Family in Fla. won't evecuate/rant

[Old Ironmaker]

Short rant. My wife's sister and brother in law moved to Palm Beach 25 years ago after hospital cut backs in Hamilton put her out of a job. The Governor of Florida today ordered a mandatory evacuation of Florida residents in their county. The governor said leave now and don't expect I put our rescue workers in harms way to save you after the storm, you were told. They have decided to weather the storm because she has 3 Parrots, no kids. Plus the storm behind Irma, her little brother Jose is going to put them in harms way for weeks. I told her 3 days ago to get out before you can't get out, fell on deaf ears. They are sure the Lord will not forsake them, seriously. I don't think that's how He does business. He gives us the intelligence to make our own path in life. Just today he is running around looking for plywood and a generator, today? They have been there for 25 freaking years and needs plywood today. They found 3 sheets on Craig's List, $600.00 for 1 sheet of 4X8X5/8's. He calls me to ask "How do you fasten plywood to stucco and concrete?" Take the big blue Tapcon lag screw you don't have and drive into the front of your brain with a drill. What's a drill?

 

My sis-in-law isn't a stupid woman she has her PHD. in Nursing and has a big corporate position, bless her but they both have ZERO street sence. The first week they got down there they went into Overton in Miami to pass on their blessings and the word of the Lord got robbed including their car with Ont. plates, lucky that was all they lost, and I warned them 25 years ago. Stupidity isn't anyone but their ancestors fault, it's passed on through DNA, anyone with a semblance of intelligence and does stupid things is just plain ignorant.

 

It is going to be a long few days, weeks or more seeing my Lady worry herself sick. Some of the in-laws are devout Christians maybe the Lord will send them a log floating by, a boat and a rescue team a then a chopper to get them off the top of their house. Then ask Him why didn't He save them? I am going to stop there.

 

A short rant, yea right, sorry I can't say what I wrote here to my wife, she doesn't need to hear it from me right now. I just need to say it to someone this late and I pick you guys. Hopefully they will jump on the log.

 

Johnny D

Edited September 9, 2017 by Old Ironmaker

[manitoubass2]

That's why I enjoy our phone calls lol

 

Serious though, I have 6 friends in the area, 4 evacuated days before mandatory. They are well stalked and up in Atlanta.

 

2 waited a day and now it's crunch time. No way to evacuate, some supplies but not all I suggested. Bless them

 

 

Word is gas is out basically all though Georgia(south).

 

No idea if that's true or not but that's what the hemmies told me

 

I can't remember the names, but I think 2 others are in Irma's wake

 

All I can say is good luck, and I hope. You are all prepared

[Old Ironmaker]

There are tanker loads of fuel with State and military escorts going up and down 75 and 95. This isn't going to be repeat of Katrina. The sad thing Rick is that our other sister is in St. Louis and they would have been there days ago plus I have family in Atlanta too who said for them to get there, Parrots may cost them their lives, I'm pissed off, selfish is what I think they are being, Parrots!!! I would have let them go but Tich said their wings are clipped. Taking flight from a bird and stick them in a cage isn't something that should be allowed. It's what they do, they fly. I don't get some people.

[grt1]

i called our old neighbours who live outside orlando, they are staying put, said they have already had 3 hurricanes under their belts and don't think they are facing any problems with this one. I sure hope they are right.

[dave524]

We are in the same boat today , OI, step daughters and grand kiddies are in Port Charlotte. Originally Irma was going up the east coast, then they changed the path to the gulf side, just got an text they are going to relatives in Tampa which would be somewhat better. Charlie was a nailbiter here guess Irma will be the same.

[FloatnFly]

I believe this will sum it up pretty well

 

A man was trapped in his house during a flood. He began praying to God to rescue him. He had a vision in his head of God’s hand reaching down from heaven and lifting him to safety. The water started to rise in his house. His neighbour urged him to leave and offered him a ride to safety. The man yelled back, “I am waiting for God to save me.” The neighbour drove off in his pick-up truck.

