Ian

[dvcgirl67]

Wow...and this from a guy who has been in the middle of many, many hurricanes. Tomorrow will be a rough day for Florida's west coast.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1575274365410746373

 

[elaine amj]

Some truly awful reports from the coast.

I have been sitting in a townhouse villa at the Holiday Inn Orange Lake Resort in Kissimmee just 15 mins from WDW staring out our patio doors since 6am and watching the news.

We have had a mix of light rain, medium rain and no rain for the bulk of the day. Some gusty winds here and there. Around dinnertime we got some blowing rain. Around 7ish we had a short bad downpour but now it is back to blowing rain again.

So far everything is calm here. No idea what is going on in the main buildings or what amenities have been opened or closed as we have stayed put in our room all day other than a short stroll around our corner of the resort. Kinda wish we went swimming earlier this afternoon when there was no rain (not sure if the pools were open though).

It is now 8:20pm and the news is saying the storm has considerably weakened and by the time it gets to us, it’s not going to be that bad. Also, squalls and tornado warnings have been skirting our particular spot which has been good for us. Our local news (focused on Osceola County) seems very optimistic.

Checked the radar and looks like the bad patches might just skim right past our exact location.

I have overprepared in an anal way so I feel safer. Last night we went to Walmart at 10pm after the fireworks at Epcot and it was busy, but not crazy. They were restricting cases of water to 2 per family so since we brought plenty of jugs with us, I decided to leave it to ppl who need it. Most food aisles were well stocked except for things like bread (we skipped it because I bought a baguette from France lol). We decided to top off our tank at a local 7-11 because there didn’t seem to be a rush on gas.

I have been preparing:
- plenty of frozen water bottles
- lots of food and many jugs of water
- several battery operated fans and extra packs of batteries and cooling towels
- several power banks and we are all keeping our devices charged
- got a pile of extra towels and have them laid out along our two sets of glass sliding doors
- designated an interior bathroom with a large closet as our hideout zone and stocked it with a lantern, jug of water, a pile of bedding, a backpack filled with raincoats and a giant bag of snacks
- master bedroom is in a sunken section so I piled my packing cubes back into my duffel and moved it to the dining room set 6” higher.
- filled bathtubs with water to flush the toilets if necessary

I was assured by resort staff who were here through Hurricane Irma in 2017 that the resort survived just fine with only very minor damage and a few fallen trees. Windows should all be Cat 4 rated. My particular villa is not in a flood prone section of the resort.

Our biggest drama so far was when about 4-5 frogs jumped on our sliding glass patio door during a lull in the storm. When we tried to get them off, 2 frogs jumped in! I freaked out and spent most of the time at the far end of the villa on top of a barstool screaming while DS20 worked on getting them out bravely surviving it when one jumped on him in the process. Took a while before I could get off that barstool…

We expect the worst of the storm to be between 2-4am and am hopeful Thursday may be better than expected. I’m prepared if it’s not though.
Edit - latest forecast is that the worst is between 9-11pm (it is 8:30pm now and we’ve had 30-40mph wind gusts so not that bad yet)

 

[jmenjes]

Much calmer night here in Hollywood than last night. Had two tornadoes about a mile or so off to my west, and one off to my east.

 

[mikehn]

I havent been this glued to the TV since 9-11, unbelievable. I got nothing done today. Neither did my boss, lol

 

[elaine amj]

From about 9pm, the wind and rain started picking up here in Kissimmee as predicted. It is now 11am and you can really hear the wind gusts roaring out there. It should be mostly over by 4am. The hurricane has moved slightly south of us and the edge of it will graze us. Still a big storm but at least it is not going straight through us.

We have had some power flickers here and there since the mid afternoon but so far we have power.

 

[elaine amj]

2am and the wind is howling! I think the hurricane is passing just south of us in Kissimmee. The eye has collapsed but it is still a Cat 1. It should keep weakening into a tropical storm according to the news. They say 2-4am will be the absolute worst and that’s what I am hearing out my window. My townhouse villa at Holiday Inn Orange Lake resort is still feeling very sturdy and safe. No sign of flooding and it doesn’t look likely based on conditions I see outside my back door and front door.

