I've got a 2001 song lyric in my head...

... and it's not even the right one.

Solely based on what the weather looks like.

Currently, the reports are saying it's cloudy, 79° (but "feels like 85) and there's a very minimal change of rain this morning. 

Looking outside, it looks like snow and when I went out to take pictures and see how muggy it is, it feels like a calm before a storm. 

"Calm before a storm" meaning it is so damp out, that you wonder why the sun hasn't fully arrived and what's in store for us this week, considering there's been more of an influx of tornados in the mid west this week.

The more the news is showing the bad weather, the more worried I'm getting about what we might (or might not) have arrive on our doorsteps the next several months. 

As it is, the word on the street is May 15 started the twice a day NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) tropical weather check and updates go out when available. 

Link is here... hopefully it's clickable. I searched "noaa starts to check hurricane outlook as of may 15".

They say:

(picture 01) 

"Yes, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) began issuing tropical outlooks on May 15, 2025. These outlooks provide a forecast of potential for tropical cyclone development over the next two to seven days. The official Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1st. 

Here's a more detailed explanation:

Purpose of Tropical Outlooks:

The NHC uses tropical outlooks to highlight areas where there's a potential for disturbed weather to develop into tropical cyclones. These outlooks are crucial for early preparation and awareness, allowing individuals to be ready for potential hazards like storm surge, flooding, and strong winds. 

Content of Outlooks:

The outlooks include probabilities for development into a tropical cyclone over the next 48 hours and seven days. These probabilities are categorized as low (0-30%), medium (40-60%), and high (70-100%). 

Frequency and Duration:

The NHC issues tropical outlooks daily from May 15th to November 30th. They are issued twice a day (at 2 a.m. and 2 p.m.). 

Eastern Pacific Season:

It's important to note that the Eastern Pacific hurricane season also begins on May 15th and runs until November 30th."

(picture 02)

"The National Hurricane Center (NHC) began issuing daily tropical weather outlooks on May 15th, 2025, according to multiple news sources. These outlooks provide a 7-day forecast of potential tropical development, highlighting areas with varying probabilities of storm formation. The NHC issues these outlooks every day from May 15th through November 30th, and they are updated multiple times a day, with the first update at 8 a.m. ET. 

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

Purpose of the Outlooks:

The outlooks help identify areas where there's a potential for tropical development over the next 2-7 days. 

How they are used:

The outlooks use a color-coded map to indicate the likelihood of development, with yellow for low potential, orange for moderate, and red for high. 

Timing of the Outlooks:

They are issued daily from May 15th through November 30th, according to the National Hurricane Center. 

Future Outlooks:

The National Hurricane Center may also issue outlooks before the official season begins if they anticipate significant development, as happened in March"

According to the National Hurricane Center website, it's more like "Tropical Weather Outlook Issuance will resume on May 15th or as necessary". Which means notices come out when the ocean is brewing more than bioluminescent plankton in other parts of the world. 

So today we get a cloudy but muggy looking day and I've got Train's "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" (track 3 off of Train for reference) in my head, but I fixed the lyric to sound like "it looks like snow but feels like rain" instead of "She acts like summer and walks like rain". I always seem to get the most random music on rotation in my dome. That's even before coffee! 

Yup, all this crazy talk and I've yet to drink my java, which is now iced. "It's only Monday; what else is there to do?" * eye roll * . "Drink your drink and go to the gym, for starters" because at some point, we're getting a new washing machine.

Uh huh. Our machine shit the bed flooded the laundry room Saturday night and since my mom think's it's been nothing but problems since we bought it (over 5 years ago), it's time to get a new one. Here we thought replacing the agitator a month ago would have fixed everything, it only made other issues arise. 

Not to be confused with Aqua Teen Hunger Force's "Chicken Arise" scene (season 3 if you want to watch the entire series, or you can find that specific snippet online somewhere). 

So we ran out yesterday and bought a new Samsung machine to replace our GE. We should be getting it delivered any time between 9am and 1:30pm today. Once that's unpacked and installed, we have to register it and make sure we've got everything loaded into the protection plan because our luck says something's gonna happen. Then it's off to a friend's apartment because I need to hook up some electronics that someone else is holding, and who knows what else. 

Slightly busy day and hopefully the weather holds out and we don't get rain. Then again, if it gets any more humid out, it'll top off at ninety something and it'll feel far worse than getting pelted with hydration bubbles for a few minutes.

Can't win sometimes, but you can sure hope? 

Guess I'll go get started.. the gym is going to be packed soon and I don't feel like watching political channels.

Stay clean;

Cheers

Going to quickly write

Because the internet keeps going off and on, so I don't know how long I will have to be able to post this. It is 10:04am as I start. 

We are back in our unit, and the only visible damage the community has is down palm fronds. There was no water surge, no flooding. The people who have lush landscaping, have to clean up everything, but there may be a few houses with some shutters that got blown off. Nothing too major to fix; maybe a gutter or downspout replacement. 

We were so friggin lucky with this. The predictions were going to be disastrous for the entire west coast of Florida. I know the beach and other sand communities are devastated yet again, but the more we have these storms, the more the sand is going to wash away in to the ocean. 

It's like the news said - Fort Myers Beach was literally the last destination in Southwest Florida that exemplified "Old Florida", to the point that you could look down Estero Blvd and see the 1960s to 1990s where you had okay, some tourist shops in places, but you didn't have the super resorts or big build up. You had just easy living. 

Same with Sanibel and Captiva. Those are truly Old Florida - no chain stores, no malls, no big grocery. Not even street lights in some places. Just houses and land. Calm and relaxing. 

Now the three areas are being battered year after year with storms. The Earth is eroding away and what is left, mega mansions and resorts are being built on top of it. It's becoming too touristy. 

Yet, where this last storm hit the hardest, was in Sarasota and Bradenton. My mother can't get a hold of her cousin in Bradenton. The last couple texts this morning started repeating on themselves, which means one of us lost cell service. It's probably the cousin since we don't know the state of the cell towers there. We have slow service, but we aren't Pete and Repeat in our texts. One of the last things that was written was "we have no power", even though they have a generator. We expected them to be able to last through this. The woman and her husband are nearing 80 and have a little 3 year old dog (I think Chester is 3?). They're healthy people (to a point) but if their generator isn't working, we don't know what's going on. We can't go check on them - the rivers we cross to get there are going to overflow by the weekend. High tides and stuff. 

With all the traffic that will come back from the north, if they can come back, it's going to be insane to try to get up there. We don't even know what type of damage they have. Considering the tornados that plowed through this area yesterday morning, local news was talking about all the downed power lines and destruction in Fort Myers. I think my mom saw on Facebook or we heard it on the news, that most of the intersection lights are off. 

I just looked at the front page of the local paper. One of the headlines says "3.1M people without power". I didn't look into it. It was a DeSantis article, but I was looking to see if there was anything else for local. Anything that stood out. 

