Holy hell, @NWSMiami: "Locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or months."
Hurricane Irma is the real deal, folks. pic.twitter.com/zQfVbXsHHu
— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) September 7, 2017
Be smart as you evacuate Florida. And if you can’t or won’t evacuate, be lucky.
Latest #HurricaineIrma watches and warnings. pic.twitter.com/oExQiSSjd8
— Track Hurricane Irma (@Track_Irma) September 7, 2017
Open thread
Yutsano
I saw pictures of what’s left of the Virgin Islands. Irma ain’t worth trying. Get out if you can.
cervantes
There’s at least some good news: Palm Beach is dead in the sights, and Mar A Lago is 3 feet above sea level.
Mike in DC
@cervantes:
That might be the only time we see Trump get emotional.
Yutsano
@cervantes: And Dolt45 has already committed insurance fraud in the past.
Major Major Major Major
@cervantes: I hope it gets destroyed and every fucker who paid whatever ungoldly sum to be near the president weeps about the loss into their $300 glasses of scotch.
Uncle Omar
@cervantes: Man, that’s going to be a lot of billions to repair all of Palm Beach. Let’s see how fast that gets through Congress and signed by El Caudillo. What are the odds that the Palm Beach bill is signed before the Houston bill? Just an after thought, didn’t Texas secede in July? Or did that kind of talk die out after the last hurricane?
RobertDSC-iPhone 6
@cervantes:
Good. I hope nothing is left.
JoJo
What happened to Trump’s home in St. Martin? I heard that island was right in the path.
catclub
I liked the sentence before that.
Iowa Old Lady
Stay safe, Florida jackals.
Betty, Mustang Bobby, Paul Wartenberg–others I can’t think of right now. Take care and check in when you can.
cervantes
Did he have a home in St. Martin? He doesn’t any more.
Spanky
Always use protection.
feebog
@Yutsano:
Yes, got a few pics from Virgin Gorda this morning. Some newer construction damaged but still standing. Older wood framed structures completely flattened. Really devastating.
Major Major Major Major
Haha, just saw that this post is in OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUDS.
cope
Checking in from just north of Mouse Town. I was going to go to Lowe’s to get lumber to brace my backyard fence but my brother-in-law talked me out of it by suggesting I let it blow down and get insurance to pay for it. In almost 30 years here, we have never filed an insurance claim for the house so I wouldn’t feel to bad about doing that.
During Matthew last year, a section of fence was the only thing knocked down so that’s why that came to mind first. Food, water, batteries, propane, ice-filled plastic bottles in the freezer, hand-crank radio, big jugs of water from my soccer coaching days…I think we have done pretty much all we can to get ready.
As the song said, “the waiting is the hardest part”.
Spanky
NHS Bulletin # 34 on Irma:
Kelly
It’s RAINING here in the Cascade Foothills. Not enough to put out the fires but the air is so nice after 5 days of smoke.
StringOnAStick
We live in a place that gets wind, and occasionally it gets serious, like lifting the neighbor’s 300lb teak table off their deck. I met someone who had been outside securing yard stuff when a section of 6′ privacy fence flew into them, breaking 31 bones. Compared to what Irma is packing, that was a love tap. Everyone please be safe!
Villago Delenda Est
But Rush (not the Canadian band) tells me that it’s all an elaborate hoax to convince us that global warming might be real!
Villago Delenda Est
@Yutsano: Donald’s entire life has been one of fraud.
O. Felix Culpa
@Kelly: Glad for that. We’re getting haze from the Montana fires in northern New Mexico. We had some forest fires of our own earlier this season (campers who didn’t fully douse their fire), but nothing major since then. Fingers crossed all the fires across the country come under control soon.
Uncle Omar
Where is Limbaugh’s Bullshit Central? Could he be in a position to lash himself to a tree and repeat his claim that there is no hurricane, it’s just phony scientists and retailers taking advantage of his people? That would almost be too much justice.
Villago Delenda Est
@Kelly: We got a bit of moisture overnight in Track Town, the sky actually looks BLUE!, but still a lot of smoke in the area. Can’t see the Coburg Hills from College Hill.
Needz moar reins.
trollhattan
The one-two punch of Harvey and Irma will have lasting effects on the country. A significant fraction of the country’s population and enormous swathes of property will be negatively affected at a time the support systems and the nation’s confidence are badly damaged, both by intent and neglect. I’m not directly affected by either and nevertheless am petrified at their ultimate toll on the nation.
