Mandatory evacuation on Siesta Key - all the hotels, condo rentals have to leave. The restaurants/bars will be allowed to stay open till midnight only. Police are knocking on doors and asking people to make a wise decision. The bridges will be closed at midnight, water and sewers will be shut off as well at that time. If the decision is to stay, the authorities are not guaranteeing any help till at least Monday, that is if we get hit really hard.

Still deciding.......

AA,

pack up the cats, family photos, 3 days worth of stuff and LEAVE.

Strangely enough I was supposed to be on Siesta Key this week. As I am going in September/October anyway, I talked my sister out of making this trip. Thankfully now in hindsight.
AA, If I recall correctly from other posts of yours you are in the village correct? I gotta tell you, I dont know how long you have lived on the Key but if you havent experienced one of these situations before, they get very scary and dangerous. I have been down there when even without evac orders I have watched the water coming up the beach and praying it doesnt come over our breakwall. The winds will take everything in sight. The village will flood just from the rains. We just called our association office and they are gone, message says evac and to return Sat hopefully. I really hope you decide to go. Its not safe to stay. I'm not trying to lecture and for all I know you have lived on the Key for 30 years, I'm just praying you get to safety somewhere. Take care everyone and stay safe! And I hope EVERYONE in the path gets through this ok, I wasnt just addressing AA, its just he was talking about staying.

Tpatricco, I'm in Westchester County, just outside the city. All of the flights out of Detroit have been cancelled. DH is trying to take Continental to Newark b/c he can't get into JFK or LGA (Continental has its hub in Newark so possibly stands a chance). It seems the carriers don't want to get their equipment 'stuck' here. Yesterday and late last night was BAD, but now it's okay. This evening the storms will return but the HEAVY rain is in the forecast for Friday. So, if he doesn't get out tonight, my guess is that he wont be flying home tomorrow (then he'll have to drive). Flooding has really been an issue for us all summer.

AA, please trust me on this.

GET OUT!

The authorities will not come help you in case of emergency.

If they find you there after a mandatory evacuation, you will be arrested for endangering the life of a civil servant.

Why do you want to stay?

Why is it that such an obvious smart person is having problems with this?

Why?

My Sarasota cousin's daughter had planned a very small family wedding on Siesta Key for this evening. Needless to say, plans changed quickly and they moved the wedding to her mother's home this afternoon!

It sounds as if they, and all of you, are coping very well with plans for this scary storm.

Hang in there and keep safe. We're watching and hoping for the best for you.

Byrd

To all in jeapordy-we have an empty
guest suite out here in CA just
begging to calm any nerves with
a fluffy bed and sunny patio-
and we are 100% pet friendly! Wish I
could wisk you all out here!
Am hoping to be reading ALL your
post event stories.
R5

Scarlett, OO, Tandoori Girl, AAFrequentFlyer, GoTravel -- all of you in the path of these storms -- PLEASE post when you can and let us know you are all ok.

AA, PLEASE LEAVE!!!

Hello darlins!
We had some black skies, lots of thunder, a little rain and now sunshine.
The Tornado touched down 6 miles from the airport..far enough away from us to not be too worried, as long as there are no more!
If you look at a map, see the St Johns River? We are along that..south of 95. Sorta :)
Thank you all for the good wishes, we are as ready as we will ever be. I just spent the afternoon cooking, we might not have power but we will have plenty to eat :)
Spoke to OO, she is back from the boat and still fine..a brave lady!!!
Later gatas!

Last time (1985) I stayed. That was a wishy-washy storm. This time, I'm leaving. NOthing wishy-washy about this storm. AA, it will not be fun walking around your house with a foot of water in it.

I'm foregoing the La Quinta for a relatives house in Lakeland. Au dieu!

Good Luck and Be Safe, Tandoori Girl!!

Hmmm, I should have thought ahead, if I told the Yankee that we need to be safe in a hotel, I could have perhaps picked the Carlysle in NYC or the Plaza? :D

Scarlett, so glad to hear y'all are OK! Now, let's cross our fingers for the those on the west coast tomorrow.

Like you, I've been cooking all afternoon. LOL. Guess if there were any pregnant females around, we'd have been boiling pots of water, too!

It seems to help, somehow, to stay busy, to have the reassurance of being as prepared as possible.

Me and mine will be eating lasagna for days! I'll bring you some if you'll trade for whatever you cooked up.

Unless my roof disappears I don't have to worry about floods/rains. I'm about good 12 ft. above the ground. I would not even consider staying if I was on the ground level.
When they announced water/sewer shutoff, I think my mind was made up. I could live with no power, but water, bathroom facilities? not sure. :-)


Somebody earlier mentioned flooding of the village. Yes It will happen and it will be serious. I live west of the village in the little triangle and my street gets flooded after 1 hour of heavy rain, so I do know what that is like. I do feel sorry for few of my neighbors, as they have the "old" Florida ranch houses. I hope not, but I have a feeling....... they will be wet. Also on the other side of the village, anybody living close to the canals, same thing. It won't be pretty, and I'm not even talking about a direct hit.

I made roast chicken with herbs de provence and oranges, rattatouille( I am sure that is misspelled, who can spell at a time like this??) and curried chicken salad with walnuts and celery and apples.
And we have a huge bag of M&Ms so I am prepared for anything!!
I have been told that we are not in a flood zone, even with the house so close to the river AND a creek (which looks like a little river) so I will just concentrate on the trees continuing to stand and not lie down on my house.
BigHugs((L)) Scarlett

AA, my friend,

Please please please go. I know it's difficult to go through your lifelong belongings and decide what's most important to you (we had to do it last year with the SoCal fires--those brave firefighters somehow saved our little community) but just bite the bullet and do it. There's nothing admirable about staying in the path of danger.

((L)) Joc

Here in St Pete it's still sunny, but it looks like everyone is taking the evacuations very seriously. I went back to the store to get more stuff and there was a line greeting me as I walked in! Thankfully my office is closed tomorrow. My mom is very upset so that upsets me, she lives in an area called Shore Acres which is a notorious flood zone, I'm on my way there now to help get the house ready. Very stressful. I'll keep posting from St Pete as long as I have electricity.

AA - please get out NOW! Don't be a statistic.

Oh, Scarlett, you're so funny: "Who can spell at a time like this?" Indeed!

Rattatouille, huh? Manuel of Fawlty Towers would be checking the pot, making sure his pet rat, Basil, wasn't doing the backstroke in there.

Pet rat? LOL



M&Ms are a Girls Best Friend~

Scarlett,

The dinner I had planned for tonight isn't sounding nearly as good as yours! I'm glad you have an outlet for your nervous energy. I've found that Mother Nature likes to "initiate" us when we move to a new place...our first weekend here in OK a tornado skipped around a few blocks away. Nervewracking? Yes, but it's like that first ding on a new car--it's a relief to get it out of the way. Once you're past this first hurricane, you'll be a pro. ;)

Everybody please be safe and use common sense. You're all in my thoughts and prayers.