Does anyone have a weather radio?

[nONIE]

We dont and this isl looking really scary! :(

[aln]

Yes, I have a wx radio.
You set it for the 3 counties "SAME" codes and it notifies you when there is action in the 3 surrounding counties (Lake-Sumter-Marion). Annoying?-at times.
but it might save your life at 4am,.

[redwitch]

Nonie, check channel 99 on your TV. It will give you up-to-date reports. It is showing heavy rain, but no warnings of any type.

[nONIE]

aln,

What about right now??????

The sky was looking really bad and its raining like he--! I was wondering if there are any tornado warnings in the area tonite!!! :dontknow:

Are you in TV?

[Donna]

Noni,
I am checking from here in Pa..I do not see any warnings at this time..
Don't you have a TV or radio???

[nONIE]

Thanks so much Red, You are a wealth of information, should have known I could count on you. just a case of newbie jitters! :yikes:

Thanks for checking Donna, I was scrambling thru channels, couldnt remember the local weather channel, It looked really bad for awhile here. I was in a panic, not thinking real clear.Pheww! OK, Im fine! ;D

[jjdees]

We have a Midland weather radio and it's real value is at night when the TV is off. I have it set for surrounding counties to the west and it has gone off at night. Could be a life saver if a tornado comes through.

[Hancle704]

Until you purchase a weather radio, you may wish to add following to your bookmarks/favorites on your computer.

weather.gov/tampa (http://weather.gov/tampa)

[nONIE]

A big thankyou to everyone for your help and advice. It just turned out to be a bad thunderstorm. :redface:

[Indy-Guy]

I purchased one from Radio Shack and the top of the line one was about $70.00 but well worth it. They will program it for you. It goes off only for warnings in this area. The cheaper ones go off if there is a storm 100 miles a way.

After the tornado of Feb 2nd last year thousands were sold in this area. That tornado hit around 3:00 AM and hit 3 blocks from our home in The Village of Poinciana.

Our radio has gone off a few times in the middle of the night and we were glad to be given the heads up. In most cases the radio goes shortly before the warnings are on the TV. If the radion goes off in the middle of the night then you can turn on the TV and see exactly where the storm is.

[Sidney Lanier]

We picked up one of these NOAA radios (Radio Shack brand) on ebay for practically nothing; it works perfectly, programmed by a firefighter at the station in TV on CR-466 for only the tower whose name I can't think of close by to TV. The radio went off earlier today, around 5 p.m., for the thunderstorm in Marion County, which in fact we ended up driving through though to the northwest rather than the storm path to the northeast. These radios are well worth having, IMHO.

[kwachowski]

We have one and we bought it from Publix. We then took it to the Fire Station where they programmed it for us free of charge. We really like it. When we had the tornado in Feburary 2007 we didn't know about the storm, so we really feel much more at ease now with the radio. :)

[ConeyIsBabe]

Just curious......... if a tornado hit TV, would it be safer to be living in a CBS home rather than a frame/vinyl home ?

[784caroline]

If a tornado hit "direct" I doubt it would really matter. With CBS you do have 4 block walls surrounding you, but what is most likely to go first is the roof, windows and garage doors and when that happens you may be safer from flying debrie in a CBS but you would still get soaking wet with most of your property ruined.

If its not a direct hit, from a personal perspective, I am more comfortable wth CBS be it a tornado or a more likely occurance a hurricane. Again you have to worry about the roof and windows. What caused alot of the damage to homes were the decorative stones that people use in landscaping....the tornado winds blew them through windows and against siding that caused all sorts of damage.

[billethkid]

The ones you can buy at Publix, Walmart, Home Depot for$24-$40 are all programmable to be county specific.
We have a Midland from Publix, no bells and whistles, but does the basic essentials very well.
Between the weather radio and the weather maps available on the computer, one doesn't really need much else.
I suppose some get comfort watching the weather newscasters on TV....too much sensationalism for me!!

BTK

[Frangyomory]

Ok, I admit it, I am not smarter than a 5th grader so what is a CBS home????
I know what a CYV is but what is a CBS home?????

On the radio issue, we bought one right after the tornado and it is great to have. Got it at Radio Shack and it gives us warnings for the area including Sumter, Lake and Marion counties. We live in Sumter.

Now, don't forget, what is a CBS home????? :dontknow: :dontknow: :dontknow:

[Hancle704]

Now, don't forget, what is a CBS home????? :dontknow: :dontknow: :dontknow:


CBS Home= Cinder Block and Stucco Home

[gfmucci]

If its not a direct hit, from a personal perspective, I am more comfortable wth CBS be it a tornado or a more likely occurance a hurricane.

