Hurricane Frances Updates & News

[SallyP]

Thanks Frankie - awesome satellite image. I do believe Florida is going to be a little damp for a few days. Just must be our year instead of the upper and western Gulf of Mexico areas.
It's the tornadic activity that everyone should be aware of. Down here in Port Charlotte you could tell by the destruction pattern that there were intense mini tornados within the larger hurricane. That's what shreds the heck out of everything. Our DD and DSIL were 5 miles from the eye wall of Charley and they saw trees (palm) bending one way and then after the next cycle of wind the trees bent the opposite way.
Take care all you Floridians and thanks for everyones prayers and positive thoughts. We'll make contact when we can.

[trackbarroness]

Originally posted by pjbs35a:
Water Vapor Loop

Thank you Frankie for posting this.
Funny thing sort of kind of is that I want to move back to Florida.

[LorrieP]

I just received an email from a friend of mine, who works for FDOT, who just moved in to a new house in Florida. She moved down there from Maine last year to escape the cold and snow, I think she's almost ready to come back. She said that the airport is closing today.

She has made reservations in Fort Myers and will decide sometime today whether or not to evacuate.

I agree with everyone else who says don't go down there if you don't have to. It's just going to be chaos and they don't need any extra people in the way and you won't have any fun. Reschedule!!!

Good luck to everyone in harm's way.

[Crow]

thanks for keeping us updated. stay safe John & everyone there!
im wondering if i should change my travel plans for Monday.

[Disney Doodle]

Just found out my husband's friend was due to fly to Orlando tomorrow morning, but has heard from British Airways his flight has been cancelled. They could not offer him another flight until Wednesday, but have offered him a complete refund which he has accepted. This was to have been the first visit to WDW for him and his family. But at least they will be safe now.

[Black Jack Shallack form Frontenac]

Originally posted by JohnY:
Ugh is right Ed. I am sceduled to fly out of Orlando late Saturday AM. If the airport closes, I could be stuck riding it out...

Like you mind, John,..

This confirms that you are a total weather wonk.
Couldn't you just go to the Yagscave and watch
it on your bank of high-def monitors this time?
Couldn't you just send out your team of
mini-monkeys riding llamas to ride out the storm?

But serioulsy, to everyone down south,
be safe, and if you can, flee.
Our thoughts are with you.

[ September 02, 2004, 12:04 PM: Message edited by: Black Jack Shallack form Frontenac ]

[Black Jack Shallack form Frontenac]

Originally posted by dpamac:
...The report is that it will close FRIDAY at 5. And this is still UNCONFIRMED...

Sorry, but what is IT that will close at 5 on Friday?

[ September 02, 2004, 11:40 AM: Message edited by: Black Jack Shallack form Frontenac ]

[pjbs35a]

Originally posted by Black Jack Shallack form Frontenac:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by dpamac:
...The report is that it will close FRIDAY at 5. And this is still UNCONFIRMED...

Sorry, but what is IT that will close at 5 on Friday? </font>[/QUOTE]This was reported yesterday. Still looking for more current info:

If Hurricane Frances veers toward Central Florida this weekend, Orlando International Airport plans to repeat the disaster plan it followed three weeks ago when Hurricane Charley swept through the region.

Airport Executive Director Bill Jennings estimates that the airfield and terminals suffered more than $50 million damage from Charley. Despite the heavy hit, Orlando International resumed normal operations within 24 hours of the storm.

"Our plan is in place, and we expect that the preparations we made for Charley will hold up again this time," airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell said. "We had a meeting with our staff to say that we are preparing. We have a plan that worked."

Charley inflicted its heaviest damage on Orlando International's four satellite aircraft boarding terminals. It temporarily disabled a number of boarding jetways and did extensive damage to roofs and interior walls.

Last week, the federal government pledged more than $10 million toward the repair costs

Roofs have been patched, but airport administrators say that repair work to ceilings and walls could take months. Fennell said the airport expects the repairs to hold if Frances hits Central Florida.

Orlando Sanford International Airport, which was also damaged during Charley, will receive about $1.5 million in aid. Airport spokesman Michael Caires said that despite damage to the terminal and a 24-hour power outage, the airport recovered quickly.

Caires said in the wake of another storm, the airport hopes to communicate with tour groups and airlines that use the field. A large number of passengers spent the night of Charley in Orlando Sanford's terminal.

"The key piece is communications with the airlines," Caires said.

Both Orlando Sanford and Orlando International rely on the airlines to make speedy decisions on their own before a storm, moving airplanes to other cities and diverting or canceling flights.

Delta Air Lines, the top passenger carrier at Orlando International, said its hurricane plan worked smoothly during Charley, and similar procedures would be followed during another storm.

