Hurricane Irma 2017

[StraitR]

All my local Central FL stores are wiped clean. Water, canned food, and gas containers went first and fast. Local Publix grocery stores received a second shipment of water today, it went in minutes. Lines were reported by co-worker spouses to be in the hundreds of people. I tried to stop for gas on the way home from work, and they were out already. The station across the street had lines five deep at each pump.

While I have the supplies and wherewithal to ride out power outages for longer durations, I don't feel like playing chicken with a Cat 4/5 storm, risking the safety of my family out of convenience. We've decided to bail, and will leave after my wife gets home from work in the morning. Based on current models, looks like Alabama will be our destination for now, and look to sneak in behind Irma as it sneaks up into Georgia. I'll watch all night and make the final determination in the morning.

If Irma hooks through Florida like Charley did in 2004, I don't want to be here. Good luck fellow Floridians and gulf-coasters.

[ranger]

My daughter lives in Savannah - she called and said that the local stores are out of water (at least some). My wife is headed to Savannah to get my father (93) and bring him to stay with us in NW GA until the storm passes. I guess she will take a load of water, etc. to my daughter too.

[Malamute]

Probably a good call on bugging out. Cuba may take some fire out of it, but the last info I saw mentioned that if there was a cat 6, Irma would be in it.

[JohnO]

My daughter is a grad student at UF in Gainsville. I'm calling her tonight to check in.

[Joe in PNG]

Left there just at the right time, or so it seems.
However, the folks are there right in the middle of the state, so they'll be in my prayers.

[RJ]

My son lives in Orlando, step daughter in Miami.

Geez I hope all are safe. This storm does not look good.

[GardoneVT]

I volunteered for a forest preserve in D'Iberville MS when I was posted to Kessler AFB.

That was back in 2010, and I'll never forget exiting the van to be greeted with a legit "Game of Thrones" level sight- every tree in view was stripped bare below 40 ft off the ground. Turned out that was about the height of the storm surge when Katrina hit five years earlier.

Anything capable of that level of destruction is not to be taken lightly. Godspeed to those affected by this,and stay safe.

[rob_s]

How is gas looking in Orlando area? We are thinking of bugging out from SE FL to Orlando tomorrow and then possibly leap frogging out of the state from there.

[bigslim]

We left Jacksonville and moved to Ohio in 2012. While I was in the Navy stationed in Mayport we sortei'd for many a storm. The wife and I were supposed to fly into Orlando on Friday and then to Port Canaveral on Monday for a Disney cruse. Disney has already canceled our sail. I'm glad they did because I didn't want to be wifey bad guy but I surprised they did it so early.

Be safe

Mike

[blues]

Having lived in a ground floor, "outside door" apartment on Key Biscayne during Hurricane Andrew in 1992, I can relate to your anxiety.

If you have the time and option to find safe harbor elsewhere, please don't wait until it's too late.