I know the area of town I work in will be bad. I don't know how bad though. Too many places got ripped through by the tornados. 

We just got such crazy and scary wind all night, that my mother and I didn't sleep. We kept the radio on all night because there was no television upstairs. We were able to maintain power and such, but the internet keeps flickering. Hopefully this is it for the rest of the week, but there's still the prospect of surges happening. Bridges getting washed out because they are already at peak levels over the waters. 

This is what happened during Ian. The storm surge brought in all the water from the oceans and could inundate the bridges. It won't be pretty. Or safe. Hopefully the water can go back down and make for safe travels for people. Especially those hard hit and need the crews to get to the broken cities and fix them. It's going to be a while before everyone is back to whatever "normal" is. 

I've got to finish putting my stuff away. Like I said, I wanted to create a quick post to say we're okay, we're in our unit. No flooding, no big problems. 

I'll update later if I can.

Cheers;

Where there is power…

… There is no internet. 

As I start typing this, it is 7:17am. I am using my phone again due to Hotwire being down. We do have power, just not internet. 

Of all ISPs, this Hotwire is headquartered in Sarasota. So they are more than likely under water since Milton touched down and dropped his bags at 8:30pm yesterday in Siesta Key. Which means the Sarasota / Bradenton area got the partial impact because Milty struck just over the ten miles of the projected target of Tampa. 

So this also means even though we currently have electricity in the house we are in, there’s no way to watch regular programming on the tv because Hotwire is supposed to be fiber optics. And it relies on Wi-Fi. There are no cables inside the houses at all. It’s a modem in your laundry room or garage, an eero mesh extender, and HDMI cables if you want television.  

Therefore, no catching the news. 

The pipes work so we can use the toilets and take a wipe down shower. There’s no flood water outside on the street but we don’t know yet what our house looks like. 

It has taken me 20 minutes to write this because I got squirreled. My mom wants to try to walk to our house to see what’s going on. So when we get back, or sit back down, I will write again. But for now we are okay. 

Cheers. 

Downgraded to a 3… take the water with you

 I am writing this on my phone at the moment with my Magic Keyboard because I did not want to run back up stairs and get my laptop (the keyboard isn’t a touch model. It is the model below). 

As of 5:11pm, things are starting to turn. Milton has now become a Category 3 storm and “taking the more northerly track”, which means he is on his way toward Sarasota and Tampa still, not Southwest Florida. There will still be “powerful winds until it makes lane up”. They “will increase”. The eye wall is “missing some of the rain and thunderstorm. That is a sign that the storm has some weaknesses in it. […] It will still impact the other side of the state, but this is not symmetrical anymore. It does not do us any favors with impact because the wind increases”, says the news. I kind of tried to go along as they were talking, but it is hard to keep up. I could not get it all through my head quick enough to type out. 

“It is about 80 miles away from Florida” and is still 82 degrees out. “The surge is beginning. The water is coming in”. The beach is already under water. 

5:15 - News says “local government is now saying everyone needs to shelter in place. From this moment on, people need to stay inside. It is now at the point where people should not be outside. Local government is saying people should be indoors. It is not the time to go take videos or walks. Be inside and away from windows”.

Tide is rising. Beachcam shows Estero Blvd is flooded. Times Square, FMB is under water. 

Storm surge for tomorrow (per news):

6am: Very high

9am: Very high

12pm: High

3pm: Medium

6pm: Low

High tide is on the way for Marco Island, They don’t want to see that because we are just starting with the water. 

They still think the forecast for us is 8 to 12 feet. Naples to Marco, 5 to 8 feet. Port Charlotte up is 9-13 feet. 

5pm northeasternly motion will continue tonight. They are watching the threat to “take it off the table” for some places north of me, but it “is not done growing and will push more water into our region”. The cone is now showing impact is Tampa / Tampa Bay Area.

The wind is picking up here. The beach is getting a “slow and study rise of water”. The water is getting angry. 

The Sanibel Causeway is almost touching more water. Sanibel is shut down. Curfew is in place on the island. 

Roads “are starting to flood near Coconut Point in Estero”. There is already an accident near there because someone hit a downed wire / pole and skidded out.

The Pink Shell Resort on the beach is under water to the point that the pool and the ocean are one and the same. The Naples Pier is having water rushing under the pier. Marco Island beach area (Might be the Marriott based on the webcam) has water up past the cabanas. Matlacha has a lot of damage from the tornados. Down power poles, roofs blown off. 

We are wondering now what is going to happen to us. We are still trying to stay positive; we don’t want the water. Let it find a way to get somewhere else or stop and turn around.

“Turn back, Milton. Turn back before it’s too late”

Okay, so I redid a line from the movie Labyrinth, but you get the point. 

There’s a mini golf at the intersection of San Carlos and the police are already there. The end of San Carlos that goes to the Beach is already flooding out, so they want to make sure anyone that is currently out, does not travel that way. They must turn around and go somewhere else, but they also shouldn’t be out. 

There is still a chance of dry air that could come in and help dissipate the eye wall more and the storm more. Per the news. 

The waves are rushing over the Naples Pier now, and it’s 5:40. The winds are picking up. Full areas on the beach are getting flooded right now. People are sending Ring Cam footage to the news. 

News says they officially pulled their news crew off the street. People must shelter in place. This is it. 

The wind is definitely picking up. I don’t know how much longer we will have power. 

The reporter right now is eating her dinner on air. It’s been that long of a week already, that they haven’t really left for more than an hour or two, 

Ugh.. I don’t know, Hopefully this ends quickly and we don’t get the water. No one needs it, but those more on the coast are susceptible to it. They just keep rebuilding. It’s tough. 

I need to plug my phone in while we have power. I’ll try to add when I can (again). I might do what I did for Ian and hand write so then I can do other updates. 

Be safe and dry

Cheers;

Power flickered... storm is nigh

It is 2:05pm as I start typing this. The power pulled and flickered around 1:56. It was a decent pull too. 

News now says (I am paraphrasing because I was typing as they talked) Milton is due west of southwest Florida and they (news) expect it to take slow easterly turn. It might be in Sarasota as landfall around midnight tonight. They are watching it closely, as Milton is now a category 4. The over night hours are when we are going to get everything. Storm surge tonight into the morning, including the actual hurricane and all storm related winds and rain. By tomorrow afternoon, it should be cleared enough to start assessing some of the challenges, but they're not going to give any okay until it's 100% safe to do so. 

Outside of that, we got about half a dozen active tornado alerts. We ran into the lower level bathroom. 

Guess what we learned - the houses here (both condos and houses) are made of concrete on the first floor and wood and timber on the second floors. So my condo is concrete and cement, while my upstairs neighbor is wood and timber. Which means the house we are in is in the same situation. 

Shit.

But yeah, we've had about half  a dozen tornado alerts and my mother and I were in the lower level bathroom for about 30 minutes. Nature got angry as hell for a little bit and we just had to mind our business and not do our business while in the room. 

