#HurricaneMichael

/ Marcia Meara


A Recent Trajectory Map of Hurricane Michael
(This has already been updated to indicate possible
hurricane strength winds the entire way to the Atlantic)

For those who aren’t following this story, Hurricane Michael,  currently a Category 4 storm and feared to become a Category 5, charged up the Gulf of Mexico yesterday and is just a couple of hours away from slamming into the panhandle/big bend region of Florida. It is being called the worst storm to hit the area in over 100 years, and is a monster, over 200 miles wide! The panhandle is going to take a terrible beating and those who have ignored the evactuation orders have put their lives at risk.

Those of us in central Florida–I’m 100 miles from the coast, just above the “E” in Wed on the map–can expect heavy rains and winds as the day progresses, and likely loss of power. A storm surge of more than 14′ is predicted in panhandle region, and continues to one degree or another along MOST of the Gulf coast of Florida. There will be flooding in those areas.

Michael is moving fast, which is good in that it isn’t likely to stall over land like Florence did, dumping an ocean of water into rivers and lakes. The downside of moving that fast is that it may not lose any strength as it moves across the states in jeopardy. The current windspeeds are 145 mph, and it is predicted to sweep through all of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and into Virginia! Since this includes my daughter’s area, I’m praying that making landfall DOES cause those winds to drop, but it’s anybody’s guess.

Please keep the people in Hurricane Michael’s path in your thoughts and prayers. In many ways, this is a far worse storm than Hurricane Florence was, and tremendous loss of property (and possibly life) is likely to occur.

If I disappear for a day or two, it will likely be due to power outages, but I’ll report in when I can.

Okay, that’s my bad news for the day. As you were, folks! Hope most of you will have a good day, and will remember to count your blessings if you are safely out of Michael’s path!

53 thoughts on “#HurricaneMichael”

    • Thanks, Darlene! We should be okay here in central Florida, unless the storm does something weird. (Always possible). But boy, north Florida and beyond are in for a rough ride. The entire panhandle is one big beach town, and the potential for catastrophe is huge. Praying it won’t be as bad as feared.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    • Thanks, Miriam! The time for evacuation has ended, and roads in or out of the most threatened areas arre now closed. I hope there aren’t many who chose to stay behind, as this one makes me very nervous. Yes, ducking is a required skill around these parts. You never know when a storm is going to send a patio chair at your head. Or a concrete flower pot. Or a coconut. Or an alligator. 😉 I’m hunkered down even though our area should be relatively safe with this one. After Irma, I don’t trust any of them!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    • We have a generator, Trish, so a power outage of a day or two is usually not a problem. It is powerful enough to run the fridge/freezer, so no food spoilage, and the range for cooking. And best of all, at night, it will run the little room a/c in our bedroom so I can sleep. But we turn off pretty much everything else. (And we know better than to run a generator in the GARAGE, so we won’t die of carbon monoxide poisoning, either.) And you thought surviving in Florida was all about being able to fend off alligators! 😀

      Thanks for the well wishes. Will check back in later, if possible.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Good to hear you have a generator – is that the norm in Florida? I can see that lack of Internet, etc, would be a pain, but think of all the work you could get done without eejits like me pestering you all the time! Hoping all goes much, much better than expected. ❤

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        • A lot of people have them, but I doubt it’s the norm. We had to cope with Hurricane Charley right after we moved into this house, and as soon as it was over and we had cleaned up the yard debris, we bought one. Mark said once we had it, we’d probably never take another hit, but I figured if that turned out to be the case it was $500 well spent. And it has kept me sane several times during power outages, which happen now and then even without hurricanes. Especially when temps soar into three digits and usage goes up. 🙂 I LOVE my generator! (It also keeps my CPAP machine running, so I can sleep without choking!)

          Like

          Reply

    • Thanks, Mary. ❤ So far, we are doing fine here in central Florida, but I'm pretty nervous for the people in Panama City and the surrounding panhandle areas. Many of them chose not to leave, and that gives me the chills. 😯

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

        • That’s true, Mary, but from the moment the evac orders are posted, they begin giving out phone numbers to call for help in evacuating. They will send someone for you, and provide whatever help you need. Whether you lack transportation or funds, or have physical problems that make evacuating difficult, or whatever–they will see you get to safety. And still folks refuse to go.

          I don’t get it, but when I see someone who has chosen to stay simply because they don’t want to leave, and then they end up in trouble and have to have someone risk his or her life to rescue them from their rooftops, or the like, I find it very frustrating. *sigh*

          I’m glad the storm has left Florida behind, and now it remains to be seen what damages have been sustained and if there has been any loss of life. I hope it is better than expected! It kind of threaded its way past several places that would not have stood up to those winds, so I’m hoping for the best. 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

          • I didn’t realise so much help was offered to people to evacuate their homes, Marcia. Now I know that, I can’t understand why people don’t leave. If they refuse to go they shouldn’t expect to be rescued later. Did it by pass your daughter’s place? I hope there isn’t another on its way.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

            • Oh, our disaster services are excellent, and providing shelters or help evacuating are the normal process, especially in recent years. They deployed over 3500 volunteers to help folks in harm’s way with this one.

              Why anyone living in an area as low as the panhandle beaches wouldn’t take their family and get OUT when they have been told to do so is beyond me. But every time, some choose to stay and have to be rescued. I remember watching a scoffing man being interviewed once saying, “Oh, they always exaggerate these storms. I’ve been here 25 years and nothing’s happened so far. I’m not going.” Well, I’ve been here a lot longer than that, and I’ve seen people die from choosing to stay. And sure enough, he ended up on his roof, home filled to the rafters with flood waters. A helicopter had to rescue him and his family!! Those good people put their lives at risk to try to save others who (most of the time) could have left ahead of the storm! If I am ever told to evacuate, you can bet I will do so! I’d feel like a criminal calling for others to save me from my own stubborn stupidity.

