Florida Governor Scott giving a televised alert for the entire State of Florida on Hurricane Matthew. Advising folks to prepare now, and heed potential evacuation warnings. So if that thing heads up the East Coast get ready. It's kicking butt in Haiti and expected to hit the Bahamas tomorrow.
...yeah, I was just talking to Mom who is just outside Orlando...they are now predicting the storm to take a more Westerly turn after it hits Cuba/Bahamas and then go up the East coast. ...I spent most of my teen years in Florida so I know as well as you that these storms must be taken seriously.
There is a projected path right up through the state so that turn best be made. But even out in the Atlantic those things can raise hell. Back in '98 there was one predicted to landfall and hit Orlando with some pretty serious damage but it turned. If I thought a major storm would hit this area I'd just throw the Squeeze and Beagle in the car and get the hell out of Dodge.
Just saw that the Governor of South Carolina is starting up evacuations. Charleston is another place that can be " Hurricane Alley" with the Carolina low Country being as swampy as Florida.
^^^I went to Charleston a few years ago...pretty town, but like New Orleans, there are a lot of places there that are actually below sea level.
...^^^ it may sound strange, but I miss the part of the world, and my life, when and where Hurricane and Tornado's were frequent. My Grandmother from Wichita, KS; last came to So. Cal in 71, and left in an extreme hurry, the very next morning after the fabled "Sylmar" Quake. Her words: "I'm never coming back here, at least with Tornado's (in KS), we get fore-warnings, but with quakes you get no warning". Irony today is: due to all the "Fracking" along the KS/OK borders, numerous 4.xx quakes have been felt in her home town, tho' she's long gone; and I have plenty of family still there....!
Currently Hurricane Warnings are up in South Florida and the Eastern Florida Seaboard about half way up the state. Tropical Storm Warnings are given for inland areas and thus far the Tampa Bay area is safe. People are heeding evacuation procedures or boarding/stocking up as applicable for their situation. Tampa Bay is about 133 miles from the east as the crow flies but in a state as flat as a pancake if that storm turns north east by a tick we could be in trouble. The last thing this area needs is more rain, still have not dried out from the last storm.
An evacuee plight in Fort Lauderdale, the owners of a 7 bedroom mansion are relocating to Palm Beach further from the water than where they are now; Newsflash folks, not much of a relocation. They locked their Lamborghinis and Ferrari in the Garage, wondering what to do with their Rolls and several other cars. I used to make many trips into that area of Florida and if I were living there now I'd have been gone. Remembering what happened with Andrew back in '92 should be ever locked in ones memory. My brothers neighborhood in Homestead was wiped off the map.
Just saw recent video of the Florida East Coast, starting to see rough seas with rain bands hitting South Florida. Tampa Bay has gone from safe to Storm Watch for today and tomorrow.
Hope all my friends on East Coast Florida.........evacuate and stay safe. Monster Matthew is a beast not to be taken lightly.
Per the 3:30 update looks like Jacksonville could be in some serious harms way. Included in that update was information that Jacksonville has not been hit by a storm of this magnitude since the 1850s' . I've been outside the better part of the day and one can feel a difference in the air, have no plans to go anywhere tomorrow.
...^^^just spoke with my cousin Donnie in Atlantic Beach...they have been given orders to evacuate but he refuses to leave...tried to talk some sense into him...total fail.
