Hey - anyone in Florida?

[Janie]

Be Careful! I see that hurricane looks like it will be worse than the last one! Check in over the weekend!

[Asylum Steve]

...won't be online too much in the next couple of days. Just a bunch of last minute stuff to do...

Actually. I'm more worried about my friends in Miami Beach, but they'll be moving to higher ground soon enough.

I'll let everyone know if anything exciting happens around here...

Be Careful! I see that hurricane looks like it will be worse than the last one! Check in over the weekend!

[Peter_AUS]

Good luck tomorrow with the Hurricane everyone, looks like a pretty bad one heading up towards Florida, supposed to be twice as bad as the last one.

[Asylum Steve]

Thanks for the concern...

It looks now (Friday morning) like Frances is not only slowing down, wind wise, but slowing greatly in its travel speed.

It's been downgraded to a Cat 3 Hurricane, and is actually taking a turn to the north.

Bottom line is it looks like not a whole lot more than heavy heavy rain for my area.

BTW, beautiful day today so far...

[MJS]

Nothing but a little rain in Miami yet. It looks like we are going to get lucky. My 14 year old and I spent the all of yesterday hanging shutters and cleaning up the construction site where we are adding on. We had one house blown around our ankles, so we take this stuff pretty seriously. Will it have all been a waste of time if we don't get hit? Heck no! We get a longer holiday weekend, time to play plenty of board gamesm nerf game battles, read, etc., and mostly make sure that the family hurricane plan works. Steve, I hope your friends are doing well and that you don't get much of the nasty stuff. Were you affected by Charley? My parents, in-laws, brother in-law and sister's tribe all live near Ft. Myers and got a taste of that one.

Simple moral of the story, don't mess with mother nature and make sure you follow the weather guys. Half the time, they know what they are talking about. It's just not good to try and guess what half they are on.

MJS

[kkraczek]

Be Careful! I see that hurricane looks like it will be worse than the last one! Check in over the weekend!

Hey Janie and everyone, just wanted to check in because we live in the "projected path" on the east coast. Luckily, we left yesterday and drove through the horrendous traffic in order to reach Chattanooga. I think we're safe here! ;) I have friends and family that have stayed on the coast, and I am praying that the storm continues to weaken... thanks for your thoughts!

[Lara]

Glad to see everyone is safe!

Kristen, my prayers are with you, your family and friends. I hope Frances does no harm.
Michael, I hope things turn out well for you too.
Hang in there Steve! You know my thoughts are with you and family.

I believe my grandkids are not in the direct path this time around. They just moved to Florida in August. Boy, what an introduction to the sunshine state!!

[natatbeach]

you're safe and sound...have missed seing you on here... ;)

[Asylum Steve]

We should know a lot more tomorrow (Sat) about the direction and speed of Frances. So far nothing but great weather here...

I know about the traffic tie-ups cause by folks fleeing South Florida. My brother left from Lauderdale yesterday early evening, and it took him over TWELVE HOURS to get here (it's usually a less than four hour drive!). Bumper to bumper most of the way...

He got so tired he had to stop at a Turnpike rest stop and get some sleep before he could finish the trip...

Glad to see everyone is safe!

Kristen, my prayers are with you, your family and friends. I hope Frances does no harm.
Michael, I hope things turn out well for you too.
Hang in there Steve! You know my thoughts are with you and family.

I believe my grandkids are not in the direct path this time around. They just moved to Florida in August. Boy, what an introduction to the sunshine state!!

[Clemmie]

I'll be safely tucked in at home in NC -- but will be closely monitoring a crazy friend who's riding it out in Port Saint Lucie. As long as her server stays up.....and it's already been erratic.

I was at ground zero for Hugo. That was enough to last me for this lifetime!

[Lara]

We should know a lot more tomorrow (Sat) about the direction and speed of Frances. So far nothing but great weather here...

I know about the traffic tie-ups cause by folks fleeing South Florida. My brother left from Lauderdale yesterday early evening, and it took him over TWELVE HOURS to get here (it's usually a less than four hour drive!). Bumper to bumper most of the way...

He got so tired he had to stop at a Turnpike rest stop and get some sleep before he could finish the trip...

I heard about the traffic nightmares on the news Steve. Glad to hear your brother got to your home. It must have been an exhausting drive.

I see this morning that the winds have begun to pick up on the south eastern coast.

[Lara]

I'll be safely tucked in at home in NC -- but will be closely monitoring a crazy friend who's riding it out in Port Saint Lucie. As long as her server stays up.....and it's already been erratic.

I was at ground zero for Hugo. That was enough to last me for this lifetime!

I hope your friend will be okay. I can understand people not wanting to leave their homes for fear of looting. But it's not worth it to stick by home when the danger is so high.

We've been hit in Massachusetts by only a few high category hurricanes, and those not in recent years. We have had remnants from the big storms and that was bad enough! I can't imagine worse. My heart goes out to everyone affected.

