Hurricane Irma

[LAKid53]

Just a heads up that as mentioned in the Sentinel article, Universal just refunded our park tickets/hotel for this weekend after giving them a call.

Surprisingly Alaska Airlines *still* has not implemented a refund plan yet.

Guess they're more familiar with a different type of weather....and earthquakes...

 

[21stamps]

Lived in Miami. Those hotels not only provide shelter for people, but also bear the brunt of the wind....

The problem is, a lot of them are condos, those people will be under mandatory evac.

I think all barrier islands will be completely closed. Usually they issue a warning "If you stay we will not help you. You are at your own risk."

 

[JohnD]

Ha ha yes for sure! I lived in a condo those years, we had a multi level garage, with plenty of fresh air.

Closed door single car garage for me so having the door up would be very much on my mind.

 

[JohnD]

By laying in supplies, @dreamfinder912, Joe means WATER, not beer... Non perishables like bread, crackers, peanut butter, tuna fish, cold cereal. Have a manual can opener. Buy lots of battery chargers for your phone. Get a portable radio, buy plenty of batteries for it - this will be one source of info for you. Make sure you keep everything plugged in and charging until you lose power. Dint use your phone for unnecessary things like YouTube videos. If the local utility company has an app that allows notification of power outages, download it before the storm approaches. Sign up for text messages alerts from local authorities. Get laundry done ASAP. Think about a place within your apartment to shelter if weather gets really, really bad, like tornados - think an interior room with no windows - like a bathroom or closet. Get your supplies and gas up your car NOW. It can be scary, but as long as you're prepared, you'll be okay.

Can't emphasize all of these things enough.

 

[21stamps]

@Master Yoda I think it was you who talked with me about hurricane proof glass only going up so many floors, is this true? My building had used "hurricane windows" as a selling point, but the people across from me lost their windows in Wilma.

If so, I wonder how many people still have a false confidence as myself and a few others had.

 

[JoeCamel]

Yes.. people in these areas, all along the coast, need the hotels more than anyone in the middle of the state, on higher elevation, or even more inland. (And mobile homes)
View attachment 226821 View attachment 226822 View attachment 226823 View attachment 226824 View attachment 226825

Not to mention the people who live here-

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Or we could stop allowing buildings there. That is a subject for another time but it needs to be raised.

 

[JoeCamel]

By laying in supplies, @dreamfinder912, Joe means WATER, not beer... Non perishables like bread, crackers, peanut butter, tuna fish, cold cereal. Have a manual can opener. Buy lots of battery chargers for your phone. Get a portable radio, buy plenty of batteries for it - this will be one source of info for you. Make sure you keep everything plugged in and charging until you lose power. Dint use your phone for unnecessary things like YouTube videos. If the local utility company has an app that allows notification of power outages, download it before the storm approaches. Sign up for text messages alerts from local authorities. Get laundry done ASAP. Think about a place within your apartment to shelter if weather gets really, really bad, like tornados - think an interior room with no windows - like a bathroom or closet. Get your supplies and gas up your car NOW. It can be scary, but as long as you're prepared, you'll be okay.

I agree with everything but the Beer. Get plenty of that too. You can make many friends when you say "we need to drink the beer before it gets warm".

 

[Nickels5]

View attachment 226810 18z GFS is way out east which is good news and is consistent with how the model has been behaving over the past dozen runs. Only bad news is that the 883 mb pressure maintains a major cat5 but limits wind issues to the immediate coast. Bad news for the Bahamas though...

That seems like a real good outcome for Orlando yes?

 

[JoeCamel]

@Master Yoda I think it was you who talked with me about hurricane proof glass only going up so many floors, is this true? My building had used "hurricane windows" as a selling point, but the people across from me lost their windows in Wilma.

If so, I wonder how many people still have a false confidence as myself and a few others had.

Yeah, concrete towers still have windows

 

[lazyboy97o]

@Master Yoda I think it was you who talked with me about hurricane proof glass only going up so many floors, is this true? My building had used "hurricane windows" as a selling point, but the people across from me lost their windows in Wilma.

If so, I wonder how many people still have a false confidence as myself and a few others had.

Where required, Large Missile Impact Resistant glass is only required up to 30’-0” with Small Missile Impact Redistance above that. There is no such thing as hurricane proof. There are also wind pressure requirements but they still have a limit.

 

[invader]

That seems like a real good outcome for Orlando yes?

It's a better outcome for basically most of Florida when compared to other models & is what I'm praying for.

 

[JohnD]

I agree with everything but the Beer. Get plenty of that too. You can make many friends when you say "we need to drink the beer before it gets warm".

Speaking of which, here's a handy tip I found on FB.

 

[Master Yoda]

@Master Yoda I think it was you who talked with me about hurricane proof glass only going up so many floors, is this true? My building had used "hurricane windows" as a selling point, but the people across from me lost their windows in Wilma.