Once out and back on the couch, people checked in. One friend's nephew has decided he wants to leave today to Miami. A tornado hit his complex and he is about 6 minutes away from my complex, on a good day. Luckily, we didn't get hit, but the news is showing how bad it is. People are taking photos and pictures. One of the news people said he got a confirmed touch down in his complex and when it was safe to get back into work (they've been working around the clock for over 24 hours now, primarily in tag teams), it was like a war zone trying to get across town. 

Yet the storm really isn't here yet. There's something like 10 hours left on the clock before Milton sets his bags down on our doorsteps. 

This is so nerve wracking. 

National Hurricane Center says "now is the time to stay inside, where you are, and away from windows". It's 2:25. 

"We're getting a bit of a breather right now, but don't take it lightly" News just said. 

As long as we still have power and a TV, the nerves are a little settled. Not by much, but not truly scared. It will change in 6 hours or so. We will get dark quick and it will get loud. It's more scary over night because you already can't see things during the day arrive, but at night, you're feeling more trapped. Especially since it's that water that will come and attempt to knock on doors. 

"It's game time" says the news, "so we will get hourly updates". Milton has arrived closer. It's north, northeast at 16 miles an hour. Which has changed in the 20 minutes I have been writing?? What? I'm so confused. But he still is saying it's going to be a Sarasota touchdown. 

At the 2pm update, "they're still expecting 8-12 feet of storm surge in Charlotte and Lee County". "Hurricane Hunters are finding this is a very strong hurricane". 

The build up of these storms.. the waiting for it to arrive and do it's thing, then go away and we have a cleanup. That's the thing that really messes with you. It's the fear of the unknown. Like I've said prior, you can see snow start and stop. You know what to expect. Hurricanes are a different beast because it's like a ghost moving though. Makes a lot of noise and brings a lot of ectoplasm in the way of water and wind. 

"When you are in the front right quadrant, you're going to get a lot more tornados. And monster tornados at that. We are in that area - the front right quadrant with Milton", the news says at 2:40. 

People are supplying pictures and the area I work in, is a mess. The commute I have, is now a mess because of the tornados. Just like the rest of the city and county, and our neighbor counties. 

More rain is going to come in by 3:51. But they will be quick moving rain storms. In two hours, rain band will come a little east of is. Not touch us a lot. Spotty rain for my area.

2pm advisory says it's still a powerful category 4 storm. The eye has filled in, which is a sign of a weakening storm. They'll know more within the next ten minutes for the next hourly update (it's 2:53). 

Power is out for double digit thousands of people right now because of the storms that rolled through earlier. Just as much are trapped right now because they stayed. The damage is already big.

News says

"Loads of people have seen the worst of the wind damage, but it might not be the worst either"

(3pm) "water levels are already rising in Collier County. Winds are turning on shore. Collier County is going to see the surge first. "

"Naples Bay is already getting water levels to the top of the docks. Water from the Gulf is already approaching".

There are places where the roads are already flooding (Cape Coral). Just from the rain and not the tornados. 

3:21 news says it doesn't have an eye anymore which is a good sign because it means it is weakening. Also, it will hit between midnight and 2am. Then continue to go east and by tomorrow it will be a category 1. It will hit as a 3, maybe. 

I keep getting squirreled. I think I'll end it here. 

Stay safe. 

Cheers.

The news is creating fear

.. and it's unfortunate. They have to keep banging it into people's skulls because look what happened with Helene two weeks ago. So many loss of lives, that the country doesn't need a repeat. 

Then again, we're on deck for getting a repeat of Ian in the way of flooding. We don't want a repeat by any means. Which is why we decided to take our friend up on their offer. They have a two floor house in our community and the last major storm we had (Ian) they didn't flood where our street did. So we have moved some stuff into our friend's and will be there tonight. 

Even with the smaller storms we've had, our friend didn't get wet. We didn't either, but we are being proactive. They also had electricity when we didn't. 

So we are in the house, we are watching the news. We are as prepared as we will be. 

The news is creating fear because people learned from our last problems and then from the last hurricane that demolished the states above Florida. They're telling people here, for Milton, "if you're going to stay, you're going to die. Be prepared to have someone find your body. Write your name, date of birth, and social security number on your arm with a magic marker. That way, if your lifeless body is found, you are identifiable". 

I mean, it's true based on what everyone has gone through, but really??? People are nervous as hell and panicking. No one needs to be told "you're gonna die if you stay!!" on top of worrying about placing sandbags in spots for possible flooding or the roof will blow off. We just really hope and pray it will all be fine.

Let this be a lesson for us and maybe if all goes well and there is no damage to the community, people will want to move out of this area and house prices will rise. We can move the hell out of this festering storm place and go back to New England. Take the snow over the frantic worry of a hurricane. To quote my office mate, "Ain't nobody got time for that". We don't need to continue to stress over monster storms. Our phones are being blown up by friends and family up north. They desperately want us back there. They see the news. It's as worrying for them as it is for us to be in it. 

Again, we do not want damage. We want to rise above this and come out with "okay, we lost power for an hour or two", "we got a little water in the street, but not in our homes". The more people we are talking to within our community, the more we all are pushing out positive vibes only. We are strong and resilient. That's why we are all here. We will get through this together. 

It's the beach and island people that you have to worry about, especially since they still are dealing with Charley restoration (2004), Ian restoration (2022) and then Helene hit 2 weeks ago. That's why there is more a scare tactic to them. The storm surge will hit them first and ruin what little is left. Once the water gets going, it will come down McGregor and Summerlin and San Carlos... all the corners of the area I have been in and live around. We know we are on borrowed time and the gods are angry. We just keep putting it out there that we are being peaceful and wish for things to pass quickly. 

Love, light and peace. It's a mantra everyone should be saying. I am no angel with my negative thoughts. I've written bad stories before; hell, this blog started with a weird ass crime drama story. But over all, I do try to stay positive. It's hard because things in your life bring you down. You can't help that. We just need to stop the fighting and the arguing and get rid of the trickster mentality. Get along and get going. We need more peace domestically and internationally.

It is only 9:45 am and I feel like it should be after noon. I've been up since 4:30. This is going to be a long event.. 

Until I can check in again, stay safe and dry. Live nicely. 

Cheers;

Well, it's a category five. That escalated quickly.

Hurricane Milton is officially listed as a category five hurricane and he hasn't even made landfall yet. He's sitting pretty in the Gulf, slowly making his way to Florida from Mexico. From reports made, he has a "pinhole eye" which makes him rapidly progress into a strong storm. 

He literally went from a 2 to a 5 in a matter of hours today. 

Evacuation orders are all over the map, as he could touch down as a three for the west coast of Florida, but also hit majorly bad in the Tampa area. Tampa is expected to get the brunt of it, while the rest of this side of the state sees powerful storm surges and lots of wind. The next area to get most of the damage would be the Sarasota / Bradenton area, and that's 90 minutes north of me. But for water, we are talking the possibility of 6 feet or more of a surge. There's not a lot of high shelves we can put our stuff on to save it in case we get water in our unit, so we hope we don't get any. 

