Frances

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 1:47 am

Well, we are gearing up for Hurricane Francis and neighbors are helping neighbors.

If/when power goes out (the possibility starts Friday night) please know that we will be missing you all and are thinking of you!

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 4:54 am

Heres hoping that you, Stef, and all your neighbors will be safe. I keep thinking, yikes, not again, they just went through one and here comes another!

Tina-Kate · Post by **Tina-Kate** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 7:22 am

Hold tight & stay safe, Kat!

theebmonique · Post by **theebmonique** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 7:37 am

Hi Kat...I hope you and Stef don't have to go through anything like Charley. I have been following it through WFTV. Hang on tight all !

Tracy...

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 7:41 am

We will all be with you in spirit and prayer. Let's hope it turns to the N.E. and skirts the coast.

Just what you guys didn't need, another hurricane!

stuartwsa · Post by **stuartwsa** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 9:25 am

We're all sending positive thoughts your way. Stay safe!

Haulover · Post by **Haulover** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 10:52 am

starting to look rather ominous but some people really want to play. this from a miami webcam, taken about 10:45.

Stefani · Post by **Stefani** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 11:16 am

Hi all. Here is that link that I offered three weeks ago for Charley. You can watch the Orlando area's weather here:

http://www.wftv.com/wxmap/1877642/detail.html

We have been told the eye is supposed to pass just south of us in Winter Haven. But Frances is over 300 miles across so we will all get hurricane force winds starting sometime tonight or tomorrow.

The really bad thing, besides the monster size of this hurricane, is that it is moving so slowly. Only 9-10 miles an hour. That means that instead of 1 or 2 hours of a hurricane, we will have over 24 hours of one as it crawls across the state. Plus, because it is moving so slowly it can change course easier (they say) and there is no telling where it will really go.

They tell us we will get 13-24 inches of rain this weekend. That is the type of news that is not welcomed. That much water soaks the ground and makes all the roots of the old tall trees quite soft. Once they are soaked and a gust of wind blows, these trees tend to fall over, even live ones. They rip right out of the ground, taking the sidewalks and ground area with them. We had some of that with Charley, but this one is worse.

I know Kat and I will be out of power again, but for how long, we don't know. Last time it was 5 full days. I found I couldn't take it anymore after 4. I am all ready, as ready as I can be.

Another problem is that all that crap, the debris from all the trees and branches that fell during Charley, is still on the ground in many neighborhoods. That stuff, the news people are saying, will act like projectiles and make all this even more dangerous. My street is not cleaned up yet, but the houses around me are.

As I look up to the 70 ft. oak tree in the front yard I see several rather large dead limbs hanging by a thread. I assume those will fly off first. So it all depends on the wind direction to determine if we get hit.

I moved the furniture away from the windows, which I think might help if we get some more breakage. Last time we had an east side window blown out and I had to move a bookcase in the middle of the worst part and put towels down and around to soak up the rain. This time I am fairly ready for broken windows now that I have access to them. I bought this brand new tape that is metal on one side and has a solvent on the other. It is weatherprooof. I think it will work well for me.

Yesterday I was at Home Depot looking for duct tape. There was none to be found. (A really nice guy working there told me about this "secret" new tape that wasn't in the duct tape section!) The line for plywood was 2 hours long. Last night on the news they showed people who had been waiting for two hours only to get to the front of the line and find out they were sold out. They waited an additional 4 hours for the new truck to arrive.

We have a concrete block house. We would probably have to hire somebody to install such things. Tape doesn't work on windows, by the way. The only good use of tape on windows is to help with the shattering factor. Almost all our windows have screens on the inside so we should be ok with stuff getting in.

I guess I am worried about the roof. Mike is worried about that 70 ft. tree.

I will log in when and if I can. Since this one is worse and will be here longer, who knows when that will be.

FairhavenGuy · Post by **FairhavenGuy** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 12:23 pm

Stef and Kat,

My thoughts are with you. Hang on tight.

Stefani · Post by **Stefani** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 12:26 pm

Now they have the eye coming through Orlando again. My guess is it will be close. Actually, if we could get under the eye, and have it pass to the North of us we would be safer. The north east side is the worst, as with Charley.

