Thousands trying to escape Florida....

Well, we've done as much as we can. Cars/motorcycle shoehorned in the garage, garbage cans in the Florida room (no room in the garage...sigh). We aren't worried about high water, but our massive oak trees in the front yard are a concern. What will be will be....

Made a last supply run yesterday. Surprisingly, things were calm at Walmart. Both cars gassed up.

There is a ratty little gas station on the main road in our area that I see very few people buying gas at. I've always thought that the gas station must make its money in other less-desirable business transactions, if you get my drift. But yesterday, with most of the major stations around us out of gas, cars were lined up there. That station always has ridiculously-high gas prices, waaaay out of proportion with other stations in the area, so they must be making some bucks. Since they always have their prices that high, they can't be accused of gouging. I'd be scared to buy gas there as who knows how long the gas has been in the tanks (I have never ONCE seen a gas tanker there).

The big airport in Orlando is closing sometime today. I was due to fly out yesterday on a long-awaited trip North at 6:45 a.m. on an Allegiant flight out of the smaller international airport here in Sanford, where I live. That flight and all others in and out were cancelled in the wee hours of the morning. Nothing else available at either airport, of course.

I was pretty ticked that Allegiant was cancelling flight so early in the day but I was told by a neighbor who works at that airport that since that is pretty much their major hub and they have planes "stored" there, all their effort has been thrown into getting those planes "out of Dodge". Of course, that ties up pilots and cabin crew. I'm still pretty pi$$ed at Allegiant for cancelling flights that early, but I guess I can see where their business interests lie. Yesterday was a frenzy of cancelling reservations and letting people know I wasn't coming.

This morning, I was trying to talk friends in Sarasota (where Milton apparently is heading at the moment) into coming over to the relative safety of Sanford. They say they'll "consider" it but I'm sure they won't. At this point, it would take them hours to get here.

Per the earlier discussion about why people don't evacuate: A lot of people don't evacuate because they've become "numb" to hurricane warnings. You have hours and days of dire warnings and "the sky is falling!" and then the hurricane passes over with minimal damage. After several years of that, they throw their hands in the air and say, "Well, nothing ever happens, why leave?"

And then, you have the people who just won't leave their houses/belongings unprotected. You have the folks with pets who might not be able to find "pet-friendly" accommodations or shelters. Ones that are scared of being stuck on the road. Some have elderly relatives who won't leave or can't be moved easily.

Some can't leave because of their jobs. My granddaughter's husband is a manager in the distribution center of a hardware chain. They HAVE to be there to get the deliveries in the warehouse and be ready to start sending them out the moment the storm ends. There are law enforcement officers (my sort-of son-in-law) and medical personnel/EMT's/fire personnel who can't desert their jobs. And you get the macho ones who proclaim, "NOBODY'S GOING TO TELL *ME* WHAT TO DO!"

AND, you get ones who fear they can't find hotel rooms/shelters on the road and feel that they'll be better hunkered down at home. I can understand the angst of being on the road and wondering if you can even get gas to get anywhere. I've seen overhead pics of I-75 and I-4 and they're awful. Tempers are flaring, people are getting desperate. I don't know how emergency vehicles are going to get through.

As of right now, Milton is going to skirt around us. At one point, it was going right over. We'll still get a lot of rain and wind, but I think we'll be OK.

I hear talk that there might be another one forming out there somewhere. Oh, please no.....the welcome mat has been brought in.
 
I just read this in the news... I know it makes sense but it has me choked up to think they really are expecting a lot of deaths..OMG...please God, don't do this to the people...please protect them .... 🙏

Stubborn Floridians refusing to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton should write their name on their leg so authorities can identify their body, a police chief has warned.

William Tokajer, police chief of Holmes Beach, issued a stark warning to residents today, telling them 'if you don't leave, you're on your own.'

'Take a pen and write your name and social security number on your leg so that we have a contact if we find you,' he told CNN. 'Because this is not going to end well.'


Millions of people across Florida are locked in a desperate race against time to evacuate before the 'storm of the century' smashes into Tampa late tonight, with officials warning that those choosing to stay and ride out Hurricane Milton would be left to fend for themselves.

Tokajer's remark doubles down on pleas from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who has urged locals to evacuate before the 15 feet (4.5 metres) of storm surge forecast to hit her city submerges entire properties. She has repeatedly warned those who are refusing to leave that they could die in their homes.

'So if you're in it, basically that's the coffin that you're in,' she said flatly.

The state is holding its breath as Milton barrels across the Gulf of Mexico and heads for the shoreline, with forecasters warning of the prospect of brutal floods and 165 miles-per-hour winds.

