Sarasota, Tampa area..... Are you getting jittery??

[Noah]

This feels like a charley thing to me how this storm jumped east.

Just wondering what you all in Sarasota area are thinking now and doing.

I was in Tampa when charley was supposed to hit and instead it hit my family.

They are all ok, just some minor damage to their homes, but not one treee left and we are talking HUGE oaks.

[gtalum]

Definitely, I'm nervous. My wife is 39 weeks pregnant, so I'm trying to figure out how to react. Fortunately, I think she can go to the hospital and wait it out, but I think that will be unpleasant.

[Terry]

Some people I know who live along the FL w. coast are already booking hotels inland. Not a bad idea to do so.

[Noah]

I booked a hotel inland last year. I am not in a flood zone and im in an upstairs condo, I worry about wind here.

I do not like the tension these hurricanes bring to us!!

[gtalum]

I have booked a hotel room near Sarasota Memorial for the moment. My thinking is that we can hunker down there until shortly before TS winds arrive then we can wait out the rest o fhte storm in the hospital. I am really scared by the possibility of delivering our baby myself in the middle of a storm!

[gatorcane]

be safe all...Tampa's luck may have run out it is early to say.....

Making preparations now is a good idea....

I do expect rapid intensification in the GOM.

[dixiebreeze]

Problem is, some of my family booked rooms near Orlando during Charlie and were hit very hard there! It's tough to know which way to go.

[shaner]

Wow. The family and I were just down in Tampa a week ago.

Makes me nervous for my folks.

[Terry]

Problem is, some of my family booked rooms near Orlando during Charlie and were hit very hard there! It's tough to know which way to go.

Dixie - my friends are booking North South and East. can't go west. lol

[dixiebreeze]

Well, that's true Terry We have a place in Ocala for safety, thank goodness -- if it tracks this direction.

[FloridaDiver]

Just got off the phone with a friend who lives in the St. Pete area, from what she has told me the local Met’s are now beginning to pick up the pace on informing the public. Most of her neighbors are keeping a “wait and see” attitude at this point. She and her husband area bit more cautious and are making the trip to Home Depot for plywood today, they are afraid that since this area has not seen any significant storms in quite some time (aka a direct hit or close call…), they are afraid that by Monday afternoon, if the track is the same, things will start to get REAL crazy…

[Wx_Warrior]

how is the mood down there now?

[Rainband]

I woke up and expected to find something has changed. But this is Just A Shock. I honestly don't know how to react. This area has been the Hurricane buffer zone for years. I hope something changes again.

[caneman]

Many times we've had that black line on us to only get TS conditions at worse. If tomorrow morning after the NOAA jet flies in and the line is still on us I'll really be worried. Hopefully Charley gave every one here enough of a scare.

[Terry]

The grocery stores are already getting heavy pre-storm shoppers.

[Stormtrack03]

The grocery stores are already getting heavy pre-storm shoppers.

Be prepared Torey .

[stpeteweathergal]

I believe the panic has begun. I went to a Sam's club this morning and people were streaming out with cases of water. The lady at the register said there was a 16 minute wait to get in the store this morning. Glad I've been prepared since June 1st. I will have to evacuate living on the intercoastal so my hubby and I are starting to put our plans in motion.

[Terry]

One thing we can hope for if this thing does buzzsaw up the west coast is that it dissapates the Red Tide bloom that's been moving north.

[johngaltfla]

I have booked a hotel room near Sarasota Memorial for the moment. My thinking is that we can hunker down there until shortly before TS winds arrive then we can wait out the rest o fhte storm in the hospital. I am really scared by the possibility of delivering our baby myself in the middle of a storm!

DON'T stay in the hotel, stay in the hospital. The hotel (if it's the one by me) won't hold up to a Cat 2 or 3 IMHO. Good luck to you I won't be too far from you and remember, this area around the hospital floods badly in a heavy rain storm....

[johngaltfla]

The grocery stores are already getting heavy pre-storm shoppers.

LOL, yup, I was in Walgreens about two hours ago. The guy behind me had a 5 inch B&W tv and a boatload of batteries.

I didn't want to break it to him that they are not good for cooking and the local channel would off the air....