I dunno who else out there is in FL but it is really getting rough down here. I think its time for a zoom zoom road trip to say the mountains of GA? First Charlie now Francis.

Charlie split one of our barrier islands in two - North Captiva Island and really messed up Port Charlotte. Another issue we just learned. Our homeowners insurance that we pay a fortune on has a 2% premium on hurricanes - OK. BUT the real kicker is that they prorate EVERYTHING and devalue your home on a claim. We have a nice home, now with multiple roof leaks and 150 sq ft. of shingles missing with who knows how many loose shingles. The roof is 12 yrs old. After it was said and done, we were told that the roof would get repaired with whatever color of shingle they could find and they would pay for half of it since the roof was halfway worn out BUT the total cost of repair was less than our storm deductible SO, nothing would be paid out. Imagine this with 4 room ceilings with leak stains and a messed up roof - although 12 years of age was fine before the storm. Homeowners be AWARE of your poicies. You pay based on your home's value or purchase price but claims are based on age and devalued amounts, If that is the case, shouldn't the insurance get cheaper as the house gets older too?

It looks like it's my side of the state's turn to get its ass kicked. Here in west palm beach, hardware stores are still open, gas stations STILL have lines (the ones that have gas, anyways), and almost everything is closed tomorrow. Nobody's taking any chances, except for the company I work for, but that's something I won't get into now.

We all remember how andrew curved south suddenly. Same with charlie. We're as prepaired as we're gonna get here at my house. I've taken some "before" pictures. I'll try to post some "after" pictures when the power/cable/internet comes back up.

hmmm..i still have to go to work friday and sat and sunday....oh well...hopefully nothing bad will happen to my car while i'm at work!

I hope it turns away from you Paradigm. West Palm is our parallel city to the east. It is not a good thing. The security was posted at Home Depot and Lowes here and we only have currently a 17% probability. The wild thing about these storms is that when they are Cat 4-5, 4 is survivable but 5 you leave the area - period! The only thing is, Where do you go when they are 300 miles across? The devastation is amazing. We were just over 20 miles or so from the center with Charlie and quite a bit of damage was done. Those in the path di not have a chance (Charlotte area) To see that island split in two here is amazing. It was not dug at like a tornado does but literally blown apart and ravaged by water.

I know how bad charlie was. My girlfriend is from the area. All of her friends and family are in the Ft Myers area. One of her friend's dad is the fire chief of captiva. We actually know of people who rode that one out on captiva island. They win the "brass balls" award. :D


I'm gonna start stretching a bit, so I'll be able to put my head between my legs to kiss my ass goodbye if the time comes. ;)

RodsterinFL, I have adjusted for storm damage with Allstate, not sure who you are with, and it sounds like you are getting screwed. They should pay, according to an area specific pricing list of $/square(for the roof at least, $/linear foot for siding, $/sq. feet of wall needed to be replaced, etc. etc), for what was lost and damaged during the storm without proration, minus the deductable of course. This should include any plywood damage, felt paper, and shingles, ceiling, wall, and carpet damages, plus 10% overhead and profit in large enough cases to cover your butt for the builder's cost. You should also make a list of things inside your home that were damaged or destroyed because they should pay for those items too, although that number will be less than what you paid for the items brand new. That includes items that spoiled in a freezer or refrigerator also. They should cover any siding and trim that has been damaged or torn off of the house too, or at least have the damaged areas repainted if possible. Depending on your policy you should have trees and bushes covered also. Sounds like you should change insurance companies or call and ask them to send someone else out. Take pictures of all of the damaged areas too so that you have evidence to back you up. It may mean a few more days with a leaky roof but it could pay off in the end. In most cases the adjuster gets paid a bracketted percentage of the total damage cost, at least that's how it works for Allstate.

Sorry to hear about the cost of hurricane insurance, but at least I'd bet earthquake is real cheap there. So do you now have a North and Central Captiva Island?

Hey, keep your head down this weekend. Looks to be nasty. Our best wishes for all of you down dere.

Well, as of 8am it looks like everything that could get worse, has. Its projected path has been shifted south to the jupiter inlet, it's strengthening, and it's slowing down. They expect us to be under hurricane conditions for 12-24 hours.

My girlfriend's office building is being evacuated right now. My house is only about 40 miles from the expected landfall point, so right now I honestly don't believe the house will make it through intact. Or my car for that matter. :(

Somebody, hold me.

So sorry paradigm :(

Wish you all the best!! :o

Anyone is welcome here in TN. Just watch out for tornadoes! lol

new projections show it going across FL and into the bay.

http://complexityclan.com/bear/projectedpath.jpg

Some other sites still show it going north.... I've seen as many projections showing north, as south. I guess we'll know Friday evening which is more likely.

http://image.weather.com/images/maps/tropical/strm6_strike_720x486.jpg

My best friend is in Deerfield Beach. This'll be his first "real" hurricaine since the ones we encounter up here are very weak comparably. So far he doesn't have to evacuate- but his jobs are shut down for now prepareing for the onslaught

careful down there guys

I READ A LITTLE WHILE AGO 145 MILE AN HOUR WINDS 80 mile out from the center!! that is freaking huge!! everyone,especially those in geogia, better hope it does not run across to the gulf. if it does that it could pick up more energy before heading north. that would not be good for anyone. saw one pic taken from the space station too this storm is just enormous.