If so, I wonder how many people still have a false confidence as myself and a few others had.

At the time of Wilma, impact resistant windows were only required at 30' or below, but the big problem was the impact windows themselves.

The test a window had to pass at the time to meet the qualifications of an impact resistant window was not an accurate analog. Because of this tempered glass often passed and could be classified as "impact resistant". While tempered glass is stronger than non-tempered, when it fails, it fails catastrophically.

The test was revised along with the code requiring an impact resistant window to remain intact after it has shattered. To date, I only know of laminated windows that can live up to the test.

However, I have little doubt many older buildings still claim "impact resistant windows" even though they don't meet the current definition.

 

[Souvenir]

Opinions please, I have family in Disney right now, including a baby. They are having a wonderful time, are totally caught up in enjoying their vacation, and don't seem to be at all aware of the coming danger. They are scheduled to fly back home to Baltimore from Orlando via Southwest Airlines on Saturday evening. Are they okay to just keep their heads in the bubble, or should those of us at home paying attention to this storm be insisting they leave early. I appreciate your thoughts on this. I've been reading along here but I'm having trouble understanding the timeline of the storm. Thank you.

 

[JohnD]

Another tip to Irma.

 

[Raineman]

As someone who has lived in Canada all of his life, after reading everything on this thread, I don't think I'll worry/complain as much anymore when we get the huge snowstorms that dump 1-2' of snow on us. Stay safe everyone.

 

[dreamfinder912]

If you have that option do a belated birthday and go the week after. You know F&W will be on for months and months and months and months and months........
Lay in supplies, see that you have a safe place to be and learn the words "hunker down". It is 6 - 12 hours of wondering if you will die but surprisingly few do and central Florida is one of the safest places to be (except for Montana).

Oh if it's anything less than "just lots of rain" I'm not venturing out of my house. I just wanted to point out that in this case I understand the irked vacationer pov and the scared local side. Mostly I'm just super nervous.

 

[wdwmagic]

Opinions please, I have family in Disney right now, including a baby. They are having a wonderful time, are totally caught up in enjoying their vacation, and don't seem to be at all aware of the coming danger. They are scheduled to fly back home to Baltimore from Orlando via Southwest Airlines on Saturday evening. Are they okay to just keep their heads in the bubble, or should those of us at home paying attention to this storm be insisting they leave early. I appreciate your thoughts on this. I've been reading along here but I'm having trouble understanding the timeline of the storm. Thank you.

As it stands now, impacts to Florida will be Sunday. The mixture willl be a lot clearer towards the end of the week, so for now, I would leave them to their vacation.

 

[Laketravis]

Too bad Dr. Krishnamurti has retired. He was pretty spot on with Ivan

+1

Another who has been gaining reputation as highly accurate is Dr. Jeff Masters. He was the only one to call Katrina for what it was and predicted Harvey would be a Cat 4 by the time it made landfall. The predictive models used with Harvey were amazingly spot on in so many aspects ranging from where it would hit, where it would stall (pretty much unheard of), how long it would stall, how much rain it would dump and where, and when it would retrace it's path backwards to it's then north/northeast path.

 

[21stamps]

At the time of Wilma, impact resistant windows were only required at 30' or below, but the big problem was the impact windows themselves.

The test a window had to pass at the time to meet the qualifications of an impact resistant window was not an accurate analog. Because of this tempered glass often passed and could be classified as "impact resistant". While tempered glass is stronger than non-tempered, when it fails, it fails catastrophically.

The test was revised along with the code requiring an impact resistant window to remain intact after it has shattered. To date, I only know of laminated windows that can live up to the test.

However, I have little doubt many older buildings still claim "impact resistant windows" even though they don't meet the current definition.

In 2001 I moved into a brand new building/midrise East Ft Laud... they boasted "hurricane proof windows", extremely safe building codes! In 2004 I moved to a brand new condo/mid/highrise in East Boca Raton.. they boasted "hurricane proof windows" extremely safe building codes!! Windows and glass doors were extremely heavy. I felt safe staying in an evac zone.

Obviously my neighbors experienced what that "hurricane proof glass" actually was. It shattered when a palm branch hit it. Several stories up.

I do think even those buildings are more safe than the ones built previously, as in @JoeCamel's photo. But they are definitely not resilient. I hope people realize that and don't feel safe enough to stay.

Do the ones built post 2005 have a different standard of windows?

Yeah, concrete towers still have windows
View attachment 226828

I spent most of the day searching for flights out of Key West or any of the 3 SoFla airports. Coworker walks in my office and says "These people should expect their homes to be flattened and should not rebuild. Stupid to live in that area. No one should live in a place that connects 100 miles by bridges. Worst idea ever. It shouldn't be part of the USA."

(Oops, meant to quote your previous post on this one)