Whoa!!"Stuff's" starting to get Real!! . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

Hurricane Idalia is bearing down on us and we've been getting feeder bands with light rain for about two hours and the winds are just now starting to pick up. 
This is going to be the first significant Hurricane, since we moved up here 7 years ago.
We've had several near misses and even one that went directly across the house, but was little more than a Thunderstorm With An Attitude, by the time it got to us.
But just like seat belts only work if you use them every time, Hurricane preps have to be done every time, as well.

Eye bolts lag-bolted to the house when I first moved in, get strapped down and the lids secured with bungee cords.
Most guys up here, move the trash cans into the garage and then a few days without power and with garbage pickup somewhere off in the indeterminate future, are very sorry they did that.
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Barbecue grill is usually around the corner and exposed, so it gets moved into the wind shadow of the back porch, where the patio furniture (folded up behind the grill) normally resides.
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The gates  (a set on each side of the house) get lashed with bungee cords, as the latch cannot be trusted once they start oscillating in the winds.
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Urchin and the truck get relegated to the west side of the property.
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Why, you ask?

Because all the Laurel Oaks are all on the east side and south side of the property.
Looking east and with a low pressure hurricane eye to the west sucking the wind (and trees) towards it, guess which way the tree is liable to fall?
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Here is where Urchin normally resides and depending on which way the tree falls, it takes out its choice of:
Sailboat.
Truck.
Master bedroom (behind garage).
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To that end, we evacuate to a spare bedroom on the west side of the house (next to the truck), beyond the range of any fallen trees.

The largest hurricane-related winds we've experienced since moving to north central Florida, has only been about 45 mph.  (Hurricane Irma, 2017.)
Hurricanes really lose steam once they are 50 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico.
Not this one.
Currently a Cat 2, but forecast to be Category 3 at landfall, winds across 2/3rds of Alachua county are expected to be 115 mph.
THEN they allow as how it might suddenly strengthen to Cat 4, on account of the shallow Gulf waters are at record high temperatures, so you could add a another 20 or 30 mph to those estimates.
Numbers like that haven't been seen in Gainesville, since before 1930.
(Edit.)  Correction: Since the 1890's.
Swell.

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Spent most of my life living in south Florida with it's rigid CBS (Concrete-Block-Stucco) building code and I have to say, living up here in a stick-built home feels psychologically, like one step up from a TENT.
My stick-built home has a brick veneer, so I at least feel like I live in a tent with a fly.
If any of those dire predictions come to pass, I suspect a significant portion of Gainesville is going to get wiped out, much like Hurricane Andrew did to south Miami-Dade county in 1992.
Nor am I encouraged by seeing my neighbors, not even packing up lawn furniture.
Ah, well.

But clearly, we still have power, Internet and (most importantly!) air conditioning, so we'll see.
More posts, as I am able.

Charles Brennan

[Captain Kidd]

Stay safe! We're watching. Keep us posted. 😫🙏

[Charles Brennan]

Dodged another bullet!! 
Hurricane Idalia came ashore nearly 40 miles north of where I figured it would.  It's original track when I posted last night, had it coming right across Gainesville on the "dirty side" which gives you the top wind speed PLUS the forward speed, so 115 mph winds traveling at 18 mph, have a force of 133mph; nothing to sneeze at. Also of concern was that the landfall would put it right between the Santa Fe River and the Suwanee River, with the resulting flooding putting Gainesville under water.
Was originally guessing landfall near Horseshoe Beach, which is roughly between Cedar Key (home of the Cedar Key Small Boat Meet) and Steinhatchee.  Instead, it came ashore north of Steinhatchee and as of this writing, we are out of Harm's Way.
Never completely lost power, although we got several of the blips that occur whenever power lines get blown together, momentarily.
Only about 25% of the city of Newberry (my Home town) has power and for a change, WE'RE the ones that still have  POWER!!  
Winds at street level are averaging only 20 mph, although the tops of the Laurel Oaks are showing considerably more violence.  However, I'm not inclined to climb up there with my wind speed meter, just yet. 
Every now and again we get 30 mph gusts, roughly a half hour to an hour apart.

