Hurricane Ian

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tortugaranger

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Hurricane Ian
« on: 27 Sep 2022, 01:19 pm »
Well folks, it's pucker time here in Southwest Florida, as hurricane Ian (currently a Cat3 125 MPH & increasing) barrels up the eastern side of the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to make landfall somewhere along the West coast of Florida with Tampa area currently in the crosshairs. Thing is, these hurricanes never listen to the forecasts. There's a very real possibility of an earlier or sharper turn to the east taking the storm right over our area here in Southwest Florida (see black circle on pic below).

My plans are to sit tight the rest of today (Tuesday) and see how things evolve. If things look like they're going to go downhill, I'm evacuating to a large hotel over on the East coast of Florida where the impact will likely be minimal.

If we take a direct hit, or even near direct hit, here in the Fort Myers area, you may not be hearing from me for a week or more. The website will also likely be down for as long as it takes to restore power assuming our shop can be reoccupied and stood up again.

Stay safe out there.

Cheers,
Morten


Rusty Jefferson

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Re: Hurricane Ian
« Reply #1 on: 27 Sep 2022, 02:50 pm »
Good luck to you and everyone down there. If that storm does land square on Tampa Bay it will likely dwarf the financial losses from Katrina.

My wife just finished this book she picked up recently about coastal living. There's a chapter about this scenario we re-read this morning. We like to visit the Tampa/St Pete beach area but you can just see the potential risk of being right on the water there.

https://www.amazon.com/Geography-Risk-Storms-Rising-Americas/dp/0374160805

Letitroll98

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Re: Hurricane Ian
« Reply #2 on: 28 Sep 2022, 11:19 am »
Reports this morning have it going to Cat5 as it hits land.  Stay safe folks.

tortugaranger

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Re: Hurricane Ian
« Reply #3 on: 29 Sep 2022, 02:41 pm »
Well it really did happen. Took a direct hit from a record Cat4 hurricane. Eye wall went right over our area in Cape Coral. Storm surge was significant. I'm still away from home in a safe place where I'll stay for one more day to give first responders time to start clearing roads and rescuing people that need it. The situation is very fluid and there's a "fog of war" aspect to this where there's currently little specific info available. Will head back tomorrow and start the assessment. Chances are house is still standing with roof on. Beyond that all bets are off.

Rusty Jefferson

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Re: Hurricane Ian
« Reply #4 on: 29 Sep 2022, 04:08 pm »
Good luck with all aspects of the recovery. I'm sure there was devastation were it landed.

uncola

Re: Hurricane Ian
« Reply #5 on: 30 Sep 2022, 09:49 am »
Stay safe, Morten!  Perhaps this will inspire you to design a new circuit.  Instead of Star grounding, hurricane grounding ;)

wgraft5

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Re: Hurricane Ian
« Reply #6 on: 4 Oct 2022, 04:38 pm »
Are you ok Morten?

I hope everything is going in good recovery mode.

Stay strong.

Wayne in Oregon

jtwrace

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Re: Hurricane Ian
« Reply #7 on: 4 Oct 2022, 05:18 pm »
I hope everything is going in good recovery mode.
Recovery is 10 years at least in that area.  Even by me inland in Central Florida there are areas that "just" have flooding that will take 5 years minimum to rebuild.  And people have lost EVERYTHING they own.  I mean EVERYTHING. 


Here is one very small example.  This is a major road that goes from I-95 inland.  The bridge is 30' off the river.  The amount of this destruction is truly Incomprehendable.  I'm in a river community, however, nearly all homes that are on the river, completely flooded. 


Where Morten and other members are located it's complete 3rd world country like at the moment.  No water, sewer, power, fuel and food is really tough.  Flat out awful.   


 

tortugaranger

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Re: Hurricane Ian
« Reply #8 on: 7 Oct 2022, 04:45 pm »


Hi All,

It's now day 9 after the eye of hurricane Ian went directly over us here in the Cape Coral / Fort Myers area (Lee County) of Florida. Today the power came back on just before noon along with the internet.

I live approximately 100 yards from Gulf water by way of a network of saltwater canals. I'm less than 3 miles from open coastal bay waters. By most accounts we had a 12 foot storm surge which brought water up to the edge of my front door....and then it retreated. So my feet, and those of my area neighbors, stayed dry - thankfully. Meanwhile 10 miles away in Fort Myers Beach, whole neighborhoods were quite literally erased from the earth leaving nothing but a foundational outline. Both Sanibel and Pine Island to the southwest of me remain inaccessible by land bridge with zero power.

Area winds were clocked upwards of 150 mph. My pool cage was totally destroyed. Sections of roofing shingles are gone and are now covered by temporary plastic tarp. The roof itself held as did most in my area with the newer building codes. All windows (they are not hurricane rated) and doors remained intact and the house is otherwise solid. Based on estimates already received I'm looking at $30-40k of damage/repair. I probably lost my gloriously large Chinese Orchid Tree out front but I've cut it back to bare trunk/limbs in hopes it will rebound.

All my business materials and equipment are 100% intact. No business work has gotten done the past 2 weeks other than post-hurricane demolition and clean-up. Not much business work will get done the next 2 weeks either as my focus continues to be on recovery, cleanup and repair.

But we survived. Could have been much worse. For all too many, it was, and continues to be a life-changing disaster. There, but for fortune, go I.

Best,
Morten