Hurricane Frances

guess no one has power, i wish all of you the best of luck, i know right now my condo North of West Palm is getting pounded right now.

 

All the best guys, me and the family will be thinking about you.

 

update from Surfside!

This is horrible! We still have power and have to watch this stupid broadcast on 5 channels talking crap for 24h about something that you can wrap up in 2 minutes. The repeat and the dumb live coverage is making me nausious. I can no longer hear a dumb reporter standing on the beach telling me that it is too dangerous to be at the beach!
We have team live coverage of a broken down tree in Palm Beach Gardens. They film the damn tree from all angles and report about the trees history for 2 hours. What the %$#@.

Can't they show 24h the Simpsons?

How much can you stand of this crap is the motto from this hurricane and it is not the wind it is the TV coverage.

I pray my power goes out soon so I don't have to listen to this anymore!

So far we have no damage. Some broken off limbs of our huge Banyan tree (the darn thing will be cut down soon) and nothing more. Currently we have high tide. There is some water washing over the neighbors seawall into his lawn but nothing major. I have to say though, we are in a lagood which is considered a hurricane hole. People bring their boats here to anchor them.

So Live From Miami we report : NOTHING!

 

BTW:

My neighbor Belkys from Channel 7 will come over in 2 hours for a BBQ and I will ask her why FOX is so bad. I expect quality broadcasting from FOX. First off they let Jacky Johnson go a week before this hurricane. Second they should send all those cute female reporters out there with a white FOX T-Shirt and have them stand in the rain. What happened to FOX?

 

3:50pm advisory:

my bedroom awning is down. Wind ripped it right off while I am reading an article in Forza on the bed. Turns out these nuckleheads that installed it drilled the supports into nothing. It was holding on a thread when it was calm.

I secured the big awning a little with a big 4x4 to give it some support.

As for the tree, it was a 85 year old Florida Oak. The grand father of the resident living there planted it and it had survived some other crappy hurricane. I pretty much tuned out after a few minutes. All I can say is...WHO CARES!

 

Bart sent me this a few days ago and it is so true:

Hurricane season can make a storm shudder
BY DAVE BARRY
MIAMI HERALD COLUMNIST

Originally published August 11, 2001.

A note from Dave: As Hurricane Frances approaches the East Coast, I thought
it might be helpful if I reprinted a Hurricane Preparedness Guide I wrote
some years ago for the Miami Herald. It has some specific references to
South Florida, but it should be just as useless to residents of other areas.

We're entering the heart of hurricane season. Any day now, you're going to
turn on the TV and see a weatherperson pointing to some radar blob out in
the Atlantic and making two basic meteorological points:

There is no need to panic.

We could all be killed.

Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in South Florida. If you're
new to the area, you're probably wondering what you need to do to prepare
for the possibility that we'll get hit by ''the big one.'' The best way to
get information on this topic is to ask people who were here during
Hurricane Andrew (we're easy to recognize, because we still smell faintly of
b.o. mixed with gasoline). Based on our experiences, we recommend that you
follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan:

STEP 1. Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least
three days.

STEP 2. Put these supplies into your car.

STEP 3. Drive to Nebraska and remain there until Halloween.

Unfortunately, statistics show that most people will not follow this
sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay here in South Florida. If
you're one of those people, you'll want to clip out the following useful
hurricane information and tuck it away in a safe place so that later on,
when a storm is brewing, you will not be able to locate it.

We'll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items:

HOMEOWNERS' INSURANCE: If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance.
Fortunately, this insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home
meets two basic requirements: (1) It is reasonably well-built, and (2) It is
located in Nebraska. Unfortunately, if your home is located in South
Florida, or any other area that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most
insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance,
because then they might be required to pay YOU money, and that is certainly
not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you'll
have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an
annual premium roughly equal to the replacement value of your house. At any
moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss. Since Hurricane
Andrew, I have had an estimated 27 different home-insurance companies. This
week, I'm covered by the Bob and Big Stan Insurance Company, under a policy
which states that, in addition to my premium, Bob and Big Stan are entitled,
on demand, to my kidneys.

