OT: If it's not one thing it's another. If it's not one hurricane it's another. Oh, the joy!

If I ever start forgetting where I live, all it will take to remind me is one more hurricane roaring toward Gainesville and me about this time of year.

Yep, in the dark shadows lurking behind the sunshine, and swimming, and the Disney attractions that make Florida the fun-target that it is, there lie nature's water-monsters, like serpents in the Garden of Eden: hurricanes.

It's looking like Idalia, increasing in strength as we speak, will be coming through north-central Florida later tomorrow and into Wednesday. Maybe as a Cat 3. Like Gainesville has a bulls-eye on it.

As soon as I enter this post it's off to the yard to start putting away lawn chairs, trash cans, tools laying about, etc. Don't need them as projectiles as the wind roars through here.

Or maybe Idalia will change course at the last moment. The things have been known to do that. Not that I would ever wish this thing on anybody somewhere else.

In good shape otherwise. Good supply of batteries, bottled water, flashlights, etc. I could write up a list of hurricane preparedness necessities in my sleep, been through so many of the things.

After doing my yard, then off to help the elderly widow who lives alone a couple of houses down, and unable to take care of her own lawn chairs, trash cans, tools laying about, etc. I'll do that for her.

I don't know if I'm currently the only member of our forum in Florida who is in the path of this thing, but best hopes to our other comrades in Florida for a good outcome, if it does change course and heads their way.

So I probably won't be posting for a few days, if I have to be cleaning up a yard littered with branches after it passes, using my chain saw to cut them up for city pick-up, or waiting for the city to restore power if it gets knocked out in my neighborhood, etc.

Or maybe it will be just a wind-and-rain event. We'll see.

But at least I know what to expect.

Deja vu all over again.

81GG, Good luck and stay safe.
So far, my house is out of the path being in Lake Worth, just south of Lake Okeechobee. I am in NY for the summer but always am on edge just a bit this time of year. As you said, these things do have a habit of changing course. For your sake I hope it does, for my sake I hope it doesn't veer toward us.

Again, stay safe, thats the most important thing.

Batten down those hatches, drop anchor, hunker down, and stay sheltered from the storm!

I was watching the news, wondering if your area was in the storm path.

Stay safe & stay well!

In fellowship ~
C-Y-C-L-O-N-E

Jack - thanks for the offer.... TPA aka Tampa's airport is already closed for the storm... From what I understand, driving out of the State at this point would be an exercise in futility. It's about 300 miles to Georgia.... but with 22MILLION People I hear the road are brutal.

I'm in Largo, southern neighbor to Clearwater. The "Cone of Uncertainty" is just a little north of me. (for now)

Good luck to everyone on the West Coast.

Hurricane Idalia forecasted to be 'extremely dangerous' Category 4 at landfall!!

It's 3:15 am here... The eye of the storm basically passed in the last 45 minutes....but way out to sea. I'm getting 40MPH wind and a little rain... We are down 15 inches for the year... So believe it or not - some of us really need this storm.

Hope the neighbors up the coast do ok when it hits landfall.

So far it's turning out better here in Gainesville than I thought it might be at this time (9:50 AM, Wednesday).

Outside it's pretty dark right now (think late twilight dark), but that will change dramatically when the storm passes, and the sun comes back out.

No power outages so far, and probably unlikely here at this point.

The local TV station weather page has live updates of wind speed in the area:

https://www.wcjb.com/weather/

recording 22 MPH right now. Not bad at all.

The tree branches in my yard, mostly pine, are swaying a little bit, but nothing serious. The large water oak is solid, no movement at all. Solid as an oak.

The grass in the yard is pretty much covered right now with small branches and tufts of pine needles blown down, but that will easy to rake up.

Every few minutes or so I hear a "dink" on my house's metal roof, another small branch falling down, but again nothing serious.

According to the forecast, this thing should be moving on quickly as the day progresses, and clear blue skies and sunshine may be back here as early as later this afternoon.

I feel for the people in Cedar Key, the Gulf fishing town a few miles west of here, and for the other Gulf Coast locales that have been impacted. May the damage for all of them be as small as possible.