A Hurricane Hunter aircraft is scheduled to investigate the area Sunday afternoon.

[deanws]

Now I guess the fun begins again. :doh:

 

[BarnGoddess]

I don't live in Florida now, but having lived in Miami from 1943 till 1994, with the exeption of time in DC, I know hurricanes and prep for these storms. The last storm I experienced was Andrew. I remember storms when they had no names. The "natives" always were prepared. No need to rush out to clean out the stores. We didn't have TV when I first remembered storms. My parents had the radio going constantly. The bath tub and containers were filled with water. We had Sterno stoves and cans of Sterno so we could heat canned food. The thing I most remember from my first hurricane experiences was an awful ear ache. Probably from the very low pressure of the storms.

I can give you a really good design for shutters if you need to make them. My dad made them and we stored them in a rack in the carport.

Cut corregated sheets of aluminum to fit just inside of your windows. Attach two 2 x 4's. Drill into the side of your house above and below the windows and insert those bolts that will stay in the outside walls. You can then put the homemade shutter on and fasten with washers and wing nuts. Those served us for a number of years.

I'm just glad not to have to face the threat anymore.

 

[czechmate7]

So true! Hurricane Opal was an October hurricane that did massive damage. I've never seen anything like it in the Fort Walton Beach area before ... and I've lived here my entire life.

Ntegrity~ I didn't live in the Panhandle when Erin and Opal hit....heard it was pretty bad...was it worse than Ivan?

I woke up the morning after Ivan, went outside and thought the world had come to an end. No water, cable<~most important..LOL, phone (land or cell), electric....all of our neighbors trees in our yard (FYI...if a neighbors tree falls in your yard and causes damage to your house, it is YOUR responsiblity, your insurance to cover...), our trees down in our yard.
My suggestion to anyone who is new to this hurricane stuff is to make sure you have enough gas in your vehicle, generator (if your staying) with enough gas to run it for 1 week (at least). That's great advice about trimming trees and probably a good idea to check for rotting or weak trees...might as well get rid of them before they cause damage....
Oh, and don't try to plug a hair dryer into one of those little car power converters.... :bang: ...not quite enough power!!

 

[Camper]

I have never lived in hurricane country. Kansas and Missouri for tornados, but never in one.

Lived in rural area, and power would go off frequently. WE always relied on our Coleman camping stove for cooking.

Always kept water, were on a well, and power off meant water well pump did not work.

What experience with food items do you all have on WHAT types of foods do you have back up on?

WE had a wood burning fireplace, for heat, most power outages for us happened during snow storms, blizzards or lightning strikes on the rural power poles.

.

 

[englishleigh]

Ntegrity~ I didn't live in the Panhandle when Erin and Opal hit....heard it was pretty bad...was it worse than Ivan?

I woke up the morning after Ivan, went outside and thought the world had come to an end. No water, cable<~most important..LOL, phone (land or cell), electric....all of our neighbors trees in our yard (FYI...if a neighbors tree falls in your yard and causes damage to your house, it is YOUR responsiblity, your insurance to cover...), our trees down in our yard.
My suggestion to anyone who is new to this hurricane stuff is to make sure you have enough gas in your vehicle, generator (if your staying) with enough gas to run it for 1 week (at least). That's great advice about trimming trees and probably a good idea to check for rotting or weak trees...might as well get rid of them before they cause damage....
Oh, and don't try to plug a hair dryer into one of those little car power converters.... :bang: ...not quite enough power!!

IMO, Ivan was worse than Opal when it made landfall on the panhandle and AL Gulf coast. Ivan nearly destroyed Gulf Shores, AL....but it was only a Cat.1 when it got to us in east-central AL, about 4 hours inland. Opal was worse here b/c it was still a Cat. 2 when it reached us and we had far more damage with Opal than with Ivan.