As 75 (the main highway) has been a parking lot all day today, there's no way we are going to get out of the state by nightfall, should we get the hell out of here. The three hour drive it would take to get to Tampa, under normal circumstances, is going to take more than 10 hours right now. Good luck trying to get gas if you need it, as no station has any. If they do, it's getting down to fumes. So getting out of here means US 41 and other back roads. It'll be stop and go traffic, but you might make it north of Tampa in 8 hours. 

When the news starts talking about evacuating and grabbing stuff, you don't realize all the stuff you have and what is a priority until you have to grab stuff. Bug out bags are supposed to be light and tight. Not "take 4 trips to the car and load it up with everything". Basic. Necessities. But when you stupidly revolve your life around tech and you save everything on external hard drives, it's hard. When you've got cameras and gear and don't want to lose them, what do you do? This is all stuff you have to decide to leave in a heartbeat should you have orders to go. Take change of clothes, toiletries, things you can fit in pockets and a backpack (jewelry? Cash?) and go. 

My neighbor upstairs said that she plans on staying, but she thinks about this a lot. If she could afford it, she'd just lock her doors and walk away from this place. Go back north to her kids. Forget about these storms. She will deal with the snow. I get it. It is very tempting, for sure. But then once you get north, you're apt to start all over again with collecting stuff. Making new memories. You're no better there with everything than you are here. But you're out of the path of freak hurricanes. 

I spoke with someone at work today who said that it's either these storms or it's horrible blizzards in the north. The west has the earthquakes and fires. The middle has the tornados. Everything lately is becoming too intense and bigger. Somehow all these monsters are being fed worse and worse things, making them worse as the seasons progress. It's true; I see her point. We had bad storms in the past, but lately, it's just one after the other and each one is worse than the other. Look how many years running, that it's been 80 degrees or higher by the end of February here. It used to be 70-80 for a very long time. That's why people moved to Florida. They love the warmth and sun, but it never got hot and humid until after they packed it in for winter and went home in the spring. We've had summer like temperatures way too early for half the time I've lived here. 

Now we're getting a lot more category 2, 3 and 4 hurricanes season after season. And it's not like it's one or two a season. It feels like a handful of storms per season. They may be spread out, but we get through most of the alphabet. I think there's been at least half a dozen category 5 hurricanes in the last 8 years that have hit the United States, but I could be wrong. 

I just don't know what to say right now. We are under a hurricane warning and watch, so I'm back up my computer and the intent is to stay in our unit. It will hopefully pass by with no major issues. All we want is minimal damage - tree branches breaking and a little water. No flooding, no loss of power (maybe the power loss is expected for an hour, but no more), no storm surge. Keep the water in the streets and away from the house if we have to have anything. Let's try to keep this at bay and hope it lessens itself within the next 24 to 48 hours.

Be safe.

Cheers

Storm came, storm went. Buh bye-yeeeeeeeeee.....

Helene's dirty side graced us with a present of strong winds, tornado activity and massive storm surges, but luckily we didn't get the destructive category 4 style wrath that Tampa, the Big Bend and Panhandle got. 

The stories I heard on the radio this morning are horrible. But we lived it similarly a blink of an eye ago. 

My neighborhood seemed to be in a protective pocket, since the intersection just 10 minutes south of me was closed due to being under water last night. It just so happens that one of those streets that leads directly (in a way... 10 more minutes "in a way") to Fort Myers Beach. The connecting bridge to FMB is Matanzas Pass and both ends were under water. The beach had enough storm surge that the streets were re-flooding the houses and businesses that are still cleaning up from Ian.

By the way, tomorrow is the 2 year anniversary of what would be called (in the end) a Category 5 hurricane that decimated the area. GFY, Ian. GFY. 

As ye old Northerners (Mainers, primarily) used to say, "you can't get there from here", due to the closures on my side of the fence (where's the justice, where's the sense). Therefore, what would be about 15ish minutes from where I live, is now over an hour because you need to drive into Bonita to get on to Estero Boulevard. Good luck being able to do anything close to Times Square since there's 4 feet of ocean hanging out where the living statues used to plant themselves. 

I haven't been at the beach since before the storm of 2022, due to not wanting to "play tourist" while the locals are trying to put the pieces back together. Sure, any restaurant that is open needs business, but I'd rather make sure those who live on the island are served first. They need the area more than I do. 

Helene's hydration wrath went onto Sanibel, Captiva and Pine Island, where she closed those bridges as well. Unfortunately, the only way into Sanibel (and subsequently Captiva) is the Causeway, the tough thing is that the waves beat down some of the new cement there. From what I heard, the water wasn't as bad as it was on the beach, but it was still standing room only at some of the businesses. Matlacha Bridge was also not passable, and videos showed the Gulf not paying attention in driving, as it was crossing a normally busy road in the wrong direction, leading that area bogged down as well. 

Cape Coral had similar issues, and thousands are without power across this area. It's not as massively dark as what happened north of me, but the storm did enough local damage that there was a skeleton crew at work today.

We were all surprised at who came in, and my supervisor said it took her well over 90 minutes to get from her house to work, when it only takes about 30 on a good day. Others said they had random power loss but it wasn't constantly out. Others said they had enough tree limbs down that they knew it would be a great weekend for 52 pickup even though they were preparing for far worse. 

(Yesterday) My mother and I listened to the wind blow and didn't watch the sun rise (damn the lies), as we also were expecting far worse. When we heard the intersection near us was under water, I went outside to see what was going on with our street. It was drier than the Mojave after its own rain storm. But the wind... the wind tried moving me across the driveway, and I'm far from being a skinny latte. 

But today, my ride was pretty clean, minus land mines of down palm fronds in my community. What really shocked me was the fact only one set of intersection lights were out, and that was right before I got to work. No water in the street, no down power lines. For as much as the area floods where I work, they too were bone dry. To think just 3 blocks more, and that part of the city was under water. Whatever layer of plastic wrap that was over my community, seemed to be over the area I work at. 

Weird.

I do have some photos of my community from yesterday. I didn't do much editing to them and you can see how the wind was doing something fierce. I had walked to the community gym and back, because I didn't want to waste using gas in my car in case we were trapped for a few days... better to keep a full tank in the event you've got to bug out (not that we have up to this point, unless you count the week we spent at Joe's place during Irma). 

All photos taken on an iPhone and edited in Photoshop. 

That's about all the update of the storm for now in Fort Myers. As I wrap this up, it's currently a Post Tropical Cyclone in Kentucky, so it's far enough inland to fizzle out pretty soon. There's something brewing in the Atlantic that could be near us by next weekend. Hopefully that too decides to turn and go somewhere else. 

Until something else happens, keep your shirt on.

