Blogging Hurricane Fay
From a houseboat.
If you’re also in the area, stay safe and keep us updated.
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Got more nerve than I do. I’d be finding somewhere else to be.
Dude, get the heck outa there.
Hurricanes should have mean names, not ones that sound like my Great Grandmother.
They should name the one right behind it “Ray”
When Hurricane Michelle Malkin comes, better move inland, ’cause it’ll be a Catagory 6!
Now you’re going ape over hurricanes.
Hurricane Michelle caused by the big oil and Malkin conspiracy to warm the Earth.
He’ll be okay lashed to pilings. I took care of a 48′ catamaran in SE Florida through Francis and Jean. The boats that did not survive we tied to cleats on docks or short pilings. I took some photos and help a news crew from National Geographic get some real great new shots. Some wild times to be sure.
Still, I would be outta there. Why temp foul weather.
Hey that isn’t a houseboat, that’s a cabin cruiser.
Right now from all I see the tropical storm…it isn’t hurricane strength yet is north of Cuba with a center just about due south of a line drawn halfway between Marathon and Key West.
Look at the Key West composite radar loop with auto update clicked on to best follow it right now.
Radar Link
If it hits it’s Michelle fault!
Hey Michelle,
I live in Boca (in a condo), and right now we’re just having heavy rain. Thank goodness I do have the option of working from home on occasions such as these….driving in South Florida is bad enough under good weather conditions! LOL
Slightly OT, I am turning 60 soon so I bought myself a T-Shirt that cracked me up. It says
I Survived a Catagory 60 Birthday.
Mr SWMBO and I have been known to cruise during hurricane season. In fact, Hurricane Rita bought us two extra days in the gulf. AND, our car was still in one piece when we got back.
Here in West Palm Beach, we’re getting socked with some heavy shower bands, but no big deal. My husband even rode his bicycle to work this morning (20 miles round trip), and he will bike home this afternoon. Our weather is expected to deteriorate throughout the afternoon, though. I still don’t know why Gov Crist declared a state of emergency on Saturday. Sheesh. For a tropical storm?
I have a friend that lives in Clearwater and she is getting things together for the storm. I sure hope this won’t be a big deal for FL. All here from FL, keep safe.
L
I’ve lived in S. Fl since ‘84, & been thru several of these things. So far, this one’s a bust, but I remember when Wilma was supposed to be a miss. Turned east & beat the applesauce out of us. My bigger concern are the good folks (?) that run the South Fl Water Mngt District. Since Katrina, they seem to panic whenever a storm comes along, & then they start draining Lake Okeechoobee, our main water supply. Those good folks put us in a tight spot when rain was scarce, & the lake was drained so low, they essentially put us in water restriction mode. Of course they defended their action because of concern for the levees, & no money to fix them, due to war & whatnot. Which begs the question, was there any action when the money was available?
Pompano Beach here!
The only concern I have is that a moat sort of forms around my building when we get heavy rain. I am a little worried about being able to drive out.
In Miami on business… does not appear to be more than heavy rain and possible storm surge in areas by bay waters forecast here. Hotel has said no evacuations planned but recommending that we stay indoors… I’ll post updates all day today and tomorrow or until the power goes out!
Getting some rain bands up in the Stuart area and a little lightning.
We got SMACKED up here a few years ago so this is NOTHING!
On August 18th, 2008 at 11:55 am, supersean said:
But for the possibility of a rather wet death, I think that sounds kind of exciting. Stay safe!
I’m here in Lee County, where this thing is supposed to make a direct hit.
All’s quiet here . . . I’m at my office and will leave around 3:00 pm to finish up our preparations.
The thing that concerns me is that in 2004, Charley was supposed to hit Tampa - and instead made a sharp turn to the east and the eye hit 7 miles from our home . . . and it grew from a Category 2 to a 4 in the space of a couple of hours.
Oh, well. All part of the summer fun here in the Sunshine State!
Ridin the storm out….REO stuck in my head now!
Crossing my fingers for the F-state.
God bless everyone in the storm’s path. The only good thing would be if it would help relieve the severe drought in Georgia and the Carolinas. Two years of minimum tropical weather hitting the US haven’t helped with the water supply needed in those areas.
http://drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
Maybe it’ll rain.
here
Nothing here (yet) in Melbourne in Brevard County on Atlantic. We are supposed to get a lot of rain from this.
A few tracks (NOAA) and on the Weather Underground have the track hitting on west coast, exiting near the Cape into the Atlantic, then coming back for a double whammy. Hope they are wrong about that!
After 2004, most Floidians are pretty seasoned to watching and waiting and being ready. What is worrisome is that they can change pretty quickly (like Charley).
