Hurricane Milton

[KenAdams]

Couldn't see a thread for this in Weather.

This looks like it's going to be really bad. Helene has already caused enough devastion in the area and the poor people of Tampa are in for a lot more today.

Some people are refusing to evacuate from what I understand but the Mayor of Tampa has warned if you don't evacuate you die.

I can't imagine how scary it must be for them.

They are not evacuating the entire state.. they are evacuating the coastal areas. Disney is in the area where all the evacuees will be sent. It’s still in the path of the hurricane but it’s not an area which has an evacuation notice. My dad’s bin collection went ahead as planned yesterday!

Haven't been able to sleep tonight and keep checking social media for storm updates. I can't imagine what people are going through. All those poor people who don't have the means to evacuate, whether that's financial or material.

Nobody suggested otherwise. Being concerned about missing a holiday certainly isn't that.

Yup. Amory Lovins promoted alternative energy schemes via the Rocky Mountain Institute for four decades. From Wikipedia: Lovins published an article called "Energy Strategy: The Road Not Taken?" in 1976. Lovins argued that the United States had arrived at an important crossroads and could take one of two paths. The first, supported by U.S. policy, promised a future of steadily increasing reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear fission, and had serious environmental risks. The alternative, which Lovins called "the soft path", favored "benign" sources of renewable energy like wind power and solar power, along with a heightened commitment to energy conservation and energy efficiency.

Special interests meant path one was taken, and now there are consequences. I remember when President Carter was mocked for wearing a cardigan and turning down the thermostat in the White House.

I also do not understand why there are not government schemes to get solar panels on every domestic roof with a battery backup and solar panels on industrial estates. We have 24 panels on the roof and shed, and just pay the standing charge for electrics. We switched to an air source heat pump from the heating oil boiler, and our dryer is heat pump. The last step is switching out our range from propane to electric (we are rural no gas lines). Probably the same special interests want to keep everyone dependent on the grid.

100 percent. This is like Hurricane Katrina.

I don't even know where to start with this. Some of us have friends and family in the direct path of a cat 5 hurricane here. The Cast Members working at Disney also need to be given time to prepare.

No one gives a shit about your holiday. Be thankful you aren't actually out there. If you booked a holiday to Florida without even thinking about hurricane season that's completely on you. Read the room.

@KenAdams well said. I'd rather be safer than have a bloody holiday. Hope you are safe x

I also do not understand why there are not government schemes to get solar panels on every domestic roof with a battery backup and solar panels on industrial estates. We have 24 panels on the roof and shed, and just pay the standing charge for electrics. We switched to an air source heat pump from the heating oil boiler, and our dryer is heat pump. The last step is switching out our range from propane to electric (we are rural no gas lines). Probably the same special interests want to keep everyone dependent on the grid.

Disaster capitalism. Would eat into housebuilders and landowners margins. These policies are established at dinner parties within a 12 mile radius of Chipping Norton.

She was on BBC News yesterday. Really knowledgeable and level headed.

"I cant understand why Disney staff are still working. Does anyone know whether they get a chance to leave if they want to?"

Leave to go where? You know that's as inland as you can be and not in the evacuation zone?

@KenAdams she's amazing. I really feel for her, I don’t know how she can keep her head and go to work in such a difficult job, knowing her children are in that hospital building 💔 I just pray the fence holds and the hospital is okay

No one said that her suffering was remotely comparable with the suffering of residents.
The fact that people will be facing awful devastation doesn’t mean that an individual isn’t also entitled to be sad about their holiday. It’s still a valid reaction.

I think a lot of people in the UK don't really have a reference point for these type of weather. We still talk about the Great Storm of 1987 but that would barely have made in onto the Hurricane scale.

@NeverHadHaveHas sorry but anyone sad about a holiday needs to put it into perspective. People will die. People will lose their homes. Travel insurance should cover the cost of the holiday.

"I don't even know where to start with this. Some of us have friends and family in the direct path of a cat 5 hurricane here. The Cast Members working at Disney also need to be given time to prepare.

No one gives a shit about your holiday."

Speak for yourself. It's not unusual for the Florida parks to be full of holidaymakers in October, in fact it's the norm. Why shouldn't they be upset. You don't need to be a beachfront resident in Tampa to be affected you know.

Very true.

I do remember the Great Storm here - it was mainly trees that suffered, I lost a door to an outside lavatory {19th century} but very minor stuff.

Yes, it's full of tourists, but that doesn't change the fact that a trip to Florida in hurricane season, especially September-October when the biggest storms hit, is a risk and a very well known one. It's why I wouldn't plan a Florida or Caribbean trip this time of year. Now isn't the time to complain about not going to Disney.

@KenAdams if we're talking about the same person she's who I'd want to be treating me in hospital. So calm.

We have family slightly outside tampa and are very worried. This one feels like a very big deal.

I have a rare condition that makes people hugely vulnerable. (Physically weak, often unable to drive etc). I know several people with it in Florida who can't evacuate, I'm so worried for them.

She. Would probably be a man if it were a Hollywood film, but in real life she's a woman.

Travelling to a state that has historically been hit by hurricanes, during hurricane season, is a choice those tourists make.

I saw a TikTok of a girl who was travelling the Appalachian trail saying that the hurricane was the "worst and most stressful time of her life".

Her hotel wasn't in an affected area. She was so affected because they had to stay an extra night (free of charge!) and drink ice that had been melted as there was no water. They then left the next day.

I'm sorry but people need some perspective. If you're able to leave (like tourists are), LEAVE! I don't feel sorry for those that are there by choice when people will die because they have no choice.

It looks like the storm surge will cause enormous flooding now even if the wind were to abate.

She's the one who was saying she was taking the kids to work but her husband had to take their pets elsewhere.

I don’t understand why they don’t have their army etc doing evacuations? I can’t believe they’ll just let people die because they don’t have the petrol money to evacuate. They’re acting like barbarians to their own people, even worse than a third world country.

Do you mean the hurricane? If so, the water in the Gulf of Mexico has been a lot warmer than the previous 4 years. This has caused a number of hurricanes to form.

This one wasn't even there a week ago but has intensified quicker than all but two others on record.

I was listening to a scientist yesterday who was saying they will only know with certainty a few hours before exactly where it will make landfall. That's why everyone is prepping in the potentially affected areas.