Just talked with friends in Ft Myers riding it out in a hi rise. They were nervous, but they still hadn't lost power/tv. Also know a couple of people on/near Matlacha, haven't heard from them, have to hope they bailed out, much closer to ground zero. News covering the usual irony of people fleeing from Tampa to Orlando and are now in the new path of Ian.
Boca Grande is the chic vacation place for South Tampa YMKG types. Not sure why I’m raising that now, but it is impossible to hear Boca Grande and not think that
It will be worse because of the slow pace. The power is similar, and those islands got the full blunt in both cases, but this is slower and much longer lasting. The duration will almost certainly make the devastation greater. This might also be the single biggest tropical rain event in who knows how long (maybe comparable to what happened to Houston). The season where we had back to back to back storms might have had more inland flooding, but I can’t remember a single event that dumped this much rain in FL, combined with the coastal surge the flooding is going to be expansive. Might not top the Houston situation because of topography and how well FL drains, but could prove to be the worst flooding event in FL anyway.
My buddy the oceanographer, who knows the West Coast of Florida and the hydrology of the Gulf fairly well, sent me this one with a photo. The photo is too large to post. But apparently there's a lot of man-made canals all through there that will really channel and exacerbate the storm surge
Because it's moving so slow and dumping so much rain down south, does that mean there will be less rain as it moves up the state?
Seeing cat 2 /3 winds now. Lost some fence panels and judging by the number of shingles in the yard Im getting a new roof. No damage from Irma but not roof not faring well right now. Can a brother get a tarp?
You have to drive through Matlacha to get to my cousins place on St James island. Not sure if she stayed at the house? Matlacha is one of the coolest little places in Florida. I hope it’s still there afterwards.
Not priced according to risk. The only issue will be how much is subsidized, or some similar mechanism. I think restrictions on building/rebuilding by location will just not fly politically
Cant imagine anybody staying on Matlacha, much less St James during a cane. Used to go fishing out there as a little tyke.
Not that I am aware of. The island was shut down for some time afterwards tho, especially Captiva. The aftermath of Charlie was pretty sad to see, tho the area recovered nicely in recent years. This will be devastating. Of course you could say that about most places hit by a major cane. I will never forget the aftermath of Andrew.