Live from party central

Over at Cam and Melissa’s now. Charley has since turned into a category 4 storm — winds between 150-160 mph. We haven’t seen those here yet, though we are seeing steady rain and incrementally stronger gusts.
There’s a tornado warning right now for north eastern Sarasota.
The eye of the hurricane is just south of the Lee/Sarasota county border. For about half an hour the local news was speculating that the hurricane might take a turn to the northeast and miss us. But now it’s back to heading up north along the shoreline, which puts us in (relative) danger again.
My lousy attempt at humor… we’ll see if it’s still on my balcony when I get back:

Post-computer packing:

My computer:

The local ABC affiliate gives an overview:

The rain is falling constantly now:


Comments

11 responses to “Live from party central”

  1. Hey Krishen,
    I can’t help but be TOTALLY fascinated by all this hurricane/tornado stuff. Are you really freaked out by it? It’s just kind of cool that someone I know is actually going to be in a hurricane area. Keep updating and tell us what it’s like, until your power goes out of course! ๐Ÿ˜€

  2. WOW!
    good luck, this sounds like some serious shit. but i can’t help but be a little jealous. i know, crazy, but i’m fascinated by weather, the energy in the air must be incredible.
    hope everything is ok.

  3. Yep, will do — I’m posting from my work laptop so I don’t have all the usual tools (I’m using a command-line FTP client and iPhoto export instead of Fetch and Photoshop). I’m connected to the ‘net wirelessly through Cam’s Airport. The latest is that the eye is heading through Charlotte Harbour — so the direct path of the eye (where the strongest winds are) looks like it’s going to miss us. However, in about ten minutes we’re about due to get hit by some of the outer arms. I’m going to get my camera ready now.

  4. Hey Alison… you commented while I was responding to Sue ๐Ÿ™‚ Yep, it’s definitely some serious shit. Truth be told I’m almost a little disappointed that the storm isn’t going to come through a little closer, though it’s definitely a good thing. The meterologist is cautioning people not to let their guard down yet. ABC has a reporter downtown, and they’re pretty much echoing what we’re seeing out here, about 5 miles to the east — constant rain and steadily increasing gusts over the past hour and a half.

  5. Additionally, according to a reporter who just got back from the location the eye went through (Port Charlotte), it looks like people in the affected areas are largely staying off the road, so that’s good. He did say that the winds in that area are up to 140 mph, and the rain is starting to “pierce the skin”. Damage estimates for Charley are sitting at $15B.

  6. Just a quick update — there are some “feeder bands” still on the outskirts which could whip up big winds, but for the most part it looks like the storm is has passed by to the east without doing much damage to northern Sarasota (where Cam, Melissa and I live). Feels a like a bit of a letdown — we did all this prep work and then this! But it turns out to just be a matter of miles — apparently Bee Ridge Road (3 miles to the south of us) is covered in debris, and 16000 people in Manasota (Manatee + Sarasota counties) are without power. Significant damage is also being reported in Desoto county (the roof was ripped off shelter!), with wind speeds of over 100 mph being reported in Wauchula. Also, as it turns out that $15B damage estimate was what was predicted if the storm passed through Tampa, but as it turned out it veered eastward before getting there, so it’ll likely be lower.

  7. Just a quick update — there are some “feeder bands” still on the outskirts which could whip up big winds, but for the most part it looks like the storm is has passed by to the east without doing much damage to northern Sarasota (where Cam, Melissa and I live). Feels a like a bit of a letdown — we did all this prep work and then this! But it turns out to just be a matter of miles — apparently Bee Ridge Road (3 miles to the south of us) is covered in debris, and 16000 people in Manasota (Manatee + Sarasota counties) are without power. Significant damage is also being reported in Desoto county (the roof was ripped off a shelter!), with wind speeds of over 100 mph being reported in Wauchula. Also, as it turns out that $15B damage estimate was what was predicted if the storm passed through Tampa, but as it turned out it veered eastward before getting there, so it’ll likely be lower.

  8. orLanDo is gonna get it !!

  9. Haha…. actually at the time you wrote that, it was already getting it ๐Ÿ™‚ Hehe… that reminds me of a song the BNL did on O-town.. have a listen.

  10. Neil Avatar

    Davin: Mindbender is in Orlando, I’m definitely going to get in touch with him after this..hehe
    Krishen: Hang tight, and enjoy the show ๐Ÿ™‚

  11. Thanks Neil ๐Ÿ™‚ Actually the show is all but done — post to follow soon.

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