Disney will be closed Sunday also. First time ever they close two days in a row...

[nile455]

Let's hope the Kingdom can open back up on Monday.

 

[mitros]

And saddly, TS Ivan{ soon to be a hurricane} is following the same track as Charley. This really is a bad year for weather down here.

 

[Samirella]

Originally posted by mitros
And saddly, TS Ivan{ soon to be a hurricane} is following the same track as Charley. This really is a bad year for weather down here.

Ivan is really too far out to even be worried about it. There is still a lot of room for it to turn or dissipate so how 'bout we worry about one at a time!

 

[C.Ann]

Better safe than sorry..

I feel so bad for all of the folks who reside in Florida - one slam after another..

Have to admit I have made a "mental note" though to never plan a trip to WDW during the height of hurricane season.. This is turning out to be an extremely active year down there!

 

[CatLady]

Originally posted by Samirella
Ivan is really too far out to even be worried about it.

At noon's news briefing, Orange County chairman Rich Crotty suggested that Orlando area residents who chose to board up their homes for Frances not remove the boards for a few days. That doesn't sound like something that the area authorities think not to worry about at all.

Living in a household with a Disney CM and a SeaWorld crew member, I can tell you that the impact of these storms is hard on the tourism industry. (And living for days on end with no electricity during Florida in August isn't anyone's idea of a good time, either.)

I think it's fair to look ahead to Ivan, if for no other reason than to figure out how to manage the emergency around the parks and resorts more efficiently.

 

[Samirella]

Perhaps I worded it incorrectly. I just meant that it's too far out right now for us to totally lose sleep over. It could pass over us or it could not. I'm more concerned right now with what Frances is going to do once she lands in the warm waters of the Gulf. Those of us who lived through Mitch remember him crossing back and forth over the state several times. We should definitely keep an eye on Ivan as we should all of the tropics during this time of year. We should be cautious and prepared not panicked and irrational. This is a stressful hurricane season for us in Florida and I for one can't afford the parks to close for another hurricane. I think I've used up all my extra vacation in order to get paid for the park being closed twice in the past month.

 

[mixsap]

We were sceduled to arrive on 9/7 but have decided to cancel due to the weather.

SW Air and WDW gave us a full refund. We'll go next month instead.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Originally posted by Samirella
Perhaps I worded it incorrectly. I just meant that it's too far out right now for us to totally lose sleep over. It could pass over us or it could not. I'm more concerned right now with what Frances is going to do once she lands in the warm waters of the Gulf. Those of us who lived through Mitch remember him crossing back and forth over the state several times. We should definitely keep an eye on Ivan as we should all of the tropics during this time of year. We should be cautious and prepared not panicked and irrational. This is a stressful hurricane season for us in Florida and I for one can't afford the parks to close for another hurricane. I think I've used up all my extra vacation in order to get paid for the park being closed twice in the past month.

I hear what you are saying about not getting paid. I work for the Lee County School district & we have used up our 2 (yes only 2) built in hurricane make up days. I have been told that we are excused from the other 4 we missed from Charley, now wondering about this from Frances. I have been paid so far, but know eventually we will not get paid. I am not looking forward to Ivan. I would rather go without the pay than have the schools open & the chance of something happening to my children (as well as the other children in my district) in the event they don't close & hurricane bands come in while school is in session. Many parents don't realize this when they complain that school is closed "again". They do seem to understand the "after the strom" days off, just not the "before the storm" days. To be very honest, I am watching Ivan very close.... I can't take much more & neither can my house. I still haven't gotten anyone in to repair all the damage from Charely... including my roof!!! If Ivan comes, my roof may go with it...it already has been approved by the insurance adjustor to be replaced. It isnt' going to take much more structurally. There are thousands of people in my shoes too here...and we all are watching Ivan.... for the sake of our homes.

 

[manning]

When you have that roof replaced have them properly anchor it to the framing of the house.

I recall in the inspection of the aftermath of hurricane Andrew the majority of lost homes where the result of failure to properly anchor the roofs. I believe they found all the intact homes followed the code and had only minor damage. I think it is little steel plates that are used to attach the roof to the wall framings. It prevents the roof from blowing off.

I don't know why that stuck in my mind. I live in Illinois.

 

[mitros]

The stronger homes built after Andrew have the roof trusses attached to anchors imbedded in rebars, cemented down through the side concrete block walls and in turn imbedded into the foundation all around the building. That helps substantially.

 

[Gdoody]

I am no expert on these matters, but have watched the tracks of the storms for many years now. In watching the latest track of Ivan it is staying much further south than Francis. This will be unfortunate for Dominican or Cuba and the nearby islands, but should present a break for Florida. These islands have very high mountains that tend to break up the hurricane, thus preventing them from reaching Florida many times. If the storm stays south too long - it could take a similar route to Charley - but unlikely. If it moves to the north before reaching the Dominican - then it will be on the same path as Francis. Neither are in the current prediction.

The unfortunate thing is that these islands are not well suited to facing hurricanes, and every time one hits, we often hear about the catastrophic damages caused by mudslides etc. Lets hope that if this hurricane does hit the islands - much of this damage is prevented.

This is a site that I often follow in the summer months as I watch for danger to my home away from home. It gives great long range predictions - and is usually available even during the busy times.

http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html

Also, I travel to Florida almost every year in late August, early September. I have only had one trip interupted by a hurricane - Floyd in 1999. Even then the storm moved up the coast - we moved from Vero Beach to Disney in Orlando - and still enjoyed our vacation. We did not go this year as I am living overseas - but, even after watching what happened - I would still go back in September again. In fact - I cannto wait to get back to spend some of my tourist dollars to help the economy get back on track.

Best of luck to the people who have looked after us so well over the years in Florida - and I hope that everything returns to normal as quickly as possible.