And more storms are on the way.
wvng
I had a bunch of friends down in Miami and Homestead for Andrew. Two of them had houses torn from around them as the storm raged, one was left in a closet, the only room left standing. Please, everyone, find the safest place you can find if you can’t leave..
eclare
Friend of mine thinks because he lives in a high rise in Miami he will be fine. I don’t think he’s taken into account what extensive damage to infrastructure there might be afterwards. I like electricity, water, food, etc. Hope he stays safe.
Betty Cracker
I ordered a solar / hand-crank / battery-powered radio, flashlight and phone charger thingy from Amazon on Monday because the ad said it was in stock and would arrive by Friday. Just got a notification that it would be arriving the 13th. Fat lot of good that does me! I complained so much they said I could have it for free (when it arrives too late) if I’d just STFU and go away, so I said okay!
The Dangerman
I wonder if Trump will reconsider funding the earthquake early warning system in California now; I hear it is/was on the chopping block.
Y’all down there are “lucky”; y’all get days notice. Earthquakes, not so much.
Mustang Bobby
Reporting in to report that I have done what I can at my house; it’s a rental and the landlord won’t put up shutters and I don’t have the wherewithal to board it up myself. I am in southeast Miami-Dade County in an area called Palmetto Bay. I am 1/4 mile from the ocean, about 20 feet above sea level. The soil in the area is mostly coral underlay so there’s not a lot of flooding after heavy rains, but this is obviously going to be more than that.
I have moved all possible projectiles inside, moved all moveable furniture off the floor (I have tile throughout), checked that the garage roof is up to code so the cars will be protected as well as they can be, and backed up my laptop to an external drive, which I will take with me when I evacuate tomorrow to some friends’ place that is built like a bunker and out of the flood zone. (My house is right on the border — literally — between Zone A which is being evacuated, and Zone C, which is safer.) I have renters insurance with hurricane coverage ($1,000 deductible). I’ve packed clothes for four days, a briefcase with important papers (passport, birth certificate, insurance policies, etc.) and carefully wrapped up the little urn with Sam’s ashes to take with me.
The waiting is the hardest part. The cable TV is making it worse, so I have reruns of Star Trek Voyager on BBC America.
I’ll let everyone know how it comes out.
trollhattan
O/T BBC has excepts of Bannon’s first post-WH TV interview. He’s a hero!
That’ll learn ’em, Stevie.
SFAW
@Villago Delenda Est:
And later, when some — no more than one or two, I imagine — of his followers get pissed about that, he’ll use his fallback “Hey, I’m an entertainer, not a newsman! Why did you think I was being serious?” He’s used that one before, I think.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker: Those hand-crank radios and flashlights are a great way to keep little kids busy on camping trips. Once they hit 9 or so they wise up. “Look, you turn this and make light/music. Isn’t that amazing?”
Eric S.
@Major Major Major Major: I hope their bottles of scotch get washed out to sea and turn up on a beach for people that want it and deserve it more.
SFAW
@Mustang Bobby:
They find a wormhole and make it back to Earth, I think?
Stay safe, I hope that damage is minimal for you.
TenguPhule
@JoJo:
Probably wiped from the face of the Earth along with the other 90% of the buildings.
Kelly
If Jose stays close to Irma’s track I can’t imagine how bad that’ll get.
TenguPhule
@Uncle Omar:
Palm Beach.
And no chance of him being caught there.
He’s an old grifter and they don’t get to be old by actually doing the dumb shit they tell others to do.
Doc Sardonic
Damage by airborne debris is no joke and it doesn’t have to be large to do a metric f–kton of damage. I was in Kendall after Andrew strolled through and you would see houses that looked like they had been hit by cannon fire. Pretty close to it, roof tiles and coconuts. The kicker was seeing shards of polycarbonate and plastic corrugated roofing stuck deep enough you couldn’t pull it out in trees.
TenguPhule
@trollhattan:
What makes you think this is going to stop at just two? Hurricane season is until November.
TenguPhule
@eclare:
He’s confusing hurricanes with tidal waves. High rises are more dangerous during hurricanes because of the wind and flying objects.
