Ok, now I'm starting to get nervous.

[otowntiger]

This mornings' 5:00 discussion put me on edge. They are talking now that she could still become a cat 4 before landfall and the new track has us square in that dreaded front right quadrant. I'm beginning to think that there is every possibility that this could be worse than Charley for us here in Orlando area. The NWS forecast calls for hurricane force winds late tonight and MOST of Sunday, with gusts up to 95! We could be in for a rough ride to say the least. Let's just hope that the big drop in pressure does not translate into a big increase in winds. She has less ground to traverse on the forecast path, plus she is moving quicker, so I would expect that there will be less weakenening than there was for Frances by the time the center is closest to us (our west). What do y'all think? Of course all this concern is quite amplified for the folks to our south and east. Wow!

[stormie]

Is anyone shuttering in Tampa? Should I be?

I hadn't even considered it until this morning, but now I'm getting nervous since it's looking more and more possible that it could come close to us -- and still be somewhat strong at that point (Cat 1? Does that seem realistic?) since it might be quite strong at landfall...

I hope I'm overreacting.

[otowntiger]

Sorry I don't usually get to worked up because we are pretty far inland. My wife's biggest concern is loosing power, now I'm starting to worry about shingles, etc. Thankfully Charley took care of any trees that would have been a threat for my house, anyway.

Also I don't normally use those stupid emoticons, but thought it was appropriate now.

[Lebowsky]

Best of luck to Orlando, I feel for you guys.

Re Tampa Bay area, I'm prepping to lose power for at least a night (I had hoped to spend the day drinking beer instead, lol). A poop a bit more to the west and we could have a Frances on our hands here (except with less rain).

Better safe than sorry.

[TampaFl]

Yes stormie I would board up. I have my hurricane panels up and stocked up with hurricane supplies. IMHO I think this will be worse than Frances, and she was bad enough!. We were only w/o power for a day w/ Frances. Jeanne may cause more widspread outages if she takes atrack similar to Frances. Prepare now, better to be safe than not prepared at all!

Good Luck, stay safe.

Robert

[drudd1]

Get ready, a subtle change in track now can be significant. I would rather be over prepared than under, besides, its good practice, not that we need any, LOL!

[caneman]

Yes stormie I would board up. I have my hurricane panels up and stocked up with hurricane supplies. IMHO I think this will be worse than Frances, and she was bad enough!. We were only w/o power for a day w/ Frances. Jeanne may cause more widspread outages if she takes atrack similar to Frances. Prepare now, better to be safe than not prepared at all!

Good Luck, stay safe.

Robert

Yes, winds could be even stronger than Frances due to the fast motion. LEts say it comes in at 120 mph and comes out at Tampa the winds could be 80mph by then.

[hibiscushouse]

Re: Tampa
I'm counting on the north turn and crossing my fingers she keeps her toes out of the Gulf. I feel as though we'll be ok as we're on the weaker side of the storm.
(crossing my fingers and toes)

[elvinp]

Another Tampa resident, who will consider shutters after 11AM advisory today. I think the immediate problem will be power outages which could be worse than Frances (2-6 days). So I am off the get ice and fill up the cars and clean up the yard. More this PM, but that's the AM plans. Shutters are ready be installed this PM in 1-2 hours. How serious, I am missing a Gator home game for the first time in many years. Most do not seem to concerned and most are just tired of the routine now 4 of the past 6 weekends.

[wasup254]

It is not moving north....I had hoped for a bit of a jog.....26.5 all night...

Any thoughts on the possible change to wsw? Getting scared