Fay - eye witness account in Cocoa Beach

[castlegazer]

I just got off the phone with my sister who is down in our condo at the Pier on Cocoa Beach and she said it was very scary last night. They are now at the far side of the eye, but this storm is moving very slowly. The winds have died down quite a bit, and the rain is now coming down straight rather than sideways. Last night they never got higher than 50 mph, but right now the surf is coming in and the waves are breaking over the pier.

It is supposed to hook back in at Flagler Beach today and head to the Gulf - this storm is going to be with us for a while more this week.

She doesn't know about port schedules as they can't leave the building yet. They did open the hurricane shutters this past hour. But it still is not safe to go out and about.

Hope this helps give a glimpse into what's going on down there. But I am no help as to Thursday's port schedule.

I hope we hear from Shirley and find out if she is OK and what's happening from her perspective.......

 

[NancyIL]

My mom lives in Cocoa (just east of I-95), and I need to call her this morning. She had quite a bit of water damage from Wilma in 2005 (I think) that blew in. If I lived on Cocoa Beach, I would've moved inland for a few days.

 

[TiggerzFan]

I live a bit inland from the port/ Titusville area. Right now we are in the center of the storm, which is relatively quiet. However, as the storm tracks north, we will then be in the lower bands of the storm and back to more rain and wind. The problem is that the storm is only moving at 5 mph which means siginificant rainfall/flooding. I know things are much, much worse right now on the coast near Melbourne up through Cocoa. I hope everyone is safe, especially all our DISers.

 

[castlegazer]

My mom lives in Cocoa (just east of I-95), and I need to call her this morning. She had quite a bit of water damage from Wilma in 2005 (I think) that blew in. If I lived on Cocoa Beach, I would've moved inland for a few days.

My BIL was saying that they were glad they were at the oceans edge because they at least do not have to worry about flying debris as much as others do inland, but tornados are a constant worry for anyone.

They said that the worst is past and its fine there now - so no worries.

 

[karibritt01]

The top right quadrant of a hurricane is always the worst for tornados, and at least that has past. Although on radar, Fay is very symmetrical, and rain looks heavy on the back half, too. My friends mom lives in Jacksonville, and said they have been deluded with rain... and they are not going to get a break before round 2. Is MCO open today? Can the planes fly over/through even if it is?

 

[castlegazer]

The top right quadrant of a hurricane is always the worst for tornados, and at least that has past.

Yeah, and that was hitting them really hard last night at about 9-10 pm.

They never lost power.

I really think this is going to be fine. But it's really sllllloooooow moving. And I have to say that we have owned condos in Cocoa Beach for over 35 years and Frances was the first big hurricane to hit in that time frame in a direct hit way. This is just a TS and there have been plenty of those, but not to this power exactly or direct type of hit. I hope I am getting my weather history correct, but that is our recollection.

 

[karibritt01]

People always want to think a TS is not serious, but they can be. Fay is carrying an AWFUL lot of water. Then moving that slowly and dumping it can cause flooding issues. We live in NC, and were hit by Hurricane Fran directly in 1996. Even though she was a TS by the time she got to Raleigh, we had $112K damage to our house, and lost 22 trees. We lived in our guest room for 16 months while the house was being repaired. Hurricane Floyd went through a couple years later and dumped SO MUCH rain... there was a low town about an hour from here where people were rescued off their roofs from the flooding. I just hope to see Fay move on out without major damage to anything.

 

[Gonecruisin]

Last time I check SW's website--- all of today's scheduled flights have departed and landed at MCO on time. No cancellations, yet. Good news?

 

[o4me2playn]

Hurricanes are not something that we experience here in CA but my thoughts and prayers go out to ALL that are in Fay's path!

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

Is there a way to check what's open/closed at WDW? (I can't imagine walking around in torrential rain although I'm sure lot's of people do it?) Do TS's come with lightning, so that attractions close down?

 

[castlegazer]

I don't know, but I know they come with tornados

 

[castlegazer]

It appears that everything is open.

My BIL and sister are in downtown Cocoa right now - so they got out and about. They totally went stir crazy and needed to go somewhere. The winds have died down and are only at about 20mph and the bands of rain come and go.

If you look at radar, the storm has stalled right on top of them.

They said that the port is closed to ensure that the Navy can get through uninhibited, rather than just simply due to impassability or the storm. The Navy ships are going in and out still - i.e. the submarines.