TenguPhule
@Mustang Bobby:
I wasn’t aware the BBC America had decided to get into the optical torture business.
eclare
@TenguPhule: Says his windows are rated to take 2 by 4’s flying at 140 mph. Don’t know what part of 185>140 he doesn’t get.
raven
@Mustang Bobby: My friends i Ft Meyers were on their way with 3 digs and 2 cats. They came to a standstill below Gainesville and turned around and went home.
SFAW
@Eric S.:
It would not surprise me to find out that Lying Littledick has his people buy Ewan McTeagle Scotch (aged for three weeks in high-quality plastic casks), and decant it into Macallan 21 bottles.
Mart
Surely all this fire, wind, and rain is His Noodliness’ punishment for our ignoring it and electing Don the Con.
Mustang Bobby
@raven: The local HOA recommended going to Orlando. Like it was not going to get hit. I was planning to stay here until the landlord told me to go. He’s a lawyer and if I stayed and got hurt he’d probably claim negligence on my part.
SFAW
@TenguPhule:
One of which he may become
trollhattan
@TenguPhule: You saw my coda, yes?
PaulWartenberg
the way things are with my workplace, I may have to stick around to provide support for the city emergency teams. Nothing serious, but giving second-third level support for the primary responders.
TenguPhule
@trollhattan:
Yes.
TenguPhule
@eclare:
At 185+ mph he could literally be seeing small vehicles coming at him.
Briefly.
Miss Bianca
Betty, Adam, Mustang, Paul, Raven, SD, anyone in Irma’s path…lighting a little candle for y’all tonight!
Elizabelle
@Mustang Bobby: Best to you, Bobby.
Maybe you will get a play, or several, out of this.
eclare
@Miss Bianca: Coastal counties in GA now under evacuation order.
SatanicPanic
@TenguPhule: Wouldn’t people be fine in the movie room, or something similar? I mean, that’s not ideal, but I wouldn’t imagine it’s dangerous.
scav
@eclare:
Elitists with their value-imposing numerical “numbers” and rankings!
Spanky
@Kelly:
Supposed to curve north well off the coast and not be a factor, and Katia will make landfall in Central Mexico with max winds ~100 mph. Bad, but not going to impact the US.
But it’s only September.
eclare
@scav: Hahaha….will be interesting to see what his experience is. And if he decides to leave in the future with hurricanes. Definitely get the impression that he thinks he has it under control.
Felonius Monk
@Mustang Bobby: Good luck, Bobby. Stay safe.
TenguPhule
@SatanicPanic:
The higher the building, the bigger the target area. And at extreme Cat 5, the wind speed is almost certainly beyond anything the building was built to withstand.
jayboat
@raven:
I finished the last half of a 1000-mile trip yesterday to Clearwater from Northern Kentucky. Shit started getting thick near the state line and was basically a 150-mile long traffic jam for the entire trip until I got off at the Tampa exit. Felt weird as hell to be ‘going the wrong way!’ as all my friends were quick to point out when I posted a dashcam shot on facebook. I’ve been on the road for a month and my neighbors have been caring for my cat- had to get back to deal with things.
The rv is packed and fueled up but I am very conflicted about going anywhere yet. There’s traffic everywhere, nobody has gas, and floods along coastal surface roads are a real possibility for the return trip. There’s a big church with a driveway between two huge brick buildings literally across the street that looks as good of a hidey-hole as any place I might find on the road. Damn.
ruemara
Well, no matter what part of Florida you’re in, take care. I’ll do the thoughts and prayers thing, but I seriously hope it all lands on Mar-A-Lago and where ever Rush is holed up. But I bet he rails against science while sitting in his Manhattan digs.
raven
@Miss Bianca: We’re cool, we’re in NE Georgia 200 miles from he coastline/
raven
@jayboat: I have other friends who were in the Ritz on St Thomas and post live video, it was insane. Ah, reposted it on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNiXIJsmwdA
Mnemosyne
@raven:
My nieces are near Ft. Myers (Naples). I should probably text my older niece once school lets out today.
eclare
@jayboat: Talladega and Atlanta Motor Speedways are both free for camping for evacuees, shower, restroom facilities are open.
Mnemosyne
@PaulWartenberg:
Hopefully a public building will have been built to code but, Florida. Stay safe!
raven
@Mnemosyne: I just talked to my buddy and he’s pretty confident of their situation.
jacy
All y’all in the path, be safe. We’ll be thinking good thoughts here for everybody.