Maplecroft2112 · Post by **Maplecroft2112** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 4:14 pm

Kat,
My prayers are with you and Stef that you make it safely through the brewing storm.
Stay safe!
Pam

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 5:18 pm

Hopefully the storm will pass to the north and east as Stefani says Our experience has been that the tall pines break off and the oaks are uprooted due to a shallow root system for that type of tree. We have plenty of both in our yard.

We are in the middle of the State just outside the capital of South Carolina. We should be okay as long as it dosen't skirt the coast too far north and make landfall (or remake landfall) aroung Savanaha or Charleston.

Gary

Nancie · Post by **Nancie** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 7:00 pm

scary stuff, i'm watching for my family in Ft.L,
thanks for good report Stef, hope you are safe.

lydiapinkham · Post by **lydiapinkham** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 8:48 pm

Hang on tight, everyone. My prayers are with you.

--Lyddie

Stefani · Post by **Stefani** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 9:23 pm

The hurricane has slowed now. It is moving at just 4 miles per hour. They have pushed back the landfall to Vero Beach about 2AM. We haven't had any feeder bands yet, but they are pretty rough on this monster.

They tell us to expect 24 to 36 hours of rain and wind. Yuck!

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 10:14 pm

Stefani, do you open your windows a little bit when the storm hits? Someone, somewhere told me once that you need to do this and it keeps your windows from getting sucked out, the house breathes slightly, so, the air has somewhere to go and your windows won't break. Anyone else hear of this? Fact? Fiction? Don't want to give Stefani a bad idea if its not right.

Stefani · Post by **Stefani** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 10:27 pm

Susan, I have heard that this does nothing, although my mom always told us it would.

This from Bankrate.com's Guide to Home Improvement:

And don't bother opening windows to "equalize the pressure," says Lopes. That's just an old wives tale. "If a tornado wants to open your window, it will."

Besides, my house is over 50 years old. It is already full of holes! Sometimes I feel the wind blow inside the house!

Tina-Kate---how about a cartoon!

FairhavenGuy · Post by **FairhavenGuy** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 10:36 pm

Susan, I think the window bit is for a tornado not a hurricane. The pressure drop isn't that great or sudden during a hurricane to suck the windows out.

I am certainly not a weatherman though, and my only knowledge of tornadoes comes from my daughter watching The Wizard of Oz three or four times a week. (When she's not watching Snow White.) She was Dorothy last year for Halloween. (And this year she's going to be Snow White.)

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 10:38 pm

Sorry, Stefani, thats the only piece of advice I ever heard regarding a hurricane. Well, I guess it wouldn't be that much fun either when the rain starts coming sideways and just sprays into your house! I hope you and your house will be fine, wish I knew of something that might help.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 12:40 am

Here's something to know: The eye is getting unstable. And the catagorey has lowered. There is a dry wind shear happening affecting the lower western quadrant: the area below and to the left of the eye.

Our brother called his builder to find out about the window crack before Charlie. He was told that in older homes there is enough air leakage that the interior air pressure can adjust.
However, hurricanes are the largest generator of tornadoes in Florida and so one does have to think about that possibility especially at a time like this.
I have wind turbines on my roof and that circulates air thru the attic- in the newer homes built since 2000 or so, they have had thousands of dollars of hurricane proofing required and those house did very well during Charlie! They showed a helicopter view of some of those neighborhoods, so the new codes are definetly working.

william · Post by **william** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 10:34 am

Kat, Stef, vaya con Dios, ladies.

My prayers are with you

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 10:48 am

We are thinking of you and saying prayers for your safety.
Gary

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 3:50 pm

Just talked with Kat. She and Stef have unplugged their computers and will be off line at least till Monday. Then assuming they have power they will take it from there.

They've been having rain bands passing through and the storm is still on track towards their area. According to the maps tomorrow should be the heaviest rain and winds.

