Irma -- Updated 9/11

Some video from chasers Juston Drake and Simon Brewer in Key West this morning. 

https://twitter.com/fawadrehman/status/906862554521235457

@kriss 

St. Lucie under tornado warning for the next 10 minutes.

@mamabear - so distressing about your parents. Where are they now?

Thank you @debby!  You are so kind to let me know when you are in the middle of this.  Hang in there!!!

debby said:

@kriss 

St. Lucie under tornado warning for the next 10 minutes.

I haven't posted in some time but just wanted to thank Max and Wxnut2.0 for their updates and Max for his PMs.  As some of you know, my family had moved down to FL in late July and I stayed behind until the sale of the house.

Well, due to this hurricane and some other issues we decided they were going to come back home to Maplewood and revisit the moving South decision in a few years.

So I caught a late flight Thursday night, rented a uhual and loaded everything up Friday.  My wife took Ryan and my son Nicky took his car and hit the road by 10 a.m. Friday and I hit the road by 3 p.m.  Traffic was hell  (took an extra 11 hours) but we made it back to Maplewood last night.

My Father and his wife stayed in Boca for fear of not being able to get gas.  So far he said just rain and some gusts of 60mph. 

They are safely in NC, maybe even close to VA by now. They will be fine with me in NJ soon! 

Please be safe @Debby! Sending you tons of good vibes! 

debby said:

@mamabear - so distressing about your parents. Where are they now?

@EricBurbank Glad you guys are back in Maplewood and safe! 

Thanks Mama bear.

Disney welcoming evacuated pets and their owners with a puppy parade!

(How do I insert video?)

EricBurbank said:

I haven't posted in some time but just wanted to thank Max and Wxnut2.0 for their updates and Max for his PMs.  As some of you know, my family had moved down to FL in late July and I stayed behind until the sale of the house.

Well, due to this hurricane and some other issues we decided they were going to come back home to Maplewood and revisit the moving South decision in a few years.

So I caught a late flight Thursday night, rented a uhual and loaded everything up Friday.  My wife took Ryan and my son Nicky took his car and hit the road by 10 a.m. Friday and I hit the road by 3 p.m.  Traffic was hell  (took an extra 11 hours) but we made it back to Maplewood last night.

My Father and his wife stayed in Boca for fear of not being able to get gas.  So far he said just rain and some gusts of 60mph. 

Passing along best wishes from I Dunsavage who does not use MOL

Welcome back and God Bless

@kriss: tornado warning in st lucie county. Circled the location of the circulation. 

Edit: now one for PSL proper as well. 

WxNut2.0 said:

Some video from chasers Juston Drake and Simon Brewer in Key West this morning. 

https://twitter.com/fawadrehman/status/906862554521235457

I cannot help but think about the caretaker at the Ernest Hemingway House in Key West, who was interviewed by CNN and was adamant about staying at the house despite the order for mandatory evacuation.  He claimed that the house is built of solid stone; that it would be stressful to move the Hemingway cats; the house had survived other bad storms and hurricanes.  Also, there are ten other workers remaining at the house with the caretaker. 

CNN interviewed the caretaker well before Hurricane Irma started tracking west over the Keys.   

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2017/09/08/hemingway-house-hurricane-irma-david-gonzales-intv.hln

Looks like I no longer have to worry about my husband being sent anywhere.  FEMA asked for a cost analysis, and no communications since.  I know they sent people to help after Katrina, so distance isn't the issue.

I'm still following this thread on the off chance that something changes and they decide they do need a response

Thought the same thing. Saw a bunch of those cats when I'd visit Key West while living in Miami. I so hope they make it out of this unscathed. The flooding makes me think they'll need a lot of luck :/

DottyParker said:

WxNut2.0 said:

Some video from chasers Juston Drake and Simon Brewer in Key West this morning. 

https://twitter.com/fawadrehman/status/906862554521235457

I cannot help but think about the caretaker at the Ernest Hemingway House in Key West, who was interviewed by CNN and was adamant about staying at the house despite the order for mandatory evacuation.  He claimed that the house is built of solid stone; that it would be stressful to move the Hemingway cats; the house had survived other bad storms and hurricanes.  Also, there are ten other workers remaining at the house with the caretaker. 

CNN interviewed the caretaker well before Hurricane Irma started tracking west over the Keys.   

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2017/09/08/hemingway-house-hurricane-irma-david-gonzales-intv.hln

Irma has been officially downgraded to cat 3 prior to imminent landfall around Marco Island. This should not be truly looked at as a "downgrade" in the sense of impacts however. It's the difference between 10 mph sustained winds. Impacts will be just about identical to a cat 4 at landfall.

Most of the cats I've lived with have been pretty resilient. My mom had one growing up that actually took on an aggressive german shepherd, and won    They might look all sweet and cuddly and purr when you pet them, but in general cats tend to be some serious badasses when they need to be. 

Tornado warning for Boca, Boynton and Delray beaches. 

Lot's of tornado warnings. Have any been actually reported or is it too soon?

@kriss another tornado warning in PSL. Circulation coming ashore. Gonna be like this all day and night. 

There was a confirmed tornado near FLL airport

rhw said:

Lot's of tornado warnings. Have any been actually reported or is it too soon?

Ugh. That is bad. Family hunkered down in Boca Raton.

Tornadic storms coming ashore near melbourne mean business. Wow. Very intense rotation. May impact the city directly too. 

is the tornado thing typical before a hurricane? Does it last a while after? Trying to gauge how realistic a Tues afternoon flight out of MCO is

Tornadoes are very typical in the northeastern quadrant of a hurricane. This one seems especially prolific. It will tail off once the hurricane is to the NW.

conandrob240 said:

is the tornado thing typical before a hurricane? Does it last a while after? Trying to gauge how realistic a Tues afternoon flight out of MCO is

There are all likely tornadoes, still offshore of the east coast.

Thanks so much @WxNut2.0 for all the updates.  

No problem. Tbh I'm starting to lose track. PSL is getting just tons of warnings today. 

kriss said:

Thanks so much @WxNut2.0 for all the updates.  

we haven't heard from our family in hours; I just checked with everyone else. The Canadian branch just replied: ' Not heard anything. Watching CNN for our info. Our friends in Naples are hunkered down in their closet' 

I'm rushing to work - prayers for everyone's safety. 

CNN reporting storm surge starting in Marco/Naples. Pray people. 

and keep praying. That storm surge will be worst early tomorrow after Irma passes