Betty Cracker
@jayboat: If this easterly track holds, I think we’ll be okay on the west side. I’m going to wait and see what it does tomorrow before making a decision, but if that track holds, I’m inclined to stay, even though I’m in an A zone. We shouldn’t get a storm surge over here if it’s hugging the eastern shore.
Mnemosyne
@Mustang Bobby:
I’m guessing that they’re recommending Orlando because they have lots of newish buildings and plenty of hotel space. Jayboat could even hook up his RV.
Betty Cracker
@Mnemosyne: School is probably canceled. It is here, and we’re further north than she is.
eclare
@raven: Wow.
catclub
@scav: I was wondering what speed a two by four carried by 185MPH winds gets up to.
It is not obvious to me that it gets up to 185MPH just because the wind does.
I remember thinking as a kid, that a 100Mph wind should lift something that weighs 100lbs. NOW, I know, … it depends…
raven
@eclare: And maybe you can take a chopper ride, AMS is right next to the Army Air History Museum!
Karen
One of the men who usually winters in Florida is rethinking; he said he is seriously considering Maine blizzard over Florida; wonder how many other snowbirds are rethinking plans for winter?
raven
@Betty Cracker: You’re not going to get out of there tomorrow, the last thing you want is to be on the damn highway when it hits.
raven
@catclub: Dead is dead.
Emma
I am in zone B on a high point on the Miami Rock Ridge. My house has high impact windows rated for 200 mph winds and the roof, which was replaced less than 20 years ago has hurricane clamps. Our large bathroom is actually a shelter; it’s in the middle of the house with no windows. The house actually survived Andrew, one of three in the whole neighborhood to do so. We have food and water for a week, a good first aid kit and lots of extra batteries.Evacuation is pretty impossible, given that only one shelter accepts pets and my 84 year old father would rather die than abandon my Mom’s elderly dog. So we sit and wait.
eclare
@raven: Had no idea! Never went to AMS when I lived in ATL.
Mnemosyne
@Betty Cracker:
I just realized I could check their school’s website (duh!) and, yes, school is closed for them today. I’ll text her on my lunch break.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker: @Emma: “Good luck” seems silly and inadequate, and I don’t pray, but I hope to hear from both of you regularly over the next few days
Mnemosyne
@Emma:
It sounds like you guys are prepared as you can be. Please make sure to check in so we know you came through okay!
ETA: Is there a way you could “register” with the police or fire department so they know to check on you later?
TenguPhule
@Emma:
You’re probably going to need more drinkable water.
eclare
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Seconded, also, for Adam, Mustang, Paul. I’m sure I’m leaving some people out, my apologies.
raven
@eclare: @eclare: Me neither until I got to take this Cobra ride!
Mnemosyne
@TenguPhule:
Sounds like they have a protected bathtub they can pre-fill. Just make sure the dog doesn’t try to swim in it!
raven
@Mnemosyne: Why, then they’d have soup!
Betty Cracker
@raven: If I do leave, I won’t go too far — I’ll bug out to a town in the middle of the state to stay with relatives. I can get there on back roads. I’m sure the storm will be nasty there too, but it’s the storm surge that concerns me the most, and that won’t be an issue in the place I’ll be.
Wayne
Mustang,
I live here in Palmetto Bay too, we’ve traded posts before.
I’m staying, in fact I just drove in FROM Ocala.
Our house made it thru Andrew, I have shutters, generator, etc. I’m prepping the house now.
I extend a refuge spot to you if you need it.
You can email me at
lesnev
hotmail.com
You know how to format it.
Wayne.
catclub
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
and yet, Trump comes up with “Have a great time.” so Good Luck is far more appropriate.
raven
@Betty Cracker: I’m witcha.
eclare
@raven: Whoa! That made me dizzy just watching!
Emma
@TenguPhule: That’s “store-bought”. Tomorrow we start filling water-cooler bottles with regular water.
raven
@eclare: I know and I edited it down from the original I shot! I just put my phone on the dash and let her rip.
Stacy
Just saw that the Euro is forecasting for Jose to go out into a loop and then take the same path as Irma in about 10 days. Unbelievable.
Betty Cracker
Well, shitfire; now the models are shifting west again:
Betty Cracker
@Stacy: Sweet Jeebus.
Mustang Bobby
@Emma: I’ll be right over. :)
Emma
@Mustang Bobby: If you can’t get out to your friends, email me for the address.
