frances

fellow floridians, are u prepared for frances???

My dad is in Broward County. Not sure if they are evacuated or not as I haven't talked to him today - this morning they issued an evac order for 250,000 residents of Broward.

The storm looks pretty large and this is the first time in recorded hurricane history that two category 4 storms have hit within a season. Scary!

I hope everyone in FL stays safe!

I heard that Interstate 95 looks more like a parking lot now. Hope everyone's able to get out of the way.

,my real mom lives in south flain the palm beach area.and real dad has a condo or something in daytona but it is a rental... i think my mom is up here at sisters now.,i kinda hope she calls i havent seen her in years.

Daughter came home yesterday after a visit to Grandma and Aunt in Margate. As soon as they saw her plane leave from FtL, they drove north to Gainsville, then on to Atlanta.

Last night traffic wasn't bad and the lines at the gas pumps were not too long. I suspect things to worsen as the storm approaches.

Wonder how they will evacuate large #s of people. If government says to South Florida, OK get out, where are all these people to go?

wow small world i lived in maragte to around margate blvd and 441

I heard it was category 5 now? Can anyone confirm this?

I heard it was downgraded to a Cat 3 from Cat 4 Thursday night...confirmation and status updates can be accessed here: National Weather Service.

The different categories are explained & defined on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

However they were saying not to underestimate it's force...this is still a BIG ONE!

My brother lives in West Palm Beach on a small island. They shut the whole island down this morning and cut off the bridge. He was supposed to leave early this morning. I'll call him soon to get an update. I hope he has a place to go back to when it's all over. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200406.html

Frances is now a category 3 - but there's still 24 hours or so before she hits FL during which time she'll be over open water... so I have my doubts about whether or not she'll weaken or actually *gain* strength. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I talked to my dad in Broward County last night. They are not in the evac zone - they are west of US 1, but not by much. He put up his hurricane shutters on Wednesday and had all of his supplies already in stock and his yard cleaned up (my dad is totally on the ball when it comes to hurricane prep!), but they were still expecting power outages for several days and a lot of really bad weather. He said he was loaded up on flashlights and batteries! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif The storm is currently expected to make landfall somewhere around Palm Beach, which is about 50 miles from him - but I think the hurricane winds extend out 80 miles or so, so they'd still get the full force of it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif Also, the local news has been forecasting a 15-20 foot storm surge.

He said most of the grocery stores had nothing but empty aisles. The wait at the gas stations in his area (just north of Miami) were 2-3 hours long and lines at lumber yards and Home Depot were 8 hours or more.

I'm keeping everyone in Florida in my thoughts right now!

We best keep them in our thoughts. Frances is coming and it's looking pissed!!! This is one very large storm!

Reporting in from Miami, live in north Dade and work in Broward. Work released us at noon on Thursday, we put up our shutters Wed. evening.

Currently on hurricane volunteer duty call list at work (state government) and anticipate being called in post storm providing that home and family are in good shape.


Saw gas lines that were a half mile long in several places on the way to and from work Thursday, at the places that still had gas, many stations did not. Most Publix / Winn Dixie / Navarro / Costco / BJ type stores ran out of bottled water, bread etc. VERY QUICKLY.

We prepared early, no last minute running around for this family. Current weather at the moment, 3:37 EDT is sky overcast, had several blustery showers with wind in the 20-25 mph range, but fairly short lived, the worst is coming soon.

Still a chance the Frances could veer unexpectedly. Wind has (so far) been out of the north for us fairly steady at about 5-10 mph.

White caps have been showing appearing on local lakes & canals now.

Temp has been in the 80's and has just dropped a bit with the fresher wind and sprinkles.

Thanks to all for the wishes, we hope that everyone comes out well in the landfall area.

I'll try to send updates as able, depending upon DSL access more than power, have UPS and generator for b/u if needed.

(Sorry, before anyone asks, no digicam avail., there are several live cams that are operated by the various TV stations, some are located on 1,000 foot radio towers in the area and some on buildings in Miami, a Google search should provide links.) Also, check out www.noaa.gov has good links to satellite images/loops and briefings etc., South Florida Water Management District has a great website, and there are the standard media sites like www.sunsentinel.com that have some info as well. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif

Lighthouse

Here's a link for some informative graphic representations of the hurricane text warnings provided by the National Weather Service.

8:36 PM Aside from the several small bands of rainshowers and gusty winds mentioned earlier, today has been mostly winds from the north, a nice change from the typically muggy S Fla. weather. In general (at least from our vantage point) it has been a blustery/windy but nice day so far.

According to NOAA, Frances (downgraded to a strong Cat. 2 [edited by Lighthouse, thanks Sub_Umbra] storm) is now drifting about 4 mph to the west/northwest and still has about 200 miles till landfall in Fla.

Although we have not personally experienced any outages, there were "reports" of around 50,000 without power along the east coast.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif

Sub_Umbra is absolutely correct, I suffered a

"PEBKAC" *

error on my side. Apologies, I was having a discussion while typing and thinking / meaning to type Cat 2, D'Oh!

Winds have been varying in intensity, with increasing strength as the evening wears on.

*= " Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair"

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif

Sat. evening 7 PM, Winds have increased markedly in strength (various speeds ranging from estimated 15 to ~45? MPH, some trees down) now coming from the NW to W directions. Wind forecast to increase as the currently stalled hurricane is anticipated to drift to the NW and bless Fla. with the backside effects. Current satellite photos indicate the center is still about 40-50 miles offshore from Palm Beach.

Drizzly wind driven rain all day. White caps on inland waters more often.

Power was out for several hours. Some neighbors running on generators, for the moment we currently have power restored.

Not real bad for us due to being south of the landfall, but it sure looks like West Palm and Ft. Pierce are gonna get beat up with both wind and long duration rain.

Good luck & stay safe.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif

my uncle is in cooper city is it bad there:?:my mom is up here but i think her place is in boyton beach but i dont know for sure

Man this thread gives more updated info than even a lot of the H-Francis websites. Stay safe down there, everybody!

I ordered a product (not light related) from a Florida outfit and it hasn't shipped for three weeks now. But I'm not buggin'em 'cause I know why -- they're just a teensy bit busy with other things...

Take care!