[MJS]

All is still well in Miami. My kids have challenged me to the world "cooped up in th house with a hurricane threat at you door" domino championship. That should be a load of fun.

[paulnj]

BUT who is going to take images for us????????

[MJS]

We haven't even had a decent wind or rain storm in south dade yet. I haven't gone digital yet. Sorry about that.

MJS

[opus]

I've thought about it, and even though I'd love to shoot pictures of a hurricane, I'm not sure if a still camera would capture the storm itself. I think you need video for that.

[kkraczek]

BUT who is going to take images for us????????

I know... believe it or not, that's the ONLY reason I wish I were there! I can take some pictures of the Chattanooga Choo Choo for ya though! ;)

I spoke with my next door neighbor a couple of hours ago. She said that one of my large (at least 15 feet tall!) ficus trees uprooted and is in her yard. I have also more than likely lost some shingles, as they are everywhere. My palm trees are pretty battered and my fence blew over. So far, that's it.... but Hobe Sound (my home town) is the current "target" for Frances right now, and we haven't even begun to get the highest winds yet!

Please continue to pray for the safety of all affected by this storm, especially those who have still not recovered from Charley. When we were stopping for gas near Orlando the other day, we passed many homes that still had plastic covering on their roofs, and debris was everywhere.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers. I am very stressed about my parents and friends (who refused to leave) right now, as I haven't been able to reach them in several hours. We need all the positive prayer we can get!

[Janie]

I heard on the news that powerlines are looking more like cats cradle (the game you play with string) so a lot of people are out of power due to that.

If anyone is intererested in contributing toward helping out the hurricane victims, the National Association of Realtors has created the Realtors Relief Foundation to assist with housing related disasters:

https://www.realtor.org/RelFundTrack...ution?OpenForm

(I'm a Realtor, which is why I know about this particular fund and am quite happy they started it! Some of my clients have sold their houses in NJ recently and just moved into brand new houses 3 weeks ago, exactly before the other hurricane hit!)

I know... believe it or not, that's the ONLY reason I wish I were there! I can take some pictures of the Chattanooga Choo Choo for ya though! ;)

I spoke with my next door neighbor a couple of hours ago. She said that one of my large (at least 15 feet tall!) ficus trees uprooted and is in her yard. I have also more than likely lost some shingles, as they are everywhere. My palm trees are pretty battered and my fence blew over. So far, that's it.... but Hobe Sound (my home town) is the current "target" for Frances right now, and we haven't even begun to get the highest winds yet!

Please continue to pray for the safety of all affected by this storm, especially those who have still not recovered from Charley. When we were stopping for gas near Orlando the other day, we passed many homes that still had plastic covering on their roofs, and debris was everywhere.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers. I am very stressed about my parents and friends (who refused to leave) right now, as I haven't been able to reach them in several hours. We need all the positive prayer we can get!

[Peter_AUS]

we only had here in Australia, called Melbourne, but you Floridians seem to have got a hold of that one as well.

I know the storm is lashing Florida coast at present, and there is considerable damage happening.

I hope everyone is safe, don't loose anything too drastic and homes remain intact.

My thoughts and those of my family are with all my internet friends at this time.

Look forward to hearing from you all in the next few days.

[kkraczek]

Well., I have spoken with my family and friends, and everyone is O.K.! I am so relieved! I don't know exactly how much damage has been done to my house yet, (since no one can get in) but as far as the neighbors can tell, I only lost shingles and pretty much all of my vegetation. But that is O.K. because it is all replaceable.

I don't think that we will get home before Tuesday... I don't want to drive through the remnants of Frances, and I'm in no big hurry to get home to a house with no electricity anyway!

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers.

[Lara]

Great to hear family and friends are okay Kristin and that your home doesn't look to have sustained any major damage. I think you're smart not to be in a hurry to get back home too soon.

I've got more prayers on the horizon that the next hurricane fizzles out. It's track looks to be more south west than Frances. Geeze, what a terrible hurricane season. Enough!!

[Sebastian]

Asylum Steve just called, had power out for 14 hours, but no serious damage. He's having PC problems so he asked me to let you guys know things are OK.

[Asylum Steve]

Thanks Seb. Just got my modem troubles ironed out, so I'm finally back online...

Again, we were much luckier than many. Just wind and rain. The trick now is to clean up all the yard debris and have it picked up before our pal Ivan hits next week...

Asylum Steve just called, had power out for 14 hours, but no serious damage. He's having PC problems so he asked me to let you guys know things are OK.

[Lara]

Been lookin for ya every few hours! I'm glad all is well there Steve. Let's hope Ivan take a hike!

You're a good friend Seb!!!

[MJS]

Hey Steve,

Glad to hear everything is all right. Any word on your Friends on the beach or your brother's place? We just had some stuff blown around. I had to spend a few hours cleaning the yard with my son. I'll take that any day. My family had it a little worse with Charley. I am leaving the shutters up and the generator filled and positioned just in case Ivan does end up being terrible for us.

Be safe fellow Floridians,
Michael