Well, here we go again...

[Old n Grumpy]

It los like the storm is a little south of Naples, we lost power here around 8:30 am and it just came back on. there is a lot of wind but not a lot of rain. It looks like it will last for most of the day.

There are a lot of talking heads standing out in the rain but not a lot of useful information about the track and speed at the moment.

[ChuckJ]

It los like the storm is a little south of Naples, we lost power here around 8:30 am and it just came back on. there is a lot of wind but not a lot of rain. It looks like it will last for most of the day.

There are a lot of talking heads standing out in the rain but not a lot of useful information about the track and speed at the moment.

The last I saw it was tracking north at 8 mph. What surprises me is that they are calling for it to still be a category 1 when it is just south of Tallahassee.

[Old n Grumpy]

At 12:30 isit is sse of naples moving north at 7mph, that is really slow. They showed some video of downtown Miami and they have some flooding. and a lot of rain. Up here just a little north there is very little rain.

I am waiting for one of the talking heads standing outside to take a hit from a 100mph coconut or to get decapitated by a sheet of aluminum roofing.  That will maybe teach them it is not such a good idea to stand out in this. Dummies see it then venture out and get injured

[ChuckJ]

At 12:30 isit is sse of naples moving north at 7mph, that is really slow. They showed some video of downtown Miami and they have some flooding. and a lot of rain. Up here just a little north there is very little rain.

I am waiting for one of the talking heads standing outside to take a hit from a 100mph coconut or to get decapitated by a sheet of aluminum roofing.  That will maybe teach them it is not such a good idea to stand out in this. Dummies see it then venture out and get injured

I agree. The stupidity of some of these "weather people" never cease to amaze me.

[USA4ME]

That it landed on Marco Island is a bonus since the storm will start to weaken over land. If it continues N-NW and takes a track to the East of Tampa that will save a lot of lives. Expecting heavier winds beginning here around 7p with strongest winds around 2a or 3a.

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[Crazy Horse]

Godspeed my brothers and sisters

[USA4ME]

Surprised I still have electricity. Looks like what is left of the eye will pass East of Tampa, maybe between Tampa and Lakeland, which puts where I live on the weaker side of the storm. But these things are unpredictable, so keeping my fingers crossed.

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[BlueStateSaint]

Looking at some of the models for Hurricane Jose . . . The Ventusky model has it just south of Rhode Island by the middle of next week.

[ChuckJ]

Well now. It appears as if I've screwed the pooch on this one. My plan was to be up at 4:00 am this morning (near my regular wake up time), assess the situation, then (if needed) make my exit to my "safe house". Instead, I overslept which is something that never happens. Now we're already in the edge of the mess and our lights are off. Guess all I can do now is pray, hold on, and say "heehaw! Ride'em cowboy."

[USA4ME]

All is well!! What was left of the eye passed about 15 miles East of my house between 1 and 3 this morning. No damage, lots of leaves blown off and a bunch of smaller branches, but that's it. I'll take it!

Looks like Miami got the brunt of the storm, but they had high onshore winds for 4 days, so that's to be expected. If you were to take a compass and draw a 100 mile circle around Miami, that storm's track and its effect would cover almost 270 degrees of the circle. Irma hitting Cuba (or Cuber, as the Kennedy's would say) saved Florida from being any worse. That and the early landfall just below Naples.

Still wish the stupid thing had just drifted out into the open Atlantic.

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[USA4ME]

Well now. It appears as if I've screwed the pooch on this one. My plan was to be up at 4:00 am this morning (near my regular wake up time), assess the situation, then (if needed) make my exit to my "safe house". Instead, I overslept which is something that never happens. Now we're already in the edge of the mess and our lights are off. Guess all I can do now is pray, hold on, and say "heehaw! Ride'em cowboy."

Hang in there! At least the thing has been over land for 300+ miles so winds will be moderate at worst.

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[HAPPY2BME]

Nearly half of Florida in the dark, Tampa takes pounding

Irma weakened to a Category 1 storm as the massive hurricane zeroed in on the Tampa Bay region early Monday after hammering much of Florida with roof-ripping winds, gushing floodwaters and widespread power outages.

The hurricane's maximum sustained winds weakened to 85 mph with additional weakening expected. As of 2 a.m. EDT, the storm was centered about 25 miles northeast of Tampa and moving north-northwest near 15 mph.

Forecasters say they expert Irma's center to stay inland over Florida and then move into Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee.

They also expect Irma to weaken further into a tropical storm over far northern Florida or southern Georgia on Monday as it speeds up its forward motion. The hurricane center says the storm is still life-threatening with dangerous storm surge, wind and heavy rains.

More than 3.3 million homes and businesses -- and counting -- have lost power in Florida as Hurricane Irma moves up the peninsula.

The widespread outages stretch from the Florida Keys all the way into central Florida.

Florida Power & Light, the state's largest electric utility, said there were nearly 1 million customers without power in Miami-Dade County alone.

The power outages are expected to increase as the storm edges further north.

There are roughly 7 million residential customers in the state.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/09/11/hurricane-irma-nearly-half-florida-in-dark-tampa-takes-pounding.html

[ChuckJ]

Hang in there! At least the thing has been over land for 300+ miles so winds will be moderate at worst.

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Glad to hear you made it through okay. According to the radar I can pull up on this smarter than me phone it looks like passing over so much land has disorganized the storm a whole lot.

