Good Hurricane Info

My friends in Florida all swear by Dennis Phillips. I follow his FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/denisphillipsweatherman

This is my go-to meteorologist on twitter for Florida hurricane info. He gives frequent updates, and good analysis and explanations

Stay safe everyone.

https://twitter.com/RyanMaue

We follow Mike's Weather page...and we live in Florida.

Living in Miami and Jupiter, Palm beach County for the last 30something years, we went through at least 10 hurricanes, got blown out of my house a few times too, Incl Andrew in1992. We lost everything in that one.

I don't really listen to any weatherman or woman. they are all drama queens.

If I want to know something about a particular hurricane I go straight to NOAA or the National Hurricane Center. That's where those weather people get their information from anyway so why not go directly to the source?

I am on the Florida East Coast, but I am watching close. I had to move from 2 places due to flooding. My place near the beach was flooded knee deep after a Tropical Storm, but I had already moved out of there. A change in draining pattern caused the whole road to flood.

I got flooded out in hurricane Irma too, and the roof blew off. It was a rental so I moved away after it flooded again. Once more there was a change in drainage due to development.

Where I am now seems safe from flooding. There are several big detention ponds near by an we seem to be high enough above them.

I recently moved all my photo equipment from a spot by the front window to a place away from windows. I bought a used 7 foot tall china cabinet and it holds my 3 cameras, a dozen or so lenses, all 5 flashes and even room for my harmonica collection I think everything will be safe from the elements. There is no particular news source I watch. The main thing is to keep updated and have a plan.

"I don't really listen to any weatherman or woman. they are all drama queens." Rudy, exactly what I said to my husband earlier. lol! Drama queens and some even exhibitionists taking unnecessary and stupid chances (imo) and for what ... a photo op. Ooooh, look at me, look at me. Not naming names but you can probably figure out who I'm referring to.

We usually just watch the local weatherman who is usually a straight shooter. I'll definitely check in with NOAA now too.

Make sure you store computers and back up drives and camera gear in water proof containers/bags

My friend was in a fire, would have been ok had it not been for the sprinklers to go off and soak and ruin everything
At least he and his family were safe

hoping all Florida artists and people down there are safe and this will be a minor hurricane, hang tight

I agree with Rudy on this, NOAA ,,,the others are too hyperbole..

Hope you guys in the path are all safe. I am in NJ and hoping for some rain from this system - we need the rain.

There's a load of good information, mainly devoid of ratings hype, available from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Because your local TV guy probably does not have his own satellite, their hard information comes from NOAA. You can see some of the source here:

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov

Oh, and by the way, having been through several hurricanes in my life, including one in a moving beachfront building when I was a kid that left a permanent mark on my psyche, my advice is that the best thing you can do is to take direction from the emergency people, who have plans in place for events like this. If they tell you to get out, do it.

All my friends on the other side of Florida, stay safe and evacuate if required or needed. Cat 1 and 2 are pussycats compared to a cat 3. Don't mess with a cat 3 hurricane!

Here we go again! Stay safe everyone! Don't stay in a mobile home and evacuate if you are ordered to especially in flood/surge areas!

Prayers for my friends in Naples, Bonita Springs, Tampa, St Petersburg and Orlando areas and everyone in the storms path. Worried about the ones in Naples and Bonita Springs area. They say their ready but they couldn't find water anywhere so they filled up gallon jugs with water.

You all above and here on FAA who are also in Florida, please be safe! Smart idea about protecting your equipment in waterproof bags. Keep you and your family safe! I went through a tropical storm while on vacation there a few years ago and it was bad. Can't imagine a Hurricane, especially one that is close to a 5!

Please note tropical todbits is now the official source linked to by Drudge Report and other new services, so
The site may be slow, unresponsive, or even crashed by excessive load.

I'm with Rudy, NOAA is your ultimate source for weather info and the definitive source of info for every weatherman. There are tons of apps so you can get alerts right on your phone.

I also use the DisasterAlert app for global issues (like earthquakes, plague, storms, heatwaves, tsunami, etc.). You can find it in the App Store at the link below, but I believe they have an Android version too:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/disaster-alert-pdc-global/id381289235

So that thing is going to land somewhere between Ft Meyers and Port Charlotte as a cat 4 (almost 5)

I saw the 8-10 feet storm surge in Ft Meyers on TV. Doesn't look good. Not good at all

I will never understand why they allow to build houses and apartments right on the beach (I know why) in a hurricane prone area. (or anywhere for that matter) Fools

I just heard there may be surges up to 14'. This ain't gonna be pretty. Not pretty at all.

