Milton - Holy Crap!

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I've been reading and hearing that this might be the most powerful hurricane in history 

Headline in this morning's NY Post:
"Tampa mayor issues dire warning before Hurricane Milton: 'If you choose to stay ... you are going to die'"

I lived in Pinellas County in 1972-73, just north of St. Petersburg and south of Clearwater. St. Pete was the home of my mother growing up and where my older brother was born, before moving to New York where I was born. So the area has always been close to my heart. It was our standard summer vacation when I was growing up.

What I don't understand (a whole lot of things to be honest, but I digress), is that 100% of the news is centered on Tampa, and nary a word uttered of St. Pete. They've even mentioned Clearwater (as they should), but not St. Pete. Do any journalists understand that for the hurricane to reach Tampa, it has to go through St. Pete first??? St. Pete and Pinellas County is a mega population (Pinellas County has 976,000 people, St. Pete has 265,000. and Tampa has 398,000 residents. And since the hurricanes rotate counterclockwise, it will empty Tampa Bay (the bay, not the city), into St. Pete, after St. Pete is already underwater from the initial landing. Not that Tampa doesn't have to worry, as they surely do, but St. Pete is on the coast and will take the brunt of the initial blast (if models are correct) and will knock the strength of the hurricane down a category before reaching Tampa...not to mention, the extreme rise in water will overwhelm St. Pete as it is shoved in from the Gulf. It's as if no one ever heard of St. Pete, and we only have to worry about Tampa 

Pinellas County is outlined with red dots


The second comment I have, is that I have never, in my lifetime, seen the origin of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico from the shores of Mexico, and then move straight east. When the west side of Florida gets a hurricane, it always comes from the Atlantic and moving west, then slips through the Caribbean, and then hooks back east towards Florida once it's in the Gulf...assuming it doesn't continue towards Houston or New Orleans or the panhandle of Florida. It never starts west and then moves east. There, got that off my shoulders 

It's going to be a very bad day tomorrow for Floridians in that area. I think a lot of people are going to lose their lives

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Hurricane watchers want Categories relisted to include a CAT6 https://nypost.com/2024/10/08/us-news/milton-reaching-max-limits-leads-to-calls-for-a-new-category-6-designation-for-hurricanes/

[MightyGiants]

Just a couple of weeks after Helene.  Isn't climate change fun 

Super warm water is turbo charging these storms

[LennG]

 They said it went from a Cat 1 to a Cat 5 in a matter of hours, unheard of up until this.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

The Sunshine Skyway bridge is closed now (as are the ones between Pinellas County and Tampa), so exiting is getting more and more difficult. I fear this storm will bring a lot of death because there is always a percentage of people who insist on "riding it out". I hope the number is minimal, because there is no second option once it hits

Clearwater, St. Pete, and Tampa are only 10' above sea level, and are expecting a 15-20' storm surge. Do the math. If living in a one-story house (which are about 99% of them), you will sit on your roof in 130-150 mile wind that will blow you off your perch. And there is no way out, and nowhere to go!

A hurricane rotates counterclockwise, so the southern side of the hurricane picks up water from the Gulf of Mexico and throws it onshore. The northern side of the hurricane, sucks water off the shore line. Remember a couple of years ago when Fort Myers was destroyed, the northside of the hurricane emptied Tampa Bay for the first time in known history. People could walk across the bay. This time, the bay will take on more water than it can possibly hold, and is shallow anyway



One of the stories I read, showed what they are trying to do with zoos. Smaller animals are being removed, but they can't remove that larger animals, and if they are under 10 feet of water, it is a major problem, even though animals survive on the outside environment. But if they are in an enclosure (cage), where does the lion, the zebra, the tigers and bears go??? Hippos, elephants, and some animals can deal with water that is above their heads, and giraffes (I guess anyway) can keep their heads above water. Whatever the case, this is a problem that is a huge deal

This storm is going to change the shoreline along the Gulf

A quick video showing the differences in strength, even though the biggest issue is going to be the surge in water

[squibber]

Sad. I follow the I Love Longboat Key Facebook page and someone mentioned a 92 year old woman refuses to leave her condo. She is on the third floor so hopefully she will be OK.

Longboat Key got hit with the periphery of Helene and sustained a lot of damage. Milton will be a direct hit with a higher storm surge. Scary and sad.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Sad. I follow the I Love Longboat Key Facebook page and someone mentioned a 92 year old woman refuses to leave her condo. She is on the third floor so hopefully she will be OK.

Longboat Key got hit with the periphery of Helene and sustained a lot of damage. Milton will be a direct hit with a higher storm surge. Scary and sad.

Poor woman. I take care of my 93-year-old mother, and she has a hard time getting around and can no longer climb stairs. I don't know what kind of shape this woman is that will ride out the storm, but if it was my mother, I'd already be making funeral arrangements

My aunt lives in Panama City in senior housing with 80 other seniors. There were six buses lined up outside for them to leave ahead of Hurricane Helena. I talked to my aunt on the phone and told her to get on the bus. She said that all of the others in the residence refused to leave, so she wasn't going to leave and look stupid. I said, if anyone in the home dies, no one will call you stupid. Luckily for her, the hurricane landed further east. If this woman you speak of is on the third floor, and it is a cement block building with other seniors, she might be okay. Hopefully, if it's on the 3rd floor, I hope they have an elevator there. If she's in a wooden house (or worse, a trailer...that makes no sense since you said 3rd story) she's probably toast. However, at that age, she's lived a full life and how it ends is up to her 

[squibber]

Ric, Much respect to you for taking care of your mother. I took care of my mother mostly by myself until she died at 95. It wasn't always easy.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Ric, Much respect to you for taking care of your mother. I took care of my mother mostly by myself until she died at 95. It wasn't always easy.

Thanks, I've found out just how hard it can be. All I want is for her to live out her life in comfort, while retaining her dignity. She's been there for me for 72 years, it's the least I can do