I live in Plantation which is in central Broward County. It has been raining steadily since about 8:30am. Conditions are supposed to deteriorate as the day goes on. This is going to be a very wet system, so the concerns are for flooding, not necessarily wind damage.
To reference an earlier post, Governor Crist declared a state of emergency on Saturday because the forecast models at that time had Fay as a Cat 1 Hurricane going across The Keys and then coming in between Ft. Myers and Tampa sometime this afternoon.
I think this is what got the State of Louisiana in trouble with Katrina, no one would declare the state of emergency in a timely fashion?
No one here in Tampa is all that concerned although we’ve gone through the usual motions of buying bottled water and stocking up on batteries.It’s my people in Placida/Boca Grande that I worry for.
Wow, sofla texan. We’ve barely had a drop of rain here, and we’re in Cape Coral, west and across the river from Fort Myers.
Yes, the flooding is supposed to be the worst concern.
#28 Mary Beth
The models have changed considerably in the last 48 hours. I think projected landfall for the east coast is sometime
Tuesday afternoon as a Cat 1 Hurricane. This storm has slowed down considerably since the Saturday forecasts.
My point was, that Gov. Crist went on the offensive and decided not to take any chances, because we all know how inconsistant these storms can be!
Oops, I meant Florida WEST Coast!
My prayers for the Floridians, and an extra prayer that we in SC will get some of that rain!
Key West Radar
clearly shows the eye north of Cuba drifting slowly to the near due north.
You can also see it in a pretty color satellite loop
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/gmex/loop-rgb.html
I didnt know my kid was on here…..
CRAIG! Get off of here and go call your mother!!!
———
Wait.. Is this Global Warming or is it Bushs fault?
Indeed. I recently visited Lake Thurmond, on the SC-GA border, and it’s so far down it pains me to look at it. We could get hit with four tropical systems in a row and it wouldn’t fill that lake up.
Tornado warnings just issued here in the Miami area for the next hour or so.
STOP with all this hurrican talk. its a tropical storm. You guys are getting all worked up over rain and 50-60 mile an hr wind. I’m in Clearwater Florida and it shouldn’t even hit us with much FORCE. I lived in Belize for several yrs and the homes aren’t built half as good as here, and we withstood much more with little to no damage.
Follow this guy and see if he tries to get a FEMA check for damages sustained. If not, does he get 15 minutes of fame to blame Bush for the storm?
#36,
It will become a hurricane and given the temperatures of coastal waters it can quickly jump from tropical storm to a cat 1+ threat to FL.
Nice loop, CommentGuy, I had not seen that page before.
For other areas, here’s their satelite radar index page: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/
Hurricane Andrew went from a mild category 1 to a category 5 monster in under 24 hours. Flooding wasn’t much of a concern then and it usually isn’t here in South Florida because we’re above sea level and we don’t usually get extreme storm surges. The tornadoes that get spawned are a little different story, though.
I’m just tired of repairing my roof and cleaning my yard.
Mercy4me: My family has lived on the water in Florida for more than a century and let me tell you that Mother Nature commands respect even at the tropical storm level. Some of the worst storms we ever weathered through didn’t come with names. This storm managed to already take the lives of five people. Being watchful and prepared isn’t being hysterical, it’s just smart Florida living.
Actually Tropical Storm Fay has taken 35 lives so far.
When you live ON THE WATER, what can you expect? Living in Florida is not easy during this time of the year. I don’t want to have to fix my roof either, and I won’t be looking for FEMA or any Government hand out if something did happen to my condo. My point is is that everybody is acting like it is a Cat 5 already. No doubt about it it can pick up quick, but as it stands now its not. I am watching just like everyone else. CALM my peps, there will be plenty of time for chaos.
Mercy4me:
If you lived in Belize and have lived in Florida any amount of time, then you should know that you never underestimate the power of a tropical system. Hurricane Andrew is an excellent reference. Too many people rely on the center of “the cone” to determine the track and path of a storm. Hurricane Charley was the perfect example, although it did not deviate from “the cone” it skipped along the extreme edge and made landfall 80 miles away from where it was anticipated. Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 moved over Hispanola into the Bahamas and started moving out into the Atlantic. It looped back around over the Bahamas and then it hit So. Florida around Port St. Lucie.
In 2005,Hurricane Wilma was supposed to be a Cat 1 and ended up being a Cat2 almost a Cat3.
I lived in St. Thomas in 1995 when Hurricane Marilyn hit. 80% of the homes were either completely destroyed or uninhabitable. The entire duration of the storm, the NHC kept saying it was a Cat 1. There was way too much damage and devestation for anyone who went through that to believe. After two years of research and re-evaluating their data, the NHC conceded that they indeed made a mistake and re-classified Marilyn as a Cat 2 with 129mph gusts and maximum sustained winds of 105mph. It didn’t help rebuild anything, but we knew we weren’t crazy or dreaming what we experienced.
