ATL: IAN - Post-Tropical - Discussion

[Beachside]

Radar presentation right now on Orlando radar is interesting.... draw a line through the storm from Southwest to Northeast, and there is very little rain on the SE side of the line

yep I am one right on the line and kept expecting the rain to stop but it never did, raining harder than ever now on the SE side of Orlando but just a few miles south of us...NOTHING for the past 3 hours!

After some squalls this morning just before lunch, we have had very little rain, and very little wind here on the Space Coast. Wind is picking up now. I'm sure it is going to start to change rapidly now.

[dspguy]

Wind at 25-30 mph, gusting to 50 mph. It should decrease to about 20 MPH around midnight.

Where? NHC is saying sustained winds of 115mph. How does that work? I'm not saying you are wrong. I guess I'm looking for some education on this matter. So, the hurricane right now is gusting at 50mph on the high end?

I believe he is talking about where he is at, not for the hurricane itself.

Fair enough. So right now NHC says it is a category 3. I have family in Harmony, FL that I'm checking in on. They are saying the forecast is for 60mph. I suppose I'm just surprised it is "only" 60mph given the proximity of the storm to it.

[tiger_deF]

The situation in Fort Meyers is tragic. My stepfather's family last called at 4:55 PM from Royal Woods, saying that the walls were cracking, water was in the house and rising up to their necks, and that the entire neighborhood was underwater. Since then the water has risen another few feet and we haven't heard from them, my family is driving down to Florida tomorrow to try to find them. Considering only two of them can swim and one just had back surgery (along with living in a one story house) I fear the worst

Are there any resources that could help them find what roads are passable? I really appreciate it, thank you everyone

[FLLurker32]

I seriously considered driving down there to chase the storm. Then I realized something. I don't have the money to replace my car, don't have protective gear, have never ridden out anything worse than 70mph Zeta when it came through my place(still very damaging and killed two in my hometown), and I can't just drive my way back up because of likely debris. Now that I saw how bad it was, I realized I made the right choice. Watching that timelapse of storm surge was downright chilling. It just rises everywhere seemingly. I would have for sure lost my vehicle, if not my life. Especially if someone like Reed lost his, no way in hell I would have stood a chance. I have chased supercells(never caught a tornado yet) but a hurricane of that magnitude, thank goodness my gut got me thinking straight. The Teenage brain can be hard to control sometimes.

I stepped away for a few hours. Are you referring to Reed Timmer?!

[dukeblue219]

The situation in Fort Meyers is tragic. My stepfather's family last called at 4:55 PM from Royal Woods, saying that the walls were cracking, water was in the house and rising up to their necks, and that the entire neighborhood was underwater. Since then the water has risen another few feet and we haven't heard from them, my family is driving down to Florida tomorrow to try to find them. Considering only two of them can swim and one just had back surgery (along with living in a one story house) I fear the worst

Are there any resources that could help them find what roads are passable? I really appreciate it, thank you everyone

You need to reach out to emergency management services. Attempting to drive there tomorrow is not a good idea, nevermind that Ft. Myers is under curfew. Get professional help for them.

My best wishes that they are healthy and just very wet.

[Beachside]

The situation in Fort Meyers is tragic. My stepfather's family last called at 4:55 PM from Royal Woods, saying that the walls were cracking, water was in the house and rising up to their necks, and that the entire neighborhood was underwater. Since then the water has risen another few feet and we haven't heard from them, my family is driving down to Florida tomorrow to try to find them. Considering only two of them can swim and one just had back surgery (along with living in a one story house) I fear the worst

Are there any resources that could help them find what roads are passable? I really appreciate it, thank you everyone

I wish there were options other than "like" for posts, liking your post just didn't feel right.

God speed. I hope your family is OK. Whoever comes down, please be careful. Make sure you come self sufficient, and be prepared to wait some days to get into the heavily effected areas.

[FLLurker32]

The situation in Fort Meyers is tragic. My stepfather's family last called at 4:55 PM from Royal Woods, saying that the walls were cracking, water was in the house and rising up to their necks, and that the entire neighborhood was underwater. Since then the water has risen another few feet and we haven't heard from them, my family is driving down to Florida tomorrow to try to find them. Considering only two of them can swim and one just had back surgery (along with living in a one story house) I fear the worst

Are there any resources that could help them find what roads are passable? I really appreciate it, thank you everyone

That’s incredibly heart wrenching to read. Unfortunately, they won’t be able to go in and really they’d be putting themselves in danger to try. It won’t be safe and many roads will not only be impassable but likely swept away. They’ll need to call the emergency storm hotline for the county, provide names, address and last known details that you shared here so trained crews can check once it’s safe.

