Hi guys. Been a while since I posted. Checking in from Ft Lauderdale. Most gas stations are out of gas and the general mood is PANIC. Seriously, its even worse than Matthew last year. Luckily we have a safe place to stay with backup generator, etc. My wife's vehicle needs fuel so I'll try the gasbuddy app and head out around 3AM of so in hopes of finding a station.

So what you're saying is that this is essentially one huge F3 tornado?

Terrifying.

2 weeks ago I was bummed I left Charleston last year, since the eclipse went right over it. Now, I'm happy we missed a hurricane.

Lots of disasters right now from huge fires in the west to monster hurricanes in the east. I expect things to get worse as climate change drives ever more extreme weather events.

This piece of news will not surprise anyone who has been following this thread. It's astonishing to me that these people did not evacuate a low-lying island that was directly in the path of the eye of Hurricane Irma ...
----
NEWS 6 Sep, 2017

The island of Barbuda is “literally under water” and “barely habitable” after nearly all of its buildings were destroyed by Hurricane Irma.
Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, told a local ABS broadcaster that one baby had died and about 60% of the population of about 1,800 is now homeless after Irma bore down upon the eastern Caribbean.

The islands’ minister of foreign affairs reportedly told the network that more than 90% of buildings were destroyed by the Category 5 storm with 185 mph winds.

-------------------

Actually, for anyone who is near the eye of this storm, the wind is essentially a giant tornado. That's a pretty good way of thinking about it.

Well, the problem with a small island is that evacuating is a bit of an issue. There are just limited boats/airplanes available and you need to go pretty far. The airport has a very short runway, so you can't really land anything of size there. The neighbors have the same dangers, so getting to the next island is not a great alternative.

Tjin - thanks for the comments.
I hope that the people of the Turks and the Caicos make a huge effort to do the evacuation. The predictions say that the storm surge there - the rise in the level of the ocean - could be as much as 20 feet at those islands.

It has been interesting to watch how the real ground track of Hurricane Irma plays out. The computer models being used by scientists at NOAA appear to be bang-on. The models are now saying that all of the Florida keys will be hit with hurricane-force wind and rain. And that the whole east coast of Florida will be impacted by this storm. So it looks like the predictions of Barclays - this will be one of the most destructive events (in financial losses) for the USA - could be true. The eye of the storm is predicted to be very close to the Florida coast.

Meanwhile LED said ...
Most gas stations in Fort Lauderdale are out of gas, and the general mood here is panic.

Thanks for checking in, LED. Really hope that you can give more news in the next few days. I hate to say this - but the computer predictions for Irma have been surprisingly accurate. Those storm scientists are getting very good at predicting the paths of Hurricanes. Irma is predicted to be on a slingshot path, directly past the Keys, Miami and Fort Lauderdale. It's looking like there will be a lot of damage from this storm. Not a good time for people to wait - to fill their cars up with gasoline. Please send more updates, if you get the chance. And best wishes for your own preparations.

Jeanette and Les - same thing goes for you. Best Wishes for your preparations. At least you were both smart, and you went shopping for supplies ahead of the rest of the crowd. Les- hopefully you are on the road now!

Yesterday gas stations had to shut down because they were empty. The remaining gas stations had long lines.

Today I went to Walmart to pick up my prescriptions. While I was there, I picked up some root beer. I got the last two bottles.

Jeanette Isabelle

I had an appointment with the eye doctor the following Monday; I just got a call saying the office will be closed. The reason was not given; I suspect it is because of the hurricane.

Jeanette Isabelle

Good luck to you all! Keep up posted as best you can.

According to the most recent update, Irma has moved slightly to the west (closer to us) and will be near our location Sunday night/Monday morning. This latest news is particularly a problem given that my bed is up against a large window. I will be sleeping on the sofa that night, assuming that is I can get some rest. Either way, Mr. MAG-LITE will be with me.

Jeanette Isabelle