"We evaluate hurricanes very closely," Estes said. "We protect our customers, our employees and our equipment, evaluating conditions on a minute-to-minute basis as a storm approaches. In the end, only the storm knows where it is going to go."


-----------------------------------------------

More Info:

At 11 a.m. 9/2/04, Brevard County was placed under a hurricane warning. The warning stretches in the East Coast of Florida from Florida City northward to Flagler Beach, including Lake Okeechobee.

The projections show the storm's eye wall about 30 miles offshore from Palm Beach at 8 a.m. Saturday, traveling on a northwest path. The forecast has Frances wading ashore Saturday near Fort Pierce and moving northwest where it will be west of Orlando at 8 a.m. Sunday.

A blocking ridge is preventing Frances from taking a turn toward the north. In response today, the computer models moved the 5-day path to the left.

The hurricane center predicts sustained winds will be nearly 145 mph as Frances crosses the Florida coastline and around 80 mph as it moves west of Orlando.

Florida will start feeling the effects of Frances late today and early Friday when the hurricane is near Andros Island. Tropical storm force winds radiate out 185 miles from the center and hurricane-force winds fan out 80 miles from the core.

Earlier predictions in the last two days had landfall anywhere from Jacksonville to Cape Canaveral to Vero Beach and Melbourne.

Forecasters pointed out that computer models of more than 72 hours out can have errors of several hundred miles.

Patrick Air Force Base's 45th Weather Squadron today released a forecast that said the center of Frances could pass about 61 miles southwest of Patrick at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Here is the 5 a.m. statement: "Hurricane Frances is currently 609 miles southeast of PAFB/CCAFS. It is a Category 4 Hurricane with winds in excess of 125 knots (144 mph). It is moving northwest at 11 knots (15 mph) and in the general direction of the Florida central coast and PAFB/CCAFS.

"Given this movement, the closest point of approach to PAFB/CCAFS is currently forecast to be 61 miles southwest of PAFB/CCAFS on Saturday, 4 September at 8 PM.

"At that time, PAFB/CCAFS could experience wind speeds in excess of 100 mph, heavy downpours, street flooding, hail, and isolated tornadoes. At landfall, this hurricane could produce a storm surge along the immediate coast in excess of 12 feet above normal tide level."

Records from the last century show no two Category 4 storms with winds of 131-155 mph hitting a state within weeks of each other, hurricane center meteorologist Rick Knabb said.

The last time two major hurricanes hit Florida in rapid succession was 1950, the hurricane center said. Hurricane Easy hit Tampa around Sept. 4 of that year and Hurricane King hit Miami six weeks later, on Oct. 17. It's been less than three weeks since Charley struck Aug. 13 on Florida's southwest coast before cruising inland over Orlando and leaving the peninsula near Daytona Beach.

Here is the hurricane center's 11 a.m. statement on Frances' course based on computer models:

"The most interesting aspect this morning is that the National Weather Service global forecast system...GFS...and GFDL models have shifted their tracks a little to the west and are now in better agreement with the other dynamical models.

"Now that the reliable GFS and GFDL are in agreement with the other models...the confidence in the official forecast is higher. Frances is moving toward the west-northwest or 295 degrees at 11 knots around the periphery of the subtropical ridge.

"All models are holding the ridge strong and long enough to keep the hurricane on a west-northwest to northwest track with a decrease in forward speed.

This track would bring the core of the hurricane near the East Coast of Florida in about 48 hours or so. Because Frances has a large wind field and the tropical storm force winds are expected to reach the coast much earlier than the eye

"A Hurricane Warning has been issued for the portions of the Florida East Coast to allow sufficient time for preparations."

Ed Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said today that Frances is just as strong as Charley but twice the size.

Frances can cause "the same kind of devastation over a larger area," Rappaport told NBC's "Today."

Supermarkets along the state's Atlantic coast were stripped of bottled water and canned goods. By 3 a.m. today, long lines were forming outside home supply stores in Palm Beach County, with dozens of people desperately hoping for a chance to buy plywood or generators. A delivery truck's arrival was met with raucous applause.

"People should not concentrate on the forecast track," hurricane center forecaster Jack Beven said this morning, again urging residents of the entire watch region to immediately begin preparing. "A slight dip in the track could result in big changes in landfall."

An evacuation order was issued for 300,000 Palm Beach County residents, and those who live in mobile homes and flood-prone areas of Volusia, Brevard, Martin and Indian River counties also were ordered to find safer locations. Forecasters said storm surges of 15 feet or more could affect those areas if Frances takes dead aim.

[ September 02, 2004, 12:19 PM: Message edited by: pjbs35a ]

[Meryl70]

I'm going to WDW on 9/11 and was curious if Frances does hit the Orlando area on Sunday, do you think the parks will be okay by the 11th? I'm worried since they say this hurricane is worse then Charley.

Thanks.

