skymama 37 #1 October 6, 2016 7:30 pm Thursday: Normiss and I are alive...so far! We are in Central Florida and are riding out the storm. We've spent the better part of three days preparing, and feel pretty confident in our prep. My biggest worry is our Fifth Wheel. It's parked in its slot on the north side of the house, between our house and the neighbors. There is a pretty big oak branch that goes over the top of it. We thought about moving the camper to the front of the house, but then it would be more exposed to high winds. The rain bands are heavy now. In our area, the worst time is supposed to start around 5:00 am Friday and last most of the day. The winds could be as high as 100 mph tomorrow. We'll give updates if we can. I know there area a lot of other skydivers up the east coast. Check in if you can and tell us how you are. Stay safe, friends!She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
muff528 3 #2 October 7, 2016 Y'all be safe up there. (assuming you are in Sanford) My sister in Christmas has friends from the coast staying with them during the storm. We'd been trying to talk them all into just coming to Lakeland but they insisted that they would be OK. Too late now. They live out in the boonies near the antenna farm in NE Orange County, a couple of hundred feet from the Seminole County line. My worry is that they are elevated a bit from the surrounding area, exposing them to unobstructed wind from the east. Hoping for the best. Also worried a little about the intensification and slight jog to the west. They took an almost direct hit from Charlie and had some damage, but this one is a completely different animal. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymama 37 #3 October 7, 2016 Thanks! I bet you are concerned about your sis, it's never good to be exposed to the wind like that. I hope they, and you, will be ok. So far, so good, in Sanford still. We're seeing a little bit of flooding on our street already, but I don't think it will be a concern for our house.She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
muff528 3 #4 October 7, 2016 Looks like the weather you guys are in right now goes through Daytona, north of Orlando, Dade City, Zhills, and across Tampa Bay. Pretty much calm here with a light sprinkle. I expect that band will push off to the north away from us. Next up (unless new strong bands form) is the band wrapping around close to the eye. We may not get any of that over here at all if the track stays offshore along the coast. Obviously, we're probably going to get plenty of "lesser" bands of wind and rain throughout the night and tomorrow. I guess we'll see. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldwomanc6 52 #5 October 7, 2016 All those of you in the storm's path be careful and stay safe! Keep us posted, when possible, as to how you weathered it.lisa WSCR 594 FB 1023 CBDB 9 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davenuk 8 #6 October 7, 2016 fingers crossed it all works out ok. does anyone know what the state of Satellite Beach is? I have friends there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #7 October 7, 2016 I don't believe I've ever seen a hurricane as massive as Matthew and as strong as it is, take a path almost parallel to the entire Florida coast from just north of Miami to Jacksonville, and it's even going to curve to the northeast following the GA and SC coasts. Most hurricanes just come ashore and cause damage and destruction to maybe a 50 mile wide swath of coastline. This is a whole another animal. My mother in law lives in Myrtle Beach and she needs to take a couple fucking valium, STAT! The roads were packed yesterday so she went back home. It's not even going to be but a category 1 by the time it reaches her and she won't see but maybe 40-50 mph winds. Her problem is seeing Category 4, 130mph winds coming out of the Bahamas, instead of Category 1 when it gets to her. Stay safe down there everyone. What's gonna be interesting to see is whether Matthew does in fact loop back down south and then west and hit Florida again! "Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
muff528 3 #8 October 7, 2016 The radar loop of the hurricane's eye wall "rolling" up the coastline like a wheel is awesome. It even looks like it rolls over the bump that is Cape Canaveral, following the coastline exactly. If it continues to do that (and doesn't really make landfall) all the way up the coast, it may be bad for flooding from Jax to Charleston where there is a lot of coastal marsh area. Haven't heard much news from the barrier islands, but doesn't look too bad on the mainland side so far. They are just now beginning to open bridges to the islands south of the storm, so news crews will soon be getting in. Heard from my sister. All OK. She said it got a little hairy at times but came through it fine so far. Still have more bands to get through but probably not as serious as overnight. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpwally 0 #9 October 7, 2016 Any DZ's in the path ?smile, be nice, enjoy life FB # - 1083 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,991 #10 October 7, 2016 Good luck Mama! A childhood friend of mine decided to ride out the storm in West Palm Beach in his boat. That seemed like a questionable decision to me, but sounds like he's OK (storm is now north of him.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #11 October 7, 2016 jumpwally Any DZ's in the path ? A few I would think. Sebastian, Deland, a couple others"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #12 October 7, 2016 A cat preparing for the hurricane: http://i.imgur.com/jMkCYtp.gif Hey, isn't that one of Nataly's cats? "There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
