Hurricane

Minxie , you must be worried, I was in a panic and it hadn't even got to Cuba

All our American friends , keep posting , we can't help but we can and do care

island airport are all shut down,south fl will or are shutting down today the orlando airport is closing 5pm sat.
* lup* orlando is technically central rather than south and the storm will be somewhat less deadly/not saying its not dangerous its all relative.i'm about 150 miles nw of orlando and we are getting reports of max gusts of 90mph sun pm/did the mowing toootherwise it turns into a jungle after big rains.
there was an unbelievable last flight out of puerto rico that went viral.but the pilots got them safe to ny.
we do our best to take care of each other when these things happen as i think most people do.

So pleased your grandson is home and safe,i cant imagine even what it must be like except so terrifying
I hope others get home safe too, but i believe the airports were closed down for a while
I think that nutter in North Korea should be shot,
Very worrying for the rest of the world too

my brother and his wife live in orlando and are preparing for irma to hit them late sunday [ish].
his daughter, my niece, lives with her husband and two sons about 30 miles from orlando - nw i think.
i heard from my brother yesterday and he was going to get fuel for their generator and also filtering water - and going to cut the grass [large area] as he doesn't think he'll be doing that for a while afterwards.
last year my niece cooked and baked when the hurricane hit and they were fine - only lost power for a while.
i'm still worrying though - especially as jose will be following behind irma.

minxie sounds like hes in a good solid place.hope hes well.

thanks annie.2/3 of the way north of cuba so less storm than miami still nervous,mom and niece are down"south"opposite sides of state and now they think it will come straiight up the middle.widest part is only 100 miles.
as for nukes and storms,there have been horrendous 'canes in the carib/gulf areas since long before nukes.
water is always hot down here so global warming?maybe to a small extent but the beasts happen pretty regular and go back as far as new world recorded history.
liz those wonderful things you experienced are why people love florida. and the area.i watch ibis'(?) feed in my front yard and swallowtail hawks cruising the air.20 miles from coast but the small archepeligo up here is amazing.kayak out btwn the isles and watch sharks and sea mammels manatees and porpises,pelicans ,blue herons and every kind of crane there is.
cuba is beautiful and i hope you get to enjoy it again.my personal soft spot is jamacia,worked there for almost 2 years and lived with a local family.drank jamacian blue coffee at the plantation.went swimming inturquise ocean,danced to reggae bands in the street and ate the most wonderful foods.
science:the landmass and mountains of cuba break up the storms if they pass over it,its one of those damned if you do/damned if you don't situations.somebody is going to be effected.
unfortunatelly developers and theme parks have ruined so much of south florida and the glades our natural defences are compromised.before the 1960's tourist thing florida really was a paradise.1965-2000 7 million people moved here.and thats just the recorded ones.
going to walk my pup and wait for the next update.until it passes cuba nothing is certain.they have been known to wobble out into the gulf as well????

What a worry for you minxie. When we were on holiday in Antigua we went for a walk with one of the managers from the hotel and he explained the hurricane precautions to us. I think they are experienced there, so try not to worry too much.

My son is in Antigua and has managed to survive the first hurricane and another is due to hit today. He said it's like a high speed train hitting your room for 8 hours. Fingers crossed he survives this one

I see that Cuba may not be as badly affected as was feared. We went to Cayo Coco last year and this has been evacuated. The beach there was absolutely beautiful and I hope it has not been affected and that the coral is ok.
We went on a trip to the mangroves and were sitting quietly when a cormorant dropped into the water close to us and emerged with a large fish. There was a fun filled trip on a speedboat which I thoroughly enjoyed.
We are going back in January but closer to Havana this time.

Thankful they are safe

My niece and her husband must have been on the same plane! It was certainly worrying, she was messaging me and I was phoning her mother (my sister), to update her. It's at times like this I really wish my sister was able to text on her mobile phone or was on Facebook she hasn't a clue bless her, the messenger facility is great - it certainly helped keep track! All is well, the plane arrived back early - wind was behind them I guess!