Anybody who buys beachfront property anywhere on the planet has to consider that 100% disposable income. It's not going to be investment property, it's going to be nonexistent property.

It's investment property until it's not. It's all a game of musical chairs. Once the tipping point hits, the whole market collapses.

Either way, not a safe money management option.

My thoughts all morning were centered around the safety of a long time FAA friend,...Charles Peck

An Amazing Artist,..Renowned for his spectacular murals.



Who has been recently treating me, with his daily photos of the sunrise and sunset, taken from his boat, in Charlotte Harbor .

With trepidation I went to his Facebook page..

And MUCH TO MY RELIEF, HE IS SAFE!!

That's good news Roger!

We were very fortunate as this monster storm dodged us and spared us of it's devastation except for lot's of fallen branches to clean and all the preparations we made we are feeling very blessed today, still lot's of gusting TS winds here today but the chickens and sheep are grazing happily.

So far, so good. We've been vacationing in Ocean City, MD and, as far as we are from the storm, it's still been a gnarly day....windy, big waves and some rain. The night isn't over yet and since we are leaving tomorrow, I'm hoping things calm down so we can drive back to Baltimore without any drama. It's windy and rainy right now at the beach, but roads are passable, power is on and we're in a large concrete building. Wind is running about 35 mph, enough to make the fireplace chimney in this condo make roaring noises that sound like a 1930's horror movie.

The storm simmered down a bit by the time that it passed way west of OCMD and, by this morning, we were able to make our departure, riding through light rain, which continues in Baltimore tonight. Aside from a leafy back yard, things are just wet here, more dreary than threatening. That's OK by me. I'm fine with not having a repeat of the hurricane experience.

For those of you that have never seen one, people along the east coast north of Hattaras have also seen the so-called nor-easters, storms that are similar to hurricanes, but with a "cold core" (non-tropical) and no well defined eye wall. They can be almost as intense as hurricanes. Way back when, I sat through one of these monsters in a beach front building. It had intensified very suddenly and there I was. The wind hit 100 mph and, even though it was a sturdy masonry structure, it was shaking and rattling all night. Rain and wind were roaring up the stairwells.

About 3 AM, not being able to sleep, I looked out into the parking lot behind the building and realized that cars were flooded....nobody is going anywhere. When I had come in, the lot was full, I had to part a couple blocks away, and came in soaked, cussing about not being able to park. To my surprise, where I parked was a few feet higher and did not get flooded, so the next morning, my car was fine while everybody else was trying to get soaked cars started.

even though I agree with Doug that other storms can be very dangerous, there are some major differences between a regular storm and hurricanes.

With a hurricane. one gets pounded by a very strong continuous wind and even stronger wind gusts for hours and hours just like a regular storm, but usually with stronger winds. Sometimes twice as strong. After enduring this for hours, the same wind (stronger usually actually) come all of a sudden from the opposite direction. Especially closer to the eye. Many already weakened structures break at that point. Most damage is done during the second half of a hurricane. (I went through 10 of them) It is like bending a match stick in one direction to almost its breaking point and then suddenly bend it into the opposite direction as far as you can. Bye bye match stick

The other huge difference is tornadoes. Many hurricanes have a lot of tornadoes. Ian had a lot of tornadoes I understand. Hurricane Andrew in 1992 for instance had over 250 tornadoes in it

So the combination a hurricane, tornadoes and all the other elements can make things very dangerous and unlike anything else

Ironically, the storm I'm most familiar with was the infamous 1962 nor'easter that came up the east cost, the "Ash Wednesday Storm". The wind was nowhere near that of a hurricane (about 60 mph) and there were no tornadoes, but the storm covered a huge geographic area (like deep south to New England), the result being that hardly any wind damage occurred, but outrageously huge waves were generated in the ocean that didn't just damage buildings, but literally removed them from the landscape.

I have a bunch of old 35 mm transparencies, shot by my parents during a post storm visit to Ocean City, MD that show entire stretches of beach that had beach houses before, but after the storm, had NOTHING, no wreckage, no pilings or foundations....nothing but bare sand with an occasional buried car, hot water heater, etc. Other areas look like they'd been bombed in the Blitz. Ocean City was completely changed by that storm, part of the island was literally washed away, creating a second inlet that was subsequently filled in, but also clearing the sand, resulting in a seemingly ironic building boom.....rebuilding in the same place that had been wiped clean, assuming that it would never happen again.

Check out Google Images, "nor'easter of 1962".