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AAFrequentFlyer
Yeay- Wow- My dad will be thrilled that he's getting it straight from the weatherman! Thanks so much. Please keep us infomed (he sure he's never going to get to sit in his new little screened in area). |
Asking a favor...When you post, please include the area you are in. Many of us have family and friends in a "lot" of areas and are following and depending on these personal updates. Some are not familiar with all of the regular posters, including me, and do not know where they are from. Thanks!
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I can tell you that there is no gas in the Miami-Dade and Broward county areas. With 3-5 expections in both counties, the MIAMI HERALD reports it could be 3-10 days before gas consumption and refueling is back to normal. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Central Florida and those of us in South Florida, including West Palm Beach.
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In St Petersburg.....Off & on rain, gusty winds staying pretty constant for last few hours, probably 30-40 mph. Several instances of power dimming for a few seconds but so far haven't lost it completely. My cats seem to know when something is up and luckily, so far, they haven't strayed from their usual sleep/eat/sleep routine.
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In Tampa, 40,000 are without power due to downed power lines. So if you haven't heard from your loved ones don't be alarmed. It is blustery here, mostly in spurts and gusts, same with the rain, this due to feeder bands. There have been few reports of twisters, last night some were spotted on doplar (or whatever spots twisters) but I've not heard of any damage due to twisters.
There are trees down, lots of debris blowing, drizzling rain, but the slow movement of this hurricane is keeping us all just waiting and watching. Hopefully, this one will continue to downgrade and die out before passing Tampa. Everytime I pass by my glass doors and see my antique wrought iron patio furniture rusting away in the pool, I cringe. Everybody -- stay safe! |
Thank you all for giving us live updates. I tried calling my parents in Naples just now, and got a recorded message telling me that all circuit lines are busy. I can't get through and I bet a lot of you can't call your loved ones, either.
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We live just south of Jacksonville, and it's been very rainy and windy, and we've had a few power outages this morning, but other than that, we're ok.
Thanks for checking. |
The winds are getting stronger here on <b>Siesta Key(Sarasota)</b>, but no heavy rain just yet.
Power went out twice for just a second or 2, but everything else is fine. |
Just got off the phone with my SIL who reports that family in <b> Stuart </b> are so far okay. They waited too long to evacuate so are riding the storm out. Fortunately, they are a couple of miles inland. So far they have only lost the screening around their porch. Let's hope that's the worst of it. Everyone stay safe....Peace.
Robyn |
The few feet of some of our tree tips
are snapping off (I live in Indian Rocks Beach b/t Clw. and St. Pete bch) and my ligustrum is slowly falling over. Two houses across the bay are losing some shingles. The bay is choppy with waves and the water is bumping into each other as well. |
From Leesburg, about 45 minutes north of Orlando:
Just talked to my parents. Winds are pretty gusty but not too bad. No loss of power or phone services yet, no significant damage to anything. My parents said they've gotten about 3.5 inches of rain...on top of the 4 inches they got last week. They could get up to 10 inches more of rain in the next day or so. Very glad they're not living next to a river or lake! |
Tampa....wind is getting stronger and lots of vegetation debris flying around, but rain has been less than I expected. Maybe because it can't fall out of the sky but only move sideways??? LOL
Tampa Bay, which we sit on, is experiencing an interesting storm phenomenon. The wind has been coming steadily out of the north so strongly it's blowing water out of the bay and not allowing it to return wiht the tide. I could walk from our hotel across to Rocky Point (for those familiar with this area), a nice expanse of water normally, without getting my feet wet. We brought our piano player in to play in the lobby bar area to entertain (soothe) guests milling around downstairs. The one caveat: he is not allowed to play the theme from the Titanic! |
Talked with a friend in Sunrise (Broward County, Fort Lauderdale area) and they've been without electricity since yesterday afternoon. Do have phone service.
However another family member living in Tamarac has neither power nor phone (land-line). And she's not getting cell phone service; presume that cell towers in her area were affected. |
Forgot to mention another item. When I spoke w/ friend in Sunrise (about 35 minutes ago) she said that Miami Airport is open.
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Very rainy now and very gusty here in Cape Coral(SW Fla)...WHITE CAPS in our canal, YIKES!!!!! OO, What's going to happen to all that captured water? This is just awful, just imagine waht it was likeon the other side!!!
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My niece is in St. Petersburg.... any word from there?
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Pictures from Indian Rocks Beach, Florida:
Boat anchored off a dock across the street: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9-1967_IMG.jpg Windy palm tree next door: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9-1966_IMG.jpg Roof shingles starting to come off: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9-1968_IMG.jpg Middle of the channel, facing northeast: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse |
Hibiscushouse...thanks for the pictures. It's a dark and stormy day that's for sure, as your pictures show. Your last one isn't showing...looks like it's missing part of the end of the url?