 

The man continued to pray and hold on to his vision. As the water began rising in his house, he had to climb up to the roof. A boat came by with some people heading for safe ground. They yelled at the man to grab a rope they were ready to throw and take him to safety. He told them that he was waiting for God to save him. They shook their heads and moved on.

 

The man continued to pray, believing with all his heart that he would be saved by God. The flood waters continued to rise. A helicopter flew by and a voice came over a loudspeaker offering to lower a ladder and take him off the roof. The man waved the helicopter away, shouting back that he was waiting for God to save him. The helicopter left. The flooding water came over the roof and caught him up and swept him away. He drowned.

 

When he reached heaven and asked, “God, why did you not save me? I believed in you with all my heart. Why did you let me drown?” God replied, “I sent you a pick-up truck, a boat and a helicopter and you refused all of them. What else could I possibly do for you?”

[FloatnFly]

Some people are too blinded by their faith, that they can't see the dangers that face them.

[SirCranksalot]

OI already knew that joke see above!! ( but apparently his re......relatvives have never heard it!!)

 

OI--good rant! If she has a PhD she's been educated waaay beyond her level of intelligence!!

Edited September 9, 2017 by SirCranksaLot

[Old Ironmaker]

My wife talked to her sis this AM, Palm Beach county is not YET under mandatory evacuation. What are you waiting for?

I was down in Port Charlotte 2 weeks after Andrew hit 25 years ago and this whine is 3 times larger. The destruction can not be overstated. Entire homes gone with only the bathtub standing. How anyone can survive that is mind boggling.

 

Talking this morning I have to admit I am not properly prepared for a good old fashion Blizzard. The Blizzard of 77' snuck up on us and if you weren't ready for it then you were in trouble especially along Lake Erie. Then there was the fall/winter of 86' where the storm surge swept many cottages into the lake all along the coast. I had sheets of plywood cut to fit all the lake side windows and doors but have used them over the years. Same goes for my generator that crapped out a few years ago.

 

Are you prepared for a winter weather event that will shut down services?

Edited September 9, 2017 by Old Ironmaker

[Fisherman]

Just because she has a PHD doesn't make anyone smart or intelligent.

[Old Ironmaker]

Just because she has a PHD doesn't make anyone smart or intelligent.

Believe me she is extremely intelligent but her instincts are dormant, he, well he is he, no saving that knucklehead, no lights on up in the Penthouse. He is a 58 year old Body Builder, seriously.

[woodenboater]

I believe this will sum it up pretty well

 

A man was trapped in his house during a flood. He began praying to God to rescue him. He had a vision in his head of God’s hand reaching down from heaven and lifting him to safety. The water started to rise in his house. His neighbour urged him to leave and offered him a ride to safety. The man yelled back, “I am waiting for God to save me.” The neighbour drove off in his pick-up truck.

 

The man continued to pray and hold on to his vision. As the water began rising in his house, he had to climb up to the roof. A boat came by with some people heading for safe ground. They yelled at the man to grab a rope they were ready to throw and take him to safety. He told them that he was waiting for God to save him. They shook their heads and moved on.

 

The man continued to pray, believing with all his heart that he would be saved by God. The flood waters continued to rise. A helicopter flew by and a voice came over a loudspeaker offering to lower a ladder and take him off the roof. The man waved the helicopter away, shouting back that he was waiting for God to save him. The helicopter left. The flooding water came over the roof and caught him up and swept him away. He drowned.

 

When he reached heaven and asked, “God, why did you not save me? I believed in you with all my heart. Why did you let me drown?” God replied, “I sent you a pick-up truck, a boat and a helicopter and you refused all of them. What else could I possibly do for you?”

 

 

I really shouldn't laugh but....

[woodenboater]

My wife talked to her sis this AM, Palm Beach county is not YET under mandatory evacuation. What are you waiting for?

 

I believe they have passed the point of leaving. If they hit the road now and get stuck in gridlock, they cld run out of gas and be left extremely vulnerable on the blacktop. This was the reasoning why the Houston mayor didn't call for everyone to bolt. People died last time they fled the city and he didn't want to repeat that event.