SHUTTERS: Your house should have hurricane shutters on all the windows, all
the doors, and -- if it's a major hurricane -- all the toilets. There are
several types of shutters, with advantages and disadvantages:

? Plywood shutters: The advantage is that, because you make them yourself,
they're cheap. The disadvantage is that, because you make them yourself,
they will fall off.

? Sheet-metal shutters: The advantage is that these work well, once you get
them all up. The disadvantage is that once you get them all up, your hands
will be useless bleeding stumps, and it will be December.

? Roll-down shutters: The advantages are that they're very easy to use, and
will definitely protect your house. The disadvantage is that you will have
to sell your house to pay for them.

? ''Hurricane-proof'' windows: These are the newest wrinkle in hurricane
protection: They look like ordinary windows, but they can withstand
hurricane winds! You can be sure of this, because the salesman says so. He
lives in Nebraska.

''HURRICANE PROOFING'' YOUR PROPERTY: As the hurricane approaches, check
your yard for movable objects like barbecue grills, planters, patio
furniture, visiting relatives, etc.; you should, as a precaution, throw
these items into your swimming pool (if you don't have a swimming pool, you
should have one built immediately). Otherwise, the hurricane winds will turn
these objects into deadly missiles. (If you happen to have deadly missiles
in your yard, don't worry, because the hurricane winds will turn THEM into
harmless objects).

EVACUATION ROUTE: If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an
evacuation route planned out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying
area, look at your driver's license; if it says ''Florida,'' you live in a
low-lying area.) The purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being
trapped in your home when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped
in a gigantic traffic jam several miles from your home, along with two
million other evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely.

SUPPLIES: If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not
buy them now! South Florida tradition requires that you wait until the last
possible minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with
strangers over who gets the last can of Spam. In addition to food and water,
you will need the following supplies:

? 23 flashlights.

? At least $167 worth of batteries that turn out, when the power goes out,
to be the wrong size for the flashlights.

? Bleach. (No, I don't know what the bleach is for. NOBODY knows what the
bleach is for. But it's traditional, so GET some, dammit!)

? A 55-gallon drum of underarm deodorant.

? A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a
hurricane, but it looks cool.)

? A large quantity of bananas, to placate the monkeys. (Ask anybody who went
through Andrew; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate monkeys.)

? $35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can
buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.

Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it
is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on
your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next
to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for
everybody to stay the hell away from the ocean.

At that point, if you've prepared all you can, there's frankly nothing left
to for you to do but pray. I mean for a really BIG wave.

 

GREAT POST!!! I agree the knife on the leg would look damn cool

 

Advisory 5:00pm

Surfside still has power STOP
Power Loss imminent STOP
More Banyan tree branches down STOP
Some on my roof STOP
Margarita Mix getting low STOP
Running out of Ice STOP
Sausages cooking on the Barbe STOP
Sauteed mushrooms in white wine steaming STOP
Coke and Rum in cooler STOP
More people coming to the house STOP
Everybody still alive STOP

Call 911 to get more ice and Margatira Mix to us STOP

 

im praying for yall

 

Report from Miami Shores..

Still have power..
Still have Pina Colada and Bacardi
Still have ice.
Still have Internet
Cable TV is out. Satellite is in and out.
getting hungry.. possibly heading to Martins..

 

Surfside Update:

Still power
strikingly low on Margarita
switching to Rum and Coke now
damn FOX is still not putting the girls in T-Shirts on the beach. Sent them an e-mail to complain.
Funny when you talk to people that left here to go to places like Miami Shores to have better chances with power and bang their power is out. Don't know how you managed Julian. I just talke dto some friends and they are out!

