nights, white beaches, blue-green water... I am imagining wonderful storms full of wild winds, sheets of rain, ooh - giving myself goosebumps just thinking about it! Of course, I'll probably spend my entire first night whimpering "oh, my car, my pretty new car." :D

My parents in Lake County say they could get buckets of rain...they should know more by tomorrow as to what track the storms will take and how much wild weather they can expect.
Even better than a battery operated radio is one of those hand cranked radios...Grundig makes one sold by LL Bean http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/sto...&storeId=1
We debated getting one for my Dad for his birthday and tossed a coin to see whether it was the radio or a DVD player. The DVD player won. Ooops. Should have gone with the radio.

Sounds to me like a last-minute GTG at Scarlett's house! :D

Gee, I wonder how many fodorites I could fit in my tornado shelter? :?

Exciting in a way....on the other hand, I've walked thru my house after Elena (85 I think) in waist high water...no fun :( Rather surprised at the store to see most of the water gone from the shelves, here in St Pete. I stocked up on water, beer, chips & cat food and will just hope for the best. Hopefully we all will avoid any serious damage.

Just spoke to my brother, who's in Islamorada, and he said it's bumper to bumper traffic heading north, going 10 mph. Truck after truck trailering a boat of some type.

We live on a fairly inland canal. The Marina near the river and the bay has been bringing some of it's boats to our canal.....tying up on vacant pilings,...very scary.

Dear Scarlett-
I would never accuse you of posting Dire Warnings! Hope you ride out the storm in high style. Have fun and Good Luck!

Yeah, Scarlett, your thread is a fun one. What better way to anticipate a big storm? :) No Dire warnings here!

OK, here is a Dire Warning here!

If it gets really bad here, I am going to bring the pup and the Yankee and come stay with one of you :D

Stay safe everyone!!
Keep us updated on what is happening in your area..please:)
This is my first double hurricane ((F))

So who needs culture when you have a force majeure coming up your alley!

Over here in South Tampa, when there's a hurricane coming our way, first we laugh -- the last one that hit was 1921 I do believe. Then, we book a reservation (which I did last night) at the La Quinta in Brandon for myself, my son, my dog (with crate), and my cat, and stay on the ready to head to higher ground.

I hope to have time to make a trip to the beachhouse to put the washer and dryer up on the wooden platforms they were on before we changed them out. And I'll buy some sand bags and hope that my tenant will be foolish enough to stay behind and have a hurricane party and that he will sandbag the door. The house is block and who gives a darn -- it will never blow away. But flooding, that's another issue.

I've heard the safest place to be in a hurricane is in a tall building that does not have glass walls. Just stay clear of the windows.

Scarlett, you and the Yankee and Pup too are welcome in NJ if it gets that bad. Just warn Pup he'll have to hang with ((@)) ((@))!

Little MsFoodie's response from SW Florida...Hurricane Party! Well, I've invited a few people that will likely be evacuated tomorrow to our home for the next couple of days. They need to bring their own batteries. I live less than a mile away from the Caloosahatchee river but we are likely not to receive storm surge.

My company cancelled all its deliveries for Friday and stopped trucks coming from NC today. I have wine, I have water, I have candles, unless things change, I'm working tomorrow and a party hostess tomorrow night. LMF (Fort Myers)

Oh dear, Scarlett, I hope pup is not too frightened when it hits. My pup is now almost deaf, so lightening and storms are no longer such a threat to him. I keep wine, cheese, candles, bottled water, batteries for radio, clocks, nots, and other goodies.

I've heard Charly's heading to Naples. But a hurricane is no sure thing. Not until landfall.

I'd wager that Charly will be like Donna in the 1960s -- it will dump water all over Florida and cause major inland flooding. That's what happens when a hurricane travels up through the state.

You Florida newcomers -- now's the time to meet your neighbors. Go find out what happened in the 60's. If you're in a newer neighborhood, buyer beware. You will have your own stories to tell in years to come.

Scarlett, those pigs ears -- my dog loves them too. But CR says they're loaded with salmonella, I think it is. Be sure to wash your hands and don't put them in with your edible groceries.

I'm so glad we've got some excitement in FL. I was wondering how we would manage to convince all the new Floridians to stay in town through the summer!

SUGGESTED HURRICANE READING:

"Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Florida's own Zora Neale Hurston. Based on the true life Hurricane that devastated Belle Glade in September 1928, swallowing the land, the lake (Okeechobee) and the people. The 2nd deadliest natural disaster of all time.

Tandoori Girl,
I would prefer my culcha in a theater :)
Sounds like you too have to find excitement where you can, but this is not something I was planning on entertaining myself with this year.
Pigs Ears can indeed be tainted with salmonella, Pup has been in love with them for 4 years now, after we got him unhooked from his craving for cows feet!! ((&))

I had to put a stop to those darned hoofs. My dog would bury them in the chairs. Or the sofa. Not exactly what you want your guests to see.

Woe those doggies! They really do get scared in the storms. Or at least mine does. Unless I'm around....

BEST HURRICANE MOVIE:

The Perfect Storm. Oops. That was a typhoon or something, wasnt' it?

For nine years I've had the same fall back plan. Reservations at Chalet Suzanne in mid, high ground Florida. They accept pets and I have them. I've yet to use this plan and I have given my AMEX card to the hotel to be used in emergencies. They have my permission to charge the room to me whether I'm there or not so there is a place when I finally, hopefully get there. Just look on a map of SW Florida and count the roads to high ground. No towns, no hotels, no nothing and a million people down basically a county road to podunk. LMF

LMF, I've often thought that would be a great way to weather a big blow. I'll bet you can watch that little lake of theirs fill up while you sip your soup from the restaurant.

