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Impact from Matthew

I have a couple of friends in Fla having some problems finding hotels, even expanding the search out over 200 miles. I have not tried to confirm, but they report that the major travel sites are "down" in that the traffic overwhelmed them to the point of being unusable, though it was possible to get through by phone. One friend and her dog are sleeping in her car.

There was a piece on the news this morning showing price gouging, including tripling of hotel rates. There were pics of gas stations at $9.99/gal and water at >$30/case.

CT
 
CriticalThanking said:
There was a piece on the news this morning showing price gouging, including tripling of hotel rates. There were pics of gas stations at $9.99/gal and water at >$30/case.

CT
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That's a nice way to destroy your business. People don't forget that sort of thing.
 
Well, looks like the eye will stay offshore, so the catastrophic wind impacts i originally expected will not happen, but in some respects the offshore track could be worse, it will drive more water inland aloing a longer stretch of coastline. We may not know the full impact for a few days.
 
stanfr said:
Well, looks like the eye will stay offshore, so the catastrophic wind impacts i originally expected will not happen, but in some respects the offshore track could be worse, it will drive more water inland aloing a longer stretch of coastline. We may not know the full impact for a few days.
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Inland, here near east Orlando, the effects were much less than anticipated. We were fortunate that the storm followed a path a little more to the east (away from the coast) than predicted. It also wobbled a little bit just as it passed us, moving it a bit farther away.

If the storm's path had shifted to the west instead, things would have been very different.
 
crescent said:
That's a nice way to destroy your business. People don't forget that sort of thing.
Click to expand...

The FLorida Attonrey General has announced that Price Gouging during a disaster is illegal,and has opened up a hot line for complaints. Some of these storekeepers might find themselves in court.
 
CriticalThanking said:
I have a couple of friends in Fla having some problems finding hotels, even expanding the search out over 200 miles.
Click to expand...

My parents live in St. Augustine and evacuated to Pensacola yesterday. They said they tried Tallahassee, but there was nothing available. This is their first hurricane (they moved there last year), so we are all rather nervous about what their house will look like when they get back.
 
We have friends from St. Augustine staying with us in Gainesville right now. Same fears. They are hoping they have a house without major damage to return to.

Regarding Gainesville, the storm has been pretty minor here. We are just past the peak now.
 
CriticalThanking said:
There was a piece on the news this morning showing price gouging, including tripling of hotel rates. There were pics of gas stations at $9.99/gal and water at >$30/case.

CT
Click to expand...
Oops.

http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/Main/5D2710E379EAD6BC85256F03006AA2C5?OpenDocument

1. What is Price Gouging?
Florida Statute 501.160 states that during a state of emergency, it is unlawful to sell, lease, offer to sell, or offer for lease essential commodities, dwelling units, or self-storage facilities for an amount that grossly exceeds the average price for that commodity during the 30 days before the declaration of the state of emergency, unless the seller can justify the price by showing increases in its prices or market trends. Examples of necessary commodities are food, ice, gas, and lumber.​


Yeah, customers' memories won't have much to do with it, except to write it in the blank when they all file lawsuits and for criminal charges.

(Just to support dudalb's point earlier made.)
 
Last edited:
500 PM EDT FRI OCT 07 2016

SUMMARY OF 500 PM EDT...2100 UTC...INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...30.2N 80.7W
ABOUT 40 MI...70 KM E OF JACKSONVILLE BEACH FLORIDA
ABOUT 135 MI...215 KM S OF SAVANNAH GEORGIA
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...110 MPH...175 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...N OR 360 DEGREES AT 12 MPH...19 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...948 MB...28.00 INCHES


http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/072045.shtml

This is from the National Hurricane Center. Looks like this hurricane has some staying power.
 
The Norseman said:
Oops.

http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/Main/5D2710E379EAD6BC85256F03006AA2C5?OpenDocument

1. What is Price Gouging?
Florida Statute 501.160 states that during a state of emergency, it is unlawful to sell, lease, offer to sell, or offer for lease essential commodities, dwelling units, or self-storage facilities for an amount that grossly exceeds the average price for that commodity during the 30 days before the declaration of the state of emergency, unless the seller can justify the price by showing increases in its prices or market trends. Examples of necessary commodities are food, ice, gas, and lumber.​


Yeah, customers' memories won't have much to do with it, except to write it in the blank when they all file lawsuits and for criminal charges.

(Just to support dudalb's point earlier made.)
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Yeah....

Doesn't help you when you NEED water or fuel NOW. When you evacuate, you don't have time to file a lawsuit or get police involved, and when the crisis is over, you're happy it's over and you're just embarrassed to have overpaid, so you don't file either. And you may not even have proof that the gauging happened.

I've lived in Tampa for some time, and it happened a few times, with TV footage to proof the gauging, but it still continues to happen.
 
Well... we just had a plumbing emergency. All water backs up at the last point of exit from the house going outside. This is a toilet. Basically, any sink, shower, or toilet used in the house bubbles up out of that last toilet. We were upstairs getting ready for bed. Two showers were completed and one of us went downstairs and saw the whole floor down there rapidly filling up with water everywhere. Freaked us the hell out.

Whatever is causing the clog is stuck in there. No amount of plunging helped and we can't get into the access point outside to try and snake it due to not having the right tool. Our house was built just over a year ago and there are no trees along the outside plumbing line. We called for an emergency plumber and haven't gotten a call back.

Fun times!
 
CriticalThanking said:
I have a couple of friends in Fla having some problems finding hotels, even expanding the search out over 200 miles. I have not tried to confirm, but they report that the major travel sites are "down" in that the traffic overwhelmed them to the point of being unusable, though it was possible to get through by phone. One friend and her dog are sleeping in her car.

There was a piece on the news this morning showing price gouging, including tripling of hotel rates. There were pics of gas stations at $9.99/gal and water at >$30/case.

CT
Click to expand...
Florida has laws about that and those will get checked out and penalized for it if it can be proven!!!! Unless the crook we have for governor has his hand in that till like he did with Medicare.

.
 
fuelair said:
The infernal boredom when the electricity is out is the biggest problem previously - and the heat/humidity. Actually go out (after wind and rain have slowed a lot) and turn on car and its AC...........
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And, for the curious, all went well in our neighborhood. Only problem was 3-5 short electric outs starting around 8 AM then a 4+ hour one. It ended mid/late afternoon. At this point all is well here. :):):):thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
fuelair said:
Been there, doing the equivalent that kept everything great last times!!!!!
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Well. we had about 30 1 gallon containers (we drink lots of tea - green, artificial sweetener) full of water. Still do.....:):):):):thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
Northern eye wall really slamming Charleston area right now...likely will see historic flooding there this morning...:(
 
fuelair said:
I do not apologize for avoiding coasts!!!!
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In North Carolina, which sometimes seems like the corner pocket for hurricane landfalls (we get one every four years or so), most of the extended flooding and deaths are inland. Many, often hundreds of miles from the coast.

They are not alone in this. Far more people everywhere die from inland freshwater flooding during and after hurricanes than are killed because they are on the coast when one hits.

Floyd killed fifty one people in NC when it hit. Nearly all of them were far from the coastline.

You can enjoy living on the coast. Evacuate when it seems necessary, and then hope the storm doesn't follow you inland, where it can do the real damage.
 
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