do ppl have no sense?

[justme23]

I'm so scared for my cousin and her newborn right now. She's living w/ the daddy, who I was under the impression, had been in FL for like 20 years and could take care of them in this situation... come to find out, he's never actually been through a hurricane. They are in New Port Richey... it's close to Tampa, and our news says that's where Charley will hit the hardest, so I'm really really worried... I can't get them to answer at home or on their cells, so I can only hope that they jumped on a plane to go to her parents house (kansas) til this is over... but he told my grandmother he didn't know if they should evacuate or not!

HELLO YOU WINGDING!!!!!!!!! You are in the path of this storm that has over 100 mile an hour wind (again, according to our local news) and you DON'T KNOW if you should evacuate?!? WHAT FREAKIN PLANET DID YOU COME FROM... I hope, knowing how stubborn she is, that she put her knee in a not so nice place and made him evacuate w/ her!

If they didn't, she's atleast better off than her sister, who lives in a trailer about 20 minutes from them. She's been through a hurricane before tho, I think... so hopefully she's smart enough to not twiddle her thumbs while wondering if they should evacuate.

You guys... we all need to pray (or whatever you do) for the ppl who are going to be affected by this hurricane!!!

[schsa]

It's not going to be a hurricane. It is going to be a tropical storm. Which means loads of wind and rain. If it is that dangerous, they will be evacuated if they want to or not. The police will go door to door and make people leave. So don't worry about that.

Worry when the winds are over 75 mph and they are expecting a direct hit. I think that it's going to be rain and heavy winds. It will be alright. I have been through my fair share of tropical storms and hurricanes. This is not going to be bad and it's still early in the season.

[justme23]

Um... the winds ARE over 75 miles per hour and they ARE expecting a direct hit? I did say that in my original post, right? And it's already been classified as a level 2 hurricane and is growing... it's not just a tropical storm!

Anyways, she did finally call and 'if they have to evacuate, they will leave tomorrow'... so, ok, but they're ok for now atleast.

[Shann]

I hope everyone effected by this will be ok.. but seriously, if you are that dumb NOT to evacuate in something like that, I will not feel sorry for you!

hoping your family is all right! :)

[freeplease]

Having lived in SC for five years, I can tell you. If you don't get out as soon as they tell you, forget about it. The highways are so jammed, it might as well be a parking lot. Good luck to your family. I hope they had plywood laying about. From what I hear, there isn't a spare piece in the area to cover windows.
Safe in the midwest...unless we have tornados. :eek:

[Angel Lips]

sending out all my prayers to everyone in the area...please all be safe

[wndysfrnd]

It's not going to be a hurricane. It is going to be a tropical storm. Which means loads of wind and rain. If it is that dangerous, they will be evacuated if they want to or not. The police will go door to door and make people leave. So don't worry about that.

Worry when the winds are over 75 mph and they are expecting a direct hit. I think that it's going to be rain and heavy winds. It will be alright. I have been through my fair share of tropical storms and hurricanes. This is not going to be bad and it's still early in the season.


Hurricane Charley Surge Could Swamp Tampa


TAMPA, Fla. - Officials warned an estimated 800,000 residents and tourists Thursday to get out of the way of Hurricane Charley, saying parts of Tampa's downtown and nearby areas could be submerged by the massive storm surge likely when the hurricane strikes Florida's central gulf coast on Friday.


"It does have the potential of devastating impact. ... This is a scary, scary thing," Gov. Jeb Bush said.


Charley was expected to pass west of the Keys at Florida's tip early Friday before hitting the Tampa Bay area in the afternoon with winds up to 110 mph, heavy rain, sporadic tornadoes and the dangerous storm surge, said Hugh Cobb, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center (news - web sites) in Miami. With winds that high, it would be a powerful Category 3 hurricane.


Residents from the Tampa Bay area, where the eye is projected to hit, south to the Naples area were told to expect a storm surge of 10-13 feet. State meteorologist Ben Nelson said the surge could reach 16 feet in the Tampa area if Charley hits at 120 mph.


The bulk of the evacuations were in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, which include Tampa and St. Petersburg, a city that sits on a peninsula.