Cheers;

See Also

* I (intentionally mis)quoted Fleetwood Mac's The Chain, which is track 07 off the Rumours album - listened to the wind blow and didn't watch the sun rise (damn the lies)

* I quoted Richard (& Linda) Thompson's Walking on a Wire, which is track 02 off the Shoot Out The Lights album - (where's the justice, where's the sense).

* iPhone 11 (basically all "renewed" by Amazon)

* Photoshop

Storm hasn't really hit us yet...

But word on the street (okay, the news) is that a transformer blew in Naples (about 50 minutes south of me) in the middle of the night, lighting up the sky like a rocket flare. So that area is definitely without power. On top of the water that's currently on the roads, they are probably kayaking in places right now.

According to The News Press, "LCECs power outage tracker is showing more than 4,000 without power in North Fort Myers this morning after Hurricane Helen bands swept through Southwest Florida this morning. The outages are among others throughout the area. LCEC's website reported that the power was expected to be restored later this morning. 

In total, 8,000 or so residences were without power per our power tracker."

Lee County Government tweeted this morning "Bands of inclement weather will be passing through Southwest Florida throughout the day. Stay off of the roads if possible. If you must drive, exert extra caution and never drive through flooded roads."

And yet my boss gave the option to come into work (or work from home)????

Although, so far here, there's nothing major going on. My phone had tornado alerts at 8am, but they weren't super close to where I am. The brunt of any type of the storm is not supposed to really hit us for another hour or two. News casts are saying there are areas that are currently somewhat under water, locally, and others are without power. I know where I work is bound to have water issues. It's dry right now where I sit, but I'm sure it'll change shortly.

We have the lanai shutters slightly open and it looks calm and peaceful, but knowing the day is far from over, it'll not remain that way. I'm glad we have power still. Hopefully it remains. This time tomorrow, I will probably be sitting at my desk at work and doing all of my overdue tasks from today, since 98% of the people are working from home (my job doesn't allow that, as I'm in the mail room).

On a different note, I found out yesterday that the Roku 3 has severed its ties with ABC's streaming app. 

ABC must have a contract with Hulu (like everyone else it seems these days) in order for Roku to be like "this is where we get off". They've done that before when Comcast and Paramount (previously Spike TV) were in a contract dispute. I remember the news about it because I was watching Ink Master and all of a sudden couldn't get the show. Bar Rescue was the same. Found out one of the platforms didn't want to pay the other the amount of money that was being asked (or something to that affect) and thar she blows... Comcast dropped the Spike services. I'm not saying it's a similar thing with ABC, I'm just surprised there was no email or anything from Roku saying "we are no longer keeping the app". It's fine; I only used it to watch The Good Doctor and on occasion, my mother asked to watch one of the late night talk shows on demand when Hotwire was taking a hotshit and misbehaving. 

I think if I end this now, if it looks nice enough, I'll see if I can get some time in the gym before storm clouds roll in again. 

I'll check in when I can. 

Stay dry and try to practice your breast stroke (not in these waters.. there may be alligators and snakes afoul).

Cheers;

Oops. I forgot to update

I forgot to do an update from the last post regarding the storm. My bad.

We didn't get total damage, as it was just some wind and rain. Almost like a typical summer storm. Debby didn't come close enough to the Fort Myers area to bring category 1 worries, but the rain and storm surge did do some local flooding. Although, we did get tornado threats all weekend. Since she stayed pretty much west of us, Debby decided to go up to the Big Bend and Panhandle region and touch down as a hurricane in that area (with some damage). From there, she went north and hit all the local east coast border states before ending up in Canada and New England as a storm. My mom has a friend somewhere in Canada and the friend said she was getting some of Debby.

I don't have any pictures, because I didn't go out that weekend. Due to not having damage in the community or commute, I didn't get pictures of that, either. 

But, they're claiming something else is brewing for next weekend. Right in time for peak season to start. I guess we should be lucky we just completed the letter D, as (knock on wood) it hasn't been as hard hitting as people predicted three months ago. Hopefully it stays quiet. 

Hopefully. 

It's been in the upper 90s for temperatures all week, and with humidity, it's been hitting over 102°. It's not pleasant, but "welcome to Florida during hurricane season". It gets hot, it pours for a few minutes, and it gets hot again. There's no in between or cool down. The ground gets saturated with water for a few minutes, some areas flood, and then we're in mosquito country with a heat rash. Great times had by all! Haha. They say it's only going to get worse over the next few decades. Maybe I can be out of this area before that happens. 

Maybe. 

I guess that's it for now. I need to sort some stuff out around the house and check some emails. 

Until the next write up...

Cheers;

Let's get ready for stormage!!

There's currently a storm brewing in the Atlantic that is on its way to Florida. Different types of models are showing it can hit Southwest Florida as a tropical storm (lots of rain.. like flooding is immanent) or it could hit as a category 1 as it nears the Panhandle.

The Weather Channel is doing active updates including where in America's Wang the storm will be named tropical watch / warning or hurricane watch / warning.

Either way you look at this, we're getting soaked tonight into tomorrow (possibly Monday too, as the 10 day forecast has rain all week). It'll be a fun exercise in seeing how prepared we are for the rest of season. 

According to The Weather Channel (weather.com), there are currently four alerts for Fort Myers:

