So at what point do you decide to leave?

[Steve Cosby]

We just arrived at our hotel in Macon, GA (just South of Atlanta).

and my 4 year old boy is sitting next to me in safety.

You should receive some type of attaboy for taking care of your family. You absolutely did what you were supposed to do.

[KeyLargoDave]

OK, flame me, bash me, but I am going to give the official and I think sensible advice --
If you are not in an evacuation zone, and your house is sturdy and has shutters, you should not be leaping to evacuate.
Sure, if you want to take a vacation and leave the state, fine.
The NHC and the county governments are NOT telling everyone everywhere to evacuate. for one thing, it will cause more chaos.

If you are in Brevard, or Dade for that matter, you could evacuate to a place that gets worse winds than you would have if you stayed put. The landfall point is not set.

Yes, riding out a Cat 4 storm could be horrible and frightening. You will likely have to be hunkered down in your bathroom with a mattress over you and the kids in the bathtub. Hundreds, thousands of people survived Andrew that way. It was not pleasant, and most said they would never do it again. At the same time, more than I few people that I know ended up in the worst of Andrew, because 24 hours before landfall, they thought Homestead would be safer than where they lived.

You people who are screaming for everyone everywhere to leave now, consider whether you are projecting your own fears on people who are faced with very tough choices, far from your own home.

But, of course, follow your own plan, do what you think is prudent, don't panic. We have nearly two days -- seriously -- until a Florida landfall at the project track and speed.

There will be serious car accidents in this evacuation. People killed in those accidents are listed as storm-related fatalities for a reason.

Good luck to all.

[das8929]

I agree. This is why I am staying put. I do not want to get on clogged roads and be on the road when TS winds start hitting. I could be evacuating to a place worse than me.

[das8929]

I agree. This is why I am staying put. I do not want to get on clogged roads and be on the road when TS winds start hitting. I could be evacuating to a place worse than me.

[das8929]

Sorry mods please delete my second post it was an accident .

[clearwater]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, KeyLargoDave.

[Steve Cosby]

If you are not in an evacuation zone, and your house is sturdy and has shutters, you should not be leaping to evacuate.
Sure, if you want to take a vacation and leave the state, fine.
The NHC and the county governments are NOT telling everyone everywhere to evacuate. for one thing, it will cause more chaos.

You people who are screaming for everyone everywhere to leave now, consider whether you are projecting your own fears on people who are faced with very tough choices, far from your own home.

But, of course, follow your own plan, do what you think is prudent, don't panic. We have nearly two days -- seriously -- until a Florida landfall at the project track and speed.

There will be serious car accidents in this evacuation. People killed in those accidents are listed as storm-related fatalities for a reason.

Good luck to all.

Consider this: if you are a father with children, you have a responsibility to others that is missing if you are single or even just married. The one thing that gets on my gourd is these parents who inflict something on their kids. Remember "better safe than sorry"? It applies but it is even more important when you have a four year-old to consider. That 4-year old can't make up his own mind - you have to do it for him and you have a responsibility to take the most prudent course.

Otherwise, you are correct.

Of course, if your son is 16 (like mine), then the father (and mother) becomes the most stupid creature that ever even considered breathing the same air as in the room with his highness. Parent? Hah! Just somebody standing in his way...

[Mello1]

We just arrived at our hotel in Macon, GA (just South of Atlanta).

Our home is 1-story, all CBS, excellent custom shutters, and protected to the East by a 2 story home.

We were planning to leave this morning around 10am, but I was in at work backing up data when the 11pm came in... I called my wife and mother-in-law and said "We are leaving as soon as you can finish packing".

We left Palm Beach County at 2:30am, arrived in Macon at Noon today. 80mph on the turnpike...

Unfortunately, I am hearing the turnpike and I-95 are getting clogged already... In hindsight it was a lucky guess, as we got out at the perfect time... and my 4 year old boy is sitting next to me in safety.

Good for you FlaHawk! It's always better to be safe than to be sorry. If you aren't comfortable with staying, you're just not comfortable. You did the right thing for you and your family. I was concerned about the traffic situation too, because all of the models are converging on this diagonal slash across FLA. A lot of people are going to be hitting the road trying to go....somewhere.

[KeyLargoDave]

Ha! Evacuating with sullen teenagers (are there other kinds?).

Could there be a better labor day family weekend?

Good luck, thanks for considering my point of view.

Dave

[clearwater]

That 4-year old can't make up his own mind - you have to do it for him and you have a responsibility to take the most prudent course

EXACTLY. And for people OUTSIDE of evacaution zones, the most prudent course may just be NOT to leave.

[Steve Cosby]

Ha! Evacuating with sullen teenagers (are there other kinds?).

Could there be a better labor day family weekend?

You know, until that post, I had not thought about what a %&#%% nightmare it would be to try to evacuate with that boy. I bought a Suburban so that I could put a little distance between him and the daughter but I'll bet we'd have to tie him to the roof on an evac trip.

Lordy - I have another level of newfound respect for you parents that have to evacuate with teenagers.

[yzerfan]

OK, flame me, bash me, but I am going to give the official and I think sensible advice --
If you are not in an evacuation zone, and your house is sturdy and has shutters, you should not be leaping to evacuate.

That's the official viewpoint in these parts as well. I've heard one too many stories about how during Opal, there were a million people all trying to get north at once, the roads clogged, and there were possibly a couple hundred thousand people still stuck on the road to Birmingham when the storm made landfall and had to deal with hurricane force winds while in their cars.

The new EOC party line in these parts is avoid going further on an evac than needed- just far enough inland that you can find a safe structure not prone to flooding.

[gratefulnole]

I do mapping for the state of Florida.
It is not feasible to tell everyone or even 1/4 of the people in south Florida to evacuate. Look at your hurricane map, Florida is a peninsula with millions of people living in it. How do you suggest we move 10 million people out of it in less 48 hours on a few highways? And then how are you certain that the hurricane isn't going to hit where you move them to. Hurricane Floyd was a valuable lesson for the state that a large scale evacuation will leave hundreds of thousands stuck on the highway. Luckily it never made landfall here. There is not an empty hotel room in north Florida right now as it is.
If you live in Florida you shouldn't be waiting for a hurricane to figure out what you will do during one, just like if you live in Oklahoma you prepare for a tornado ahead of time. Obviously some people do need to evacuate but to blankly tell everyone to evacuate will cause chaos and is not prudent.

[Islandgirl]

I 95 was at a standstill here in Brunswick as I was on my way home from work today. I've heard that it has been crawling most of the day.