akarunway 1 #13 October 8, 2016 My cuz just rode it out on the lake property 30 miles west of the coast south of J-ville close to St. John river. Lost power about 2:30 this afternoon but everything's still standing. No elec.= no water tho. Elec. well. Guess he'll be boiling lake water for a bit. Good news is my boat suffered no harm. Screw him. I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ARYcave 0 #14 October 8, 2016 Weird thing today: when wind reached just over 100mph with water pouring horizontally I've observed a hummingbird actually climbing a bush with flowers under my window. The bird actually used his legs to climb up and not using wing power, he did not look good. Reminded me some exits when PAC doesn't slow down. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyhi 24 #15 October 8, 2016 Quote Any DZ's in the path ? A few I would think. Sebastian, Deland, a couple others Titusville is kind of like a dropzone, Palatka, one up in Jacksonville at Herlong, MiamiShit happens. And it usually happens because of physics. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #16 October 9, 2016 BillyVance I don't believe I've ever seen a hurricane as massive as Matthew and as strong as it is, take a path almost parallel to the entire Florida coast from just north of Miami to Jacksonville, and it's even going to curve to the northeast following the GA and SC coasts. Most hurricanes just come ashore and cause damage and destruction to maybe a 50 mile wide swath of coastline. This is a whole another animal. My mother in law lives in Myrtle Beach and she needs to take a couple fucking valium, STAT! The roads were packed yesterday so she went back home. It's not even going to be but a category 1 by the time it reaches her and she won't see but maybe 40-50 mph winds. Her problem is seeing Category 4, 130mph winds coming out of the Bahamas, instead of Category 1 when it gets to her. Stay safe down there everyone. What's gonna be interesting to see is whether Matthew does in fact loop back down south and then west and hit Florida again! We managed to get the old folks out of Myrtle Beach on Tuesday... mom lives just 100 yards from the Atlantic .... Mom, her sister and sisters hubby loaded up with my LEO first cousin and took them up to the mountains north of Charlotte. It remains to be seen how the $30k of renovations to the house this summer will do.. I knew doing all that work would draw one of these damn things Joachim last year in early Oct caused flooding in the garage and into the crawl space under the house and the vibrations of walking in the house and from traffic... caused some serious settling of the house because there were not enough cement piers under the main beam that supports the center of the house and it started falling in on itself. Hopefully when they get home in a couple days.... they will not have the same problem again. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymama 37 #17 October 9, 2016 Hey, we made it! We were told that the storm would hit our area around 6 am Friday. Sure enough, the weather alarm went off at 5:46 and we lost power by 5:59. I've lived through many hurricanes before, and I had forgotten how relentlessly tense it is to sit through it all day and just watch the rain and winds through the windows. We kept hearing the thud, thud, thud of a big oak branch that goes over the top of our bedrooms. This was a long and strong one! The winds didn't really die down until 8 pm. My family lives in five houses in the area. We are the only ones who lost power for an extended time; we went 38 1/2 hours without electricity (not that I counted or anything!). We live in an older area of the city with overhead power lines and big oak trees, so we kind of expected it. My Dad has had two generators sitting in his garage for ten years, still in the box. Mark was able to get them working the day before the storm, and I'm so glad he did. We ran one during the day to keep our refrigerators going, so at least we were able to save our food. There are many people in our area who are posting today that they still don't have power. The temps are in the high 80's, so it's still pretty warm in the houses without a/c. We spent seven hours picking up debris out of the yard yesterday. Other than being sore and tired today, we are back to normal at our place. Oh, and no trees fell on the camper! Yay! Mark did find a baby squirrel who didn't make it. RIP, baby squirrel. There are many people in our area who are posting today that they still don't have power. Attached are a few pics of the messy yard. Thanks for all of your concern! She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #18 October 9, 2016 That is quite the pile of "chigger" habitat.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #19 October 10, 2016 Amazon That is quite the pile of "chigger" habitat.. Nothing a nice big bonfire couldn't fix. How about LSU and Florida postponing their game in Gainesville? What a bunch of pussies. They could have played. Even played the next day on Sunday, like Georgia did at South Carolina under clear skies. Hell, mad props to Notre Dame and North Carolina State. They actually played in the hurricane! "Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #20 October 12, 2016 BillyVance ***That is quite the pile of "chigger" habitat.. Nothing a nice big bonfire couldn't fix. How about LSU and Florida postponing their game in Gainesville? What a bunch of pussies. They could have played. Even played the next day on Sunday, like Georgia did at South Carolina under clear skies. Hell, mad props to Notre Dame and North Carolina State. They actually played in the hurricane! Well My mom made it home yesterday with her sister and brother in law being driven home from the mountains north of Charlotte back to Myrtle Beach by my first cousin and his son... No major damage to either of the family homes... just things like downspouts and gutters being blown off.. the winds were pretty strong just 100 yards from the Ocean and the leaves and small branches littered everywhere. It took them 8 hours to drive the distance that normally takes just 4.5 hours. The Cousins are on clean up duty today... Oh Damn.. I missed the yard cleanup stuff again. Power was out long