 

Not sure what I would do but if I lived in an area that was always seeing hurricanes, there would definitely be metal roll shutters over every window, a garage full of Stabiled gas for the genny and car etc..

 

Hope they come out ok and think about proper plans for the next event, which will happen.

Edited September 9, 2017 by woodenboater

[captpierre]

Looks like Irma's path is moving more to the west.

Palm Beach may be spared the worst of it.

[OhioFisherman]

My second oldest daughter and my 2 youngest grandkids live on the east coast of Florida, my first ex wife lives on the west coast, one of my aunts and uncle and the majority of their family live by Savannah Georgia.

 

Great places to live? If you survive the storms? Evacuate? ya, constipation sucks! LOL

[Fisherman]

Just hope that life and limb are spared, you can always rebuild..somewhere else.

[pics]

My wife talked to her sis this AM, Palm Beach county is not YET under mandatory evacuation. What are you waiting for?

 

I was down in Port Charlotte 2 weeks after Andrew hit 25 years ago and this whine is 3 times larger. The destruction can not be overstated. Entire homes gone with only the bathtub standing. How anyone can survive that is mind boggling.

 

Talking this morning I have to admit I am not properly prepared for a good old fashion Blizzard. The Blizzard of 77' snuck up on us and if you weren't ready for it then you were in trouble especially along Lake Erie. Then there was the fall/winter of 86' where the storm surge swept many cottages into the lake all along the coast. I had sheets of plywood cut to fit all the lake side windows and doors but have used them over the years. Same goes for my generator that crapped out a few years ago.

 

Are you prepared for a winter weather event that will shut down services?

I could weather a few weeks without power even if it was winter.. Edited September 9, 2017 by pics

[grimsbylander]

I just don't get these people. I said to my wife last week, what's so dumb about the idea of boarding up the house, loading up the car and heading north for a 1-2 week family vacation? Got pets? find a boarder in a weather safe state and drop them off. Make it a holiday that everyone enjoys without the terror of being in a storm. Ontario residents drive to Florida every damn year...drive home and visit family. What you go back to is going to be what it is regardless of whether you spend two days clinging to the bathtub or not!! And really, wouldn't you have everything you really cared about safe and sound in the car anyway?

[manitoubass2]

I just don't get these people. I said to my wife last week, what's so dumb about the idea of boarding up the house, loading up the car and heading north for a 1-2 week family vacation? Got pets? find a boarder in a weather safe state and drop them off. Make it a holiday that everyone enjoys without the terror of being in a storm. Ontario residents drive to Florida every damn year...drive home and visit family. What you go back to is going to be what it is regardless of whether you spend two days clinging to the bathtub or not!! And really, wouldn't you have everything you really cared about safe and sound in the car anyway?

Exactly!

[Old Ironmaker]

I believe they have passed the point of leaving. If they hit the road now and get stuck in gridlock, they cld run out of gas and be left extremely vulnerable on the blacktop. This was the reasoning why the Houston mayor didn't call for everyone to bolt. People died last time they fled the city and he didn't want to repeat that event.

 

Not sure what I would do but if I lived in an area that was always seeing hurricanes, there would definitely be metal roll shutters over every window, a garage full of Stabiled gas for the genny and car etc..

 

Hope they come out ok and think about proper plans for the next event, which will happen.

The home they are in now was 1 of their rental properties. They just moved back to FLA from Philly. The other place has the hurricane shutters. We had a place in Port Charlotte up to 11 years ago and sold it to my cousin in Hamilton. I had it ready if there was a hurricane. Better ready than we are here in the case of a Blizzard. Yep the roads are a mess now but no one is running out of gas on them. The Troopers will top up the tank just enough to get you off the highway. I would still leave.

 

 

Looks like Irma's path is moving more to the west.

Palm Beach may be spared the worst of it.

Yes it may move west, the problem is the thing is the size of Texas and is as vulnerable as Texas and Louisiana was 2 weeks ago with the flooding. Not many homes were ripped out with the wind but everyone was trapped because of the rain. Now I have friends and family in his path on the west side in Charlotte Harbor and Naples.