I watched a documentary some time ago about how Cuba deals with weather emergencies and why it should be followed in other parts of the Caribbean. It compared the situation in Haiti whether the weather is not that different. Thousands died in Haiti but Cuba has lost low single figures in the same time.
If you have to be anywhere in the Caribbean during extreme weather, Cuba is the best place to be. They have very sophisticated warning systems and children are taught what to do in school.
Their buildings are not all built to withstand the weather but a number in each area have to be and people go to those as soon as they get the warnings. As long as they follow the instructions they will be given, they should be ok.

Anniebach so glad to hear your boy is back safely such a worrying time for you all.Sending heartfelt thoughts to those who are being hit by this storm and hope everyones relatives are safe and sound.

Glad to here of the safe arrival home............

I'm still not totally convinced that continued trials of nuclear weapons/ hydrogen bombs etc. such as we have seen recently must have some effect on the planet / weather/ elements . Maybe not this current situation ( I remain sceptical) but I am in no doubt there will be effects somewhere at some time.

Those poor people, I will not complain about rain in Wales again

Good to hear your DGS is home safely, anniebach.

I've been thinking of the last series of Island Parish which we always enjoy watching. It was filmed in Anguila and they've been hit particularly hard.

I do hope all those lovely people are safe and well.

The nuclear tests in Korea have been underground - and they are on the opposite side of the planet. Hurricanes are caused by too much heat in the ocean releasing massive amounts of heat energy into the atmosphere. They then become a kind of self perpetuating phenomenon, sucking in more heat energy and turning it into wind and rain. This is why they can last for several days. If they go over a big area of land, the cycle breaks down. Last year we had the highest ocean temperatures ever recorded. Global warming is widely agreed to be the explanation for the extreme size and force of this one. The BBC said it was "a storm the size of France". I hope all friends and relations get back home safely and that the Commonwealth can get help to the islands asap.

mimiro, how frightening, keep in touch x

sorry i bounce btwn mum and grans and the news feeds just marking time

Thank you all x

Hope everyone is ok.

I just told him to go to Tenby next year, not amused

glad hes safe anniebach/its scary enough when you live with it/right now we dont know where in fl shes going to hit and it is so frustrating.on pins and needles for a week now.
big storms are not unusual/where they land is the difference btwn big news or just bad weather on the water.harvey was devistating rain.irma will be wind and rain.
we are over 300 miles from miami and have been out of gas since weds pm.
the highways are bumper to bumper.
i am up early waiting to see if dn will be evac'ing to here.not knowing where the storm will track makes this a very stressful time.
after it finishes with fl it will cause rain/flooding up the east coast and theres another storm behind irma which will probably hurt the carribeam islands.but hopefully will stay offshore as it reaches the us.
mumsnt is one of my distractions..hope everyones familys are safe.

My eldest dgd (18) is on holiday in Cancun with her boyfriend at the moment. They are flying home on Tuesday night, so we are all hoping that they will be ok as everything is going on around them.
I feel so sorry for all those poor people on the islands, hardly anything left for shelter and another hurricane on the way!
Anniebach Glad your gs is back.

My D and her family lived in Antigua for 3 years and we , and our S, Dil, and 12 month old GD were visiting when a hurricane struck.
By the time it hit it had been downgraded slightly but it was a terrifying experience. Every thing shuts down. Silk was sent home from work and we made the supermarket dash to get everything we could carry. Workmen came to put up storm shutters and when the power went we were in gloom. They have large underground tanks to collect water so when the water supply was cut we had to boil and treat rain water from the tanks. We were housebound for 2 days and it was an unreal experience. When it passed everywhere was steaming for a couple of days it was like walking through a sauna. Roads were washed away and the airport closed, part of the runway was damaged so couldn't even open when the storm was over as supplied had to be brought in to repair it.t
My SiL was there alone when another much worse struck and he was evacuated to a shelter with other ex pats and they were taken to Government House to radio their families that they were safe.
We really don't appreciate just how blessed we are and my heart goes out to all affected and who have probably lost everything.

[smle]
Delighted to hear that!