WAITING FOR HURRICANE IAN 27 SEPTEMBER 2022
First, let's review Denis Phillips' Hurricane Rules: Denis lives closer to the Gulf shore than we do, nearby our former house, The Pink Palace. His forecasts are not only accurate, but can be quite amusing. Went around and took some quick pics of what this house looks like after we moved furniture, etc., inside. And to answer some questions. Q: HOW CLOSE TO THE COAST ARE YOU? A: NOT CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE AFFECTED BY THE SURGE ITSELF . . . However, a surge could inerfere with drawing down Lake Tarpon. We're just across the highway (East Lake Road) from that lake. . . . but we are surrounded by retention ponds, golf course ponds and Brooker Creek, all of which can flood. Ten inches of rain, if not more, are forecast. Our house is on "higher ground" than those surrounding us. We lucked out on that! HERE is an explanation of this works. The bar area, with sliders to the fireplace room . . . Q: ARE YOU PREPARING? HAVE YOU STOCKED UP? WILL THE SURGE AFFECT YOU? WHERE WILL YOU GO IF THE WINDOW GLASS BREAKS? HOW ARE THE DOGS TAKING THIS? . . . AND SEVERAL OTHERS . . . A: On Monday, 26 September, 10 a.m., I wrote: Neal replaced all our bottled water several months ago, but we don't drink water (I only drink LaCroix or Polar unflavored carbonated water), altho we need it for the dogs. Other than that, what could we stock up on? If the electricity goes, we lose what's in the fridge, so there's no point buying anything.
We are safer in this house than we would ever be in a shelter, with all the people we don't know. Severe restrictions on pets, too, which we wouldn't be able to follow. This house is made of cement block, so it is very secure. From bar area to lanai past the kitchen windows
We aren't worried about Gulf surge, altho being across from Lake Tarpon, if they don't/can't draw it down because of Gulf surge, there could be flooding. However, our house is on an incline, just enough to make a difference (altho we STILL have to pay for flood insurance). When the golf course ponds flood, the county puts out pumps to direct the water down the storm sewers. (The pump in Tarpon Woods has been set up for several days already.) Then we have to watch for alligators. And water moccasins. Not that we'd be outside anyway. I refused this time to bring in all the lanai furniture, etc., as we did for H. Irma. We'll bring in the cushions . . .
(That silver thing is an electric patio heater, because of which I can sit outside almost every day of the year [except when there's a hurricane]). We will push the (heavy) outdoor furniture against the sliders (all of which are hurricane-resistant to 200mph), where they'll be under cover . . . There's Gipsy, in the middle of things, as usual. (The dogs are discombobulated, not by the storm, but by all the activity and the upset in their routines. I don't blame them; I don't like change either.) Lounge chair behind deck box The area in front of my bedroom where the Savannah Bird Girl usually stands, along with another seating area . . .
The lighter furniture and loose things we can bring inside . . .
The parrot candlesticks are from Lori Taylor & Ron Swisher, for our Two ParrotHeads in Paradise wedding My plant cart will be in the garage (I won't keep it inside due to the possibility of the bug-that-shall-not-be-named or lizards that may be living in the plants or the dirt).
Neal is going to remove the blades of the two outside ceiling fans so they don't get caught in the wind and fly off . . . Bar area ceiling fan
Lanai ceiling fan And make sure the garage door and front door bars are installed, and all the sliders,windows and doors are locked. About the dogs; if it's raining and windy, they won't want to go outside to potty, so we may crate or diaper them, but that's no big deal. We only have three this time; during H. Irma, we had nine: six of our own and three of Pat & Henry's; they were in Europe and their dog-sitter bailed on them in the middle of the hurricane warnings; we went to their house to bring the dogs to our house. Luckily, the evacuees were all headed the other direction. We bought two cooler chests after H. Irma, and have never used them. We may use them this time; our ice-maker is working to make ice, and we freeze the water bottles. Rain is supposed to start this afternoon . . . 10-15" . . . so the pool will have to be drawn down sometime later. There's really not a lot we can do except ride it out. We're lucky in that we don't need to sandbag or nail up plywood. Whoever had this house previously was very hurricane-adverse; even the fence is reinforced. Our Laurel Oak was taken down after H. Irma, so that's a worry we won't have. We all slept thru H. Irma, so maybe we'll end up doing that again. The WORST part was that we had to open the sliders to cool off the house and one of the houses across the street ran its generator for DAYS, driving me nuts with the noise, 'til it finally ran out of gas. The old lady wasn't even home, so in the two days or so without electricity after the generator died out, I'll bet everything in her fridge spoiled anyway. Karma's a b*tch. One way or 'nother, it'll get us, but we'll survive. I much prefer Wisconsin Blizzards, by the way. Not life-threatening, and the world is so quiet and beautiful. At least 'til the snowblowers come out. You can see my 2011 SNOWMAGEDDON website HERE We couldn't get a hotspot from the library, so if the electricity goes out, so will the internet. No worries, tho, if you don't hear from us in a while . . . you'll know why!

CONTINUE WITH HURRICANE IAN HERE