2AM advisory, Hurricane Dennis still Cat. 4, ominous hook towards Florida

[Bluebear]

...SEVERE HURRICANE DENNIS BATTERING EASTERN CUBA...EYE BACK OVER
WATER PARALLELING THE SOUTH COAST OF CUBA...

A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE LOWER FLORIDA KEYS
FROM THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE WESTWARD TO THE DRY TORTUGAS. A
TROPICAL STORM WARNING AND A HURRICANE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE
REMAINDER OF THE FLORIDA KEYS...EAST OF THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE TO
OCEAN REEF AND FLORIDA BAY.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT ALONG THE FLORIDA WEST COAST
SOUTH OF BONITA BEACH...AND ALONG THE FLORIDA EAST COAST SOUTH OF
GOLDEN BEACH. A TROPICAL STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT ALONG THE
FLORIDA WEST COAST NORTH OF BONITA BEACH TO LONGBOAT KEY.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/080552.shtml

Dennis surged into a dangerous 135-mph hurricane and took an ominous hook toward Florida on Thursday as it deluged Haiti and lashed Jamaica and Cuba on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Authorities ordered an evacuation of tourists and mobile-home residents in the lower Florida Keys, which lay perilously close to the path of a hurricane that became a killer Category 4 storm Thursday night.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the Lower Keys from the Seven Mile Bridge to the Dry Tortugas, and forecasters said tropical storm-force winds could slap Key West by this afternoon. The rest of the Keys was under a hurricane watch, and schools were closed throughout the island chain.

Officials declared a tropical storm warning as far north as northeastern Miami-Dade County along the Atlantic, and as far north as Bonita Beach along the gulf. A tropical storm watch went into effect at 11 p.m. Thursday from Bonita Beach north to Longboat Key.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2005/07/08/m1a_dennis_0708.html

[merh]

1. Too soon to predict!

:scared: They just don't know where he will strike. :scared:

[madeline_con]

2. Thanks for the update.

I'm scared, but I don't want to go. We lost so much last year, I can't do this again... :cry:

[Birthmark]

4. That's the same thing I told my wife.

I just don't want to do the hurricane thing anymore. It isn't like I'm afraid. It just sucks. If this one pulls a Charley - which was kind enough to go directly over my house - I'm outta here, consequences be damned. I've had it.

[Bluebear]

6. Where in Fl are you birth and madeline?

Thinking of you, be safe and get the hell out if you have to!

[Birthmark]

8. I'm in Volusia County

I should be safe enough. It's the inconvenience that bothers me. Days without electricity, with temps in the 90s and high humidity, and nights in the mid to upper 70s with even higher humidity, make living very uncomfortable. I don't know how many hundreds of dollars in food we lost last year. The lines to buy gas were horrific - fortunately we were prepared - but it still stacked up traffic. No TV, no internet, and all the other crap above - with an autistic son thrown in for good measure...ugh!

[madeline_con]

11. "I'm in Volusia County"

Are you going to stay put?

I think we'll board up and hope for the best. We always say that, and then we end up in Tifton at relatives' house.

[Birthmark]

19. I'm well inland, although on a lake

But we'll stay put. We left during Frances last year. It followed us. :D We were camping in the Smokey Mountains while it rained...forever. So, we'll just ride it out here. If I were near the coast, though, and it was coming at me I'd leave in heartbeat. I can leave without real cause any number of time. I can only drown once - or so I've been told.

[madeline_con]

9. Space Coast...

I remember the dreaded MRE's, the long lines to get water and ice, the missing roof and collapsed ceilings, the yard clean-up, living 2 months in FEMA funded apartment. I'm still tired, and here we go again...

[Birthmark]

10. Damn!

You had it a lot worse than me. Good luck to you and your family, madeline.

[madeline_con]

12. I keep thinking...

If our roof had been replaced earlier, it never would have happened.

But when I saw the way the tree in the backyard was twisted, and the seemingly selective way certain homes got way more damage, I think we had a tornado go through.

My son's watching the Weather Channel and worrying now. I wish he'd go to sleep.

[Bluebear]

16. My cousin is in Palm Bay

She evacuated to Orlando, then Orlando got hit so she was in a hotel room with no power for 3 days!

[Birthmark]

21. A lot of strange things happen in hurricanes.

We had a lot of damage locally, just acres and acres of trees twisted, cracked, broken, or down. A lot of houses damaged, too. A few have just finally been repaired in the last few weeks. Most of the trees haven't been cleaned up yet except those that were in yards or on the streets. There's a lot of potential shrapnel around. That's the only thing that worries me.

[Mojambo]

3. The first news anchor to refer to this as Dennis the Menace

Is going to need a hand shovel, and a lot of time, to dig my foot out of their ass.

[Bluebear]

5. Way late, Mojambo

I have heard it sveral times on CNN, MSNBC. Hardy har har. :eyes:

[Mojambo]

7. Typical for cable "news"

I haven't watched any of those channels since early in 2004.

[madeline_con]

13. I'm waiting...

to see where Jim Cantorre (sp) ends up. He likes to lean into the wind during his broadcasts. :hi:

[Bluebear]

15. They have him in Pensacola

[magellan]

20. His presence is also a predictor of landfall position (to some)

JC's got a weird reputation as a weather spook with some online weather groups...it's sort of a running in-joke. It seems wherever he does his first location shot for a hurricane story, that's where the hurricane ends up making landfall. So when he showed up earlier today in Pensacola for the Weather Channel, he immediately began with the preamble, "Yes I'm in Pensacola, but no, that does NOT mean this is where Dennis is heading!"

I'm in Osceola so I had a great time distracting myself from disaster X 3 last year by reading the reactions to him in weather forums. People FEAR him showing up near them!! lol

[Endangered Specie]

14. They did the same thing when another "Dennis" grazed the NC coast

:eyes:

[jab105]

17. My motherinlaw is on Pensacola Beach...she's still not back in her

house from Ivan...probably another six weeks if this one doesnt come over her...

and she was out for almost a year with Opal in 1995...that would be 3 in 10 years, thats insane...

Needless to say...she signed the papers to sell her house today...

Ugh...but she really doesn't need this one...

I have lived in Florida all my life...never even experienced a hurricane until last year...what in the world is going on...its starting so early this year!!

My best to all of you who are in its path...

Anywhere is better than New Orleans with a Cat. 4...they would be completely underwater at that point...

[magellan]

22. Best of luck to your mom

That is a wearying situation to be in.

[dejaboutique]

18. my thoughts are with you all

I hope you all stay safe down there! my uncle is in st. petersburg so I think he is safe on this one but I fear he has a pretty stressful hurricane season ahead of him if such a big one is already coming in July! I didn't think the hurricane season officially got rolling until August. correct me if I am wrong. Be safe!