Let's keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

FairhavenGuy · Post by **FairhavenGuy** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 4:57 pm

Thanks for keeping us posted, Harry, and thanks, too, for the great job you do on the forum when Stef and Kat are powerless.

diana · Post by **diana** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 5:50 pm

Yes, thanks Harry! We really do appreciate your updates from Kat and Stef. It looks like there will be an awful lot of rain coming their way. I'm halfway through book about the Galveston Hurricane in 1900 and the terrible flooding that storm caused. And feeling very lucky to be just reading about a hurricane and not waiting for it to hit!

lydiapinkham · Post by **lydiapinkham** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 9:14 pm

Hi, Diana. Isaac's Storm? Great book! (But not one to read right now if you're in hurricane country. A&E did a pretty good documentary on it last month. Remarkably, some Edison people got in there with motion picture cameras disguised as surveying equipment! Historically, that footage is precious, but terribly heartbreaking.

--Lyddie

diana · Post by **diana** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 11:11 pm

Hi Lyddie -- yes! it is Isaac's Storm. I'm enjoying it a lot. But I agree -- not what Floridians would want to be dipping into at this point.

It's written by Erik Larson of The Devil and the White City fame. He's a meticulous researcher and Isaac's Storm pulls you right into Galveston in 1900. Anyone with even the least interest in meteorology would find this a fascinating read. And aside from that aspect, it's just a good human interest story.

If anyone's interested -- here's a site that links to excerpts from the book and other information about the Galveston storm -- which the National Weather Service still refers to as the "deadliest disaster in American history". (There's a few pieces of film footage taken by the Edison people on here, too.)

http://www.1900storm.com/

Doug · Post by **Doug** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 11:39 pm

We just watched the late news (Sat. evening, 9/4) and it sounds like Hurricane Frances is bringing more of the same to east and central Florida. The forecast is for 1 to 2 feet of rain and hurricane force winds for the next day or so. Good luck Kat and Stefani!

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 12:19 am

Talked again with Kat. She is still getting sporadic rain bands but not constant rain. Frances is parked off shore and barely moving. It appears to be coming ashore slightly more south than was projected.

As of 12 o'clock she still had power (knock on wood).

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 6:28 pm

Talked again with Kat. Both she and Stef do not have power. Both lost power early this morning. Both are okay though.

Even though the eye has passed over their area, the storm is so huge the outer bands are still off the coast. They expect the wind and rains to continue all day tomorrow. While I was talking with Kat you could hear several transformers popping in the distance.

She's been talking on her cell phone so we didn't talk long but she and Stef wanted you all to know they are okay.

lydiapinkham · Post by **lydiapinkham** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 11:40 pm

Thanks for keeping us updated, Harry. It's a horrible year for them, and they're inland. I can't imagine what it must be like on the coast. I just heard that Ivan has been upgraded to category 5. Here's hoping he burns out a little before making landfall.

--Lyddie

Stefani · Post by **Stefani** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 12:33 pm

HI!! I survived another one!

My power went off at 5 AM exactly on Sunday morning and went back on 29 hours later. Kat may have power but is not answering the phone, so I can't tell.

This hurricane dumped a boatload of water on us. They expect us to have rain squals all day in fact. The winds were relentless for hours, then we would get a calm, then more wind. I really think that Charley gave all the trees a haircut so the downing of trees was much less with these winds. The mayor said Charley was like going one round with a heavyweight, while Frances was a 15 rounder with a middleweight. I guess that is macho for longer but not harder?

We didn't have much damage this goaround. We lost three palm trees, one small, two medium sized. The roof lost more shingles and we have two wet spots in the front bedroom.

This one was a long wait. It took FOREVER to pass over, many times stalling and staying put. We had gusts up to 80 miles per hour with sustained winds 45-60 miles per hour. I wished the last time that we could have a hurricane in the daylight so we can see the effects right away, but now I take it back. I would rather not see the trees bend over. What you don't see in this case is better!

But guess what? We have another one coming. Yes. Ivan. Due near us by Saturday or Sunday. I guess we get to ruin every weekend!!!!

Thanks for all your well wishes. This hurricane crap is no fun.

theebmonique · Post by **theebmonique** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 3:33 pm

Stefani,

It's so good to hear you and Kat are ok...again. I have watched almost nothing but the Weather Channel for the past few days....and I tried to follow the WFTV website, but I guess they were blown out for a while. I couldn't get anything from them yesterday afternoon. Harry has been great at keeping us posted on you and Kat. I will keep you in my prayers. Ivan...HEAR THIS !: GO AWAY...THEY'VE HAD ENOUGH !!!

