I am going to say this as directly as I can, to repeat what others have said. And my comments are based on living in Florida for 51 years and living through two hurricanes. Don't give a flip what
@gsam4ever said, he doesn't live in Florida.
If you have plans to visit Florida after Friday, please reconsider. Monitor the storm's progress, we should know by Friday what path it will take - but know they can shift at the last moment. Think Kate in 1985 (I lived through that one) and Andrew in 1992. This is a huge storm. Hurricane force winds out 50 miles from the eye. Wind field over 300 miles. One of the projected paths have it coming straight up the center of Florida, hitting just south of Lake Okeechobee early Monday AM. Trust me, Disney will feel the impact of that one. Look at the pictures
@BuddyThomas posted after Andrew.
If you are already at Disney World, but are leaving this weekend, you should be okay. But be prepared for flight delays on Sunday. Airlines will start to move equipment out of the path of the storm (don't argue with me on this one, my dad's an aeronautical engineer and spent nearly 40 years in the business). Expect bumpy takeoffs for flights departing later in the day on Sunday.
If you're here and vacation plans keep you at Disney through the first part of next week, stay where you are. Those buildings, especially the concrete block ones, can withstand some pretty strong winds. There will be staff on site to help. But plan. Get supplies now. Bleach to clean the bathtub and fill it up with water to flush the toilet. Baby wipes for that sponge bath. Water, manual can opener, bread, peanut butter, crackers, shelf milk, stuff like that. A portable radio would be nice. Keep all your electronics plugged in and charging. Keep your resort room drapes closed. Stay away from windows. And don't go cruising around your resort during the storm. Try to be as prepared as you can to be on your own for a few days.
Hermine, a weak Category 1 storm passed directly over Tallahassee September 1st last year. The eyewall stalled over town for about 2 hours. I NEVER, EVER AGAIN WANT, IN MY LIFETIME, TO HEAR THAT SCREAMING WIND, THE CRACK OF TREES SNAPING IN TWO AND THE POP OF POWER LINE TRANSFORMERS EXPLODING AND FEEL MY HOUSE SHAKING! I spent hours in my laundry "room" (really a hallway from the garage into my house) with my cat, wondering if I would live to see the sunrise on Friday. Over 1,000 trees fell. 90% of Tallahassee was without power...for days, some for over a week. I don't remember the amount of debris that ended up at city landfills, but it was in the thousands of tons. All from a weak Category 1 storm. That if she had shifted a little more eastward a hour or two sooner, we would have been spared. Quincy to the west of us (about 20 miles) got wind and minor damage.