[SallyP]

Meryl70
Don't be worried. You have no control over the situation. If Orlando is in the direct path, which is looking very probable at this point, we can do nothing but assess the situation and go from there. My suggetion to you is to visit this discussion board for current updates even after the storm.
Unfortunately no one can answer your question with any exactness.

[ September 02, 2004, 12:35 PM: Message edited by: SallyP ]

[[BS]Mickey]

OIA has announced now that it will close to both incoming and outgoing flights at noon Friday. Patrick AFB and Cape Canaveral have announced mandatory evacuations. All major arteries from the coast, (I95,I4,Bee Line,Turnpike), are packed with traffic. If you arrive to OIA before it closes, print a road map before you leave and stay away from the interstate.

[imported_dpamac]

Okay, it's finally official. Just got this press release from MCO:

ORLANDO, FL – Hurricane Frances is expected to impact flight operations at Orlando International Airport. As a result, the air carriers have agreed to cease passenger flights at noon on Friday, September 3, 2004. High wind conditions are expected to affect transport of passengers between the main terminal and airline gate areas via the automated people mover system.

Additionally, please be aware that:

Domestic passengers holding reservations for flights prior to noon on Friday, September 3 2004, need to arrive 3 hours prior to their departure.

For further information on flight schedules up that time, please contact the airline directly.
The Hyatt Hotel at Orlando International Airport is booked and sold out.

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority continues to implement its response plan for handling the effects of the hurricane. The plan includes, but is not limited to:

Coordinating with local and state emergency management agencies.

Coordinating with all airlines and tenants
Securing of construction equipment and tenant activities

Securing of aircraft jet-bridges and all loose items in ramp areas

Sandbag preparations and placement

Normal flight operations will resume when weather permits and clean up operations are completed. Orlando International Airport is not an emergency shelter.

# # #

[Honey_BDynamo]

prayers and pixie dust to central florida!


2 storms in 4 weeks! [img]graemlins/shakehead.gif[/img]

[ September 02, 2004, 12:48 PM: Message edited by: Honey_BDynamo ]

[Toad_Passenger]

On one of the morning radio shows in Philly one of the DJ's was supposed to go to WDW this weekend. They got one of the TV Weather people on the radio and her response was, "Are you high or something?" She told him unequivocally to cancel his plans. So hopefully other people will heed this also and not try to get there this weekend. This isn't some ordinary weather event.

[Jeri Lynn]

Everyone stay safe, you will be in my thoughts and prayers.

[marlyn]

[img]graemlins/shakehead.gif[/img] I don't know what to say to all of you out in Florida right now! All I can do is say some prayers for you and send extra pixie dust your way......here's hoping it passes without too much damage and most importantly I hope no one gets hurt!

You will all be in my prayers!

[DisneyDog]

I'm scared, because they don't know where this thing is going to hit. I live on the West Coast, and my mom lives on the East coast in Palm Beach County (Boynton Beach). She lives in-land a bit, so they haven't evacuated her, but anything is possible at this point. Luckily, she lives in new construction.

There are hurricane warnings for Eastern Collier County -- I live in Collier, but North West Collier, almost in Lee County. Eastern Collier is probably refering to the Everglades and Indian Reservations more than anything.

However, this is the kind of thing where you have to watch every update. This could change at any time and veer in a completely different direction. We're not going to know until it happens, so we just have to be prepared.

I went to the store at lunchtime. Publix was packed. I still have 99% of my supplies from Charley, but I needed some food for the weekend and diapers for DS. I spent most of my lunch in line (the other part was trying to find a parking space!). The schools let out early today since they are using them for shelters for folks evacuating from the East Coast. So, the school buses were out in force at lunchtime also.

I am supposed to work on Saturday...I don't know if we will be open or not. Keep your fingers crossed that either we don't HAVE to close or that if we need to close they will make the smart decision and close.

Everyone will be in my prayers...pixie dust to us all!!

[Calamity Jane]

OK...perhaps I need to stop reading things about the storm cause it's just making me nervous.

They cancelled schools here today so I really have nothing to do. The only things being posted on my online classes are "BE SAFE" and "hope your house doesn't fall down".

I'm going to go out and go boating on Bay Lake this afternoon just to take my mind off of things. At least it's nice today for the people who are vacationing down here.

[Patti]

I was supposed to arrive this morning at WDW and decided to cancel. Instead, we're arriving on Monday. I was on the phone two hours this morning changing all the arrangements.

Be safe out there, and use your heads. It just isn't worth the consequences.

[Ian]

First off let me say I hope everyone comes through this storm safe and sound.

We're supposed to arrive in WDW on Friday the 10th ... does anyone think we'll still have problems then? I've heard people say that Florida could still be largely without power on Friday.

I hope things aren't as bad as everyone thinks they will be