Tracy...

lydiapinkham · Post by **lydiapinkham** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 12:15 am

Glad you girls weathered another one. Here's hoping Ivan fizzles out before landfall.

--Lyddie

Doug · Post by **Doug** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 12:24 am

I saw on the news tonight that the Orlando airport has reopened as have the theme parks in the area. Hope things get back to normal soon for you both and they stay that way!

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 4:28 am

Yay! Great news to hear that Kat and Stefani are fine! Bad news to hear about Ivan, don't they deserve a break already?!

Stefani · Post by **Stefani** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 3:18 pm

I have power but Kat still does not. She will be later to log on, I am afraid.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:03 am

Whew!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:03 am

Wowweee

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:04 am

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:04 am

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:05 am

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:06 am

Whew!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:21 am

I've gotten my electricity back toinight as of about 9 p.m.

Thank you all so much for your prayers, well-wishes, and concern!
It was appreciated. I rode this one out alone (again) and it was 3 days long at my house. Just when I thought it was OK to sleep in my bed, a feeder band would come dumping tons of rain with huge wind gusts and I'd drag my sleeping pallet back into the hallway to sleep. My "safe room" is an interior hallway, closed off by 5 doors which meansthere are also 5 sturdy doorframes. I had everything I needed in there. When tornado warnings would come up, back into the safe room. Every street in my neighborhood lost a huge tree. Today it was like a maze trying to get home from shopping for more batteries and ice because every street was blocked. I can't tell you how exhausted I am. I thought I was tough, but this was a stressful ordeal.

Sunday there was a long lull and the neighbors all came outside and we watched the trees on our street being cleared by the City. There were 2 trees in the road tho you can only see one. Once they got to the trees they had them cut up and out of the street in 1 hour! We all stood in the wind and rain and watched. Monday early morning it was horrible. There was a huge nasty feader band whipping over here. Frances was already a Tropical storm headed to the Panhandle and I was still getting really nasty weather.
Luckily no flooding in my area.
3 days of storm, 3 days without power- I'm pooped!

I've done LOADS of laundry and took a long hot shower and changed the litterbox and had dinner between 9 and 11 p.m.

It's nice to be back.

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 4:14 am

Well its good to have both you and Stefani back, safe and sound!

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 8:11 am

Hooray, Kat and Stef are both back!

We missed you both.

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 11:09 am

Glad to hear from you and happy to hear everyone is safe, including the cat(s) We lived in southern Louisiana for a number of years and Ivan is taking a path that has got my wife's family concerned.

It looks like a gulf coast event, although I have never seen a storm so far to the south.

Gary

Stefani · Post by **Stefani** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 8:31 pm

Well, my house is fine but my first day back to work was horrendous! My office is on the second floor and there were some big problems with the way the building expelled the extra water accumulated on the roof and in the wall. It is supposed to be directed outside the building but all these ducts were plugged for some stupid reason and all that water came in instead of out.

My floor was soaked through and through. Everything on the floor was ruined (about 10 years worth of teachng notes and other various things). When I opened my door today the stench was overwhelming. The smell of mold and mildew was enough to make you want to hold your breath forever.

I spent most of the day (after my classes) packing up my office to be moved to a temporary location while they do the clean up. I had no idea how much junk I had accumulated. Thank goodness no LIzzie stuff in there!

Anyway, it was a sucky Wednesday. Gross, wet, hard labor and not fun!

I hate hurricanes. I really do.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 9:07 pm

Gary,
I saw on the local news/weather channel, ABC, that Ivan is the first recorded storm to form into a hurricane BELOW the equator.
You are right in that it is unusual!
Hope your family stays safe!

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 9:25 pm

Sorry, Stefani, what a sucky thing to come back to after everything else you had to deal with. I've heard that the hurricanes are affecting our weather out here in California, its been unbearably hot and muggy as of late! Hopefully they'll get your office back in shape and fumigate that smell out of there.

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