              Yes, sometimes you evacuate and your home is spared, like my daughter and family did with Florence. But surely it’s smarter to err on the side of caution, right? There’s a reason “Better to be safe than sorry,” is such a familiar expression to us all. I’m just sayin’ . . . . . . .

              Liked by 1 person

              Reply

    • Thanks, Jacquie. ❤ To be honest, this isn't really extreme for Florida–though it is the worst to hit this PART of Florida in 100 years. But that just means 100 years ago, there was a storm just as bad hitting there.

      I've lived here most of my 74 years and have been through more hurricanes than I can count. Many Category 5 storms. Irma was the first one to actually cause damage to MY house, though all of them have been terrible for many others. I can remember having four or five hurricanes or more, each season, though of varying degrees.

      I lived through Donna in the 60's when people spent days going up and down Bayshore Blvd in motor boats. Stuff like that. But that doesn't make it any easier when another one comes along. (The Okeechobee hurricane of 1928 killed 2500 people in central Florida. 😯 ) It does take some getting used to them all, and people should NEVER ignore the warnings to get out of Dodge when one is coming at them. So I follow along to be sure I don't need to pack up and go, and after that, I just hunker down and say my prayers. 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      • BTW, that Okeechobee hurricane is widely considered the 2nd worst hurricane to ever hit the United States, right after the Galveston, Texas one, which hit in 1900 (killing somewhere between 8,000 and 12,000 people!) So they’ve been happening for many, many years. I think the difference is that the rest of the world didn’t always hear about them like they do with such immediacy today.

        Like

        Reply

      • Maybe it’s because the news focuses on natural disasters, or that I’m older and am watching the news! lol
        It seems like there’s something every night; fires, tornadoes, floods, volcanoes, it makes me want to cover my head and hide!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        • We live in the Age of Instant News. I do think it makes us much more aware of things that may (or may not) have been going on for many, many years. But hurricanes in this part of the world have been part of the natural cycle for a very long time. (Me, I’d go to the mountains tomorrow, if I could. Cooler weather and hardly any hurricanes, though Florence sure took a swing at them this year!) 😀

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

    • Thanks, Mae! So far, we are in good shape here in central Florida, but I shudder at the images coming in from the panhandle area, particularly around Appalachicola. So scary. And it is getting close to the tri-state border between Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, and hasn’t weakened at all. They do predict it will weaken before it reaches South Carolina, and I’m hoping they’re right, though Erin told me the schools will all be closed tomorrow. I hate when there’s nothing at all you can do but wait! 😦

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Thanks, Pam! We had some very heavy rain here for an hour or so, but it has passed on by. Must have been one of the outer bands from the storm. I believe we are out of the woods now, and hope it will spare my daughter’s part of Charleston, too. But boy, the panhandle sure took a hit. The good news is, it was moving through so rapidly, it may not have done quite as much damage as it would have if it had paused a bit longer. Fingers crossed that’s the case. (And I’m thinking they do not pay storm reporters nearly enough money. I can’t imagine standing there buffeted by hurricane winds and stinging rain while trying to be coherent on tv!)

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  15. Thoughts and prayers for you and those in the storm’s path. You take care. My niece’s fiance has been sent to Florida to help with the aftermath. He works for a company that places/repairs power poles (or something like that).

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Well thank God for people like him, Joan! For sure, power companies and pole repair/replacement folks, etc, will be very, very busy for some weeks ahead. I’ve heard estimates that maybe a million people will be without power. It’s already somewhere around 400,000 in the panhandle alone, and the storm (now a Category 3) has a lot farther to go yet.

      Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. WE lucked out! We had one last outer band from the storm come this far inland. There was torrrential rain and some heavy wind gusts, but it was all over in about an hour, and I think that’s the last of it for us. It’s way north, now. SO happy we aren’t going through what we were a year ago. 🙂 But very sad for the folks who will be facing that and worse in the weeks ahead.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  16. I’m in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area, and they’re forecasting it to be weakened to around tropical storm strength by the time it gets to us Thursday night/Friday morning and to be offshore by late Friday morning. I sure hope they’re right.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. Oh dear, Marcia – you are scarcely over one weather trauma and another is threatening. We were touring California with friends from Myrtle Beach during Florence’s reign and I appreciate how anxiety-ridden folk who live in Micheal’s path, or relatives and friends who do, must be feeling at the moment. Thoughts and prayers go out to all concerned.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks, Lynn! It has now been downgraded to a tropical storm as it passes through South Carolina, but that can still bring serious damage and/or injury. And now the clean-up and assessment of damage or lives lost begins in the panhandle. *sigh* Such a grim, difficult task ahead for rescue workers, power companies, etc. Happily for US, we were spared all but a last outer band of wind and rain that managed to penetrate clear to the center of the state. We had some torrential rain and gusts of wind for about an hour, and then it was gone. I wish it had been that easy for those in the panhandle and south Georgia.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • We weren’t exactly in the predicted path, but I can remember plenty of storms that took a sudden turn and went in unexpected directions. It came up the center of the Gulf and it was wide enough that we did get an outer band of wind and rain, but it didn’t veer this time. Pretty much landed exactly where they predicted, and slammed the heck out of the panhandle region. We lucked out. They didn’t. It’s now moving through South Carolina (a very fast storm) and has been downgraded to a tropical storm. Still lots of serious wind and rain, but an improvement over a hurricane. We’ll see what happens when it reaches the Atlantic and starts toward Ireland. Hopefully, it will die out midway!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a reply to Marcia Cancel reply