OK...NOW I'M OFFICIALLY WORRIED!!

[DAVE440]

Been thru several hurricanes down here but mostly just outer fringe or outer eyewall effects... from Andrew David Frances Charlie ...more recently...Katrina...but all can be considered non-major events for Ft.Lauderdale. More flooding and damage in Dade or north of Broward in Palm beach....or on the West coast last season... but for Broward...no power for a few days or a week for some...flooding in some areas but no major damage....

It's sort of exciting....the anticipation...the prep...the wait...then hearing the wind...and pounding rain... as you sit in the dark cut off from the world except for a radio. No computer to track anymore or connect with the world till power comes back... some nervousness to be sure but more like a bit of a rush as long as nothing serious happens.

NO RUSH THIS TIME!! WILMA IS DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS!!

While hurricanes do have an excitment about them...I certainly don't wish for them! Turn my back for a few hrs and a near cat 3 becomes a 5. I'm hoping by the time I get up ....it'll be back to a 3 then maybe just disappear altogether. Wishful thinking I know.... but...

THIS ONE HAS ME WORRIED TO BE SURE!!

STARTING PREP.TODAY AND JUST HOPE LIKE ALL HE!! THIS THING LOSES SOME PUNCH BEFORE IT GETS HERE....OR THE TRACK PANS OUT WRONG....IN OUR FAVOR!!

I'VE NEVER NOT WANTED A STORM AS BAD AS I DON'T WANT THIS ONE!

[jim09091]

operation freak-out, stage 1




after living most of my life in FL, I used to never get concerned. '92 changed that, then eased up until Charley last year. This year has been... ummm.... "interesting" to say the least.

[Brent]

operation freak-out, stage 1




after living most of my life in FL, I used to never get concerned. '92 changed that, then eased up until Charley last year. This year has been... ummm.... "interesting" to say the least.

Boston's looking really good. (Well, that is if this doesn't phase and cause a massive storm up there).

[HURAKAN]

After Wilma, Bonita Beach may have to be renamed Destruida (Destroyed) Beach.

[GalvestonDuck]

Finalize your preparations now...plenty of time to panic and stress later when you get into that all-out survival mindset.

Been there, done that...feel for ya.

[Clint_TX]

Hey duck...get any wind damage?

[HURAKAN]

Finalize your preparations now...plenty of time to panic and stress later when you get into that all-out survival mindset.

Been there, done that...feel for ya.

GREAT ADVISE!

[GalvestonDuck]

Hey duck...get any wind damage?

Minor -- shingles off the top of the roof in three sections, big branch down in the back yard, and the screen in the screen door (which I had just replaced not a month or so earlier) was ripped out from the frame so it's still all in one piece and fixable.

Lots of other damage around the island, but mostly just cosmetic stuff (exterior brick walls collapsed - the most publicized being the one at Yaga's on the Strand, siding and shingles ripped off, trees and branches down, signs down, and a few windows broken). I think we were the lucky ones this season.

How about you?

[bevgo]

Make your hotel reservations now. Call family and let them know you may be there soon for a visit. Get ready. Watch and stay informed. Get your hurricane survival kit ready--pack it in the car and be ready to evac. Don't plan on hanging around. It is NOT fun--the excitment rapidly turns to terror and the adrenalin is the only thing you have to keep you going at times.

I learned this lesson the hard way. If Wilma is heading your way or if you are in the CONE--forget the line--GET OUT!!!!!!

Leave early to avoid the traffic problems. Fill your cars with gas. Take memories and important papers and just leave. If it misses you then you can return and tell your evac stories. Don't stay and have horror stories of survival or have an obit in the local paper. You do not want to be in a home that ends up with a # of dead on the front.

[zoeyann]

Two pieces of advice:

1. Even if you do not evac later and end up payning a no show fee, book your hotel room early. I made the mistake of not doing that and when I flipped for Katrina and left I had nowhere to go, and ended up with my two kids and I staying in a motel where the neighbor asked my friend if he had any crack and no lock on my door. I will always book early and pay the fee rather than stuck in that position

2. Pack early and double check everything before you leave no matter how much you panic. I paniced when I loaded up the car, and forgot my jewlery (the syntamental kind like my mother's wedding ring) and my back up computer disks with family pictures. I would have regretted losing these things forever. So no matter how paniced you get take the time to double check.

These things seem kind of basic, but the biggest mistake I made was playing too calm at first and then panicing at the last minute. So start preping now, and keep your emotions in check. It is difficult but you make mistakes and do not think clearly when you panic.

[DAVE440]

In the face of all this doom and gloom.... there is one good thing.


I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to geico.

[Acral]

In the face of all this doom and gloom.... there is one good thing.


I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to geico.

LOL... too funny...

SERIOUSLY .. The time to act is NOW for those in the "cone".

[wsquared77]

My husband is usually very calm about storms. They don't really fluster him at all. While Katrina was roaring over our house and we were getting 3 feet of water in our yard, he snored through the whole thing. I was the one up pacing the house! (I feel bad even talking about our affects from Katrina in Homestead, FL after what happened along the Gulf! ) He e-mailed me at work today with a list of things to get at the store and said he was going to stop by Home Depot on his way home. I think this one has him nervous and we're on the east coast of FL!