Here we sit in Pinellas county waiting for Charley to bring havoc to our area. Anyone else in Charley's path? What a mess...

 

good luck buddy. one day i wil live in Fla but right now im happy to be in Pa. stay safe. scott

 

Hang tough, Hannibal. Hope you've got things moved to higher ground. I heard storm surge predictions and it doesn't sound good.

 

Our prayers are with all of you in this storms path, go to high ground if you can

 

We're in flood zone D. People in zones A B and C have to evacuate. Not a lot of margin but we should be ok from storm surge. High winds are our concern. I thought about hooking up our 5th wheel to the truck to try and save it but then I decided I didn't want to jeopardize our truck if the wind picks the 5th wheel and turns it over as it rips it apart. 120mph wind might destroy the 5th wheel. It might even rip the roof off the house. It's going to be a mess. Downed trees and power lines. Probably be hanging chads flying all over the place!
Thanks for the well wishes... I might have some intersting pics of the beaches after the storm. My route of elevators I take care of is along the Pinellas county beaches. I either won't have a job Saturday morning or I'll have more work than I can possibly handle!
At worst, if our time comes, you all are a great bunch!

 

We have elderly relatives in Ocala, I know it's farther inland, just wondering how much Charley will affect them?

Our prayers are with you and all Floridians.

 

They'll be fine. Even if it turns right and goes right over them, it would dissipate alot as it moves over land. They see summer storms with 60mph gusts. Not to worry. Remember Hurricane Andrew was furious as it came onshore but wasn't too bad by the time it left the Gulf side in Fort Myers and Naples.

 

Thanks Hannibal, that's what I kind of figured but thought I'd ask someone that lives there.

Hope you make it thru alright without much damage.

 

Re: Charley

Hannibel,

We're in the same situation your in. We're in New Port Richey with a new truck and a 5th wheel outside. I too thought of hooking up the 5th to the truck, but than decided not to.

Just ran around early this morning to purchase an extra gas tank for our 5kW generator. Always figured if the power went out we could live in the 5th. Like you, if we see 12 hours of sustained wind speed of between 40-70 mph then 3 hours of sustained 120 mph (according to meteorologist Dick Fletcher) I doubt that we will have a 5th wheel, truck or even a house to live in.

PM me and keep me up to date on how things are going with you.

Good Luck,
Alan

 

I'm in NC, and though we won't get it NEARLY as bad as you down in Florida, we're gonna get it good, and the ground is still saturated.

I was on a SAR team after Andrew back in the 90's... Nasty stuff. I hope and pray it won't be nearly as bad.

What's the reasoning for you guys with the 5'ers to not be hooked up & haulin' butt outta there? Would rather stay there and let insurance do its job? I'm honestly NOT trying to start anything, just wondering...

 

Hannibal & Murray,

You two and your families are in our prayers.... I know this is gonna be a tough one because I have seen over 200 Texas based power company trucks, from as far away as San Angelo headed your way down I-10 in the last two days.... Good luck and may you all stay safe (and dry)....

Gary

 

I lived in south Fla when Andrew came knocking, so i know what you are going thru. Hang in there and good luck.

 

Hannibal,

If your still there you better get the hell out of town, just say an upgrade to a Cat 4 at 145 MPH winds!!!

Good luck and God Bless!!

 

Charley is making a turn toward Fort Myers to South Sarasota county. Bad news for them but good for us. We're still looking at thunderstorms and squalls with possible tornado threats but the left side of the hurricane is the less damaging.
As far as hooking up and getting out... That needs to be reserved for those who are in the worst danger. There's not a campground or hotel with vacancies anywhere around us. The mass of people literally in the hundreds of thousands running for higher ground has the places of refuge pretty full. You can't imagine the traffic jambs on the interstates.
I have no desire to collect insurance on our 5th wheel. I just don't want to risk my truck trying to keep my 5th wheel on the ground and have to collect insurance on both instead of just one. But it looks like we've dodged a bullet once again!

 

Scuz,

Thanks for the good wishes, and thanks to all the power men coming in from I-10. We'll certainly need their help.

Esk,

The reason I didn't hook-up is because of the path of the storm. No matter what direction I would go in, it appeared I would still be in 70-80 mph winds. I wouldn't want to be in a 5th wheel under those conditions.

At this time ( 2:16 pm est) it looks as though the storm will be coming in south of us more towards Ft. Myers. That still doesn't get us off the hook ( we still will be looking at gusts up to 80 mph), but I sure am concerned about the people in that area. They're at present, looking at a category 4 storm.

Thanks all,
Alan

p.s. Hannibel... Hang in there!!