Report from Cocoa Beach

[SeaBrz_FL]

My daughter just called from A1A on Cocoa Beach (she's meeting us in Orlando) and reports that the sand is already blowing so hard off the beach that it's almost impossible to see. Unfortunately, she confirms that many people are staying on the beach.

[Windsong]

Seabrz, they just showed shots of 528. It's empty. You could shoot a canon off and not hit a car. Your daughter has a clear shot.

I was out clearing left over debris a short time ago. Seems 90% or more of our neighborhood is staying as well. Guess I'll have lots of room at the shelter then.

[mf_dolphin]

The shelter is a good idea for sure! Stay safe. Some people just never learn

[StormWatcher2]

Seabrz, the most recent traffic statistics for the Beeline near Titusville indicates that the traffic counts are 20% higher than average at 1,632 vehicles per hour but, the traffic speed is averaging at the usual 71 mph. They should have an easy drive to Orlando. You can view other "real-time" traffic statistics at http://www3.dot.state.fl.us/trafficinformation/

Hope this helps

[Josephine96]

Wish more people would leave.. Hope it doesn't cost them later

[Anonymous]

Have these people not seen the devastation, from Ivan, on the Alabama/Florida Gulf coast? Are they out of their minds?

People were not allowed back into some of those areas, until late this week. That is 8-9 days after landfall! What does that say?

People need to get a grip of reality. Unfortunately, it is always at some others expense.

[themusk]

Have these people not seen the devastation, from Ivan, on the Alabama/Florida Gulf coast? Are they out of their minds?

Unfortunately this is one possible effect of living under extremely dangerous conditions for an extended period of time and, yes, these people are out of their minds -- they're overstressed by life-threatening incident after life-threatening incident, and they've lost their ability to cope with the danger. They've become numb, fatalistic, and some of them are almost hoping that this storm will kill them and put them out of their misery.

I've been really worried about the long-term impact of this season on Floridians. What Floridians have been experiencing is psychologically very comparable to the experience of being a civilian caught in a war zone. This is a perfect set-up for complex PTSD for some persons, in addition to engendering that quasi-suicidal numbness I describe above.

If any of you in Florida find yourself sliding into potentially dangerous states of mind, please do what you can to get out of the line of fire (Vermont is a lovely, hurricane-free place in the fall...) and get yourself some help. before you irreparably harm yourselves and your families.