Ian

[HopperFan]

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.

I was watching the news of downtown, my heart aches for all those businesses.

We have a pond RIGHT behind us but it feeds to the next pond (decorative) so I have fingers crossed it won't breach, the other pond is much bigger.

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.

We are 200 yards off the beach .... but we sit high so fingers crossed, unless wind gets really bad. I keep checking camera and palms are dancing. Radar looks heavy. Be safe.

 

[HopperFan]

Been watching Surf Cam from St. Augustine Beach, south of Jacksonville. Waves gotten bigger in a short time. Give you an idea what it is doing there - and they say it will get worse. The main road along the beach in that area is closed for flooding. This is a barrier island. The city, not on the island is already flooded.

SURF CAM

 

[OnceUponATime15]

Ian has no desire to quit.. CNN reporting that it will reorganize over open water to a Cat 1 and will make landfall in SC likely Saturday morning.
The new tropical force wind field is huge stretching back into most of Florida.

Ian.. you’ve done enough - time to call it a day.

 

[fla4fun]

The sun just came out for a few minutes! It’s the first time it’s been brighter outside than inside for about 36 hours. We are going to need lots of sun to dry out Florida.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

Universal hit harder then WDW.. pictures on twitter of the building that houses Jurassic Park River ride with a large gaping hole in it. Also pictures of flooded out roadways at one of the entrances and submerged cars in a hotel parking lot.

 

[NotUrsula]

DS has reported in from St. Pete. Noisy night, but no major building damage to speak of; just a few broken tree limbs, wobbly gutters and such.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I just heard a report that there may be significant loss of life…in the hundreds. Anyone know more on that?

 

[easyas123]

Talked to my folks in Ft. Myers. Both house they are building and the rental house they are staying at sustained no damage and no flooding, which was lucky on their part as the sub floor & sheet rock just went in at the new house. Dock & boats stayed put. Had 6+ feet of water off the Caloosahatchee come up the yard in 1 hours time. New house in Alva/Babcock Ranch area and rental is in south Ft. Myers area. No electric, no public water/sewer. House next to them didn't flood either, however house on other side had a good foot or two in it. They are not smack right next to each other, they each have a couple of acres of elbow room & elevation difference. There was one gas station w/ very long lines open near them. They are prepared for the long haul, at least at the moment. We will see how they feel about it a week in w/ no AC & no running water. It sounds like they dodged a bullet, but they are a bit shell shocked from the damage to the greater Ft. Myers area. They dealt with a lot when Dorian hit so they are prepared for how long clean up will take and cognizant of the scope of destruction.

So, they and the neighbors they holed up with all made it thru relatively unscathed thankfully. Their group included two groups of neighbors, 18 & 20 year old grandsons of one of the neighbors and someone's 89 year old mother. And no, I have no idea what she was doing there. Or who she was.

 

[easyas123]

I just heard a report that there may be significant loss of life…in the hundreds. Anyone know more on that?

We heard that the Lee County sheriff made that claim on a morning news show this AM, but then had to walk it back. Last I read they had two unconfirmed deaths. With that being said no one knows (yet) so it seems prudent not to jump to any numbers than are not substantiated.

 

[easyas123]

I just heard a report that there may be significant loss of life…in the hundreds. Anyone know more on that?

We heard that the Lee County sheriff made that claim on a morning news show this AM, but then had to walk it back. Last I read they had two unconfirmed deaths. With that being said no one knows (yet) so it seems prudent not to jump to any numbers than are not substantiated.

I've just read the following:

Eight people are confirmed to have been killed as a result of the storm in Charlotte County, County Commissioner Chris Constance told CNN

Lee County's Sheriff raised fears it was one of the worst natural disasters since Katrina with hundreds dead, but he later tempered his comments after DeSantis and FEMA insisted the death toll is not known.

Two people have died, likely as a result from the storm, but their causes of death are still unconfirmed.

It's 3:52 PM EST and they've just announced that the Lee County Sherriff is about to speak further on his statements. Certainty Ft. Myers & the Sanibel/Captiva area (and other areas) has been decimated and the toll will be high- hopefully more people than not got out of the area of destruction.

