Quoted from Accuweather.com:

Quote:
Hurricane Charley, as of 11 AM EDT, was centered at 19.7 north, 81.52west, or about 25 miles north of Grand Cayman. Charley is moving northwest at 17 mph. Estimated central pressure is 983 millibars (29.03 inches). Maximum sustained winds are 90 mph. A hurricane warning is in effect for the Florida Keys, and the southwest Florida coast up to Bonita Beach. A tropical storm warning includes the Florida Keys from the Seven Mile Bridge, to Ocean Reef, and the south Florida mainland to East Cape Sable. The hurricane warning remains in effect for the Cayman Islands. A hurricane watch is in effect for western Cuba and along the west coast of Florida as far north as the Suwanee River. Note from yesterday that Charley has slowed its forward speed. We still think the most likely scenario is that Charley gets picked up by the eastern North America trough, crosses the western end of Cuba tonight, tracks west of Key West tomorrow morning, then turns north-northeast, with a landfall on the west coast of Florida, north of Tampa, tomorrow night, as perhaps a category 2 hurricane.



Yup, we're getting ready here. I'd love to anchor my house with big concrete pilings and cables and stuff, but there are a few drawbacks:

1) I haven't got ten grand to do it.
2) The water table here doesn't even permit BASEMENTS, let alone burying stuff deeper than about 10 feet.
3) Even reinforced buildings get damaged from sustained high winds. I'm not talking about a gust...I'm talking about HOURS of it, which means that erosion/attrition will take a heavy toll on even the strongest buildings if the windspeed is high enough.

So, Sarah and I are doing the best we can with what we've got. We're pretty well prepared and will let you know how well our survival preparations went.

It's good to have these little training exercises to know really how the dynamics are going to go down. We consider them exercises - it keeps panic at bay and allows us to keep the cool-headed survival mindset so essential for the goal of survival.

Good luck to all. We are in Tampa. Looks like we're gonna take it in the chops.

Panz