enough to have some stuff in the fridge to be questionable.. but in the freezer... even her popsicles she loves did not melt at all.. ( they usually melt inside the wrapper and end up flat) So we dodged another bullet with this one Other folks in the area took some damage but moms house is old and very sturdily built Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymama 37 #21 October 12, 2016 QuoteHow about LSU and Florida postponing their game in Gainesville? What a bunch of pussies. They could have played. Even played the next day on Sunday, like Georgia did at South Carolina under clear skies. That was all UF that decided that, even refusing to play at LSU on Sunday. Now, in Florida's defense, the hurricane zone was still uncertain when they had to make the call. IIRC, the storm was still shifting west on that day. Also, a lot of the players have family in the area that they were concerned about. Adding to that the difficulty that thousands of fans would have in getting to the game from all directions in FL with flooding, road closures and people not even having electricity and gas stations running of of gas, I think they made a good call.She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #22 October 12, 2016 skymama Quote How about LSU and Florida postponing their game in Gainesville? What a bunch of pussies. They could have played. Even played the next day on Sunday, like Georgia did at South Carolina under clear skies. That was all UF that decided that, even refusing to play at LSU on Sunday. Now, in Florida's defense, the hurricane zone was still uncertain when they had to make the call. IIRC, the storm was still shifting west on that day. Also, a lot of the players have family in the area that they were concerned about. Adding to that the difficulty that thousands of fans would have in getting to the game from all directions in FL with flooding, road closures and people not even having electricity and gas stations running of of gas, I think they made a good call. I know they did. I was just being uppity. Even then, Florida's refusal to work out some kind of immediate deal to reschedule the game seems to have led LSU to stonewall any options for later in the season. I don't know if the game is going to be played. If either or both teams are in contention, and playing this game will decide the division champs, they need to play it. I know LSU has said they will not give up their November 19 home game vs South Alabama. And they will not play Florida on October 29, which is LSU's scheduled open date, unless Alabama, who also has their open date that day, plays somebody too. They meet the following Saturday, November 5. Florida has Georgia in Jacksonville on October 29, but they both have their open dates on October 22, and one option is to move their game to the 22nd so LSU can play the Gators on the 29th. That seems to be the best choice so LSU can keep their home games. Personally, I don't give a damn. I do not think LSU is going to run the table and be in contention. Although if Florida runs the table with one loss for a 6-1 record and Tennessee who beat them, finishes 6-2 (assuming Alabama beats the Vols), there are gonna be some bitching between the Vols and Gators. The team with the highest winning percentage gets the SEC title game berth. Gators would in that situation get the nod. Though if they both end up with the same record, then head to head tie breaker gives the Vols the nod. We'll just have to see how it goes. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is going to find out what kind of power he has over the schools... As for this Saturday, all I want is for Bama to beat the hell out of Tennessee, for the 10th straight year. "Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davenuk 8 #23 October 13, 2016 don't clean it up yet, that looks perfect for halloween Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpwally 0 #24 October 13, 2016 Of course they made a good call..lots more important stuff to worry about,,,all the have to do is put the missed game on the end of the schedule,,,die hard football peeps need to chill a bit... smile, be nice, enjoy life FB # - 1083 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #25 October 13, 2016 jumpwally Of course they made a good call..lots more important stuff to worry about,,,all the have to do is put the missed game on the end of the schedule,,,die hard football peeps need to chill a bit... There are issues to deal with on that end. Football was not important last weekend for the state of Florida, for sure. Thing is, the last time the SEC championship game was delayed a week was 2001 because the whole country shut down the week after 9/11 and nobody played football. The other thing is, the College Football Playoff Committee is not going to delay their decision on who the 4 playoff teams are going to be, unless the SEC petitions them, if Florida and/or LSU are still in contention for their division titles. It's going to be a mess if nothing gets done. Easiest way to avoid the mess is for both LSU and Florida to lose another game apiece, or two. Then Tennessee won't have a reason to bitch if they finish 6-2. Florida loses one more game, they finish 5-2 and behind the Vols, and the Vols are in Atlanta. LSU is being a hardass right now, wanting to keep the rest of their schedule as is. I say move the Florida Georgia game from October 29 to October 22 (which is both teams' scheduled bye week), so that LSU can play Florida on October 29. Back in the old days, it was rare, but easily doable to reschedule a postponed game to the end of the season, especially before the SEC started their conference championship game. A hurricane threatened Texas and the Alabama at Texas A&M game was postponed to the end of the season, so Bama went down there after the Iron Bowl vs Auburn and beat the Aggies. I think that was in 1988. With almost every conference having a title game, it's much more difficult."Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
