Category: GlobalWarming

getting past milton

whbeebe1 Comment

Hurricane Milton has passed over central Florida and is well over the Atlantic, heading basically due east. Milton is now a “post tropical cyclone or remnants” per the National Hurricane Center. For those of us living in Orange County, here’s the last official Milton alert email.

WEATHER UPDATE

All hurricane and tropical storm watches and warnings have ended for Orange County. Weather totals from Hurricane Milton:

  • Highest wind gusts measured at 87 mph
  • More than 10 inches of rain in parts of Orange County (I record 12 inches)
  • Over 42 tornado warnings issued across Central Florida

SHELTERS

Orange County sheltered more than 2600 people from Hurricane Milton. As of 3 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, the following shelters are closed:

  • Carver Middle School
  • Colonial High School
  • Lake Buena Vista High School
  • Lake Nona High School
  • Ocoee High School
  • Odyssey Middle School
  • Timber Springs Middle School
  • Union Park Middle School
  • Wedgefield K-8 School

…
POWER OUTAGES

Utility crews are currently assessing outages and working to restore power to customers as quickly and safely as possible.

Duke: 110,000 customers in Orange County are currently affected by power outages.

OUC: 61,125 customers in Orange County are currently affected by power outages.

Report outages to your electric provider in Orange County.
…

Everything government related is closed until Monday of next week. We might get some garbage pickup tomorrow or Saturday, otherwise we’re going to have to wait until next week.

As far as my household, we never lost power and no trees were blown down that I can see. There may be others further into our neighborhood, but around my immediate section nothing horrible.

We sat up the entire night waiting and listening, napping when we could. Milton charged across central Florida so fast the worst parts were over us and gone in about four hours. We were pretty much wiped out after sunrise, and I took a long two hour nap around mid-afternoon. My wife was doing the same. Even the little animals seemed tired and napped pretty much the entire day, more-so than usual.

But here we are 24 hours later. I am so thankful we got through this.

waiting for milton

whbeebe3 Comments

That original post where I said I wasn’t going to post for the month of October looks pretty much trash at this point.

I’m sitting here waiting for Milton to hit Tampa/St. Pete and then come roaring up I-4 and across central Florida, including Orlando and my neighborhood. I’ve prepared as much as I can, probably the best I’ve ever done in the 40 years I’ve been living here. But this latest storm has raised my anxiety to the highest level it’s ever been before a storm. Just about the entirety of the west coast of Florida, along with a few counties on the east coast, have been ordered to evacuate.

Part of my anxiety is the vacuum of leadership at the level of governor. We have a little man who has a bobble head, and who has been refusing calls from the sitting Vice President Harris because he thought it too political. What a complete and utter ass.

Anyway…

A week before all of this I purchased and built a new kitchen cart on wheels, complete with built-in drawers and cabinets so that I could get pots and small electric appliances off the other cabinets and uncover the existing cabinet tops for a better cooking experience in the kitchen. I thought it was for the kitchen. The cats have decided it makes a great extension for playing, a second level to traverse through the kitchen.

If I didn’t have all the little creatures I don’t know what I’d be doing right now. Their presence gives me comfort.