Friends and fellow flyers in FL

[Dennis Toth]

Thinking of all my flying friends in FL in the path of Milton. Hoping the forecast for it to de-intensify holds true. Stay safe!

Best,   DennisT

[Robert Zambelli]

Hi, Dennis.
Thanks for the concern.
We are in Odessa and we feel pretty secure.
We just installed steel shutters on all the windows and moved both cars into the garage.
Lots of wind and rain predicted for tomorrow but main landfall predicted early Thursday.
Bob Z.

[Paul Taylor]

We were under mandatory evacuation. Got out early to beat the traffic. 
Rest of the Odessa gang is north except Wild Bill. He is right on the water, but has boarder up and moved in land.

[Richard Fleming]

Thank you Dennis, we are west of Orlando. Got the last stuff done around the house today for hurricane preparation.

[Ken Culbertson]

Looks like my old houses in the St. Pete area is going to get some action.

Ken

[Robert Zambelli]

The weather channel has storm surges at 10 to 15 feet along the coast in the St Pete area.
Terrifying!

Bob Z.

[Ken Culbertson]

The weather channel has storm surges at 10 to 15 feet along the coast in the St Pete area.
Terrifying!

Bob Z.

We lived on one of the canals.  Had 3 boats on our pier in the back yard.  We were 8' above sea level at the house.  As much as I loved Florida, I am sure glad to be in Texas right now!

Ken

[Paul Taylor]

Looks like the Manatee club members are more at risk than the guys in the north. But yea St Pete already got storm surge from the last one. The beach moved 3-4 ft of sand in the parking lots and streets. They were just digging out. The mayor said anyone on the barrier island will die if they don’t evacuate. That was pretty blunt.

[EricV]

Thanks Dennis. My home is in Clearwater, street is at 30ft elevation, and you have to drive up about another 10ft up hill on my driveway to the foundation of my cinderblock ranch home. Our street is in one of the last evac zone E (based on street elevation and distance from beach). I don't think E has ever been called to evac for storm surge in history (yet, these storms seem to keep getting worse). This is the worst storm for us in a hundred years and they are evacuating A through zone C... I've removed the dangerous trees over the 22 years we've been in this home and policed up the yard, generator at the ready. And even with all that said, you bet I'm worried, even with my strapped roof deck and impact windows. Cat 3 or 4 storms on the Saffir Simpson scale start to rip off roof decks and destroy the best built homes, so wind is going to be a big deal still for us. Power will almost certainly be out for days if not weeks even if the eye continues to drift the landfall a hair more south as the trend has been. Praying for everyone to come out of this ok.

EricV

[Jim Svitko]

One of my sisters and her husband live in Odessa.  Somehow, my sister in Odessa was able to get word to another family member in Indiana.  That message was relayed to me this morning.

They are OK, they rode it out in a closet at home.  Minor damage to their property.  Of course, power is out, and will be for quite some time.  Storm debris is everywhere.  No mention of flooding so I assume that was not a problem for them.

This news might help others who are wondering about friends and family in that area.  It sounds like that part of the Tampa area was spared the worst.  Not all, of course, were as fortunate as my sister.

[EricV]

Somehow we were very blessed, and the house is fine, and just got a 100mph power wash. Electricity didn't even blip, as the clock on the stove doesn't even need setting. Some neighbors generously shared parts of their trees with my yard and they are now stacked out by the curb. Had to hunt down our mailbox and found it a block away. That one actually made me chuckle...kept thinking Air Mail... Heh.

It could have been so much worse, as I ran through all the possibilities and saw what happened to others on the news. Hope everyone else made out as well as possible.

EricV

[Robert Zambelli]

Eric: we also were spared.
I was at Harriet’s house in Esplenade/Odessa.
The wind howled most of the night along with an incredible downpour.
Went out at 9:30 AM and it was a beautiful summer day.
All rain gone and a gentle breeze.
Other communities were sadly not so fortunate,
especially along the coast, north and south of Tampa.
Bob Z.

[Dennis Toth]

Glad to hear you are all safe and in good shape. I heard from Len Bechtold over on the east coast in Jupiter and he is fine also. He heard that Wayne Smith is OK but without power. Up here in Asheville, NC things are proceeding to get water back on. They got the backup line connected and will start to send water out to the first nearby community in Black Mountain. Hopefully by mid next week we will get water here (we are more or less at the end of the system). One advantage to getting it last is it will be cleaner then the first group.

Again, glad all are safe.    DennisT