 

[fla4fun]

I just woke up. So far my oak tree is still standing and we did not lose power although it flickered a few times yesterday evening (my stove clock blinks when the power goes off and comes back). Looking at the radar I would guess my area has about four more hours before we are in the clear, but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. They just announced on the news that a 15 mile stretch of the Turnpike near Mall at Millenia has been closed due to flooding.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

This morning, Accuweather is reporting the causeway to Sanibel Island is gone. They are really hyping the flooding/wind here in Jax.


I still have power, so that's good; I expect to lose power any time now. We usually lose power for a couple of hours during intense thunderstorms, so losing it during a TS isn't surprising. The wind is going about 40mph, with some heavy gusts; and steady rain.

edit: bad wording lol

 

[White Cat]

Rough night in my county. Still not good.

 

[C&Jx2]

Have family with house and boat on canal off Tampa Bay so been watching close.

Tampa suddenly says they feel a tiny bit better because the tide is lower than it should be.

What? That is ominous.

Then a short while later I see this.

The storm is sucking the water out of the bay - which makes the storm bigger ... stuff out of the movies.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1575104392285458433

Yep. What goes up and out comes back down and out.

The plus for the folks close to this water it means less water surging in when it hits. So you get a few less feet of water. Good for my family as they are on canal.

The con is that water gone made the storm itself bigger with more water to drop inland.

I feel like they should have named this bad boy Thanos!

That was my thought as well. More water to just dump.

I hope everyone here on the DIS is safe!

 

[HopperFan]

.

Yep. What goes up and out comes back down and out.

That was my thought as well. More water to just dump.

I hope everyone here on the DIS is safe!

Family with house right on canal off Tampa Bay did okay, no flooding. The draining of the bay helped with water levels in the surge.

 

[C&Jx2]

.

Family with house right on canal off Tampa Bay did okay, no flooding. The draining of the bay helped with water levels in the surge.

Glad to hear! Same for mine. We were concerned about the Anclote River but it seems like it didn't rise the 25 ft they had originally predicted.

 

[HopperFan]

Glad to hear! Same for mine. We were concerned about the Anclote River but it seems like it didn't rise the 25 ft they had originally predicted.

We are on east coast so we are still waiting for the brunt. Flooding has started in some areas. I looked at camera, trees are whipping about and mild rain but the worse is yet to come.

 

[wallawallakids]

My mother reported that she is okay in Gulfport, but she moved from the inland home of a friend to a waterfront condo?!?!? And she's on the first floor! I give up - hope she makes it, but she's definitely losing her power of reason/common sense.

Have you heard from your mom yet?

 

[EACarlson]

I'm hearing half of Brevard county is without power right now. Saw a live shot in DT Orlando, it was windy and rainy but they still had power.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

St Augustine is starting to flood: seawall breached. High tide hits in about an hour. Winds about 44mph. Gusts about 49mph.

Our power went out and then came back on. Retention pond behind the house is up about 2 ft. Another few inches and it'll be on the sloped space that leads to the backyard fence (about 2 ft there). Hasn't stopped raining since yesterday morning.

 

[Lisse24]

Just north of St. Aug off of 210. Wind and rain has calmed down somewhat in the past hour or so. Power is flickering, but holding firm so far. Still, worst is to come.

 

[fla4fun]

I'm hearing half of Brevard county is without power right now. Saw a live shot in DT Orlando, it was windy and rainy but they still had power.

My sister works in a hotel in Cocoa Beach and is really hoping they don’t lose power. She was part of the ride out crew last night and she said it made her very anxious having the hotel open during the storm. Normally if a hurricane was expected there everything would be shut down and she would be evacuated. She still had power as of a couple hours ago.

 

[HopperFan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1575508139872555012

 

[JLTraveling]

I've got friends and relatives all through Central Florida. And it seems to be incredibly localized. Some have trees down, some have been without power since late yesterday morning, some have flooding in their homes. And some are perfectly intact without power so much as blinking and just a few leaves in the yard. Crazy how different everything can be just a couple of miles apart.