I know many of our BBI brethren are down here in Florida, so I figured I would start a thread and see if any others are feeling a bit of anxiety about this looming system that came out of nowhere and is expected to hit Tallahassee in 48 hours as a Cat 3/4 hurricane.
I'm about half-way up the state on the Gulf side, on a barrier island that's 50 miles below Tampa. It's looking like the eye of this monster will pass us @150 miles out to the Gulf, but it's the storm surge I'm worried about. NOAA is saying a surge of "greater than 9 feet;" the NHC map forecasts a 4-7' surge; but the CERA map is saying a 4' maximum surge.
A four-foot surge is nothing--we get 3 or 4 of those every summer. A 9' surge...? That would be a third of the way up the garage. Our house is above the garage per code and we will be driving to a hotel inland, but a ruining a table saw, an old 78rpm Wurly jukebox that sits on a slightly raised platform, and all the other stuff down there would be...below average.
It's tiring having to go through this every single September/October. Might be time to re-think this living-in-paradise stuff.
I'm East Coast so this will not effect me except more rain.
Getting off the island is smart. At 150 miles, wind shouldn't be an issue for you, so all you can do is hope it scoots by quickly and doesn't build the surge. Best wishes and safe travel inland.
Last two years, Maderia Beach - is that around where you are?
It's crazy when you look at these places on a map - barrier islands are just out there flapping.
Madeira Beach is up over the other side of the Skyway Bridge from us. I'm on Longboat Key.
Nobody else living on the Gulf side?
No - almost straight North toward Tallahassee and the Big Bend.
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Is it headed in that direction?
No - almost straight North toward Tallahassee and the Big Bend.
Thanks!
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In comment 16622895 Fast Eddie said:
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Is it headed in that direction?
No - almost straight North toward Tallahassee and the Big Bend.
Thanks!
Likely to be rainy, though.
Similar to Debbie earlier in the year.
Be safe EdinFWB!
Biggest thing for me is the wife and kids ride it out at home while I work overnight during the storm.
Aside from potential of power loss from wind not too much to worry about (although communities near use are going through a lot of stress from flooding with the dam release of the last storm).
If we lived on the water as you do, yea we'd leave for sure. Stay safe!
Stay safe to all those who have to deal with Helene.
You never get used to it, you just learn not to panic. I moved into Florida the day hurricane Erin ran into Sebastian/Vero. Never knew it was coming until I called the property manager to say we'd be there the following day and he said don't bother. Luckily my brother lived in Jax and we stopped there. Nice 1st day, eh!
If you call the capital sparsely populated....
I lived on a barrier island outside of Tampa for Irma and even there I was 5 ft above sea level. That being said if you catch it at wrong time a 4 ft storm surge can be more like 7 if you catch the tides wrong. The opposite can happen as well obviously.
Storm surge seems like it will be the issue with this one as it seems to be fast moving, which is good because it's been hot and humid and the West Coast of Florida has seen a lot of rain lately, lots of localized flooding
It has been a very wet summer on the east coast. Not sure of the west coast.
Do you mean the East Coast of Florida? I was in the West Palm area for 2 months this summer and little rain...
Do you mean the East Coast of Florida? I was in the West Palm area for 2 months this summer and little rain... [/quote]
Yep. I live in Martin County and yes in July it wasn't that wet. Since then, it has been raining several times per week. One of the golf courses I play at just said they have had 17 inches of rain in September thru yesterday....
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It has been a very wet summer on the east coast. Not sure of the west coast.
Do you mean the East Coast of Florida? I was in the West Palm area for 2 months this summer and little rain...
Yep. I live in Martin County and yes in July it wasn't that wet. Since then, it has been raining several times per week. One of the golf courses I play at just said they have had 17 inches of rain in September thru yesterday.... [/quote]
It's been a very wet summer in the Pinellas, too. 7 inches in June, almost 8" in July, and over 16 inches in August - although Debbie helped with that.
But what I was referring to was the changing nature of storms we're getting here, dumping more and more rain. Every hurricane is obviously its own animal but the slow moving, rain-dumping kind is getting more common.
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In comment 16623539 mvftw said:
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It has been a very wet summer on the east coast. Not sure of the west coast.
Do you mean the East Coast of Florida? I was in the West Palm area for 2 months this summer and little rain...
Yep. I live in Martin County and yes in July it wasn't that wet. Since then, it has been raining several times per week. One of the golf courses I play at just said they have had 17 inches of rain in September thru yesterday....
It's been a very wet summer in the Pinellas, too. 7 inches in June, almost 8" in July, and over 16 inches in August - although Debbie helped with that.
But what I was referring to was the changing nature of storms we're getting here, dumping more and more rain. Every hurricane is obviously its own animal but the slow moving, rain-dumping kind is getting more common. [/quote]
I think you are just getting tired of them. I really don't see any changes.
What I don't like is naming storms that are clearly not tropical in formation. Like they are trying to meet their numbers.
Stay safe y’all.
The coastal areas are in bad, bad shape. The videos I’ve seen are extremely sad. Prayers for all who need them.