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Time to hunker down if you haven’t already left. Y’all stay safe and check in after the storm passes.

I read this from another site by a guy (NOT ME) and it does not sound good if this storm hits mainland .. .......................I lived on the beach there for 25+ years the barrier islands used to be all connected to the mainland by draw bridges and as the storms came closer they would raise the all draw bridges to allow marine traffic access to safe harbor basically traqpping all the residents on the beaches during the storms , beach bars in the 1980's would remain open for the hurricane parties , The storms would basically go around the bay area and many people would just ride them out , I remember guys water sking up Gulf blvd towed behind a jeep , The waves would come up so far into the bars people would be sitting ontop of the bar itself to get out of the water , The cops would try to shut them down but that never worked . The area now is all multi million Mc mansions 10 feet apart and 3 stories high with new owners from up north that have never been thru a storm like this . I moved to the country in Tn years ago to get away from the crowds and traffic , it has to be 10 times worse now .

I'm in the middle of the state, just north of Orlando. We're expecting lots of rain with this storm. The last storm in 2004 was Charley that took the same course through the state. Charley was a fast moving storm and didn't drop a lot of water.
I've pulled out my generator and started it. I have 6 cans of gas to cover a few days without power. The small outdoor stuff has been put up and the vehicles are full of gas.
We have plans for a trip to North Carolina on Sunday to enjoy the mountains. The VRBO is already paid for, so I hope all is well by then.
I've been through a bunch of hurricanes and I'm not worried. Everything is insured. I expect a lot of tree debris, so I'll check the chainsaw tomorrow.
Thanks for the well wishes.

Wayne, so you're at an elevation of 12 feet then, eh? Just above the level of the worst storm surge. I was just corresponding with a friend who's selling a house in Naples. He's sweating it out a bit. The deal is supposed to close on Friday. I mentioned driving thru the Everglades back in '14 and climbing over Rock Reef Pass (Elevation 3 ft) which is about the same distance from the Atlantic and the Gulf.

Hope everyone does OK.

I wondered why my brother moved from southern Indiana. A month ago he moved back to within 20 miles of where he moved from. So I asked why his wife. She said that the weather and family members were the main reasons. Kevin, about 30 years ago the family and I took a boat ride on the Gulf and captians spiel was don't worry about drowning, just find someone over six feet and get on his or her shoulder and you won't drown.

I have friends in Haynes City, they are going to ride it out.

I'm in the Tampa Bay area and riding it out. 12' above sea level. Hurricane shutters are up, gas for the generator, etc.
Samantha

Watching the news coverage it appears this one was/is a big mess. Should be better by morning.

Still have power at 4 AM. It flickered a few times but came right back on. So far we're lucky.

My friend's house that's selling in Naples did OK. He said a banana tree in the yard blew down, but otherwise OK. His house is a bit inland.

Looking at pictures of Ft. Meyers on the web sure looks bad.