All residents of MacDill Air Force Base, on another peninsula in Tampa Bay, were ordered out, with only essential personnel remaining. MacDill is home to U.S. Central Command, the nerve center of the war in Iraq (news - web sites).


"MacDill Air Force Base will probably be mostly underwater and parts of downtown Tampa could be underwater if we have a Category 3," Nelson said. "In a Category 3, you can almost get to the point where Pinellas County becomes an island."


Heavy traffic flowed across the three Tampa Bay bridges linking Pinellas with Hillsborough and the mainland


"There will be a period of time where if you stay behind and you change your mind and you want to be rescued, no one can help you. We aren't going to go out on a suicide mission," Pinellas Emergency Management Chief Gary Vickers told people in the evacuation zone.


The hurricane bore down after Tropical Storm Bonnie blew ashore Thursday morning on the Florida Panhandle with winds estimated near 50 mph. Bonnie failed to produce any reported flooding, but the one-two punch of tropical weather was highly unusual. Storms have not struck so close together in Florida since 1906.


About 6.5 million of Florida's 17 million residents were in Charley's projected path, the U.S. Census Bureau (news - web sites) reported.


The evacuation request was Florida's biggest since 1999, when Hurricane Floyd brushed the state's east coast and prompted officials to urge a record 1.3 million to evacuate.


Many residents prepared for the worst, buying plywood to board up homes and stocking up on water, canned food and batteries to ride out the hurricane. Beth Ciombor of Sarasota was at a Home Depot loading two sheets of plywood onto the top of her minivan while her 2-year-old son watched.


"I'm on the verge of tears. It's so frightening," she said.


Charley became a Caribbean hurricane Wednesday, moving past Jamaica and over the Cayman Islands. At 8 p.m. EDT, it was over the Isle of Youth off southern Cuba on its way to Florida.


Forecasters said Charley had top sustained winds of about 105 mph, up from 90 mph earlier Thursday. It was moving north-northwest near 17 mph and was expected to strengthen, meteorologists said.


Hurricane force winds extended outward 30 miles from the eye; tropical storm force winds went out 125 miles.





A hurricane warning was issued for the Keys from the Dry Tortugas to the Seven Mile Bridge and along southwestern Florida from the southern tip of the mainland to Bayport, 52 miles north of the St. Petersburg area; a watch was issued from north of Bayport to the Suwannee River; and a tropical storm warning was issued for the middle and upper Keys and Florida Bay. A tropical storm watch was in effect on the Atlantic coast for Jupiter Inlet near West Palm Beach north to Altamaha Sound on the central Georgia coast.

In the Keys, a steady line of traffic, marked by sport utility vehicles pulling boats on trailers, drove north along U.S. 1 on Thursday as visitors and mobile home residents followed orders to evacuate the entire 100-mile-long island chain.

Al Perkins, 55, a small business owner in Key West, placed office computers and a photocopier in garbage bags while a colleague hammered metal hurricane shutters over windows.

"If it gets over a 150 miles per hour winds, I'm outta here. Anything less than that, I've already been in, so it's not a problem," he said.

Key West International Airport closed Thursday in anticipation of Charley, and St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport was closing after the last flight Thursday night. Operations at Tampa International Airport and at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport were continuing into Friday.

Amtrak suspended train service between New York City and Miami for Friday. Amtrak's Auto Train that operates between Lorton, Va. and Sanford, Fla., was also canceled Friday. Service between Boston, Washington, D.C., and Newport News, Va. was not affected.

Bonnie chugged ashore Thursday morning, bringing rain and whistling wind. But by midday, the sun was shining in Apalachicola, flags were limp and the surf was calming after a couple of hours of steady rain. By late afternoon Bonnie was downgraded to a tropical depression as it headed into Georgia.

Bonnie and Charley are the second and third named storms of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

___


I hope your family stays safe.