• Tropical Storm Warning #1
  

  Action Recommended

  Avoid the subject event as per the instructions

  Issued By

  Tampa Bay/Ruskin - FL, US, National Weather Service

  Affected Area

  Coastal Lee County

  Description

  ...TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT... ...STORM SURGE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT... LOCATIONS AFFECTED - Cape Coral - Captiva - Sanibel WIND - LATEST LOCAL FORECAST: Below tropical storm force wind - Peak Wind Forecast: 25-35 mph with gusts to 40 mph - THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY THAT INCLUDES TYPICAL FORECAST UNCERTAINTY IN TRACK, SIZE AND INTENSITY: Potential for wind 39 to 57 mph - The wind threat has remained nearly steady from the previous assessment. - PLAN: Plan for hazardous wind of equivalent tropical storm force. - PREPARE: Remaining efforts to protect property should be completed as soon as possible. Prepare for limited wind damage. - ACT: Move to safe shelter before the wind becomes hazardous. - POTENTIAL IMPACTS: Limited - Damage to porches, awnings, carports, sheds, and unanchored mobile homes. Unsecured lightweight objects blown about. - Many large tree limbs broken off. A few trees snapped or uprooted, but with greater numbers in places where trees are shallow rooted. Some fences and roadway signs blown over. - A few roads impassable from debris, particularly within urban or heavily wooded places. Hazardous driving conditions on bridges and other elevated roadways. - Scattered power and communications outages. STORM SURGE - LATEST LOCAL FORECAST: Life-threatening storm surge possible - Peak Storm Surge Inundation: The potential for 2-4 feet above ground somewhere within surge prone areas - Window of concern: Sunday morning until Monday evening - THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY THAT INCLUDES TYPICAL FORECAST UNCERTAINTY IN TRACK, SIZE AND INTENSITY: Potential for storm surge flooding greater than 3 feet above ground - The storm surge threat has remained nearly steady from the previous assessment. - PLAN: Shelter against life-threatening storm surge of greater than 3 feet above ground. - PREPARE: Flood preparations and ordered evacuations should be complete. Evacuees should be in shelters well away from storm surge flooding. - ACT: Remain sheltered in a safe location. Do not venture outside. - POTENTIAL IMPACTS: Unfolding - Potential impacts from the main surge event are unfolding. FLOODING RAIN - LATEST LOCAL FORECAST: - Peak Rainfall Amounts: Additional 4-8 inches, with locally higher amounts - THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY THAT INCLUDES TYPICAL FORECAST UNCERTAINTY IN TRACK, SIZE AND INTENSITY: Potential for moderate flooding rain - The flooding rain threat has remained nearly steady from the previous assessment. - PLAN: Emergency plans should include the potential for moderate flooding from heavy rain. Evacuations and rescues are possible. - PREPARE: Consider protective actions if you are in an area vulnerable to flooding. - ACT: Heed any flood watches and warnings. Failure to take action may result in serious injury or loss of life. - POTENTIAL IMPACTS: Significant - Moderate rainfall flooding may prompt several evacuations and rescues. - Rivers and tributaries may quickly become swollen with swifter currents and overspill their banks in a few places, especially in usually vulnerable spots. Small streams, creeks, canals, and ditches overflow. - Flood waters can enter some structures or weaken foundations. Several places may experience expanded areas of rapid inundation at underpasses, low-lying spots, and poor drainage areas. Some streets and parking lots take on moving water as storm drains and retention ponds overflow. Driving conditions become hazardous. Some road and bridge closures. TORNADO - LATEST LOCAL FORECAST: - Situation is somewhat favorable for tornadoes - THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY THAT INCLUDES TYPICAL FORECAST UNCERTAINTY IN TRACK, SIZE AND INTENSITY: Potential for a few tornadoes - The tornado threat has remained nearly steady from the previous assessment. - PLAN: Emergency plans should include the potential for a few tornadoes. - PREPARE: If your shelter is particularly vulnerable to tornadoes, prepare to relocate to safe shelter before hazardous weather arrives. - ACT: If a tornado warning is issued, be ready to shelter quickly. - POTENTIAL IMPACTS: Limited - The occurrence of isolated tornadoes can hinder the execution of emergency plans during tropical events. - A few places may experience tornado damage, along with power and communications disruptions. - Locations could realize roofs peeled off buildings, chimneys toppled, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, large tree tops and branches snapped off, shallow-rooted trees knocked over, moving vehicles blown off roads, and boats pulled from moorings. FOR MORE INFORMATION: - https://www.weather.gov/tbw
• Tropical Storm Warning #2
  

  Action Recommended

  Avoid the subject event as per the instructions

  Issued By

  Tampa Bay/Ruskin - FL, US, National Weather Service

  Affected Area

  Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound

  Description

  ...TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT... WHAT...Southwest winds 30 to 40 kt with gusts up to 60 kt and seas 6 to 9 ft. WHERE...Portions of Gulf of Mexico. WHEN...Tropical Storm force winds possible from early Sunday morning until Sunday afternoon. IMPACTS...Very strong winds will cause hazardous seas which could capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Mariners should alter plans to avoid these hazardous conditions. Remain in port, seek safe harbor, alter course, and/or secure the vessel for severe conditions.
• Storm Surge Watch:

  Action Recommended

  Make preparations per the instructions

  Issued By

  Tampa Bay/Ruskin - FL, US, National Weather Service

  Affected Area

  Coastal Lee County

  Description

  ...TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT... ...STORM SURGE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT... LOCATIONS AFFECTED - Cape Coral - Captiva - Sanibel WIND - LATEST LOCAL FORECAST: Below tropical storm force wind - Peak Wind Forecast: 25-35 mph with gusts to 40 mph - THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY THAT INCLUDES TYPICAL FORECAST UNCERTAINTY IN TRACK, SIZE AND INTENSITY: Potential for wind 39 to 57 mph - The wind threat has remained nearly steady from the previous assessment. - PLAN: Plan for hazardous wind of equivalent tropical storm force. - PREPARE: Remaining efforts to protect property should be completed as soon as possible. Prepare for limited wind damage. - ACT: Move to safe shelter before the wind becomes hazardous. - POTENTIAL IMPACTS: Limited - Damage to porches, awnings, carports, sheds, and unanchored mobile homes. Unsecured lightweight objects blown about. - Many large tree limbs broken off. A few trees snapped or uprooted, but with greater numbers in places where trees are shallow rooted. Some fences and roadway signs blown over. - A few roads impassable from debris, particularly within urban or heavily wooded places. Hazardous driving conditions on bridges and other elevated roadways. - Scattered power and communications outages. STORM SURGE - LATEST LOCAL FORECAST: Life-threatening storm surge possible - Peak Storm Surge Inundation: The potential for 2-4 feet above ground somewhere within surge prone areas - Window of concern: Sunday morning until Monday evening - THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY THAT INCLUDES TYPICAL FORECAST UNCERTAINTY IN TRACK, SIZE AND INTENSITY: Potential for storm surge flooding greater than 3 feet above ground - The storm surge threat has remained nearly steady from the previous assessment. - PLAN: Shelter against life-threatening storm surge of greater than 3 feet above ground. - PREPARE: Flood preparations and ordered evacuations should be complete. Evacuees should be in shelters well away from storm surge flooding. - ACT: Remain sheltered in a safe location. Do not venture outside. - POTENTIAL IMPACTS: Unfolding - Potential impacts from the main surge event are unfolding. FLOODING RAIN - LATEST LOCAL FORECAST: - Peak Rainfall Amounts: Additional 4-8 inches, with locally higher amounts - THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY THAT INCLUDES TYPICAL FORECAST UNCERTAINTY IN TRACK, SIZE AND INTENSITY: Potential for moderate flooding rain - The flooding rain threat has remained nearly steady from the previous assessment. - PLAN: Emergency plans should include the potential for moderate flooding from heavy rain. Evacuations and rescues are possible. - PREPARE: Consider protective actions if you are in an area vulnerable to flooding. - ACT: Heed any flood watches and warnings. Failure to take action may result in serious injury or loss of life. - POTENTIAL IMPACTS: Significant - Moderate rainfall flooding may prompt several evacuations and rescues. - Rivers and tributaries may quickly become swollen with swifter currents and overspill their banks in a few places, especially in usually vulnerable spots. Small streams, creeks, canals, and ditches overflow. - Flood waters can enter some structures or weaken foundations. Several places may experience expanded areas of rapid inundation at underpasses, low-lying spots, and poor drainage areas. Some streets and parking lots take on moving water as storm drains and retention ponds overflow. Driving conditions become hazardous. Some road and bridge closures. TORNADO - LATEST LOCAL FORECAST: - Situation is somewhat favorable for tornadoes - THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY THAT INCLUDES TYPICAL FORECAST UNCERTAINTY IN TRACK, SIZE AND INTENSITY: Potential for a few tornadoes - The tornado threat has remained nearly steady from the previous assessment. - PLAN: Emergency plans should include the potential for a few tornadoes. - PREPARE: If your shelter is particularly vulnerable to tornadoes, prepare to relocate to safe shelter before hazardous weather arrives. - ACT: If a tornado warning is issued, be ready to shelter quickly. - POTENTIAL IMPACTS: Limited - The occurrence of isolated tornadoes can hinder the execution of emergency plans during tropical events. - A few places may experience tornado damage, along with power and communications disruptions. - Locations could realize roofs peeled off buildings, chimneys toppled, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, large tree tops and branches snapped off, shallow-rooted trees knocked over, moving vehicles blown off roads, and boats pulled from moorings. FOR MORE INFORMATION: - https://www.weather.gov/tbw
• Tropical Weather Statement (until 7:15pm Saturday)