 

My second oldest daughter and my 2 youngest grandkids live on the east coast of Florida, my first ex wife lives on the west coast, one of my aunts and uncle and the majority of their family live by Savannah Georgia.

 

Great places to live? If you survive the storms? Evacuate? ya, constipation sucks! LOL

I hope they stay safe my Buckeye friend. I had a place in Charlotte Harbor where I was going to retire to for the winters. Life changes plans change. We insist in putting ourselves in harms way for the sake of lifestyle. Man will never learn.

 

 

Just hope that life and limb are spared, you can always rebuild..somewhere else.

Exactly, but once this storm has passed, and the next one and the one after that we will do a head count, spend billions to rebuild we will still insist on living in harm's way. What is the definition of insanity again?

 

 

I could weather a few weeks without power even if it was winter..

We once could until the insurance carrier wouldn't give me fire insurance until I removed the entire and not to code stack from this shack. The last long outage was 5 days during a March ice storm. The NG fireplace came on automatically and there was gas for the stove. Everyone told me don't use the stove as heat. Where does the CO go when we are cooking a big meal and all 5 burners are going and the oven is cooking the Turkey? As long as the NG stays on at least we won't freeze to death or die of starvation with the cistern full. If we lose NG we are in big trouble that is why I wanted to keep the stack up, I had the stove in the shed ready to connect the chimney. I can always go down to the lake and haul buckets of water too unless the place is buried like in 1977. I have an old faded photo of the place and only a bit of the roof is peeking up. It is about 18' high!

 

I'm shopping for a small generator now. Any recommendations? I need it for a few lights, fridge and the gas forced air furnace.

Edited September 9, 2017 by Old Ironmaker

[OhioFisherman]

" I hope they stay safe my Buckeye friend. I had a place in Charlotte Harbor where I was going to retire to for the winters. Life changes plans change. We insist in putting ourselves in harms way for the sake of lifestyle. Man will never learn. "

 

My daughter and grandkids were just here over the Labor Day long weekend for one of my cousin's daughter's wedding, I told them to stay up north here, it's not like she didn't know this was coming? Did she really think school was going to be open for the grandkids?

 

Now my just married cousin's daughter was to leave Thursday to start their honeymoon in Savannah Ga, they changed their plans last Sunday and decided San Diego Ca made more sense!

 

If you like beaches? Don't beach when the ocean covers them?

[Old Ironmaker]

You wouldn't expect for dem yungins' to listen to anyone that has grey hair would you? Even those our age don't listen sometimes. As I say amongst other things "Experience is a lifetime of mistakes, wisdom is knowing how not to make them again."

[Big Cliff]

It's easy to be over confident BEFORE the storm hits, it's really hard to imagine that it could be THAT bad! Once you realize that it is going to be a life changer it's too late.

 

We've all seen guys go out in their boats when there are wind warnings thinking that if it get too bad they'll just book it for shore. Some of us have even done it and we should know better, some didn't make it home.

 

All we can do is pray that Irma turns at the last minute and/or that the death toll won't be too high! Our thoughts and prayers go out to all involved.

[Old Ironmaker]

I just don't get these people. I said to my wife last week, what's so dumb about the idea of boarding up the house, loading up the car and heading north for a 1-2 week family vacation? Got pets? find a boarder in a weather safe state and drop them off. Make it a holiday that everyone enjoys without the terror of being in a storm. Ontario residents drive to Florida every damn year...drive home and visit family. What you go back to is going to be what it is regardless of whether you spend two days clinging to the bathtub or not!! And really, wouldn't you have everything you really cared about safe and sound in the car anyway?

Exactly as Rick said. If the house is destroyed while the Parrots are there with you most likely you die along with the beloved birds. Throw them in a cage and bring them with you and get the Hell out. The birds are safer in the back seat than home. I need to know how many birds is worth a human life? Idiots, they are both idiots and if they live through it there will be another natural disaster coming their way, me. They are putting their birds ahead of family, idiots is all I can say.

[woodenboater]

Well during Katrina, many people stayed behind in NOLA because they didn't want to leave their dogs behind. I fully understand that (and probably would do the same), more so than birds in a cage.