Mustang Bobby
@Wayne: I’m going up the road to Pinecrest. My friends’ house made it through Andrew losing only the patio screen enclosures.
This house was built in ’72 and made it through Andrew (although the roof is was replaced), and Katrina, Rita, and Wilma before I moved in. It’s the flood surge that has us worried.
I stayed put through Katrina, Rita, and Wilma when I lived in the Gables (a block from the hospital), but this a whole other critter. I’ll e-mail you. Thanks.
Mustang Bobby
@Emma: They’re coming to get me tomorrow night, but thanks.
satby
Betty, Mustang, Paul, Adam, Emma, Wayne, jaybird: best of luck and stay safe in the storm! You may not be able to check in, after Katrina power and cell towers were down for days (sometimes weeks). But know we’re all going to be waiting to hear you’re ok and keeping you in our thoughts until then!
And that goes for everyone who lurks or I may have not mentioned.
tybee
WE ALL GONNA DIE!!!
and i’m “essential personnel” and will be leaving at the last possible moment and coming back with the first wave.
i thought a STEM degree would keep me out of chit like this.
sherparick
@Uncle Omar: The only good news. Unfortunately, I have friends who live in Jupiter and my elderly Aunt and Uncle live in central Florida, north of Orlando. My Mom lived in Polk County (the county with the asshole sheriff) in 2004 when Hurricane Charley passed overhead. Lost power for about a week and sustained some roof damage to her home. If it hits the West coast, this will likely spare Miami the worse. If we could narrow the storm down just so it would hit Palm Beach, this would not be so bad or sad.
Elizabelle
@satby:
Best to everyone. Everyone in Irma’s path is in my thoughts.
Betty Cracker: text a pic of the chickens (and optional boxers) to Anne L or Adam or John or whomever, after the storm passes. Proof of life.
sherparick
Its time to start shorting the insurance and reinsurance companies. Poor Harvey looks like it will be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. History for about 1 week.
dr. bloor
@cervantes: @Mike in DC: @Major Major Major Major: @RobertDSC-iPhone 6: Whatever. Trump will wipe away any tears he sheds with an eight figure settlement check. The folks who pour those glasses of scotch, burn his steaks for him, ans clean up his mess afterwards are totally fucked.
TenguPhule
@raven:
Okay, that got a smile from me.
raven
@TenguPhule: It’s a line from 84 Charlie Mopic but we’ll leave it at that.
raven
@tybee: Englich wood have been better.
tybee
@raven: we don’t speek dat down heah
sherparick
@Spanky: One branch of the Gulf Stream starts in the Straits of Florida, this is warm water and is very deep warm water going 50 meters are more. Right now the surface temperature is 85 degrees. This is all fuel for Irma. If you are low ground or live in area that will be exposed to hurricane force winds, now is the time to evacuate yourselves, your pets, and your essential papers and records to a safer shelter. Please take care everyone down in Florida. We will be keeping you in our thoughts.
Kathleen
My prayers to all of you Juicers in Irma’s path. As I tell my family, I’m sending prayers and angels.
My daughter, son in law and 2 grandsons live in Tampa, in the Riverview area. Daughter & SIL are being stoic, my oldest grandson is being snarky, and my youngest grandson is freaking out. The oldest works at Busch Gardens and posted on FB that they asked him on come in on Saturday from 5pm to 12. Yeah, right. He runs one of the roller coasters.
Cermet
Life at the beach can be a real bitch when it is named Irma!
Be safe down there by evacuating from any area close to the water in those areas that are at risk; and then, do drive really carefully – missing a hurricane only to be hurt in a traffic accident would be silly!
debbie
This is becoming very worrying. Hope everyone gets through it okay.
chopper
@Betty Cracker:
looks like irma’s an angry nurse with a catheter.
Ksmiami
@Karen: I expect that with global warming making for milder winters, a lot of northerners will stay put
TenguPhule
@Ksmiami:
Actually, it makes them more violent.
Global Climate instability means greater swings between extremes, not just a slide in one direction.
Its going to get a lot hotter and colder, just not at the same place at the same time.
Ksmiami
@TenguPhule: I lived thru the 2 polar vortex recent mi winters. I’ll take that over cat 4 hurricanes any day of the week.
Elie
Best to all in Irmas path. Please communicate as soon as you can