KBBOCA wrote:Steve wrote:No question about that for anyone who saw Barbuda end of last week. We ain't out the woods by a long shot and millions of people have effects ahead. Also we will have to wait for live reports out of the hardest hit areas of the Keys. Potential was extraordinary, but so far almost everything I've seen has been minimal compared to a certain Weatherbell met's tweet the other day of a $1T storm. We have a long way to go, but I don't think anyone would argue with the fact that so far it's been the opposite of Harvey which didn't have much bark but had a lot of bite. Irma has been the opposite. Bark for days and days but nowhere near what we could have faced here in the USA. Caribbean Islands have been destroyed, and maybe some of The Keys are, but reports are still slow there.
I'm feeling / thinking along the same lines.
Compared to what Barbuda, St. Barts, St. Martin, etc etc. .... faced, SO FAR, many areas of Florida seem to have been spared catastrophic damage. Obviously the worst could still be ahead: Marco island, Naples, Ft. Myers - that surge situation is terrifying to consider. So please don't think I'm downplaying this storm. I recognize a huge catastrophe could be unfolding in coastal SW FL.
But I confess to getting annoyed by some pix of so-called "BIG damage" in Miami (a few destroyed awnings...) I've seen floating around on Twitter, when compared to the pix of TOTAL DEVASTATION coming out of the Islands, and also compared to the post-Harvey pictures in Houston.
All storms are terrible. And I will be extremely thankful and grateful for answered prayer if FL and the Southeast have been spared much damage.
Perhaps all the BARK at least helped people to take the storm seriously and evacuate. No doubt many lives have been saved. But yes, it all is exhausting and can seem like there's almost a "let down" when the worst-ever natural disaster does NOT materialize. I'll take the let-down every time, thank you!
Overall though, I think much of the media and the vast majoritiy of forecasters have done a pretty good job of sticking to facts and not overhyping things...
Excellent post. Somewhat cautiously optimistic is where I'm at. Still gonna be bad up the WFL Coast for sure.