While I for one hope and pray that Ivan does not hit Florida, here are some ponts to think about:
1. Ivan is already int he history books for being the first storm to form so far south
2. Ivan is the quickest hurricane to form and reach Cat 4
3. According to Noaa, Ivan while downgraded to a Cat 3 shows all signs of gaining strength again and could if condidtions are ripe become a strong 4 or 5.
4. Little land between its current location and Florida means little weakening.
5. Its big like Frances so even without a direct hit, it will most likely impact Florida unless 'Scottie beams it up"
6. Not only should people be worried about Florida but the islands. As many know, these islands have limited financial resources and the living conditions are poor. (I'm not offending people, but I have visited many islands)
7. Yes hurricanes are unpredictable, as in Charlie making a turn to the right early and not heading for Tampa.
8. One of the biggest factors is the temp of the water since Frances went thru and also a pressure system in the Gulf of Mex. If it stays put, well Florida - look out.
Lastly last Sept 29th, here in NS Canada, we were hit with Juan. I was watching NOAA for days and told people to prepare. A friend who works for EMO (like FEMA) thought I was nuts in predicting a direct hit when it was 2 days out. And sure enough the night it hit, she called and wanted to know where I was getting info, as the weather and hurricane people had not predicted a direct hit. I said it would be a CAT 2 and they were predicting tropical winds. Well, afterwards, and for some people 3 weeks without power, they said it was a CAT 1. Three weeks ago, the weather people said well a CAT 2 and we had tornados.
My thoughts - follow on NOAA and read the discussion stuff - its a bit techie but after one or two you'll get the hang of it and be in the know.
never been through a hurricane but Charley evidently did some damage since the power was out for what a week or so outside of WDW?( thought I heard some places even longer) don't know that you can go by wdw with it's mega bucks and resources...imo it's foolish to just figure the news weather is exaggerating and something to be thankful for that it ( Francis) didn't come in full force like they expected as they are saying the damage in $$ is lots already on the coast. i might be going there on vacation but how about the poor people who are still living in hotels after Charley?? I have seen a small f2 tornado ( which remember do come along with hurricanes also)...that was enough to convince me to listen to any warnings
Just what I needed more things to worry and think about.
