Hmm, I posted something this week and accidentally deleted it, meant to edit it. Oh well.
I live 30-40 miles inland from Tampa Bay area and it's really windy and steady rain...I'm not in a flood prone zone, so my area didn't need to evacuate. The lake in my backyard has risen substantially since earlier this morning, and these are just bands. I think my area should get a CAT 1 storm, according to the tracker, but they didn't expect it to hit the shoreline, even if it is slightly south now, as a CAT 5. I still have electricity...so that's good. The problem with this storm is it's slow moving, so it's going to be chaotic like this through tomorrow.
There are tornado warnings in Orlando and south Florida.
If you're the praying kind, we could use some prayers and good thoughts here in Florida.
As a side bar, the uncertainty of storms is huge. It's not an exact science, because you're at the mercy of limited technology. So, I thought this storm was hitting head on in Tampa Bay area (as the news outlets were projecting), but it's moved to Sarasota/Ft Myers, and sadly, many people evacuated Tampa area to Ft Myers. I can't imagine what they may be feeling.
If you live in a hurricane prone area, you get these warnings A LOT. Over a CAT 1 or 2. The news networks go into full panic mode and gas stations run out of gas, grocery store shelves are bare, etc...and more often than not, your area doesn't have nearly the rainfall or wind damage that they predicted. But, the closer you are to the ocean and rivers, etc...you'll deal with storm surge. I'm sharing all this to say, that many people stay put, even in mandatory evac areas, because they feel that the news ''will get it wrong,'' again. It's a tough call sometimes, because evacuating is a horrible experience unto itself, but better safe than sorry.
Wind has really picked up, but...my local news channel just stated that there will be gusts of 75 mph winds here in my county and 50-60 mph sustained for 24-36 hours. In the scheme of things, that's not terrible, but gusts of wind can take down trees, etc.
There's no thunder or lightning, though.