OT;Peeps in the path of Matthew

[sanch]

We recently moved from up north to coastal North Carolina (southwest of Wilmington). We were supposed to be in Fort Myers, FL this weekend for a family wedding, but I got elected to hold the fort. So we shall see. And, by the way, having been through hurricanes before ...

I HATE hurricanes!

[Will_L_OLD]

Hope you weren't in Long Beach area, some friends there are still recovering from Sandy.
Best to all having to deal with this storm.

ORIGINAL: rustysi

Well all the parks - Disney, Universal etc have understandably been closed as far as I understand it.

Yep.

One of the big concerns will be the storm surge along the coast, it can cause the most damage if it gets bad enough. That was the issue in my neck of the woods when Sandy hit, whole lotta flooding.

Anyway, best to all in the path. Try to stay high and dry, and when you get there, then crack open the booze.[;)]

[bradfordkay]

"Hurricane Andrew was similar. Homestead and Perrine got clobbered, but Miami (some 30 miles to the north) was barely affected."

I was on a sailboat in a marina in Newport, RI when Hurricane Charlie hit Nantucket (about 80 miles SE of us). We had barely any wind or rain at all while a 120' yacht was lifted up and deposited right on top of the pilings at the main pier there in Nantucket.

[MakeeLearn]

Stay alert, stay safe and Godspeed.


And you better hide your Heineken beer from Looty.

[NigelKentarus]

I'm in Jacksonville. Right now the eye is about 80 miles south and should be off the Jax coast between 1200-1300. I live about 7 miles from the beach and it's raining pretty good and it's a blustery day. I'll probably lose my roof (it needed replaced), but my CV's are still safe. What's more distressing though is, I don't have enough beer and the beaches have secured alcohol sales until 0600 Sunday.

[Canoerebel]

You will not lose your roof to wind. The storm is staying a bit further out to sea than expected and is steadily weakening. Even had it veered west it probably wouldn't be strong enough at this point to seriously damaged modern roofing, at least as far inland as you are.

Due to the storm's track, damage in Florida hasn't been what was expected. Some downed trees; plenty of downed power lines; some minor damage to structures here and there, especially from Vero Beach northward. But this has been nothing like what was seen in Haiti a few days back or what Andrew, Katrina or Hugo did.

The question still remains what about heavy rains and tidal surge. Rain is forecast at 10-15 inches along the coast. If that happens it could be devastating. Ditto if tidal surge is great than expected. But right now the storm is moving so fast and is weakening steadily enough that tidal surge might not be an issue beyond the shoreline and nearby inlets.

[bradfordkay]

I had a couple of friends who were on a sea kayak trip along the Georgia coast this past week. They pulled out and went home on Tuesday, thank god.

[Macclan5]

Be safe and well Floridians, South / North Carolinians (?) Carolinites (?) Georgians (?) et al

[pws1225]

ORIGINAL: NigelKentarus

I'm in Jacksonville. Right now the eye is about 80 miles south and should be off the Jax coast between 1200-1300. I live about 7 miles from the beach and it's raining pretty good and it's a blustery day. I'll probably lose my roof (it needed replaced), but my CV's are still safe. What's more distressing though is, I don't have enough beer and the beaches have secured alcohol sales until 0600 Sunday.

I am convinced that half of Jacksonville is over here in Tallahassee sheltering from the storm. Given what was possible as of yesterday, I can't say I blame them.

[oldman45]

Storm has moved on, because it turned east a bit during the night the expected storm surge was much less. The winds around my place were strong but only had one tree go down. At the time I am typing this the wind seems stronger but coming from a different direction. Will have to check things in the morning. Thanks for your thoughts Sulusea, all is well in Jacksonville (west side).

[Canoerebel]

Brunswick, Georgia, is where my mom grew up. It's right on the coast, 60 miles north of Jacksonville. It's top wind today was just 41 mph. But it has received 10 inches of rain since midnight, with more coming down. That's a lot of rain. The question is: tidal surge. Weather Channel today was calling for apocalyptic surge, but my guess is that they were way off. I don't think it was nearly as severe as forecast.

The islands just off the Georgia coast, especially Jekyll and St. Simons, probably saw winds considerably higher, as they are about 10 miles east of Brunswick.

Here's hoping South Carolina gets off light tomorrow.

[rustysi]

Hope you weren't in Long Beach area, some friends there are still recovering from Sandy.

No, I'm further east, although at least one guy I work with had his house flooded, but he lives right on the water. My relatives in Howard Beach had flooding problems.

[DD696]

Matthew -

Friday evening was terrifying. I went thru a hurricane down in La Paz, Mexico, back in about '96 and spent the night on my sailboat, Erikazona. It was very bad, but nothing like Matthew. The wind howled for 14 hours and I just knew that the next gust would rip the house apart.

However, most of the damage was caused by falling trees. I have a very large oak tree partially on top of my big barn, and the little barn lost shingles on the roof.

No cell phone service until yesterday about 3:00 pm, and today the power was restored about 2pm. I can take a shower presently, when the water heats up, and feel somewhat human again. Saturday I ate bread and peanut butter, and cold canned chili for dinner. Sunday was the same - but a neighbor - with a generator - brought over hot ham, bread and sweet potatoes, and I ate a second dinner. Monday was bread and peanut butter and cold canned chili. Tuesday I made it into town and had a wonderful mid afternoon breakfast of eggs-bacon-hash browns and gravy. A friend had never lost power and invited me over for a hot shower. I accepted, and received it, and it was the most wonderful thing I have experienced since I was allowed a glass of ice water after cancer surgery a year ago.

Life is good. So many people out there. I have a battery powered radio which picked up a group of radio stations dispensing essential information about just what the hell was going on. Without it I would have been completely in the dark. As one person said - the TV stations show pictures of people driving through puddles of water and you guys are giving us information of what is actually going on.

Soon, life will be good for everyone affected by Hurricane Matthew. The S**h really hit the fan with this one, and soon I will be out running the roads in my classic corvettes.

Matthew, was a bitch - regardless of it's gender.

[Gregg]

I lucked out big time with this storm. I live on Merritt Island on the central east cost of Florida. Took no real damage to the house, with just a big mess to clean up in the yard afterwards. We were with out power for just over three days.
Yes, it could have been far worse.
Gregg

[NigelKentarus]

I finally got power back on yesterday afternoon. It was out for 5 days, almost to the minute. A lot of branches down and a lot of shingles off the roof. Had to toss just about everything in the fridge though.