Well, just heard moments ago that insurance companies are broadcasting that EACH named storm is a separate issue and deductabiles must be met for each one - wow.

Thanks for the insurance info MPT Yellow RX8. Here are the specifics. We pay around $2100 a year with a $1000 ded and 2% hurricane ded - standard State Farm policy. The ded on our home is $4600. He gave us around a $2000 damage quote after prorations. The initial amount was around $4000. We Know that the roof is going to need to be replaced and we have a very steep pitch. The house is a 2500 sq ft living area with a large rear porch and garage (of course) all under roof too. I think he said 25 squares of shingles was needed for a roofing. The felt paper was torn on one 100 sq ft area. the other spots are just black felt. The rest of the roof is just showing some loose shingles or looks normal. The interior damage is just the walls. The four rooms with water stains on the ceilings are the only interior damage we know of. The shocker for us was the proration crap. Insurance should have to put the house back to the way it was even if it means something - new with the customer meeting the deduction - PERIOD. Telling us that they can use ANY color of shingle available to PATCH the areas as long as it is an equivalent shingle grade is crazy. That really helps the value of the house. This is the reason we get insurance - bad things that can happen.

well at least the damn thing is falling apart...i'm not so worried now...but i'm still praying i dont have to work..lol!

well, andrew was falling apart when it crossed the bahamas as well, so until it makes landfall nobody on the coast is taking any chances. I have no garage, so I parked my car on the south side of my house to protect it from wind, debris, and falling trees.

The first squall line from the storm just passed through. It's all downhill from here. :D

the storm will grow before it hits land, all the weather prediction charts showing it growing back to cat 4.

LOVELY! Best of luck to everyone and their 8!

Second band just moved through. Only lasted about 20 minutes but still dropped nearly an inch of rain in some places. Had one power surge, and some of our friends have already lost power. It's gonna be a looooooong storm for them. :p

I live in POrt Richey on the Gulf side of the state, Im not sure what to think about the storm, Charlie was suposed to be a direct hit on Pinellas but it didint even rain, well at least I still have all my supplies, we wont know for sure if its gonna hit our side until it moves back into open water, Ive given up on Baynews9, they change there mind every update, they're just glorified guessers IMO, anyways this is the latest track as of 5:30 pm Friday, thanks Francis:
http://floridasr20s.com/gallery/albums/album19/francestracking.gif

it's taking a similar path just north of tampa (at least it's estimated to), but at 4x the size of charlie, I don't think it will be rain free this time.

The only thing we have on our side (those on the west coast of FL) is that the hurricane deminishes quickly over land. They expect it down to 50 mph when it gets around here.

We're from Palm Beach County...left for our keys house yesterday....brought both cars and all our valuables with us. We had initially planned to go to Brunswick, GA...but decided to head south to avoid the crowded roads. Not looking fwd. to the return home/possible damages. The storm is moving very slowly. We endured hurricane George in KW years ago...125mph wind for 12 hrs. with a stalled eye. Impressive damge. Hope Frances would move through a bit more quickly re: rain effectfs. Really sorry to hear the news from Captiva....we were there one week before Charlie...it was very beautiful prior to the storm. Best to all for safety.

The eyewall is moving onto the coast right now. Wind gusts of 90 in jupiter, and that's at the outer edge of the wall. We're gonna lose a few trees here at my house. I'm supprised I still have power. Many people have already lost it. I should have some decient pics of the damage near my house, and maybe some pics from within the eye :D

Hey Jason Hamilton, a pun from your avatar, Did the storm pass? I hope all is well. I hope Paradigm is okay in West Palm. Many are without power there as we were Aug 13th for about 3 days. In really bad areas no power can last for about a month.

Captiva Island is damaged but still in one piece. North Captiva is, well, now is two islands - just for clarification.

I lived about 20 miles (as the gull flies) from the landfall and we had severely strong winds with huge trees blown over. Charlie was cat 4 with 147mph sustained winds. Francis now is reported as a cat 2 with 105mph winds but a much larger area of coverage. Hopefully Ivan, said to have right now 125mph winds will go away. I wish they could blow a bomb up inside those things and cause them to fall apart.

Yeah, it eventually past. The winds were in the 65 mph range when it got here. It was here Sunday, and kinda sat on top of Tampa almost all of Monday before it decided to move on.

No power loss, no tree loss, everything looks okay, but there was some bad flooding and sewage was coming out of the ground.

The lake behind me came up to ground level. Any higher and we might have been in trouble.