View looking outside from the back porch.
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(I'm not one of those idiots that walk around outside, thinking the storm is past and then gets clocked with a branch that blew clear down the block, at 80 mph.)
This is very typical of hurricane aftermaths. Branches, leaves and twigs, everywhere.  Up north, people generally rake under their trees.  After a hurricane, you rake your entire yard.

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But, no major limbs down, which was a surprise.

View from the front porch.
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Again, branches and twigs and leaves, but no major limbs down.

I'm not going out there just yet, to take a pic, but the only effect on Urchin was one of my halyard ends, that I keep tucked in next to a cleat for traveling on the road, came loose.
Hey! I'll take it!!

Cedar Key is basically under water and why Capt. Tony's restaurant (Best clam  chowder in the world, BTW) has heavily varnished tables and chairs.
Horseshoe Beach sounds worse than it actually is.  Yes, the storm surge is around 10 feet and inundating everything, but only the commercial establishments that are one story  are significantly affected.  Almost all of the residential and condo structures are up on stilts, (concrete pilings, really) generally 12 -15 feet up.  So the town's one restaurant, the marina and the ice house, are going to be really impacted, but little else.

We were fortunate to be spared.
Charles Brennan

[Captain Kidd]

Good news!

[Norm L.]

I'm glad to hear you did well. When I read the NOAA discussion last night that the track had moved 21 miles west before it turned northeast I knew that would give much of the mid-west coast a bit of a better chance. just being 20 miles further away from a center can make all the difference.

Friends in Palm Harbor and Crystal River also did well as they are far enough away from bodies of water.
Places like Tarpon Springs (which I love) on the Anclote River, and Yankeetown on the Withlacoochee River and points north are certainly flooded by storm surge. There are some great old Cracker homes that will suffer.

[Spot]

Also glad to hear the Brennans' are OK!

[Frank B.]

Glad you dodged that bullet and hope you don't have to go through prep again this season.  A good friend who lived in Boca Raton, after taking down his window boards a few times one season finally just left most of them on until the season was over.

[Jim B., CD-25]

Good to hear you got off relatively easy, Charles.  This one seemed to hold onto the winds as it moved across land, so location matters.  Smart to stay inside until it really is clear... it isn't just the wind that can get ya, it's what's IN the wind.  And all the nails that come off with the shingles.

Hoping for an easy clean-up for you.  The warmer than normal water in the Gulf makes me nervous.  We sold our house in the Tropical Tip, but we don't have to have everything out of it for another month.  Renter's insurance is WAY less expensive than homeowners, wind, and flood.

Take care.

[Wayne Howard]

Ron White: "It's not THAT the wind is blowing, it's WHAT the wind is blowing."

I'm glad to hear you didn't have much damage, Charles.

[Krusen]

The I hurricanes seem to prefer where you now live, Charles.

Irma, Idalia.

Very happy to see leaves and twigs in your yard, the best version of damage that hurricanes offer.

[Riley Smith]

That's getting off EASY! (and I'd take it!). We had a smattering of much-needed rain before it hit due to some interaction with the bands. It's absolutely gorgeous right now and the temps have abated somewhat. You're pic of the leaves reminded me of the driveway after Katrina. I have oaks all over the property and it seems every one of them dumped their leaves in the driveway. Luckily that was the major extent of damage that bad lady dealt our community of Wolf Ridge. They were almost knee deep! And those oaks are why we don't stay here in a major storm. I did crank the generator and do some minor clean-up for this one but it wasn't the full batten down the hatches thank goodness.

[Tom--Pensacola]

I had to re-register to get on here and find out what Charles had to say about the storm in his area. Glad the Brennan family did ok.

Whats this "Global Moderator" deal with Noemi? 

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

Whats this "Global Moderator" deal with Noemi? 

I have the control.   

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

Charles, glad you are all ok. 

Nice pergola, by the way.

[Dougcan]

Whats this "Global Moderator" deal with Noemi?

It means you really really don't want to get on her bad side!  (Luckily Noemi doesn't really have a bad side...)