 

[DisneyOma]

Have you heard from your mom yet?

Thanks for asking - yes, she's fine, she was very lucky that it headed more south than first expected. Lost power, lost a few pieces of trim on her trailer, but didn't lose the trailer. She was fussing about losing the food in her refrigerator, while I'm like "lucky you have a fridge right now". She stayed at the waterfront condo for most of the day, which never lost power, and then went to check on her place, and the ones that belonged to friends. She's over in Gulfport, so she was supposed to evacuate earlier but never did.

 

[White Cat]

I just heard a report that there may be significant loss of life…in the hundreds. Anyone know more on that?

I heard of one in central Florida. But who knows. Probably more.
You seem to be looking for the worst.

 

[Minnesota!]

Been watching Surf Cam from St. Augustine Beach, south of Jacksonville. Waves gotten bigger in a short time. Give you an idea what it is doing there - and they say it will get worse. The main road along the beach in that area is closed for flooding. This is a barrier island. The city, not on the island is already flooded.

SURF CAM

Is this St John's County Pier (I think that is what it is called?).

 

[HopperFan]

Is this St John's County Pier (I think that is what it is called?).

Yes, the camera is mounted on the Embassy Suites to the north of it. The next camera is a few blocks south of pier. You can see it in shots that aren't all wet.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I heard of one in central Florida. But who knows. Probably more.
You seem to be looking for the worst.

What? Why would you say such a thing? Since you made such a nasty and unnecessary comment.....I think it's a tragedy if a single person has died.

I was out and about...and heard a comment on Bloomberg news that possibly hundreds of people died...something about people not being able to get out of a jail in time. So I posted a question.

 

[dvcgirl67]

We heard that the Lee County sheriff made that claim on a morning news show this AM, but then had to walk it back. Last I read they had two unconfirmed deaths. With that being said no one knows (yet) so it seems prudent not to jump to any numbers than are not substantiated.

Ok...thanks, I googled and couldn't find anything. I heard it in the afternoon too....so wondered if there was a single area where they were concerned for loss of life that they couldn't get to yet. I just read a story about an older couple...in their 80s, that stayed in their ranch and could not get out in time. They ended up in a dingy inside their pool cage....with their three animals, and floated up as the water rose. They had a knife with them in case they had to cut their way out of the pool screen! Thankfully they made it...as did their animals.

 

[MGMmjl]

Ian has become a hurricane again off the east coast of Florida with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. It is forecast to make landfall as a category 1 hurricane (80 mph) near Charleston, SC tomorrow afternoon.

 

[wallawallakids]

I saw that the Charlotte county commissioner confirmed 6 deaths. Which is so sad. CNN is reporting that. Also 1 death in Orlando.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

I saw that the Charlotte county commissioner confirmed 6 deaths. Which is so sad. CNN is reporting that. Also 1 death in Orlando.

I read about the Orlando death very early this morning.. An older gentleman (70s) was draining his pool with a hose to make room for the rain water to minimize flooding into the house. He went outside during the storm to check on things.. his wife got worried when he didn’t come back inside after a time. She looked for him as best she could then called 911. The 911 response time was as expected, slow. But when they did arrive they found that the man checking the hose which was draining into a canal down an embankment behind the house had slipped on the water logged slope and drowned in the canal.

Absolutely heartbreaking! And I’m sure there will be many more stories like that in the coming days sadly.

 

[NotUrsula]

Sarasota Co. also has two confirmed deaths; no details on what happened.

The biggest mystery in these terms is Sanibel, Captiva and Pine Island. They had a mandatory evac ordered, but invariably there are people who stay behind. However, with the Sanibel causeway down, EMS cannot easily get teams on the ground to check. I suspect they are using drones to fly over and initially look for signs of survivors or loss of life.

Which brings me to this observation: drones are a Godsend in situations like these. So much safer and more efficient for emergency services to be able to assess ground conditions before having to go in with boots on the ground.