These storms are making me insane.

I just saw on the weather channel that north of the Tampa area is looking at 18 foot surges. I hope that is at low tide.

TG and AA, Godspeed on your evacuations and I'm glad you are getting out. OO, get up on a high floor and I know you guys will be okay!

We're still under tornado watches and it is making me and the cats nuts.

The thunderstorms are horrendous. I can't beleive all the rain we are getting already! It is dumping water on us like crazy in the southern part of SC.

Hopefully Charlie will slow down its wind speed over Cuba. Unless a miracle happens, Key West is in for a rough rough night.

Forget the red wine, valium is my friend :-D of choice Miss Scarlett.

Patrick, what is the news with Naples?

LMsF and joan what is going on with y'all?

This is weird seeing the storms on the Weather Channel but getting real time updates from fellow Fodorites!

Thinking about you guys.

Phew...time for a break! Our dining room is now upstairs in the computer room. Oriental rugs rolled up and upstairs...important pictures put away. Plants in, patio furniture in the dining room. What do you do with the "debris" if you don't have a garage. I've got a shovel under the bed, empty pots decorating a side table. The cat is VERY upset, yowling, but she's 17 so doesn't stay awake long these days and after some serious yowls needed a nap to recover.

Cd, Please thank your husband for the extender tip. I was gone but saw the extenders this afternoon on a neighbor's boat, and was envying them. We will have them after this is over...assuming there is still something that needs them. :( I got more stern lines on so all lines are doubled and spring lines heading in all directions. Heaven help me...I hope my bowline knots hold. "the rabbit comes out of the hole, around the tree, back down in the hole again". Please hold. The half hour trip between the boat and home took me 1 1/2 hours this afternoon. Traffic was bumper to bumper inching along for miles and miles, cars were overheating and pulling off on the side of the Howard Frankland bridge! That convinced me to turn off my A/C. lol I have a standard shift car and i didn't get out of 1st gear for about an hour of the trip. My left foot was actually shaking after awhile from the constant pressure on the clutch.

We will stay at the hotel which, although on the bay, is a big safe, sturdy building. We will NOT request bay views! We've got sandbags out the wahzoo. This is exhausting. Will be OK, and there is plenty of food and water. I'm still hoping there is a chance it will turn. We've been through this before...heading directly for us in New Orleans more than once and turned every time at the last minute.

tully, Shore Acres is notorious for flooding, you are so right. Can your Mom come stay with you? I would not be there for anything. I know how worried she is.

Roast chicken with ratatouille, (heehee did I do that right?) sounds wonderful Scarlett. We can be there in about 3 hours (er, we can under normal conditions...it might be 3 days with what is happening.) One thing I have not done is cook. Maybe tomorrow.

Croque_Madame (nice to see you "in the US"), I would think you have tornado concerns as well, and probably more than that! Do they expect it to track near you? That, I have not heard.

All, stay safe, be SO careful on the highway if you are evacuating, and everyone thank you so much for your kind words and thoughts! They are very much appreciated. This has become really, really, stressful.

OMG,
Just saw they want 800,000 folks to evacuate the areas most in harm's way.
That must be physically impossible.
Good luck all!
M

Mike, 5 Million people were evacuated for Hurricane Floyd. It was the largest peacetime evacuation in the history of this country and the only time Disneyworld closed the parks since they opened.

Amazing. I don't have a TV so I thought Charley was nearly on top of you. Checking the weather site gave me a "rational" perspective.
Best wishes.
M

Have lived through several hurricanes including one in '63, I think, while on vacation with my Mother in Miami. We were in a high rise hotel and had to spend the night in the hall. Several people across the way got sucked out of windows. My Mother got "sea sick" from the swaying of the building.

Sending best wishes of you down south. Hoping these storms will move out to sea quickly.

Must report my husband's flight today from Heathrow landed early at JFK (and I hadn't arrived yet #-O) No apparent signs of floods or anything there. He is safely home (although his bag is not...)

Wishing everyone a safe night.

OO, relieved to hear you check in! Best of luck tomorrow. Stay safe!

Yes, we'll catching heck here tomorrow, too, though much safer this far inland. Flooding is the main concern, not wind damage. (Fingers crossed.)