[justme23]

Having lived in SC for five years, I can tell you. If you don't get out as soon as they tell you, forget about it. The highways are so jammed, it might as well be a parking lot. Good luck to your family. I hope they had plywood laying about. From what I hear, there isn't a spare piece in the area to cover windows.
Safe in the midwest...unless we have tornados. :eek:

Well... her boyfriend of fiance or whatever he is classified as now (we never know from one day to the next... she's indecisive) owns a construction company, so I'm sure he's got plenty of that stuff... thank God... so I guess they won't be leaving cause they said tonight 'if it isn't classified a 3 by the time we go to bed then we'll leave tomorrow'... well being classified a 1 would have been enough for me to evac!

And thank you, wndysfrnd.

[1tiredmom]

i know i will be called a few things but livivng in louisiana for my whole life(i'm 46)i've been thru betsy, camelie(sp?)and all the others just can't remember their names--but storms fasinate me when we have a bad thunder storm i love to turn off the lights open the front door and just watch the wind & rain & if i was brave enough to go by a camp in lake catherine(belongs to some friends) to watch-but has seen the damage it can & has done-the last one we found the toilet sitting on the side of hwy 90-no wharf, etc...yes we thanked God no one was there and noone was hurt-
but yes i hope all are out of harms way and not to take it lightly
i always thought we were safe indown in the parish because of the levees people said would protect us until it was explained to me picture yourself ina fishbowl -after the water comes over the levees and all dies down where is the water going to go we had the mississippi river and lake pontchatrain -- guess iam one of those who have no sense

[nosamiam]

All my hours are cancelled for tomorrow since the company I am contracted for is in Tampa. I hope every thing is okay and the hurrican isn't too bad.

[kvmj]

I wouldn't leave for a Category 1 or 2 hurricane. It would have to be a strong Category 3.

[wndysfrnd]

Where I used to live, we were further enough inland, we never evacuated. But if I lived on the coast or somewhere that I would be right there when it hit, I would be on the evacuation route so quickly. But I totally freak out when a thunderstorm comes through also.

[lassss]

hmm I have an ex in New Port Richey who owns a construction Co...I sure hope it isn't one and the same...His first name wouldn't happen to be Ken would it?

[qwestgirl]

Good morning. I am in Pinellas County, which, is where the storm is expected to hit, about 8PM. I am not in a danger zone that has been forced to evacuate. I know to expect the worst however, I am hoping for the best. That is all that we can do. This storm could possibly make Pinellas County an Island. We can only pray that this doesn't happen. Friday the 13th, will prove to be a landmark day in FL.

[schsa]

The stupid part about a hurricane is that you never know until the last minute what is going to happen. If the police come and evacuate you, certainly you should go. I am told that tomorrow when Charley hits the winds will clock up to 75 mph. In a trailer I would be concerned but in my own house, I have no fear. The older trailers weren't built to stand up to a good hurricane.

I am not planning on leaving nor would I if there was a hurricane coming my way. The roads are jammed and you honestly can't get out of the way if the storm is bad enough. I would just as soon stay in my house and not leave. I don't see the point in leaving. If it's your turn, it's your turn. I'll take my chance.

And BTW, I had not heard that they were evacuating in FL until after I posted. Please don't beat me with a wet noodle for being behind in the latest updates.

[qwestgirl]

I had the chance to witness 2 tornado's, simultaneously, while I lived in Charleston, SC. Not something that I will ever forget!! The Hurricane could change at any time, however, it is still going to hit our county, and severely, I might add. I hope we can ride this wave out...Hopeful in Pinellas!!

[wndysfrnd]

I hope everyone stays safe.

With a "scary, scary" Hurricane Charley zeroing in on Florida's west coast Friday, officials urged almost 2 million people to evacuate and avoid the path of a storm that could submerge parts of this city's downtown and neighboring areas.


Full story (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/nm/20040813/ts_nm/weather_charley_dc)

[qwestgirl]

Tampa Meteorologists are forecasting that The Tampa Bay area (downtown) will be two stories high, under water..... :eek:

[nosamiam]

hmm I have an ex in New Port Richey who owns a construction Co...I sure hope it isn't one and the same...His first name wouldn't happen to be Ken would it?


That would just be crazy!! lol :eek:

[justme23]

hmm I have an ex in New Port Richey who owns a construction Co...I sure hope it isn't one and the same...His first name wouldn't happen to be Ken would it?

No, his name is Dave... that woulda been weird.