Its intensity was downgraded from a Category 5 hurricane to a Category 4 this afternoon, but the storm has dramatically increased in size and is expected to lay waste to huge swathes of land. It is thought the Hurricane could double in size by the time it hits.

Emergency workers are busy making last-ditch preparations, locking down communities, readying rescue trucks and placing flood barricades around vital infrastructure, including Tampa General Hospital, which is expected to bear the brunt of Milton's wrath when it hits around midnight UK time (7pm EST).

The National Guard has also been drafted in to help any residents in difficulty carry out desperate eleventh-hour evacuations amid light flooding as the outer edges of the hurricane caused weather conditions to deteriorate this morning.

Unsettling clips taken early this morning also showed a huge lightning storm erupting off the coast of Key West.
It's hard to feel sorry for sme people when they show such stupidity as in this photo of a couple taking selfies...
90647257-13940881-image-a-33_1728481743196.jpg

This is it, folks,' Emergency Management Director Cathie Perkins said at a Wednesday morning news conference.

'Those of you who were punched during Hurricane Helene, this is going to be a knockout. You need to get out and you need to get out now.'

Perkins said 13 public shelters are open for people with no other option to escape the storm and that major bridges around Tampa Bay would begin closing in the afternoon.

Perkins also said people should not feel a sense of relief because of indications Milton might come ashore south of Tampa.

'Everybody in Tampa Bay should assume we are going to be ground zero,' she said.

Law enforcement vehicles blocked the bridge from the mainland to the barrier island of St. Pete Beach on Wednesday morning, where as of Tuesday evening, officials had closed down access to this string of low-lying barrier islands that jut out into the Gulf.

All residents in these low-lying communities west of the city of St. Petersburg are under mandatory evacuation orders, as another storm bears down less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene killed 12 people in the Tampa Bay area, including residents who didn't leave - and then drowned in their homes.

Officials are warning that a direct hit from Hurricane Milton would bring far greater risks to this part of the state.
 

jujube said:
Well, we've done as much as we can. Cars/motorcycle shoehorned in the garage, garbage cans in the Florida room (no room in the garage...sigh). We aren't worried about high water, but our massive oak trees in the front yard are a concern. What will be will be....

Made a last supply run yesterday. Surprisingly, things were calm at Walmart. Both cars gassed up.

There is a ratty little gas station on the main road in our area that I see very few people buying gas at. I've always thought that the gas station must make its money in other less-desirable business transactions, if you get my drift. But yesterday, with most of the major stations around us out of gas, cars were lined up there. That station always has ridiculously-high gas prices, waaaay out of proportion with other stations in the area, so they must be making some bucks. Since they always have their prices that high, they can't be accused of gouging. I'd be scared to buy gas there as who knows how long the gas has been in the tanks (I have never ONCE seen a gas tanker there).

The big airport in Orlando is closing sometime today. I was due to fly out yesterday on a long-awaited trip North at 6:45 a.m. on an Allegiant flight out of the smaller international airport here in Sanford, where I live. That flight and all others in and out were cancelled in the wee hours of the morning. Nothing else available at either airport, of course.

I was pretty ticked that Allegiant was cancelling flight so early in the day but I was told by a neighbor who works at that airport that since that is pretty much their major hub and they have planes "stored" there, all their effort has been thrown into getting those planes "out of Dodge". Of course, that ties up pilots and cabin crew. I'm still pretty pi$$ed at Allegiant for cancelling flights that early, but I guess I can see where their business interests lie. Yesterday was a frenzy of cancelling reservations and letting people know I wasn't coming.

This morning, I was trying to talk friends in Sarasota (where Milton apparently is heading at the moment) into coming over to the relative safety of Sanford. They say they'll "consider" it but I'm sure they won't. At this point, it would take them hours to get here.

Per the earlier discussion about why people don't evacuate: A lot of people don't evacuate because they've become "numb" to hurricane warnings. You have hours and days of dire warnings and "the sky is falling!" and then the hurricane passes over with minimal damage. After several years of that, they throw their hands in the air and say, "Well, nothing ever happens, why leave?"

And then, you have the people who just won't leave their houses/belongings unprotected. You have the folks with pets who might not be able to find "pet-friendly" accommodations or shelters. Ones that are scared of being stuck on the road. Some have elderly relatives who won't leave or can't be moved easily.