  Action Recommended

  Attend to information sources as described in the instructions

  Issued By

  Tampa Bay/Ruskin - FL, US, National Weather Service

  Affected Area

  Coastal Lee County

  Description

  This product covers West Central and Southwest Florida **DEPRESSION EXPECTED TO BECOME A TROPICAL STORM LATER TODAY OR TONIGHT AND STRENGTHEN OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO* NEW INFORMATION --------------- CHANGES TO WATCHES AND WARNINGS: - The Storm Surge Watch has been upgraded to a Storm Surge Warning for Coastal Citrus, Coastal Hernando, and Coastal Levy CURRENT WATCHES AND WARNINGS: - A Storm Surge Warning and Hurricane Watch are in effect for Coastal Levy - A Storm Surge Warning and Tropical Storm Warning are in effect for Coastal Citrus and Coastal Hernando - A Tropical Storm Warning and Storm Surge Watch are in effect for Coastal Charlotte, Coastal Hillsborough, Coastal Lee, Coastal Manatee, Coastal Pasco, Coastal Sarasota, and Pinellas - A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Inland Citrus, Inland Hernando, Inland Hillsborough, Inland Manatee, Inland Pasco, Inland Sarasota, and Sumter - A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Inland Levy - A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for DeSoto, Hardee, Inland Charlotte, Inland Lee, and Polk STORM INFORMATION: - About 330 miles south of Mouth of Tampa Bay FL or about 260 miles south of Fort Myers FL - 22.8N 82.0W - Storm Intensity 35 mph - Movement West-northwest or 300 degrees at 15 mph SITUATION OVERVIEW ------------------ Tropical Depression Four is currently located over the western side of Cuba, centered 75 miles southeast of Havana, Cuba. The depression will move west-northwestward into the southeast Gulf of Mexico today and is expected to make a turn toward the north, with tropical storm development anticipated later this evening or tonight. Tropical Depression Four will begin to impact west central and southwest Florida tonight and with impacts continuing through the day on Sunday. - Flooding rain threat will begin tonight and continue on Sunday with 5 to 10 inches storm total rainfall expected, and isolated amounts up to 15 inches. - Storm surge of 3 to 5 feet from Aripeka to the Suwannee River. Storm surge of 2 to 4 feet expected from Bonita Beach to Aripeka. POTENTIAL IMPACTS ----------------- FLOODING RAIN: Protect against dangerous rainfall flooding having possible significant impacts across West Central and Southwest Florida. Potential impacts include: - Moderate rainfall flooding may prompt several evacuations and rescues. - Rivers and tributaries may quickly become swollen with swifter currents and overspill their banks in a few places, especially in usually vulnerable spots. Small streams, creeks, canals, and ditches overflow. - Flood waters can enter some structures or weaken foundations. Several places may experience expanded areas of rapid inundation at underpasses, low-lying spots, and poor drainage areas. Some streets and parking lots take on moving water as storm drains and retention ponds overflow. Driving conditions become hazardous. Some road and bridge closures. SURGE: Protect against life-threatening surge having possible significant impacts across West Central and Southwest Florida. Potential impacts in this area include: - Areas of inundation with storm surge flooding accentuated by waves. Damage to several buildings, mainly near the coast. - Sections of near-shore escape routes and secondary roads become weakened or washed out, especially in usually vulnerable low spots. - Major beach erosion with heavy surf breaching dunes. Strong and numerous rip currents. - Moderate damage to marinas, docks, boardwalks, and piers. Several small craft broken away from moorings, especially in unprotected anchorages. Elsewhere across West Central and Southwest Florida, little to no impact is anticipated. WIND: Protect against dangerous wind having possible significant impacts across the Nature Coast. Potential impacts in this area include: - Some damage to roofing and siding materials, along with damage to porches, awnings, carports, and sheds. A few buildings experiencing window, door, and garage door failures. Mobile homes damaged, especially if unanchored. Unsecured lightweight objects become dangerous projectiles. - Several large trees snapped or uprooted, but with greater numbers in places where trees are shallow rooted. Several fences and roadway signs blown over. - Some roads impassable from large debris, and more within urban or heavily wooded places. A few bridges, causeways, and access routes impassable. - Scattered power and communications outages, but more prevalent in areas with above ground lines. Also, protect against hazardous wind having possible limited impacts across coastal counties. Elsewhere across West Central and Southwest Florida, little to no impact is anticipated. TORNADOES: Protect against a tornado event having possible limited impacts across West Central and Southwest Florida. Potential impacts include: - The occurrence of isolated tornadoes can hinder the execution of emergency plans during tropical events. - A few places may experience tornado damage, along with power and communications disruptions. - Locations could realize roofs peeled off buildings, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, large tree tops and branches snapped off, shallow-rooted trees knocked over, moving vehicles blown off roads, and boats pulled from moorings. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS ---------------------------------- EVACUATIONS: Follow the advice of local officials. OTHER PREPAREDNESS INFORMATION: Now is the time to complete all preparations to protect life and property in accordance with your emergency plan. Ensure you are in a safe location before the onset of strong winds or possible flooding. Keep cell phones well charged. Cell phone chargers for automobiles can be helpful, but be aware of your risk for deadly carbon monoxide poisoning if your car is left idling in a garage or other poorly ventilated area. Storm surge is the leading killer associated with tropical storms and hurricanes! Make sure you are in a safe area away from the surge zone. Even if you are not in a surge-prone area, you could find yourself cutoff by flood waters during and after the storm. Heed evacuation orders issued by the local authorities. If a Tornado Warning is issued for your area, be ready to shelter quickly, preferably away from windows and in an interior room not prone to flooding. If driving, scan the roadside for quick shelter options. Closely monitor weather.gov, NOAA Weather radio or local news outlets for official storm information. Be ready to adapt to possible changes to the forecast. Ensure you have multiple ways to receive weather warnings. ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION: - For information on appropriate preparations see ready.gov - For information on creating an emergency plan see getagameplan.org - For additional disaster preparedness information see redcross.org NEXT UPDATE ----------- The next local statement will be issued by the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay Ruskin FL around 6 pm EDT, or sooner if conditions warrant

As the storm is currently letting Cuba know who's boss, we've got some bottles in the freezer ready with ice in case the power goes out. We know we'll only get some wind and rain, but it's the storm surge or flooding that could be the maker of this storm. Areas of town flood easy and last deluge we had, my complex was slightly under water in the streets. So hopefully it won't be horrendous.