More branches on my roof. That will solve the cutting the damn tree down part that I had planed for October/November. Francis is cutting it down for me

 

thx for the update.. make some pinacolatas

 

Well our flight from Detroit to Ft.Meyers was cancelled this afternoon. We are going to try again tomorrow. If our flight is cancelled tomorrow then my new wife and I are going to try to find a new honeymoon destination. Most likely Vegas or Chicago. Keep safe everyone.

 

My Mother lives in Boca Raton. She called me yesterday to notify me that she has "evacuated". Everything East of Federal Hwy is "evacuated". However, she finished reading her book first and returned it to the library before driving to her friend's house in St Andrews - about 7 or 8 miles inland, in Boca Raton.

Today's report: they are busy playing card games. It's been raining off and on, and only slightly windy. And, eventually, the hurricane will arrive. Their hurricane party continues. Their concern is more with when will the rain stop.

Meanwhile, man the DVDs and forget the news. Party on.

Marci - dryish in Dallas (we had some rain today!).

 

The hurrican made landfall practically directly over my house in Stuart, my parents are freakin out over it cause they were thinkin of sellling it b/c its worth over a million right now.

 

I'm in Naples, 100 m W of Miami & bloody Francis woke me up at 1 am & now at 5:30. I feel sorry for the people on the E coast. I have family & friends from Vero & Palm that went to Orlando where they have tornado watches now. I hope they are all ok.

BTW there is a Tropical Storm called Ivan N of Venezuela now, Sheesh, Lets hope Ivan goes stays out at sea or finds Chavez personally

 

Good luck to all our FL. friends. We are watching the news and hope that this will be behind you without damage. LOL
Take care
Roland
F40LM

 

..JUST SPOKE TO MY BUDDY IN FT LAUDERDALE-PLANTATION AREA..

UNBELIEVABLE THAT HIS CELL WORKS STILL AND SAID THAT FT LAUDERDALE-PLANTATION IS A MESS....HE IS AT THE PLANTATION HS FALL OUT SHELTER..


ON TUES, IM SENDING HIM SOME FLASHLIGHTS, BATTERIES, AND CANNED GOODS....

IF ANYONE IS IN THAT AREA, ILL ENLARGE THE PACKAGE TO TAKE ON OTHER PEOPLE THAT NEED IT..

LET ME KNOW BY EMAIL ( IF YOU CAN OR POST IT HERE)

BRUCE AND FAMILY

 

Geez...

Just got home...all OK...couple of trees down, that's it. Good news have power! Right now worried about flooding...got the car on jack stands.

Martin - if you need help with clean up or moving trees tomorrow, let me know....be glad to assist and will bring truck.

 

Guys, I also have a pick up so if you need help let me know 305-903-7786.

good luck

Armando

 

Thanks guys!

No need for anything here. Nothing major. will have to get the awning back up but will wait till the other hurricane has made its course. From the projection course this sucke ris coming from the South straight at us again. So we got it from the west, from the east and now we will have one from the south.
Talking about all the fun is only in Orlando!

Bruce,
unless your friend is in a realy bad spot I am sure he should be fine. We will have even our grocery store open tomorrow.

No power outage. My palms are still in, kind of funny. I was really scared they would blwo over.

Saw my neighbors boat break lose from one of the ropes and tied it down. He is out of town. Somebody here in the lagoon lost his dock. There are some 20 planks swiming in the water.

Most dreadful of this storm was the relentles TV coverage. Boy did that suck!

 

I can't agree more with the statement that the TV coverage really sucked.
It was relentless. It never ended. On every cable channel.
I am in middle Fl. near Ocala. We had winds that were like a mild fart blowing across the state. Rain for about four hours. No big deal.
I told my my best friend is Palm Beach who was calling me that this was not going to be as bad as they pumped it up to be. It never is.
I was supposed to have a Ferrari delivered to me this weekend and the transport cancelled and would not come here this weekend. So, now I am waiting until Tuesday for it.
Gary

 

Martin, glad to hear that you are OK. The only damage I see around here is Charley related. Just talked to Paul Sloan and every thing seems to be good with him as well. Now if we can just get cleaned up from Charley.