This far inland, a frame home will do fine. A hurricane bearing down on coastal areas will lose at least 1, maybe 2 categories of intensity after traveling the 65 miles inland necessary to hit The Villages - even from the optimum coastal landfall point at Homosassa due west of TV.

Here are the categories of hurricanes and the damage they do. Whatever hits the coast is likely to be 2 categories less intense when if there was a DIRECT hit on TV.

Category One Hurricane:
Winds 74-95 mph (64-82 kt or 119-153 km/hr). No real damage to building structures. Damage primarily to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery, and trees. Some damage to poorly constructed signs.

Category Two Hurricane:
Winds 96-110 mph (83-95 kt or 154-177 km/hr). Some roofing material, door, and window damage of buildings. Considerable damage to shrubbery and trees with some trees blown down. Considerable damage to mobile homes, poorly constructed signs, and piers.

Category Three Hurricane:
Winds 111-130 mph (96-113 kt or 178-209 km/hr). Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures. Damage to shrubbery and trees with foliage blown off trees and large trees blown down. Mobile homes and poorly constructed signs are destroyed.

Category Four Hurricane:
Winds 131-155 mph (114-135 kt or 210-249 km/hr). More extensive curtainwall failures with some complete roof structure failures on small residences. Shrubs, trees, and all signs are blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Extensive damage to doors and windows. Low-lying escape routes may be cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane.

Category Five Hurricane:
Winds greater than 155 mph (135 kt or 249 km/hr). Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. All shrubs, trees, and signs blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Severe and extensive window and door damage.

So, these things have to happen to create a worst case danger to TV homes:
- Hit the coast within 50 miles of Homosassa
- Be a category 5
- Head due east toward TV

The odds of this are very slim and would result in a cat 3 or weak cat 4 worst case. The greatest damage from hurricanes comes from storm surge along immediate coastal areas. We certainly don't need to worry about that.

The bigger danger from hurricanes is the spin-off tornado event. These occur somewhat inland from the coast. Again, no home would be immune from this.

I live within a half mile from the Gulf coast in Destin Florida. I made sure I had hurricane shutters and I used them 3 times in the past 4 years. I feel no need for hurricane shutters in TV.

[JohnM]

CBS Home= Cinder Block and Stucco Home


Minor point...I believe that CBS = Concrete Block and Stucco...I don't think they have made cinder block for quite some time....maybe a retired builder on TOTV can educate us...

John

[gfmucci]

I never understood the difference between "concrete block" and "cinder block". In south Florida 40 years ago they called concrete block "cinder block."

[The Great Fumar]

Concrete block homes did fare better then frame homes in our tornado last year , however it was a very large storm which I'm told is rare in this area...Anyway lets hope so........
Weather radio's are definitely worth the money and everyone should have one ..........Here in Chatham , when it goes off we head for the basement...

Its dark down here.........fumar

[gfmucci]

Let's see, 100 tablespoons per day equal one shovelful, two shovelfuls equals a bucket full, 4 bucket fulls equals room for one leg...

I figure by 2025 I could make a nice basement storm shelter.* So, Fumar, you are suggesting that the third little piggy was right.

s/The Second Little Pig

[Indy-Guy]

The stucco courtyard villas that they are building now are poured concrete walls with re bar. I have one and when we had it inspected the inspector refereed to it as a bomb shelter. Now I know its not a bomb shelter but he stated it was the strongest thing around.

[ConeyIsBabe]

The stucco courtyard villas that they are building now are poured concrete walls with re bar. I have one and when we had it inspected the inspector refereed to it as a bomb shelter. Now I know its not a bomb shelter but he stated it was the strongest thing around.


Indy guy....... can you please tell me where in TV are they building the stucco courtyard villas? And, might there be any "previously owned" ones for sale in TV, so I can do a search for them. Having survived "Hurricane Andrew" in Aug/92 I'll consider all my safety options when moving back to Florida. 8)

nonie ....... sorry if I veered from your radio topic, but it's kinda related to storm protection ;)

[JUREK]

As a snow bird I need help
Where is the nearest Radio Shack near TV ?
:dontknow: :dontknow:

[jadebox]

On shopping plaza at corner of Hwy 441 and Rolling Acres. Near Starbucks.
For weather radios Publix is the best buy. They were bought in bulk and sponsor is WFTV.

[Frangyomory]

We were told our court yard villa, built in 2005 was rock solid and we wouldn't have much to worry about in any storm.....I only worry about tornado storms myself. I feel very confident in this part of Florida and in our CYV which I guess is CBS or poured concrete!!!!
I know our homeowners insurance is less than some folks who don't have this type home. :)