I'm cutting and pasting this from a previous post of mine (re: blizzards)!

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/buf/blizzard/blizphoto.html

We're used to the snow, so it's not as scary as a hurricane.....but the Blizzard of 77' takes the cake. I guess we should prepare, but heck....the snow melts ...eventually.... very eventually...and the neighbors take care of each other. There really isn't a rush for groceries, but then again, I don't care how hard the snow hits, it can't compare to a hurricane!

Take care of yourselves...you Floridians!

So do you realize...we are looking at Friday the 13th landfall! Our boat neighbors pointed that out this evening. I'd overlooked that tidbit, probably could have done without it too, although I'm not superstitious...normally anyway.

LOL, Thank you darlin OO for bringing it to my attention also :D

Usually the 13th is a good number for us, I will hope that remains the same!

Darling Scarlett,

Didn't read a single response yet. Just your question. I can only share with you the moment the second tower was hit....in shock, for some unexplainable reason, I went and got the flag and put it out...this before the fall of the towers. And then numb, after watching the first tower go down, I went to the grocers, and bought a bunch of food, and didn't know what to do.

In storms however, I always head to the market and pick up a few things, never crazy purchasing as I'm an optimist. Always believing that a couple of days will be fine....9-11 I bought a weeks worth, walking the isles in shock. But horde, water,batteries,Tang....no. I just plan a nice meal and hunker down. \\
That said, good luck, seems like anything could happen. Stay safe and cuddle with Pup. Max hides in the bathtub, which he hates, whenever lightning strikes. Poor things.

Be safe
gyppie

Onto the other replies!!!!!!!!!!!

Tandoori Girl, the Publix on D.M. and Neptune was running low on bread and cokes but still had plenty of milk & water when I was there around 7:00. For others in the Tampa Bay Area where we've already had 10 inches of rain in August and as much in the first 7 months of 2004 as we usually have for an entire year, I'm particularly concerned about falling trees, thus downed powerlines. Since the ground is already saturated from all the rain, the trees are more vunerable to just toppling over--their roots just seem to "give way". So please everyone, take extra precautions if Mother Nature cleans house Friday (I'm glad I just had my Oak trees trimmed-wish I'd done more!). I agree inland flooding will probably be a huge problem since the water table is so high--let's just hope the tide cooperates and the bay can empty!

Scarlett,

I just saw your post and I skipped the responses but I hope you, OO, Taandori Girl and the other FL Fodorites will stay safe and dry.

This hurricane is wreaking havic for our family, which is why I'm up at this ungodly hour and taking a break. My neice is supposed to be married this weekend on Siesta Key with her wedding at the Ritz in Sarasota. The groom and his family are from Arizona and are freaked out about the storm. We don't even know if some will come and if they do if we'll even be having a wedding.

As you know, it's a southern tradition for the "women folk" to get together and do the all the flowers and that's what we're doing now. We can't wait until Friday because we don't know if we'll have electricity. Hurricane George, 2 years ago, left us without electricity for almost a week.

Stay safe and thanks for the post.

PS--when it was looking like it could be a category 2 storm yesterday we made some reservations just to be on the safe, at a pet-friendly hotel in Orlando. Thank goodness that isn't going to happen because we were WAY over the quota of pets allowed and we're going to sneak some in. I'm glad I don't have to worry about hiding a 60 pound lab in heat!!

Barrier Islands in SW Florida are in evacuation mode this a.m. Mandatory evacuation for Sanibel but they are always quick to evacuate because of the poor condition of the causeway.

Charlie has turned slightly so Fort Myers isn't its target, it looks like it will hit north of Tampa. There is an area that is sparsely populated and one hopes that will be the area as it will be easier to evacuate than Tampa/Clearwater area.

My home is in a category 1 hurricane surge area so we will decide this afternoon whether to head out. My voice mail box is full with clients concerned about their winter/vacation homes.

Good luck to Tandoori Girl and Olive as it looks as though there may be more consequences there than here. LMF

It looks a little better for you and Patrick, LilMsFoodie--that's good. I am worried now for this area...hadn't been expecting this shift as all earlier shifts had been away from us, not toward, so this morning was a rude awakening.

Jayne, Yikes, what a shame. We had a wedding scheduled in our hotel during the last storm we had a mandatory evacuation for. DH found a Hyatt in Orlando willing to help us out and the shebang was moved lock, stock, and barrel to the Grand Cypress, as well as all of our guests. That might be an option too for your niece's wedding...there is that new Ritz in Orlando. Gosh, good luck and you take care!

We are on the water so in the first evacuation zone and although we've stayed with the hotel before, I don't know about this time. They are talking about a 10' storm surge. I'm convinced now, we didn't do enough for the boat, thinking last night we'd be in the quieter quadrant, and DH now has his hands full with the hotel so can't go back. Bimini is down and lashed, and although we lashed the sails...we didn't remove them, which was a big mistake with this shift. And how can you adjust your lines for a 10' storm surge?!

So ugh and double ugh. All, batten down the hatches! Who knows, with ANY luck it'll change again and move further west and stay clear of FL. Is it OK if we dump our problem on someone else...with apologies of course! :)

No fun to wake up & hear the path has shifted again, now towards the Tampa area :( The worst thing that could happen would be for it to come in a little North of the Tampa area, that would push all that water up in between Pinellas & Hillsborough counties.

I'm not too worried about myself, other than the 4 huge oak trees where I live. But as of yesterday morning, my dad was in a place called Needles (?) C.A., planning to drive straight thru to get back home in time. So I will probably spend the afternoon over there w/mom helping prepare the house. Friday the 13th :(