I agree that sometimes the local media and the Weather Channel get a little carried away, but it is better to be safe than sorry.
#44
No doubt about it. You don’t underestimate bad weather. I was in St. Thomas for a hurrican, can’t remember the name, but it was a cat 2 and the place I was in had water coming in through the walls, it was crazy! I have seen first hand a few yrs ago what happened in Cancun, cause I was there. RE: The casualties that have already happened are mainly caused by poor construction. The people live in shacks, and thats really an understatement.Or they are out in boats fishing and get sweeped away. I have seen it first hand. I think the media just wants to scare us more than anything. Prepare!
Mercy4Me: A few years back both Charley and Frances tore up the real estate here destroying houses and stomping on businesses in places like Seffner, Brandon, Lakeland and Haines City–none of which were ON THE WATER. Frances caused 9 billion in damage and managed to give a sharp bruising kick to the city of ASHEVILLE NORTH CAROLINA on her way out which is not only NOT ON THE WATER but happens to be nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains. It spawned 101 tornados landing them as far away as Virginia. By the way while we are the subject, houses aren’t built to be oak tree-proof or flying car-proof. So ,again, no one’s being hysterical by being watchful, prepared( and in prayer) .
Update
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080818/ts_nm/storm_fay_dc_30
From what I see on the Key West Radar the eye is sitting over the tip of the Keys right now.
Storm is hitting pretty strong now. lightening is pretty heavy right now and winds are well over 50 mph and the rain is just increasing in downpour… the last hour it was 8′ in. It is amazing how the weather radar is so focused that they are giving neighborhood updates.
Just got a tornado warning for our area and the electricity is now out in surrounding areas
The marina’s insurance company will probably require that he pull away from his slip and use anchors to secure the boat. Staying tied up will only pull the pilings out and wreak the dock.
Copy that. My place in Ft. Walton is concrete construction, including the roof. I still left for Ft. Deposit, Ala. when the time came. I was working in Daphne the year Daniel came ashore, Force 1, it stalled out in the middle of Mobile Bay for 18 hours. I was stuck there, it was not fun.
And just like that it is as calm as a typical Miami afternoon.
Hurricane warnings for west coast replaced with tropical storm warnings
Actually, it’s a “motoryacht” by category, but since I live aboard it I suppose “houseboat” works as well.
Re: the comment about the insurance, the insurance company prefers it just where it is. Each piling is actually three big pilings chained together and they ain’t goin’ nowhere.
It’s still blowing to beat hell down here, with some really serious gusts. The rain seems to have tapered off a bit as the eye goes by, then we’ll probably get lashed again. Thanks to Michelle for the link. It’s certainly been an unusual day.
Conditions at my place in Lehigh Acres, Fl. Temp:73.9,humidity:94%,wind:11 to 28 mph out of the N-NW. Barometer: rising 29.53 inches of mercury. Raining. Power was outn for one and a half hours. Just had breakfast and all is well.
Fay may be getting an eye (from radar) and actually getting stronger.
Reports from Port St. Lucie: 6 inches of rain and in flash flood watch this morning. Reports that 4 inches of rain fell in one hour.
Melbourne, where Fay may exit and stay awhile over the Atlantic, at least two inches of rain from bands as she is not even here yet.
Is this post a spoof, or the first Southern Storm that the writer has covered? I am a Keysian, and usually living aboard a boat when in the Keys. We who’ve been there for 30 or more years are not extra brave, but commen sensical. We would readily evacuate for a cat 3 or greater. A tropical storm is just a wash job down here. Reading the post did provide some entertainment though. Has anyone seen any wind damage? Other than the normal dead limb being blown off the tree?
nuf sed
We are here in the Melbourne area in Brevard County. The wind has been as you would expect during a heavy rain storm–only more sustained. A few minor branches down, but Monday evening we took a large dead branch out of a tree and trimmed some other minor ones to try to prevent any wind damage. There’s some small ceiling water spots; we don’t know yet if wind blew rain under some shingles or what exactly is going on.
Fay stalled and moved slowly across Brevard yesterday and today and the heavy rain has been the problem for us. Some minor leaks around a window and damp carpet so far–we think drainage in the yard and some caulking problems are the culprit. Our son was out digging a small trench last night. Our street is several inches deep in water.
We’ve heard that beachside on the barrier island they’ve had problems with sewage backing up. I hope we don’t have to start doing the bottled/boiled water drill here on the mainland.
Here’s a Weather Underground link to the Melbourne local radar in which you can see the rain and circulation. Here’s the regional radar.