Thank god my older brother and sister-in-law stopped here on their way home after vacaction. They are both going through h@!! not being with their grown kids there in Ft. Myers. We were able to convince them that it is best to stay here since their place is in manditory evac now anyway.

My younger brother's family are all located in Tampa which also looks like it will be ground zero too. They all report they are taking appropriate steps but some are gov employees and can't evac like others can.

It is hard to give hope right now.....comfort is all anyone can offer I guess.

Like others, I'm just venting here what can't be said to them right now.

 

I guess Katia is giving the weather guessers models a hard time figuring where this thing is heading. Looks bad for the Keys regardless at this point.

 

Storm keeps shifting West. Here in Vero Beach, we are now only expecting tropical storm force winds Sunday, with an occasional gust to 80mph or so. XKR resting comfortably in the garage.

 

. Has not hit Florida yet. Good news for me but very bad news for the west coast of Florida. Irma's path has shifted to the west side of Florida and do to land Saturday night with the height Sunday through Monday as a possible Category 4 on the southwest tip of Florida. I am just outside the cone on the Southeast side. There should still be lots of rain and wind but I feel badly for the Tampa area. I'll give updates as they occur. Thanks everyone for all the support.

 

Here's a pretty cool live stream. Six different sites accessible from the bottom right (arrows icon). Going to be an interesting night and I can't believe so many boats are still in the water...

 

UPDATE.......Hi friends! I'm the OP. I can say with great relief that I have somewhat "skirted the storm". However, although being on the east coast was far from a picnic, it was a hell of alot better than the damage and destruction that my Florida residents on the west coast have had and are experiencing. Initially 11 miilion people had no electricity. Many trees down here ( on the east coast) all across the roadways and streets. Our maximum winds were 82-85. 135+ on the West coast. I can't imagine what the west coast has experienced. The Florida Keys has been pretty much decimated. I wish the best for all the poor souls that have suffered loss and hardship at this time. Thanks everyone on this forum for all your support. It has been greatly appreciated.

 

Bocatrip - Great to hear from you. sounds like you survived in good shape. How is your cat?

 

We got our power back tonight. The Infiniti and Jag survived, the VW not so much. It was only a CAT 1 when it hit us, can't imagine what a CAT 4 or 5 would do. I've lived here over 40 years and guess I got a bit ballsy as we have always been out of harm's way with just about every other storm. This one could have been so much worse. Quite humbling.

 

My home and cars are all just fine. Other than some damaged trees I'm very lucky. Thanks again for asking.