Yeah, I was wondering why he would want to be there. He’s directly where they thought the eye would hit, right by the water, in a dicey situation. He’s doing great, but seems nervous. I sure would be. Maybe he’s looking for some excitement, but it looks dangerous.
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Many many without power, but the storm could have been worse, I guess. I’m hoping to hear from the folks I know down there…once they have cell service and power.
A friend’s neighbor in Jacksonville just lost a huge tree. It’s still raining there.
My brother went down to Bradenton to help his D/SIL recover from Helene. They lost almost everything. My brother sent me a pic of the inside of their home. He had taken the walls down to the studs and pulled all the carpet and other flooring. Then Milton entered the picture. SIL is a respiratory therapist pretty much living at the hospital 24/7, so my brother took D and their three-year-old to a hotel in Orlando to ride it out. He pinged this morning to say they’re fine and didn’t lose power, but have no idea what they’ll return to in Bradenton (when they can), probably have to start all over again just to try and sell the place and get them out of there.
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I think Helene showed that, people have been looking for storm safe areas, and they really don’t exist. Florida gets hit because it sits between two major bodies of water, and the gulf, because it is relatively shallow, gets really warm, and warm water feeds storms (obviously there is a lot more to it that just that, there all all kinds of co conspirators, like the jets streams, high pressure ridges, and surface level winds that can actually wipe out a storm forming…). The gulf right now is extremely warm and if the meteorlogy channel I follow is right, there are co factors causing this. The Atlantic is also very warm.
Some places face less of a threat than others, but statistics they give may not apply any more, if things as they appear are shifting (and to me, being around a long time, it definitely appears that way).
This was definitely one for the record books, there were like 130 tornado warnings issued during Milton in Florida, I don’t know how many actually happened, I have heard 20 something.
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My Ft Myers classmate did fine. Didn’t even lose power. This is the second hurricane where she hasn’t evacuated, and was “just fine”. I hope there isn’t a third to test her will.
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S’s St. Pete former colleagues all evacuated but are ok.
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Jax mayor said that ~230 homes without power. That’s amazing (and could occur on any day). However, they are still preparing for flooding with the ocean still surging, and there is danger if the ocean backs up into the St. Johns river which flows north and through most of Jax, including downtown (and there are snakes an alligators!) Friends from Jax and Boca checked in and little or no damage, but it is the rest of the homes between on the Atlantic coast that may have substantial damage. My friend who lives in Jupiter got out of town on her boat.
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We are on St. Pete Beach and this is the 2nd evacuation in 2 weeks. Don’t know when we can return, aging sewer and water systems are overworked and shut down. Power and internet are out. There was so much debris, household and business furnishings that were not picked up after Helene. We are blessed that we have my brother’s home near Ocala to evacuate to. So many lost their homes and jobs.
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I hope you made out OK - I know much of St. Pete beach was hit so hard. 
We just got the latest update from Eckerd. The original “earliest possible” return date after Helene was this Friday the 18th, now after Milton the earliest possible is October 25th. I feel so bad for these kids - if they even get to go back the 25th they will have missed over a month of school. Sounds like the campus didn’t get too much more physical damage from Milton - lost a few giant trees and some windows broke in the theater - but the real problem is getting water and power fully restored.
I still have all 5 boys at my house and while it has been so much fun I know they are dying to get back to campus. They have been talking about Halloween parties and costumes since they got here, I hope they make it back for that at least!
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I was so glad to see that you were able to help out some other Eckerd students. They must be eating you out of house and home! I’m sure they are anxious to get back to campus. Some of the staff and faculty suffered great loss from the 2 storms. I know that Eckerd is trying to get the electrical and mechanical systems back up. We ended up back in CT this weekend for a wedding this coming Saturday. Our apartment on the beach will be inspected tomorrow. Flooding in the garages and lobby. Air-conditioning was not on. Sewer was restored today with the help of generators. The beach is on a separate system than St. Pete and the entire infrastructure is over whelmed. Our parent council meeting at the beginning of November has been canceled.
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My friends in Apollo Beach and near the Ringling Museum both were spared the brunt of the storms. Minor damage outside, nothing serious. They are quite thankful it wasn’t worse.; the storm sucking the water out of Tampa Bay saved many from worse damage. My heart goes out to those of you dealing with the aftermath.
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My friend in Asheville got running water back yesterday. To say he was thrilled to wash dishes underestimates his emotion!
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Kind of a sad article from Politico, but with the ring of truth: Why North Carolinians probably won’t take the federal buyouts after Hurricane Helene
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/16/north-carolina-helene-federal-money-00183503
Here are a couple of quotes that seemed to hit the main points:
But aid workers, community groups and environmental organizations say few people are likely to take advantage of federal programs… Their long family ties to the area, skepticism about the federal government and a dearth of affordable housing in nearby communities all point to people trying to rebuild in the same place — potentially leaving thousands of residents vulnerable to the next storm.
But staying will be expensive, too. Helene will further constrain that housing supply. FEMA will also update floodplain maps, placing new conditions on how and where to build.
Local politicians will face political pressure to grant variances to or repeal local ordinances designed to prevent future flooding in order to speed rebuilding and lessen short-term hardship, said Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers.
Although there are many residents who may want to remain in western North Carolina, I suspect that there will likely be a number who will end up relocating to Charlotte, the Triad, Greenville/Spartanburg, or maybe the Triangle after facing the realities of the expense of rebuilding with no flood insurance payments.
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