Anyone as close to this monster as we are?

Hurricane Matthew is expected to hit southern Florida early Friday morning.

 

My sister lives in that area

hope shes turns out ok.

 

How is it going? You are supposed to be hit overnight. Keep us posted and good luck!

 

Strong winds right now (as of 11 pm), kinda come and go. The media, as always, has been nothing but a cause of panic. Some of it was legit, but most of it was for the ratings. Most gas stations in my area had no gas yesterday and today, some stores were out of water, etc. etc. So stupid, since no hurricane lasts more than 1-2 days.

Here's a new map, seems like it will be going past us:

 

better to be safe then sorry I guess.

 

I was just happy to get my flight out of Baltimore this morning. I think that we are safe way up here in New England, but it is heading a bit further north than your locale. Jacksonville is looking to get hit hardest. A business that I am involved with is headquartered in Jacksonville which is getting hit right now, I believe. The server is still running.

 

@jrbiz Good to hear that you were safe.
I have a relative living in Florida. She told me that it's a bit frightening when it comes to hurricanes. The weather is very unpredictable and one has to always be ready to face any situation. She told me that she takes preventive measures to protect her family from hurricanes. She said that she has installed the Florida impact windows and doors are they are made with impact glass, have got the insurance covered, keeps the batteries and phones charged, has installed a strong garage door and also stores lots of water and food during such situations, as it is difficult to get it after the hurricane ends. I have never experienced one, but always pray to God for the ones who suffer.

 

Thanks, @Lora Williams. That weather event did not affect me at all, it turns out. We do occasionally get hurricanes up here in New England, but they are infrequent and usually winding down by the time they hit us.

 

Nope, over in Cali, but might move to florida in a few years.

 

Another one's coming. Should be here by Fri-Sat. It may not amount to much by the time it reaches us, but you never know. Some say it will be a category 3 hurricane.

Irma: https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/threat-increasing-cuba-florida-intensifying-irma

 

Didn't it just get upgraded to Category 5? Time to batten down the hatches, no?

 

Yeah, it's been upgraded. They are not talking about evacuation yet, so we shall see if we just need to sit tight or jump in our family van and get the hell out of here.

 

Boy, they are saying that this is the largest hurricane in history at its current location. Take care and keep us posted!

 

So are you bugging out or sticking around???

 

We are sticking around. We are in central FL, they say it's going to be bad here too but survivable.

 

Good luck with this one. I hope that you are stocked up with food and water. As @sarahk points out, the forecasters continue to speak in historic terms. Many times it is hyperbole; does not seem to be the case this time. Our West Palm Beach engineering office is closed today and will not re-open until Tuesday at the earliest.

Do you have a generator?

 

Nope. The local Lowe's and Home Depot were out of them the last time we checked. 500 were delivered to Home Depot a day ago and they were gone in 15 minutes. The good news is my neighbor has an extra one and he told me yesterday if we happen to need it we're welcome to use it.

It looks like by the time the storm gets to us it will be category 2-3. Matthew was category 3 and we didn't lose power, so I hope this one will end up being the same. As far as food, water, propane - we are good.

 

That's good to hear. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

@jrbiz The wind was pretty bad all day yesterday, all night and even this morning it's still ripping the shingles off. We have not lost power which is unbelievable considering that most of our county have.