I hope everyone has seen the notice about Thursday's Wonder sailing that has been posted. I say this here in case someone has simply bookmarked this and fails to see other posts.

 

[karibritt01]

Is there a way to check what's open/closed at WDW? (I can't imagine walking around in torrential rain although I'm sure lot's of people do it?) Do TS's come with lightning, so that attractions close down?

Orlando should only be experiencing outer rain bands at this point, so the rain comes and goes. It can be heavy, depending on how much rain the bands are holding. Yes, there can be lightening with the storms.

 

[snelsonbrown]

At 1AM this morning we were hammered big time with wind and rain - then as the morning progressed, it appeared to FINALLY giving us some relief - we had a couple called that they had broken down on A1A and we went off to see what we could do - thank goodness it was just a loose cable had come from the battery of their car - it was just slightly drizzling - Norm and I got home and thought "oh boy just maybe we can get out for even a little while"
WRONG - we are being hammered again with wind and rain - Melbourne has problems with flooding but thanks be to God, no lives were lost, but we do have property damages. The shop was fine although everything was scattered around the yard. The port has been closed for the past 2 days and I understand it will remain that way until Fay leaves here which should be sometime Friday - Saturday and Sunday we are looking at a lot of rain also but nothing like we have right now. The ocean is very angry and we do have kids out there surfing - The Cocoa Beach Pier is now closed and so is the Jetty Park - some of the bigger stores are open, but all the smaller ones are all closed.
I had a note from security that the Wonder was going down to Ft. lauderdale, but by Sunday everything should be back to normal.
This is Florida and this happens - anyhow hope all stays safe and dry.
Will keep you posted as to what is going on here.
As always
Shirley and Norm

 

[Forever42]

Is there a way to check what's open/closed at WDW? (I can't imagine walking around in torrential rain although I'm sure lot's of people do it?) Do TS's come with lightning, so that attractions close down?

Allearsnet has some updates, but I'm up in northern Orlando and other than some wind and rain late last night, it's been a non-event for Orlando itself. The parks looked like they were GREAT yesterday and today, since it's just been on and off drizzle/breeze, no torrential downpours.

 

[karibritt01]

Thanks for the update, Shirley. You stay safe!

 

[looneytunes31419]

This is what was on the disney cruise line website, hope this helps, Hope everyone is safe. We live in Savannah, Ga so we are feeling some of Fay here with winds getting up to 39 miles per hour that is gust.






Tropical Weather Update

As of August 20, 2008

We are currently monitoring Tropical Storm Fay very closely.

Tropical Storm Fay has stalled along the eastern portion of Florida near our homeport of Port Canaveral and its path is uncertain.

For this reason, Port Canaveral has been closed to vessel traffic by the Port Authority and the August 21, 2008 sailing of the Disney Wonder will set sail on its 3-night itinerary from Fort Lauderdale, Florida — Port Everglades.

Other than the departure port change, we do not anticipate any additional changes in the upcoming Disney Wonder itinerary. Transportation will be provided for guests with transfers and those arriving by private vehicle at Port Canaveral. It is important that guests still park at our terminal in Port Canaveral as the ship will be returning there on Sunday, August 24, 2008.

The Disney Magic is currently on a 15-night Panama Canal voyage and is scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on Monday, September 1, 2008.

The safety and security of our guests and crew members is always our top priority, and we monitor the weather very closely. If necessary, our Captains are always prepared to alter the ships' courses or itinerary to navigate away from inclement weather.

 

[debbiechels]

I am so glad you are safe Shirley. You and Norm are constantly in our prayers.

 

[wuv tigger]

I am so glad you are safe Shirley. You and Norm are constantly in our prayers.

Glad to hear y'all are OK!

My sis & family are in Palm Bay. I am off to check on them now.

Stay safe!

 

[snelsonbrown]

Glad to hear y'all are OK!

My sis & family are in Palm Bay. I am off to check on them now.

Stay safe!

Palm Bay, Barefoot Bay, Indiatlantic in face ALL of Brevard County has really taken a beating from "Fay". In all my years in Florida, this one has really had everyone baffled - I know she is FINALLY moving away from Cape Canaveral after hovering over us for over 24 hours - she is traveling at 2 miles an hour.
I can walk that in less than an hour so she must be feeling at home and taking her time to get her butt out of her - I will celebrate with a glass of wine