By the way, if I happen to post something that looks more like gibberish than normal it is not my inner redneck kicking in. It's me trying to both type on this phone AND fight this idiotic autocorrect that THINKs it knows what I'm trying to type.

[HAPPY2BME]

From the Virgin Islands, survivors painted a picture of desolation and violence, but warned that the situation could deteriorate if aid did not arrive fast. “There is nothing left, I don’t think people will believe the severity of what happened. There is no water, no food, no supplies, no transport. You can’t get from one part to another unless you walk,” said Giles Cadman, who lives on the islands part-time and has been part of a remote relief network that sprang up in the wake of the disaster.

Dr Annalise Wilkins left her home on Tortola to go to a wedding, and now fears she will never see it again. The island does still have a hospital but, as one of few largely intact buildings, it has been partly commandeered by the government, she said. And it was still badly hit by flooding and wind damage, with windows blown in and the dialysis unit flooded. For now, Wilkins is trying to coordinate relief efforts from a distance, and prepare helicopter transport of urgent medical supplies that are already running low.

Longer term, she is worried about disease and water supplies, with most of the island’s cisterns and all but one of the desalination plants taken out. “Even basic infrastructure is going to take months.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/09/irma-survivors-beg-aid-lhurrican-jose

[HAPPY2BME]

Over Half Of Florida Without Power As State Braces For "Lengthiest Restoration In US History"

Update (8:00am ET): As it travels over the Florida Panhandle, Irma has been downgraded to a tropical storm. Yet it continues to produce some wind gusts that are near hurricane force.

After hammering the Florida Keys, Miami, Naples and a large swath of the southernmost part of the state – leaving some 5 million Florida homes and businesses without electricity – the still-formidable Hurricane Irma weakened to a category one storm as it traveled over the Tampa Bay area.

According to NBC, no deaths were confirmed Sunday after the storm twice made landfall in Florida, first in Cudjoe Key, then again on Marco Island just southwest of the city of Naples. Florida's largest utility – Florida Power & Light Co. - reported that the storm had knocked out power to nearly three-quarters of its customers. All told, FP&L estimates that some 10 million Floridians will be effected by the power outages – a full 50% of the state’s population.

In fact, officials from the utility say the damage in the southwestern part of the state is so extensive, it could take weeks to fully repair, after Irma shredded powerlines, flooded streets and destroyed homes, according to ABC. One officials said it could be the costliest and most extensive infrastructure-rebuilding effort in US history.

    "What we think we'll see on the west coast is a wholesale rebuild of our electric grid," Robert Gould, Florida Power & Light's vice president and chief communications officer, told ABC News. "That will take weeks."

    "This thing is a monster," he added.

FPL had requisitioned 17,000 restoration workers from about 30 states in preparation for the storm. But even with an army of workers, the recovery effort will be time-consuming and incredibly costly.

    “Gould estimated that FPL positioned "17,000 restoration workers from about 30 states" in anticipation of repair efforts before the storm arrived, but said that flooding from storm surges and traffic congestion as residents return home this week would delay the project.

    "This is going to be a very, very lengthy restoration, arguably the most lengthy restoration and most complex in U.S. history," he said, asking that customers be patient.

     On the east coast of the state, which avoided a direct hit from the eye of the storm, Gould expects repairs to last "probably a week or more."

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-11/half-floridians-without-power-state-braces-lengthiest-restoration-us-history

[ChuckJ]

It's getting bad in spurts here now. The eye is still over 150 miles away.

[USA4ME]

It's getting bad in spurts here now. The eye is still over 150 miles away.

I thought you were in Jax'ville. Are you in Charleston SC?

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[ChuckJ]

I thought you were in Jax'ville. Are you in Charleston SC?

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I'm in southeast Ga. North & west (a little) from Jax. I can drive to Jacksonville in less than hour.

[USA4ME]

I'm in southeast Ga. North & west (a little) from Jax. I can drive to Jacksonville in less than hour.

Ok. I got friends in Waycross. They're getting wind and some rain.

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[Crazy Horse]

Ok. I got friends in Waycross. They're getting wind and some rain.

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I used to be in Valdosta.  Good luck from Eastern NC!

[ChuckJ]

Ok. I got friends in Waycross. They're getting wind and some rain.

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I know Waycross well. My sis-in-law is a nurse at the hospital there. I have a ton of family in the neighboring county (Pierce) which is where I'm originally from.

[ChuckJ]

Ok. I got friends in Waycross. They're getting wind and some rain.

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Below are some photos of what happened in Waycross. Don't know who they are from or where in Waycross (except for the one with the bank sign). I found them while looking for something else yesterday.

[franksolich]

Sun shining over there yet?

I swear, our own storms come and go rather quickly, but yours seem to hang around for the longest time.  Whether a thunderstorm or a blizzard, ours show up for a few hours, and then are gone.

[ChuckJ]

Sun shining over there yet?

I swear, our own storms come and go rather quickly, but yours seem to hang around for the longest time.  Whether a thunderstorm or a blizzard, ours show up for a few hours, and then are gone.

Yeah, we had some sun today. Our storms often do like to stick around, but this year we seem to have had a lot of those "pop corn" type showers or storms. Those that pop-up out of the blue and then disappear.

I had to go to my parents' house today to take them some gas for the generator. They still don't have power. Our's came back on last night. On the drive to their house I was amazed at things. One spot would look like a disaster area. The next spot would look perfectly fine. All of the creeks and streams are out of their banks and look a bit like white-water rapids.