Wind gusts to 65mph in Tampa and our lights are beginning to flicker. It looks like some very very ugly stuff is just about to hit according to channel 8 radar. The <i>eyewall</i> is on the eastern side of Tampa now. Yuck. Max Mayfield is saying this is still a cat 1 storm. My DH is in the hotel so...it's just me and Hobie Cat, who is soundly asleep: part of her 23 hr sleep cycle. :) |
Bradenton,
Jeez--we just had our first light "flicker"; a sign of things to come I'm afraid. I had to sleep in our sunroom last night because my 15-year-old was sleeping in my bed--big baby!!! I woke up at 7:58 with the west-facing sliding glass doors vibrating in about a 50 mph wind gust. The north facing windows are boarded. Our neighbors' huge Crepe Myrtle blew down, but it goes down if you drive by too fast. Another neighbor's 80-year-old huge Water Oak which already leans ominously over our pool and power lines is creaking. The life expectancey of a Water Oak is 75 years old. We had our two removed five years ago. Two of their four have fallen in the last two years; one took out their chimney and the smaller part of that tree took out our fence and part of our pool screen. These are the same neighbors who screamed at our contractor years ago when they thought the concrete truck pouring the foundation for our addition drove too close to their "prize" hibiscus! Channel 8 had a reporter on the Anna Maria pier doing a live report around noon (they kept referring to it as being in Sarasota--NOT). She said they had a hard time getting to the island because of all the curiosity seekers from town driving out there. There were people frolicking on the beach with their kids. #-O The reporter said they expect the pier to be completely under water when the tide comes in. #-O again! Any news from Boca Raton or Palm Bay? We have several family members who live there. One is a police dispatcher so I'm sure she's on duty. My dad's electricity has been out for almost 24 hours and he won't budge. Have you seen the huge band about 30 minutes away that's heading for Tampa, St. Pete and Bradenton? That looks like a bad one. Time for a ((D)) My daughter just told me to take a Zanax. I might slip her one--do you know how much fun it is to be trapped in the house with an 17-year-old girl with PMS? I think I'd rather go sit in the neighbor's tree! Batten down the hatches--it's going to be a LONG day. Everyone is in my thoughts and prayers. |
My Mother in Boca Raton was without electricity as of yesterday early afternoon but had phone service then. I've not been able to reach her today at all. Seems like phones out. Anyone have any info?
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Correction--that band actually spans from north of Zephyrhills!
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OO-I put my "outside" cat in the garage for the duration and she's been howling for hours. Can I have some of what you give Hobie Cat (for our cat of course!)?
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Jacksonville
Our power is back on after being out for a few hours. Lots of trees, branches and tree tops coming down everywhere. We see a very tall tree on a street behind us, looks like a telephone pole, no top! Big gusts of wind, just a sprinkle of rain. Tate the Pup will not leave my side, no matter where I go .. |
Nothing from AAFF? Sounds like power in Sarasota is gone -- can't reach my mother there by phone, circuits are busy. Nothing from SIL/BIL in Orlando, either. It may be days before we know what's what, but very grateful to those who are still able to post and <i> are </i> posting. "Gobbless" (to quote Red Skelton).
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Any reports about Singer Island???
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Siesta Key - we're fine. I visited some friends down the street.
Power still on. although we did loose it for few seconds here and there. Winds are fierce, but no heavy rains. I believe we did get very <b>lucky</b> AGAIN!!! Thank You, Hurricane Gods! We'll be doing the water/food delivery again, early next week to the folks that did/are getting hit by Frances. Quoting one of the best lines from the movie <i>Stripes</i>: <b>lighten up Frances</b> :-) |
Dear Friends in Florida
Our thoughts and very good wishes to you all during this time. Could someone tell me how Brevard County has faired so far? I visit every year from England and have made good friends there. How I wish I knew how things are, I have tried telephoning several times today to Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral with no luck so far. I should be there again in 2 weeks, with luck, however, your plight is my immediate concern. We're tracking 'Frances' insofar as we can and found a most informative website suggested by someone on Fodors earlier today but we can't find anything specific for the Space Coast. Any news would be wonderful. Bless you all. Keep safe. Mary |
My BIL is right by Cape Canaveral and we have yet to hear from him. He's waiting out the storm in his home. As soon as we hear, I can give you as much info as we'll get.
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My parents live in Delray Beach--next to the Fla Turnpike--They lost power yesterday ( saturday) at 10 am and they lost PHONES last nite around midnight..My sis ( who is with them) used her cell phone to call me this am and it was breaking up..think the towers are going down...They reported horrific winds in Delray Beach with rains.....
Brother in law lives on Intracoastal and did NOT evacuate when told to..He is staying with the stupid house..He saif the water on the Intracoastwal was over his DOCK...but so far everything else is fine..Thank G-D!!! Does ANYONE know how Boca is faring ON A1A between Palmetto Park and Spanish River ON the beach??? We have relative who have a condo ON the Intracoastal and were wondering what was going on? |
Fort Lauderdale reporting here...
