The damage will be much more severe here. I'll post a pic of all the debris from the last hurricane lying around my neighborhood. That alone will make the damage worse, not to mention the fact that most of my neighborhood is missing shingles or part of their roof. So the rain damage will be much much worse. I expect my ceiling in the garage to completely collapse when it fills with water. I just hope I don't have to start replacing the drywall on my walls as well. Not to mention, my neighborhood floods during 3 inch rainstorms, with 10-20 inches of rain.....yeah it will be worse than Charley.

 

I think people should realize that even if this hits at Cat 1, its a BIG storm. EVERYONE will have some effect from this storm. They showed a graphic on either the Weather Channel or Local 13 that showed the storm being roughly the same size/shape of Texas. And there is a substantial difference between winds for 1 hour (a la Charlie) and winds for 24 hours (anticipated for Frances). Lack of power also creates damage too. Without your a/c and with all the moisture, you can have substantial mold growth, which can make a house unliveable as well. Things that toughed it out through Charlie are probably pretty weak now, plus the ground is saturated, which makes it easier to uproot trees and stuff. SO, with saturated ground, 100+mph winds for a long time, and fairly substantial pre-existing damage, you still think this will be a walk in the park? I think not... I am not "wigging out", I am thinking of this in a rational manner. Be safe, wherever you are and good luck!

 

son of a bitch!

they just expanded the hurricane watch to fernandina beach ... where i am

 

ain't that the truth...

my work, right now all we have covering a big *** hole in our roof is 2 sheets of plywood, covered with a banner from the "Hulk" movie with some 80 lbs. blocks on it, and its screwed to the roof, but still has a lip on it, I could see it flying off.

 

Man... aren't you just a bundle of joy.

LOL!

j/k but you are absolutely correct. Still nothing to mess with.

 

Does all this negativity really do anything other than add to your stress level? What is the point of fretting over something you cannot do ANYTHING about?

I've never understood this. Some of you may need to consider moving. Really. No sense trading your health for locale.

 

I realize I sounded very negative, but I didn't intend to. I only meant to inform some people who could be taking this too lightly. Many of the people in our apartments are snowbirds/yankees and I get irritated when people act like this is just a summer rainstorm. Yes, you should take it easy and not stress, but also take it for what it is, a serious storm. I know that I won't "forget to step outside Sat night/Sun morning and marvel at the power of Mother Nature". Right now, all my hurricane prep is done so its Beer o'clock. Take it easy and stay safe.

 

I agree...

I get a little paranoid, prepare, pretty good, have everything set, then sit back and relax, drink...

I don't go out and spend alot of cash because well I don't have much. My water is empty jugs I collected around my house, filled with water. wood, and screws, I got from my work, I did buy some extra non-refrigerated food, and a $5 grill. Oddly enough I think all and all my biggest bill was the liquor store.

I figure prepare, be ready then relax. Have the stuff I need for me and my girlfriend, I HATE being any sort of burden or have to ask for help, I will do it I need to but I try to avoid to need to do that.

 

I am holding it down a mile away from the Indian River here in Melbourne at my boarded up house. Got a 12 pack and bacardi for rum and cokes to get me through the boredom of next few days. Good luck to all, I'll be back on here whenever the power comes on, hoping sooner than later.

 

Does that mean that will be checking it out, or won't?

 

Definitely will be checking it out.

 

I joked about you being a "bundle of joy" but didn't take it that you had a negative attitude. I think your post had a lot of info in it that people should consider. For me, I think the biggest deal is going to be the hours and hours of rain followed by the wind... even if it is only 50 to 75 mph. The more rain you get the more it "weakens" the ground and the less wind you need to topple the trees. That's my main concern right now since I have big trees about 2' from my house.

 

there are 4 news stations parked about 100 yards away from me doing live broadcasts

they're all local but i think they're doing national broadcasts to all the other networked local stations

i'm going to be on TV

 

Sorry to hear that you've got trees so close to your place Brent. Did most of the big branches come out during Charlie? Kinda makes you want to have no shade trees around (even though they're almost necessary in the summer). I helped clean up my family's places in Arcadia after Charlie. Man, their 30 year old trees shed SO much stuff it was crazy. Luckily nothing big fell on the houses, so I hope the same goes for you Brent and everyone else. That post-'cane cleanup sucks!

 

The path of Charley originally was projected to go into Tampa Bay and then straight up through my town of Inverness. At the last minute it turned and came in further south and went more up the middle of the state. I ended up getting less rain than a normal Florida afternoon and basically ZERO wind. It was a non event for my area so Charley was a dud for me.

So, I still have all the trees around my house... several of which actually HANG OVER the house.

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/misc/frances01.jpg

thru

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/misc/frances23.jpg

Most of the above are pics of trees around the house but some show my TRASHED garage. Still haven't recovered from my toilet "malfunctioning" over a month ago and flooding one side of my house. Sigh. Oh well

Thanks for the wish of luck... I'll need it if Frances continues on its present track. However, I'm not going to know the outcome because I'm already stuck at work and am on "lock down" until at least Monday morning. Got some friends/family checking on the place for me though so don't none of you think you can come up and get a bunch of car parts from me for "free". LOL!!!