Hurricane Irma | Florida in Dire Straits | DME's Updates

[DarkMoonEnigma]

I thought I would create a thread that I can use to post updates as we experience this massive beast of a hurricane over the next couple of days or so. If any of you saw news reports with photos, you can see just how huge this sucker is ... very, very scary, especially when it's going to engulf our entire state.

My Mother lives with me and we are getting ourselves together to go to my brother's house about 30 minutes away from us. His house is concrete block with a low profile roof, he might lose roof shingles, but his house had a survey for wind mitigation and passed. He is also preparing the pool area which is something not to miss.

I just don't know what I'll find when we get back home. We live in a gated complex community and the buildings are pretty solid, but we're also in a mandatory evacuation area because of how close we are to the water. The main concern would be storm surge. We are only 5 feet above sea level and we're expecting 3-5 ft storm surge, so don't know how much flooding there will be.

With the wind as high and brutal as it's going to be, there's no telling what the end result will be. As soon as possible, we will come back and take an assessment of everything.

In the meantime, I won't be in the game at all until all of this is over. I'm taking my laptop, and even though I can log into the game on it, I can't play the game, only chat. However, we don't know what the power situation is going to be either, so I may only get to use my tablet or cell phone to communicate. I can always charge my phone in my car when the weather isn't bad. I need to get myself one of those portable chargers.

Ok, everyone hang in there, I'm sure you'll do fine without me, and we'll kick it up on the other side when I get back to a semblance of normalcy. Writing update posts will help to reduce my stress a bit ... I think my Wonder Woman Syndrome will be sitting on the back burner for a few days, BUT ... the book writing will continue.

This is slated to be the worst US hurricane in history.

Obie probably used his wizard magic to conjure this one up because he wants me to have an exciting and
"Unexpected" birthday ... whatever the case, it's a birthday I'll never forget.

Ciao for now.

 

[DarkMoonEnigma]

We arrived at my brother's safely and he got me the internet hook-up (gotta do the important stuff first ). We should start to feel some of the effects tonight (I am -4 EU time and it's 5:08pm right now East Coast US). I will do updates when the party starts from the laptop until (or if) we lose power (probably will, LOL), and then the tablet after losing power, and save the phone for last.

I'm trusting all y'all to take care of the Moon and each other. I'll check in later.

 

[DarkMoonEnigma]

We're expecting winds and rain about mid-afternoon, then higher winds up to 80+ mph going into the night where we are at my brother's, which is NE from the Tampa Bay area. If we don't lose power it will be a miracle, so if I go dark, you'll know why. There's no telling when we will get power back either.

Miami high-rise buildings have already been hit with close to 100 mph wind gusts iright now. The higher you go, the higher the winds. Just because the hurricane shifted to the west and not going directly over the east coast, it doesn't mean they're out of the woods. This hurricane is so huge its size covers the entire state, and because it's rotating counterclockwise, they will get storm surge from the Atlantic.

When Irma hits Tampa Bay, it's going to still be a category 3 hurricane with about 135 mph sustained winds. Also, because of the position of the eye of the hurricane which is estimated to be 14 miles west of Tampa Bay, that's still not a good thing because the storm surge right into the Tampa Bay inlet will be worse, and I live about 1 mile from that inlet, if that.

I have no idea what I'll be going home to, but I'm pretty sure it will be a mess with a lot of recovery work to do. I'm glad we're at my brother's. This is a brutal storm, and unless we get real lucky, this is going to be destructive from very high winds, rain and storm surge.

I'll check in later before all hell breaks loose. This is nuts.

 

[DarkMoonEnigma]

They are now moving the heavy militart equipment from McDill Airforce Base, which is Command Com. They're closing down the long bridges across the Tampa Bay inlet. We will be up late tonight while this mess goes through. I just learned that my brother has portable phone chargers. It will just be a matter of getting a signal.

My brother's business is close to where I live, and depending on the weather and road conditions on Monday, he's going to take the truck to check on the bulding and whether he can broadcast a message to staff and employees whether it's ok to come in as long as they have their own home base safe and sorted. He's then going to see if he can check in on our place to see what the status is ... hopefully good.

Will update when I can.

 

[DarkMoonEnigma]

It is now 12:30am East Coast US (04:30 EU time) and we still have power at my brother's, but it flickered a few times.

I'm watching CNN and they're doing excellent live video coverage. Don Lemon just had a Red Cross rep on and she was talking about relief supplies on the way to Orlando ... I was waving the Nasty flag because he owns a trucking business and got all the trucks together to convoy supplies to Orlando, even said he would pay the gas. So yes, we have an amazing community who help each other, in the game and RL.

At this time, the center of the hurricane is SE of Tampa. It shifted a little East and looks like it's headed toward Orlando. It also looks like the storm surge where I live by the water may not be as bad as expected because of the shift. The storm is still drawing water out of the waterways because of the position of the storm, and after it moves further North, the storm surge will happen but it is estimated to only be 1-2 feet instead of 5-10. My place is only 5 ft above sea level, so this news is promising.

I can't sleep, so I'm watching CNN. I'll catch up with everyone in the morning.

 

[DarkMoonEnigma]

Well, we made it through this hurricane and didn't lose power once at my brother's. However, we won't be able to assess what the lay of the land is until it's lighter outside because it's just after 6am here (10:00 EU time). We'll have to see what it looks like outside first, and wait to also see what kind of footage the news sources will be able to get of the Tampa Bay area during light of day. That will give us a better idea of how bad things are because there are a lot of downed trees.

Overnight, Irma took a NNE turn and headed for Orlando and the NE section of the state up by Jacksonville. They just said on CNN (while they showed video footage) that the storm surge flooding in Jacksonville exceeds all-time record. As a result of the location of the hurricane, it was sucking all the water out of the Tampa Bay waterways, and after this new direction and the current position it's in, it looks like we won't have too much of an issue with the storm surge.

In checking the current power grid with my power company, it actually looks like my place may not have lost power either, but I've been where I'm at a long time, and except for Wilma in 2005 when I lost power for about 24 hours or so, I haven't lost power at all, so I must be in a more stable area than elsewhere, or just plain lucky.

It's the crazy mojo and good vibrations of my virtual family and friends that did it (here and on FB), I'm sure ... but I'm also sure that our crazy Wizard had a hand in it too.

I'll update later when I know more. I still don't know what we're going to find when we get to go home.

 

[FilthyMcNasty]

Well, I made my 4 trucks in my team get the hell out of dodge without me as I was running late having to backtrack to get that load. The other team lead by my good friend Road King made it out as well. I stayed behind in Orlando to get my load off and made it out just in time. Managed to detour away from the storm west on I10 to Mobile. We had to hold off on the other loads going down until we find out whats routes are good and what places are accessible. Will know more in the next 24 hours or so. Rest of the guys made it back to Chicago to get the other loads. I'm stuck in Mobile hanging out. Too tired can't drive any longer. Nap time. Hang in there DME I'm watching closely hun!

 

[DarkMoonEnigma]

My brother drove into Tampa to check his business building and a couple places in the building were without power, but then he went to our place which is close by to check on everything and we're fine. We have power and there's no damage from flooding or flying branches through our patio screen. We are packing up at my brother's right now and about to head home. I'll catch up with everyone when I'm set up and semi-normal at home.

However, I think I'll need a nap, I didn't sleep well, and my purple matter is fried.

 

[Heidi Stassinopolis]

Glad you are ok, I can stop worrying now