The storm has passed and power is slowly coming back on throughout the area. I live about 12 miles inland from the beach (Davie/Plantation area) and was out of power for 24 hours, starting yesterday at 4:00pm. Air Conditioning feels great! My phones were working throughout the hurricane; however, we are asked not to tie up the lines for extended periods of time in order to leave access for emergency calls. I just heard a report on the local news that Frances is now a Tropical Storm -- YAY!!!!! I feel very, very blessed to have been on the "clean" side of Frances and I'm sure others to the north of the eye are glad this changed from a Category 4 to a Category 1/2 before it made landfall. We must count our blessings and care for our neighbors, whether they are next door or hundreds of miles away! Trees are down, vegetation and debris abound everywhere, and stores & restaurants are slowly reopening to assist those who are still out of power. FLL airport is open. Port Everglades is open and ships will be allowed back in the port later tonight or tomorrow. Tanker ships will be allowed back in the port as soon as it can be done safely, so our gasoline supplies will be replenished as soon as possible. Our County Mayor is currently giving a report and it sounds as though they are reopening many parks (free of charge!) in order to accommodate families who have been cooped up these past few days. Sorry this is so long, but since the County Mayor was giving a report as I was typing, I wanted to include much of what she was saying. It's good to see all the reports from around Florida. Take Care and Stay Safe! |
Scarlett, just keep remembering how fun your trip to Portland is going to be in a few weeks!! All that great shopping, eating, beach, etc.!!!
Stay safe, you're in my prayers!! How many more weeks until Portland? ***kim*** :) |
I've still not been able to get through to my Mother in Boca Raton near I 95. (I <b>hate</b> this privacy phone crap and having different long distance carriers. No one can give you a straight answer about whether the phones are working or not.) I did speak to one of her friends who lives in Boca several miles away. She has phone service but still no electric. She called and heard that there are phone outages in the area. :-[
She describes downed trees, one that evidently pulled up the grass with it. She said the grass is dangling from the roots of the tree like a piece of carpeting. Friends who just bought a home in West Palm have reports from neighbors of a "bent" garage door, all the palm trees on the block down and some of the gutters being ripped off the house. |
It looks like the worst is over for us on <b>Siesta Key/Sarasota</b>. It's still raining and windy, but a great deal less than couple of hours ago. I really don't think there was ANY structural damage in this area. Maybe a ripped lanai screen or a backyard shed tipped over, but that's about it. This is just a guess on my part so please don't take this as a final word, but at the peak of the storm in this area, the winds were "maybe" 40-60mph and only in little bursts. Siesta Key is famous for loosing power during any variation from the normal, but today with the exception of few interupptions, we have full power and everything is ok. The Siesta village was suppose to be full of locals and tourists tonight for a "pub crawl", but I don't think it's going to be very crowded. That's probably the "only" victim of Frances in this area.
So, it's goodbye Frances and hello (hopefully NOT) Ivan! |
Tallahassee had our first band at 4pm. Electricity out for 3 hours, but a fat mocking bird on a wire will darken us. It is back on now & all is quiet, for a while. Did my first yard pick-up. Mostly the oak tree.
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For McLaurie -- why don't you call your friends who live near your mother and ask them to drive over to her house tomorrow to see if all is ok? I'm sure that if the neighborhood is safe, they would do that to help you have piece of mind. It is not unusual for someone to have power/phones and yet across the street there is neither (this happened in my brother's neighborhood this weekend.)
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Tandoori from Tampa. The storm is passing us by and what we have is a lot of rain. Drizzling rain, nothing thunderous, no lightning, just a long steady rain. A lot of people have lost electricity and the power company's won't fix things until they can safely put their people up in the winds to work on the lines. So not to worry. If you're unable to get in touch with someone it is most likely because there are quite a few spots where people are without power. But we're fine in S. Tampa -- rain all day tomorrow as we say goodbye to Frances, hoping she doesn't gain strength on her way to the panhandle.
I'd say we're about over Frances but more rain for a few days. And...Ivan is due to hit Cuba Friday. This is definitely the busiest hurricane I've ever seen. Ya'll hang on now, ya hear? I think we're only beginning this... |
Well, the wind is so strong here (Bradenton) we can't possibly sleep as tree limbs keep pelting our roof. It's much worse than it was 12 hours ago. I keep hearing that Siesta is getting a lot of wind as well.
We're still waiting for our neighbor's tree to fall in our pool! I can't believe we still have our electricity--KNOCK WOOD! The Bayshore area of Tampa has some serious flooding going on. The Radisson's lower parking garage is completely flooded. I hope everyone up there and every where else is doing okay. |
Tallahassee-
She's back out in the gulf & gathering strength. The rain is getting serious, but minimal wind. NOAA hurricane map has gulf coast labeled hurricane warning. Looks like it is seriously OUR turn! |
We have been issued tornedo warnings this morning,,,how bizarre this is!
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Venice/Englewood-Sarasota County-
Much worse overnight and into this AM than yesterday. Very strong winds, lots of limbs and debris. I'm watching the intercoastal in my neighbors side yard and high tide isn't for 4 hrs. I am so grateful to still have power. Numerous tornado warnings especially in the middle of the state where they were hit hard by Charley. Many of the tarps that are protecting roofs have been torn off. N. Tampa area just started a mandatory evacuation of low lying areas because they are getting slammed with storm surge. Be safe everyone. Take care everyone. |
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