As for you west coast guys evacuating your homes, I'll be among of the emergency response personnel reporting to duty at the shelters in Alachua County to meet you. (In everyday life, I'm a social worker.)When so many folks hurry our way, the hotels fill up quickly. We catch the overflow.

I'll reserve a folding cot for any fleeing Fodorites, along with a nice hot cup of high school cafeteria coffee. Now, doesn't that sound inviting? BTW, it's a BYOP affair. (Bring Your Own Pillow)

Bless you Croque! Be safe my friends!

OO - I offered but as my sis lives in Shore Acres too they're both heading towards a friends near Tyrone. I'm in Allandale so no flooding, just all the trees are worrisome. And I have a 18-yr old cat, deaf & blind in one eye, but unless it's canned food he doesn't notice much of anything anymore :)

Reading all these dinners planned I think I am going to make some shrimp scampi & stop watching the weather for at least a couple hours! Stay safe everyone.

:D Now the calls are coming in from New York way..."how are you? is it bad? get in the car and come home!!"
I am really hoping that it loses steam, heads in a different direction, something!
OO, I want you to call me hourly LOL
and anyone else out there who feels alone or scared, I am here and Pup is great with sharing kisses.
Watch out Croque Madame, we might check into your shelter, just to get to give you a hug ((L))
Scarlett in Jax,7:49 pm, no wind, no rain.

It has been very odd weather this summer, in pa we have had more tornado warnings then i ever hope to see again, and one day lasy week it was down in the lower 50's....As for the people who had storm shelters, what execly are they, so most houses come with them or is it something you decided to build yourself? are they unerground or above?

amatters,

We are building a house in Oklahoma. The older homes around here have basements, which double as a storm shelter. Nowadays, it's cheaper (and just as safe according to the government) to incorporate a small room or closet into the foundation of the house, which is what we did. Our guest walk-in closet is reinforced with concrete and steel beams, has a secure phone line, and a steel door that bolts shut. I'm sure we'll spend a few tense moments in there, but hopefully it will never be tested in earnest. Growing up in KS, our "storm shelter" was an interior bathroom on the ground floor.

Ah, natural disasters.

Jocelyn_P, where do you put the wine cellar if you don't have a basement? ((a)) ((b))

Tandoori here. Sheepishly telling you that I did not flee Tampa -- yet. It's hard, you know, to leave everything behind. I've lifted everything up off the floor and pulled all the lawn furniture inside (although I'd heard the best thing is to chuck it into the pool). I've got my important papers and work related items in boxes ready to go. Dog crate handy.

Tampa has a mandatory evacuation time of 6AM -- now who is going to jump out of bed at 6A to hit the road when landfall is not until 2P?

AA, did you leave? I would if I were on the barrier islands. Actually many people are just heading inland to higher ground.

By the way, I just made a mean meatloaf. A power dinner for the night before the big one!!! I hope everyone is safe and comfy.

Gosh, Tandoori, if you are that, at the ready, you must leave. We all know it's hard but we don't want to worry about you. Keep yourselves safe, my friends.

TG, we evacuated for Hurricane Floyd (Category 5 at the time) around midnight so we could avoid the other 4,999,998 other people on the road.

It worked. We were free and clear in Columbia, SC in around two hours which is only a little over the normal time for us.

Easiest way is to throw the lawn furniture in the pool but your way works also.

Please don't stay. You can replace your things but those who love you cannot replace you.

Whatever you decide, please be careful and stay safe.

I won't stay. I'll be out of here in the morning bright and early with time to spare. I'm getting calls from neighbors who don't want to leave. But they say if I leave then they will too.

This is a fast-moving storm. I plan to be back home tomorrow evening. By that time it will be up near Jax.

Thank God, you are all leaving!!
remember your pets, money and valuables

Living with one foot in the 18th century has some appeal, but Lady "L" has been so involved this week she had no idea hurricanes were a threat to anyone.
Vayan con Dios, mis amigos!
M

We leave first thing in the morning. We still have to figure out what to do with that dang trampoline. 8-|
After that, we will rely on that insurance we've spent so much money on.[-o<
An eerie quiet falls along the coast....
But, heck, I have a ton of spaghettio's and chunky soap to eat! :-d
:)>-