[AdamFirst]

I seriously considered driving down there to chase the storm. Then I realized something. I don't have the money to replace my car, don't have protective gear, have never ridden out anything worse than 70mph Zeta when it came through my place(still very damaging and killed two in my hometown), and I can't just drive my way back up because of likely debris. Now that I saw how bad it was, I realized I made the right choice. Watching that timelapse of storm surge was downright chilling. It just rises everywhere seemingly. I would have for sure lost my vehicle, if not my life. Especially if someone like Reed lost his, no way in hell I would have stood a chance. I have chased supercells(never caught a tornado yet) but a hurricane of that magnitude, thank goodness my gut got me thinking straight. The Teenage brain can be hard to control sometimes.

I stepped away for a few hours. Are you referring to Reed Timmer?!

Yes. Reed Timmer made it to Pine Island trying to deploy a surge sensor. He made it to safe, elevated shelter with other chasers but the Dominator Fore, his dent covered Subaru, was claimed by a rapidly moving surge.

[cheezyWXguy]

Where? NHC is saying sustained winds of 115mph. How does that work? I'm not saying you are wrong. I guess I'm looking for some education on this matter. So, the hurricane right now is gusting at 50mph on the high end?

I believe he is talking about where he is at, not for the hurricane itself.

Fair enough. So right now NHC says it is a category 3. I have family in Harmony, FL that I'm checking in on. They are saying the forecast is for 60mph. I suppose I'm just surprised it is "only" 60mph given the proximity of the storm to it.

60mph for that area is probably right, Ian is rapidly weakening is forecast by the NHC to be about that strong when it gets to the Harmony area.

I suspect the NHC is keeping the advisory winds high to ensure as many people as possible are still paying attention, because I don’t see any data from radar, ground reports, or otherwise that suggest cat3 winds are still occurring (although cat1 winds and much higher gusts are probably still happening on the coast).

Inland to the east coast of FL, north of the center, the main threat won’t be wind. It’ll be rain, which people often don’t pay as much attention to. It’ll be bad. It’s already bad, but it will be too.

[Steve]

Anyone know about the surge situation in Punta Gorda from the ongoing north flow off the river?

Ryan Hall had storm chaser Brad Arnold there and he was showing it was coming up to the flood or sea wall he was by. Said it wasn’t just blowing rain now but water blowing off the surface of the water. Thing is they have the flow out the NNW. So I guess north facing inlets and south side of bays and banks? It’s still storming there but I guess if there anything semi good they don’t have the western flow surge that areas further south got.

[LandoWill]

We've been in 40-60mph supposedly here in land o lakes. Hasn't been as much rain as I thought it would be, but that could also be perspective since the wind is blowing so hard. Trampoline so far is holding up, but i'd never leave it up again with the net on. Spent the entire day watching it like a hawk and adding more bags of pool salt and softener salt lol . Hopefully can get these next 3 hours,

[Coolcruiseman]

Currently in Melbourne

Wind Speed E 29 G 41 mph

Hasn't rained for the most part since early afternoon. Radar looks like that might be in the process of changing.

[tronbunny]

The situation in Fort Meyers is tragic. My stepfather's family last called at 4:55 PM from Royal Woods, saying that the walls were cracking, water was in the house and rising up to their necks, and that the entire neighborhood was underwater. Since then the water has risen another few feet and we haven't heard from them, my family is driving down to Florida tomorrow to try to find them. Considering only two of them can swim and one just had back surgery (along with living in a one story house) I fear the worst

Are there any resources that could help them find what roads are passable? I really appreciate it, thank you everyone

I only have the non-emergency number for Charlotte County. Check the website for the County Emergency Services Department. They are likely to have a Non-911 urgent phone number for info.
Perhaps cross post this on the Thread for local observations/help/check in.
https://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?p=3001569#p3000783

[FLLurker32]

I seriously considered driving down there to chase the storm. Then I realized something. I don't have the money to replace my car, don't have protective gear, have never ridden out anything worse than 70mph Zeta when it came through my place(still very damaging and killed two in my hometown), and I can't just drive my way back up because of likely debris. Now that I saw how bad it was, I realized I made the right choice. Watching that timelapse of storm surge was downright chilling. It just rises everywhere seemingly. I would have for sure lost my vehicle, if not my life. Especially if someone like Reed lost his, no way in hell I would have stood a chance. I have chased supercells(never caught a tornado yet) but a hurricane of that magnitude, thank goodness my gut got me thinking straight. The Teenage brain can be hard to control sometimes.