Some can't leave because of their jobs. My granddaughter's husband is a manager in the distribution center of a hardware chain. They HAVE to be there to get the deliveries in the warehouse and be ready to start sending them out the moment the storm ends. There are law enforcement officers (my sort-of son-in-law) and medical personnel/EMT's/fire personnel who can't desert their jobs. And you get the macho ones who proclaim, "NOBODY'S GOING TO TELL *ME* WHAT TO DO!"

AND, you get ones who fear they can't find hotel rooms/shelters on the road and feel that they'll be better hunkered down at home. I can understand the angst of being on the road and wondering if you can even get gas to get anywhere. I've seen overhead pics of I-75 and I-4 and they're awful. Tempers are flaring, people are getting desperate. I don't know how emergency vehicles are going to get through.

As of right now, Milton is going to skirt around us. At one point, it was going right over. We'll still get a lot of rain and wind, but I think we'll be OK.

I hear talk that there might be another one forming out there somewhere. Oh, please no.....the welcome mat has been brought in.
Click to expand...
Thanks for all your info, @jujube. hope you'll remain safe
 
rgp said:
Listening to a radio talk show that I do. A woman just called in, by cell phone, supposedly, supposedly stuck in traffic somewhere in Florida. She was complaining that so many of the gas stations are out of gas, and also that many others are closed. Well, if they are out of gas, why be open ?
Click to expand...

Just spitballing here, but the profit margin on the sale of gasoline is pretty small. Most gas/convenience stores make their money with the sale of snacks, drinks, gizmos, pretty much anything else but gas.
 
Is setting up an emergency station filled with multitude seated buses, ready to transport people out of a danger zone, a way to prevent people jumping into their individual cars to escape danger, but due to others doing the same, they all end up jamming each other, clogging their escape route to a standstill?
 
oldman said:
I have been stuck on I-4 many times. We travel west to east, so we have to go past Disney World. As soon as we get past Disney, traffic is pretty much normal. They are putting in express lanes on the west said of Disney, but it will cost extra to use those lanes, which I will gladly pay so I can keep moving and not have to sit in traffic or do stop and go for 30 or more miles.

We are keeping an eye on the storm. I called my friends down there and they have secured all of the outside furniture, covered the TV, and put all of the big plant urns in the garage. The pool was drained a few weeks ago because I was having it cleaned and painted and new landing around the outside area around the pool replaced. All we can do now is pray. We also had new windows put in that are supposed to be protected up to
200 mph using laminated glass after they were installed, we had tinting done.
Click to expand...
At least you don't have to worry about tin roofs becoming detached and mowing people down with their edges. As a kid I was repeatedly told how that happens in Puerto Rico sometimes when a hurricane hits. Never heard of it happening here in the states. Although I would not be surprised if it does.
 
Last edited:
Milton is hitting Sarasota head on. Sarasota has barrier islands, one of which was cut off by a destroyed bridge during a previous storm. Ft. Myers Beach is still rebuilding after Hurricane Ian in 2022. Unfortunately that area is getting clobbered once again.

I don't see how people impacted by all these storms will have the desire to rebuild once again if they have the option of moving elsewhere... not to mention the skyrocketing cost of homeowners insurance. I saw a young woman in St. Pete interviewed in a neighborhood where much of the contents of the houses are still sitting outside next to the street due to Helene. She said her homeowners insurance is already $11,000 per year and she has been "priced out" of her neighborhood.

People in Florida are used to going through perhaps one major hurricane per year, but this one-two punch will no doubt change the complexion of many cities there.

 
Last edited:
seadoug said:
Milton is hitting Sarasota head on. Sarasota has barrier islands, one of which was cut off by a destroyed bridge during a previous storm. Ft. Myers Beach is still rebuilding after Hurricane Ian in 2022. Unfortunately that area is getting clobbered once again.

I don't see how people impacted by all these storms will have the desire to rebuild once again if they have the option of moving elsewhere... not to mention the skyrocketing cost of homeowners insurance. I saw a young woman in St. Pete interviewed in a neighborhood where much of the contents of the houses are still sitting outside next to the street due to Helene. She said her homeowners insurance is already $11,000 per year and she has been "priced out" of her neighborhood.

People in Florida are used to going through perhaps one major hurricane per year, but this one-two punch will no doubt change the complexion of many cities there.

Click to expand...
Basic thermodynamics - when more energy is pumped into a system like the Earth's atmosphere and oceans, the effect is more violent and more frequent weather events.

More cyclones and hurricanes, more severe droughts and bigger wildfires are the legacy we will leave for our grandchildren and their children. We should have listened to the scientists and demanded our governments to start tackling the problem decades ago. It is a case of too little, too late.

Edit - detailed explanation here - The science of how Hurricane Milton became such a monster
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top