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Hey, everyone.
Though you might not be aware, I live just north of Tampa Bay, in Florida. As you also might not be aware, there's this big blowy thing supposedly headed our way. (Hmm. It blows, and it's called a HER-icane... but why does it look more like an asshole than a mouth???)
Now, at the moment I'm writing this, they've downgraded their expectations to a Category 1 by the time it gets to us, but, of course, who the hell knows, right?
I have made all reasonable preparations that I can. I will not be leaving. I have nowhere to go, I have three cats, and I don't drive. (Yeah, anyone want to move me OUT of Florida? Going through this shit every year drives me up a wall...)
ANYWAY, the point is that, though I will almost certainly be fine, the Florida power grid probably won't be. As such, I will probably be without power for some amount of time. When Irma came through here, back in 2017, it took them five days to restore power. (I wasn't here, thank the Guardians, I was in Tennessee with my in-laws.) So, if you don't hear from me for the next week or so, that will be why.
Obviously, if I cannot get online, anything that I might have to handle manually, such as site registration, or manual donations, won't be happening in a timely fashion. I'll get to them as soon as I can. Also, if anything on the site fucks up... um... oops? Nothing I'll be able to do. Again, I will do whatever I can, as soon as I can, but I don't control the power or the network, so if those things go away, I will be unable to do much.
If I do have to go offline, I will post as soon as I have stable access back. As of right now, the storm is slated to arrive here Wednesday morning at 8am, ET. That, also, could change.
Eric Storm
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While I feel like making a joke about you finally getting blown or maybe she will take your house this time around… but ultimately I do hope you are safe in the end and are only mildly imposed by the hurricane… of course, could get an old fashion type writer and do it by candle light… oh wait… your eyes.
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Elessar wrote:
While I feel like making a joke about you finally getting blown or maybe she will take your house this time around… but ultimately I do hope you are safe in the end and are only mildly imposed by the hurricane… of course, could get an old fashion type writer and do it by candle light… oh wait… your eyes.
Hey, I'm lonely enough at this point, if Hurricanes were capable of sex, I'd date one. It'd be a whirlwind romance, very tempestuous, but she'd be wet 'n' wild...
As to "taking my house"... my last partner didn't leave me, as such, so that one kinda doesn't work as a joke, but oh well.
Eric Storm
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Hope you’re able to stay safe.
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thehilz wrote:
Hope you’re able to stay safe.
"Safe" is looking like less and less of an issue, as the storm track prediction continues to bend eastward, moving further away from our area. If it follows the current prediction, we won't see much more than some rain and mildly heavy wind.
My major concern, as it has always been, is power outage. Duke Energy could manage a power outage from a hummingbird landing on a wire, so storms are pretty much a guaranteed outage. The question is for how long.
We'll just have to see.
Eric Storm
...wait, I'm fuckin' blind. I can't see! Dammit, screwed again...
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Stay safe and my prayers are with you and everyone of Florida
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There is still some possibility of power outage, but we suffered no real damage from the storm. Some broken branches is all I've seen.
Very, very glad I have no relatives living in Naples anymore, though.
Eric Storm
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well your net name is appropriate for once
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Eric, Glad you made through okay. I watched news coverage today and it looks like it will take 30+ years to recover. Look back to Andrew & Katrina.
Good luck Florida.
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Neither of those storms took that long to recover. And I imagine that Naples & Ft. Myers/Port Charlotte will be rebuilt within the decade, as well. Not to say it wasn't a nasty storm... the Naples Fire Dept. had chest-high water in their station... but... it's Florida. Not like we haven't been through it before.
Eric Storm
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here on the news, they speak as ian the storm of the century and many dead, is it accurate?
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tcyrille wrote:
here on the news, they speak as ian the storm of the century and many dead, is it accurate?
Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: Yes.
Seriously:
Hurricane Ian came ashore in Southwest Florida, in the Port Charlotte/Ft. Myers area. When it made landfall, it was sporting winds of approx. 150mph (240km/h). It was a Category 4 (out of 5) storm, and it was nearly a Category 5.
So far, there are 21 confirmed deaths. That number is almost certainly going to go higher... quite possibly much higher, as those people who called 911 during the storm are checked on, to see about their safety. Many people in the Port Charlotte area were trapped in their homes as the storm waters rose. Some homes were completely inundated (meaning the water reached their roof line). Those people... may not have survived.
To help put this in perspective, the Naples, FL, Fire Department had water in their fire station up past their waist. I'm not talking about water that just rushed in, then immediately flowed back out. I'm talking about standing water, that they were having to walk through. (They actually had to push one of their fire trucks out of the station, because it was in danger of catching fire due to all the water. No, I'm not exactly sure how a fire truck is in danger from water.)
Hurricane Ian ties for the fourth-largest storm ever to hit Florida, and the fifth-largest storm ever to hit the US. Chances are that recovery will take years, and billions of dollars. At its peak, the number of electric customers without power was over 2.5 million... in a state with only 11.16 million electric customers. (Note that "electric customer" is different from population. An "electric customer" could represent a family of 5, or just a single person.) Though that figure is already below 2 million as the power companies make repairs, power will not be restored in some areas possibly for weeks.
And, as bad as all that is, keep in mind that the storm slogged its way across the entire state, where it didn't necessarily do a lot of wind damage, but it dropped a metric fuckton of rain, flooding interior areas in the state.
So, yes, the storm was major, and those who were hit by it are lucky to be alive.
Now, as to my own status:
The storm's center hit, as I said, down by Port Charlotte/Ft. Myers. I live in New Port Richey, which is in Pasco County, north of St. Petersburg. For pretty much the entire duration of the storm, we stayed on its edge, receiving only tropical-storm-force winds. We didn't even get a huge amount of rain.
At its peak, there were about 20,000 electric customers without power in West Pasco county (our county is kind of divided into east and west, because the middle of the county is more or less devoid of people). Thankfully, at no time did I myself, or my brother (who lives two doors down from me) lose power. Truthfully, we have been through worse regular thunderstorms than what we saw here out of Ian. We were very lucky, as Ian was at one point projected to go straight through Tampa.
The only real detrimental effect that Ian caused was a shitload of stress, worrying about the power going out. It also renewed my wish that I didn't live in this state. As someone with no means of motorized transport (because, due to my eyes, I cannot drive), this is really not a good place for me to live.
In any case, that's the story - so far - of Hurricane Ian. And let's not forget that it is a hurricane again, and is now hitting the Carolinas. The damage and death toll from this thing is not yet done. So, yeah, Ian has well and truly earned the hype about "storm of the decade". (I wouldn't say "storm of the century", given that all four of the storms that were stronger than it, happened well within the last hundred years...)
Eric Storm
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Hope your still safe
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I"m happy to hear you came through it allright.
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advancewar wrote:
Hope your still safe
...how would I suddenly be unsafe from a storm that is... well, gone, at this point?
Eric Storm
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Eric Storm wrote:
advancewar wrote:
Hope your still safe
...how would I suddenly be unsafe from a storm that is... well, gone, at this point?
Eric Storm
human stupidity? (not on your part)
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This would then have nothing to do with the storm. I'm always at risk of human stupidity... (mine and other people's)
Eric Storm
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That was a very thorough storm report. Thank you. Having been through several major mother fucker storms, I understand the stress you must have experienced. I also regularly question my choice of locations. Then I check the cost of living and the conditions elsewhere and I cross my fingers and hope I don't get blown or washed away.
Hope we're done for this year.
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