Floridians in Wilma's Path - Check In!

[Stephieann]

This is not good news. An old friend of mine (about 25 years now!) and his wife are there with their one year old twins. They were going to come to stay with me, but around 10:00 this morning decided that it wasn't going to be anything major and that they would stay put. Please keep them in your prayers. He's an entertainer tha some of you may have seen at Hogs Breath, the Green Parrot, and the Rooftop Cafe among others.

Anne

I will keep them in my prayer as well as most of florida. I have family in La Belle.

 

[Mickey's sunshine]

All is okay here, I live in Pinellas county which is just west of Tampa. We are under Tropical Storm Warnings and a Tornado Watch.

Unfortunately I am required to work tomorrow - they are nuts!

 

[Shutterbug]

This is not good news. An old friend of mine (about 25 years now!) and his wife are there with their one year old twins. They were going to come to stay with me, but around 10:00 this morning decided that it wasn't going to be anything major and that they would stay put. Please keep them in your prayers. He's an entertainer tha some of you may have seen at Hogs Breath, the Green Parrot, and the Rooftop Cafe among others.

Anne

Prayers for your friend....
Wilma is still getting stronger and some mets are predicting a Cat 3 at landfall.

 

[marlasmom]

All quiet here in Winter Haven.

 

[ducklite]

Things quieted down around these parts. I'm assuming it's the calm before the storm. I'm going to try to get a few hours sleep while I can.

Night all!

Anne

 

[Shutterbug]

Wilma is now a Cat 3!!!!

000
WTNT34 KNHC 240241
TCPAT4
BULLETIN
HURRICANE WILMA ADVISORY NUMBER 35
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
11 PM EDT SUN OCT 23 2005

...WILMA STRENGTHENS INTO A MAJOR CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE...
...TROPICAL STORM-FORCE WINDS LASHING THE LOWER FLORIDA KEYS
AND WESTERN CUBA...

 

[mitros]

Weather channel just made it official, it is now a cat 3, 115 mph winds. Everybody stay safe!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Well this just bites--entering AND exiting as a THREE!!!

ugggghhhh!!!!

Otherwise quite in our area. The feeder band is in Orlando to Cocoa. We are south of all that in a big wide open clear spot.

 

[Shutterbug]

Here is a projected path...the green circle is how far the tropical storm force winds will extend.

http://www.skeetobiteweather.com/picservice.asp?t=z&m=24

 

[AdventurerKat]

Goodnight all. Stay safe.

 

[LisaR]

We just got hit by lightning!

Luckily the lightning rods and surge protectors did their job and it's all good. But it scared the heebie jeebies out of me!!!

Anne

I really want to get lightning rods installed. Did you have them installed or do them yourself?

Lisa

 

[Zandy595]

I just found this thread. I'm in Martin County (the county north of Palm Beach). Thank goodness I talked DH into putting our shutters up. It was a fight because he said it was only going to be a cat. 1 and there was no need. He says that he only put them on to shut me up, but I'll bet he's glad he did it now, even if he won't say it.

I just got off the phone with my mom. I tried to convince her and my step-dad to come stay with us, but they said they are going to stay home. They live less than 5 minutes from the beach and don't have anything to protect their windows. I'm really worried about them.

 

[Shutterbug]

police in Ft Lauderdale are asking bars to close so people will go home. cnn reports that the hurricane will NOT lose much strength as it crosses the state.

 

[Shutterbug]

 

[ducklite]

I really want to get lightning rods installed. Did you have them installed or do them yourself?

Lisa

They were one of the options we took when we built the house. They jsut more than paid for themselves tonight.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

I"m back due to ongoing tornado's. One was on the ground about seven miles from here, and we've now got strong warnings for Clermont. So we're back in the closet. Mark's paying his PS2 using his portable VCR as a monitor, and I"m on the laptop.

At this point, even if they want me in tomorrow, no way am I leaving here. I've peeked out the window a couple of times, and it's raining as hard as it did during Frances, just not quite as windy...yet.

Once the tornado warnings stop I'll be a lot happier...

Anne

 

[Shutterbug]

Once the tornado warnings stop I'll be a lot happier...

Anne

This from the NHC website:

THE TORNADO THREAT ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA PENINSULA
... AND THE FLORIDA KEYS... HAS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY. SCATTERED
TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY
AFTERNOON.


Not isolated but scattered. I heard on one of the channels yesterday say because of the cold front that is also down there, that there could be a record amount of tornadoes from this hurricane.

Stay Safe!!!!!

 

[lvs_eeyore]

Checking in from Broward. Its getting windy here but no rain yet. The newest advisory that I heard on Channel 4 is that the storm winds are now up to 120 mph and they expect it to enter and exit as a cat 3 entering just a little south of Naples. The Keys just reported a gust of 104 mph at Cudjoe Key. Oh man the power just fluctuated. I fear we wont have power too much longer. I heard the eerie sound of a transformer buzzing.

 

[PixieDust32]

Checking in from Broward. Its getting windy here but no rain yet. The newest advisory that I heard on Channel 4 is that the storm winds are now up to 120 mph and they expect it to enter and exit as a cat 3 entering just a little south of Naples. The Keys just reported a gust of 104 mph at Cudjoe Key. Oh man the power just fluctuated. I fear we wont have power too much longer. I heard the eerie sound of a transformer buzzing.

Stay safe! I am watching CNN and it looks bad down in Key West.

 

[Virgo10]

What a rotten way to start the day. My weather radio went off around
3:45 a.m. announcing there was a tornado heading toward Winter Haven. 45 minutes later when it appeared everything was all clear, another one formed in the same area. So much for sleep.

Then I get up to find my primary computer won't work because of a corrupt or missing file to start windows. It's going to be one of those days.