I stepped away for a few hours. Are you referring to Reed Timmer?!

Yes. Reed Timmer made it to Pine Island trying to deploy a surge sensor. He made it to safe, elevated shelter with other chasers but the Dominator Fore, his dent covered Subaru, was claimed by a rapidly moving surge.

Whew! I read it as if he’d lost his life! The last video I watched was of him running up away from the surge so I thought perhaps the building buckled on him. Thanks for clarifying this was in reference to his Subaru!

[sweetpea]

The situation in Fort Meyers is tragic. My stepfather's family last called at 4:55 PM from Royal Woods, saying that the walls were cracking, water was in the house and rising up to their necks, and that the entire neighborhood was underwater. Since then the water has risen another few feet and we haven't heard from them, my family is driving down to Florida tomorrow to try to find them. Considering only two of them can swim and one just had back surgery (along with living in a one story house) I fear the worst

Are there any resources that could help them find what roads are passable? I really appreciate it, thank you everyone

I am sorry to read this, I hope they are ok. Not sure where they are traveling from but they will have issues trying to get into that part of the state. I would try and contact emergency management and see if they can help.

[Stormgodess]

 https://twitter.com/WxBrenn/status/1575253395304288271

[FLLurker32]

We've been in 40-60mph supposedly here in land o lakes. Hasn't been as much rain as I thought it would be, but that could also be perspective since the wind is blowing so hard. Trampoline so far is holding up, but i'd never leave it up again with the net on. Spent the entire day watching it like a hawk and adding more bags of pool salt and softener salt lol . Hopefully can get these next 3 hours,

The last time we had one come through I ended up roping the entire trampoline up and securing it to concrete posts. Glad my 2 oldest have outgrown wanting it. Got rid of it this summer finally.

[gailwarning]

Ok everyone here’s where the hurricane-chasing rubber hits the road.

And this is no joke.

It is painfully obvious to me that many of these chasers are rookies and that Hurricane Ian is their first crack at chasing.

What they may not realize is the hard part is starting at this moment. As the sun goes down.

I carried 30 gallons of extra fuel. And a long list of supplies to last a week or more. The vehicle was always a Ford and it was also a mini-tank. Absolutely 100% essential equipment. If you’re going to play with the big dawg’s you better bring all the right tools.

These newer chasers are gonna realize real quick that they are stuck. For awhile unless they have a vehicle and the experience to extricate themselves from the disaster.

We don’t want our chasers in the food lines. But I suspect some lost their life boat… their vehicle. That puts them in the food lines unless they have something being helicoptered in.

The point is I chased 16 hurricanes for over 25 years. Cut my teeth on Cat 1’s and 2’s in Louisiana. Learned life-saving techniques in situations where it wasn’t life-threatening. Graduated slowly up the chain to Cat 5 Michael. 185mph gusts and I was 10 feet from it.

Can’t imagine Cat 4 Ian being my first crack at this. Holy cow! These new chasers are in for a very very rude awakening at sunrise tomorrow. They went in without a solid 7-day plan perhaps.

This stuff is deadly. I am concerned. Best of luck tonight to those still able to read these words. Gonna be a long one I assure you.

Chuck

Yeah, me too, as I said earlier today about one guy in particular. All to show people what's happening in a gas station parking lot for most of the day. Hope he makes it out in one piece.

[FLLurker32]

I can’t figure out how to post the GIF here on my phone but looking at water vapor satellite it looked like the eye just filled in and I can’t tell if it cleared back out with a north jump or if that’s dry air?

[Beer Belly]

Apollo Beach (between Tampa/Sarasota). We dodged a bullet. Heart goes out to my fellow Floridians to the south. Rained all day here, winds have been steady 30-50mph, and gusts as high as 70-90mph. Still have power in my neighborhood. Zero complaints from me.