Although the National Weather Service has been giving more up to date information on what to expect.

A couple of us at work were trying to sort out the alerts the past few days and know that depending on what Monday morning looks like, our little cars aren't going to make the cross town magic drive through the streets rivers. The kids I talked to, grabbed their work provided laptops and said "I'll see you Tuesday if I can't get in". As I don't have a work provided laptop, I would have to make the swim in, or not get paid for the day. Which is all the more reason this storm just better be a blip and we're fine.

It's just another reminder season isn't yet to be over and we need to make sure all the hurricane items are in the house and we've got what we need. Now that the Saharan Dust is done, storms are going to come fast and furious.

I guess it's a good thing Rachael's book came in from the library (yes, I actually put in the request for the library to carry it), so I can have something to read this weekend if the power goes out (and just read her book in general. I'm so proud of her💓). If you haven't ordered it yet, what are you waiting for? Have you started following her on Facebook or Instagram?

I'll try to stay up to date on the storm... gonna see what needs to be done this afternoon.

Stay dry and hydrated... and read!

Cheers;

Be gone, you!

 Idalia came and went for us in SWFL. Word on the street is she will hit Bermuda as a post tropical cyclone. 

But the devastation left in North Florida as a category 3, looks like what Ian left us as a category 5. The Big Bend area has lots of flooding and loss of power. Homes are gone. 

This is a first for that area, the news was saying, as there are spots where they've not seen anything past a category 1. Which makes this storm highly unusual...  some reports have said. 

In Lee County, we got a lot of rain Tuesday, where it got super dark a few times while I was at work. There was even a tornado whirling around the area at one point. Any problems we were going to see from the storm was during the night, and when I woke up Wednesday, you would think nothing happened. Even as I made my way across town to work, the wind was blowing, for sure, but none of the roads were flooded that I needed to drive on. 

That's not to say that just 2 miles away from my work was spared. The bridges to get to Cape Coral were flooded out on the ends, Downtown was under water, businesses were closed. I still had to be in the office.

Which was a ghost town. People who could work remotely, did. Those who couldn't, came in. The ones that had a bad commute, took paid time off. There was about 10 people in the building. Which isn't bad, since there's usually 25. 

It quite literally was a regular summer storm for us. The hype was worth it but not worth it, since we're still trying to rebuild from last year. It's better to be safe than sorry. Especially since there was some erosion in places locally, but not a lot. 

Where we are still in peak hurricane season, it's far from over. This won't be the last time anyone talks about threats, considering there are a few more storms out in the water that are currently being watched. Plus, we just finished with the "I" letter. There are 17 more to go.

I know this is short and probably doesn't make sense to read, but I wanted to post something, even just to say things are okay here. We survived Tropical Storm Idalia. 

Cheers;

When work expects you to be in during a storm...

 ... and the whole area the building is in, floods easily, what do you do?

As of this post, Idalia is not hitting us (Fort Myers area) as a hurricane, only a tropical storm. She's making her way into the Gulf and up the west coast of the state, where she will stroll through areas like Tallahassee as a Category 2 (maybe a 3 by tomorrow morning), reaching the Georgia boarder as a hurricane rather than tropical storm. If she continues on that easterly path going north, she'll hit the Outer Banks / Carolinas and maybe a little bit of Virginia before turning right and going to the Bahamas. 

Everyone is going to get loads of water - by either storm surges or by the clouds emptying. It'll be a matter of what comes first, since the hippies and science people say it's tidal and full moon on top of everything else. So things are going to pop off. Plus, the wind shear will bring out the toys that were just put away. 

There will be a point where the wind hits 40mph and becomes unsafe to travel on the bridges. So once that happens, there will be no police around, no barricades, no one to stop you from traveling, so traverse the area carefully. You're on your own if you get blown into the water as you were warned. 

People were talking today, wondering what would happen to the local bridges here with this storm. The Sanibel Causeway is finally getting rebuilt; will it survive the night? The water might rise and flood it out, potentially. What about the little bridges going to Pine Island and Matlacha? Will they last? 

All these water questions are why, knowing how the area I work in floods at a dime, I'm not looking forward to potentially going in to work tomorrow. 

Credit: Wink News

                                                                           Credit: Fox4 News

The above picture was taken last fall by Wink News, while the Youtube video was taken by one of the Fox affiliates in 2021. Both are around the area I work in. 

Even though the picture and video were taken on separate days, they both happened to be days when a really hard, really fast band of rain came through, so the water had no where to go. 

Being built on sand and shells, the saturation level some days is bad because the water starts pooling quickly. I did have to drive through that level of water that day, so I am slightly worried what tonight will bring for the area. Especially when the parking lot my building is in, has no proper runoff and starts to puddle quick. 

With no option to work remotely, I'm going to have to chance it to get downtown and in the building. They're going to be open tomorrow, as we're just getting a breeze through storm... even though everyone has put their shutters up, my mom and I have filled a bucket of water, and we know we'll be fine. It's just that they said that about the last two "I" storms we had... You just never know here. It's bad enough a lot of people have PTSD from the last sucker who rolled in on us... he can go eff himself. 

Considering around 2:30 today, a tornado landed by one of the connecting Fort Myers / Cape Coral bridges. It decided to travel the route I take, and stopped at another bridge. I don't think there was any damage, but I heard Marco Island got themselves a funnel as well. 

When you get tornado alerts on your phone and the sky is black but sending large drops of cloud cry to the ground at rapid succession, you really shouldn't be at work, let alone out and about. But there were were, in a building that already has roof problems (and active leaks), wondering if we'd all get home safely. 

I did, as I had been able to work my weekly hours by 3:30. Our work week is an odd one: We start on Wednesday and end on Tuesday. So my ending 90 minutes before I typically have been going home, was because my 40 hours were up for the week. Which is a good thing, as I missed the funnel clouds and I was in a band of sunshine. It sprinkled at the time I left, which is just the calm before the storm, I know. 

We are probably going to start getting more rain soon, so it's a good thing we are shuttered in. Maybe I can sleep a little better tonight, knowing the house is dark. 

I think I'm starting to go off on so many topics, I'm rambling. So off I go for the night and I'll check in when I can. Don't expect pictures; this isn't that type of storm. I can't see out of my house anyway with the shutters closed. LOL. 

Cheers;