Hurricane newbies & The Villages newbies. Just visiting. Help!
 

Hello everyone!

We are renting in Lake Sumpter Landing area. We have never been in a hurricane before and this is our first visit to the Villages.

Please be kind if these questions are ridiculous.

1. Do we have to worry about the life threatening storm surge the news is reporting? Will our neighborhood flood?
2. Should we drive to the Orlando area and get a hotel room in a high rise building?
3. If we stay here, what should we do to prepare?

Thanks for any help you can give!

No storm surge here.
Look at this thread, discount the silly posts. Some good suggestions there.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...county-343706/

Don’t panic!

Plan just like we did when a lake effect storm was coming off of Lake Erie.
A former Lewiston resident.

I think we ALL feel for you, but follow Bogie and don't panic, you can be scared because it is a scary thing and with the TV weather people blaring it out all day it's enough to drive you over the top. TV homes are well built and seem able to withstand a hurricane when it comes inland. It will be noisy, very noisy and you will hear stuff blowing around outside. You have probably heard about the hurricane sounding like a freight train, well it does, but other than very minor damage to homes you should be fine and think of the story you have to tell the relatives when you get back home!

You’ll be fine. It will rain a lot on wednesday, and it will be windy. It’s actually fun.
Make sure you get some extra food for wed - more than likely, you won’t lose electricity.
Thursday will be beautiful, with lots of palms branches on the ground.

No different than an airplane safety. Remove your glasses and put your head between your legs. Now you're guaranteed not to see what is about to happen.

No surge. The Villages is not close enough to the ocean. Drive to Orlando? Your call. If you feel you will be safer then do so. However, storm tracks change and you may find yourself worse off.

There are other threads on this forum which give advice on how to prepare.

Make sure the home you are renting does not have anything in the yard that can turn into a projectile and shatter your windows. Bring all those items indoors.

Have gas in your tank. Shortage of gas can happen.

You may want to purchase some flashlights or other light source. Your call. If electricity goes out, you will be thankful you have light.

During the storm, do not go outside for any reason. If you hear strange noises, do not go outside to see what it is. That noise can be something that may kill you. Curiosity has killed many people. I have seen it.

Good luck and don't panic.

In addition to the above, you will see much much rain. Lower tunnels could get clogged and flood, so even after the storm, do NOT drive a golf cart through. The Villages is well-designed and the many retention ponds should handle most of the water. Hunker down inside and you should be fine.

Remember, after the storm it may take a day for service staff (restaurants, stores) to be back to work. They have to deal with the aftermath, also.

If you are from Westhampton Beach you prepare just as if you are on Long island. Put away all loose outside furnishes and anything that would easily blow away. Fill your gas tank in car and cart. Have flashlights/ candles/ solar lights ready.

no need to leave, just enjoy the storm as a true florida experience, but when its really windy and raining, just stay inside, too easy to get hit with flying debris. .

The path looked like it is moving slightly away from TV, so just treat it like a winter storm or a big rain and wind storm. .

good luck,

Hi,
1. No and no
2. No
3. Nothing, just get some food and possibly cook or something indoors Wednesday although the temp will be nice and not as hot. Enjoy!

Models are starting to shift north on this storm. May not be that bad but keep an eye on the further updates. What I've seen personally from hurricanes is unbelievable damage from storm surge (Mississippi due to Katrina), flooding (mostly due to low lying areas and rain but sometimes connected to storm surge), and power loss mostly due to fallen trees and power lines. Here we don't have to worry about storm surge and most of TV is well above sea level so no New Orleans like flooding here. Can get some short term flooding though. Orlando did last year. Most of TV has few large trees, especially pine trees which are very susceptible to wind and most of the utilities are underground. Of course, at some point along their path from the source utilities could be vulnerable. All this means is that long term flooding and power outages are less likely. Think days and not weeks. So the biggest threat is wind either from the hurricane or any tornadoes that are associated with it. Structures around here are built well so they should handle lower level storms without much damage. I have left town to escape hurricanes. I got trapped on the Georgia coast one year because I rode out a hurricane that grazed the coast. Pine trees fell everywhere knocking down power lines. I lost almost 20 trees in my 1.5 acre lot. County would not let anyone leave their homes for days as it was too dangerous. Took 3 days to clean up the mess and restore limited power. Hot and miserable experience. Could happen here but won't last as long because there are far fewer trees and most of the power poles are the tall tower structures.

I don't know about Lake Sumpter, but Lake Sumter should be ok.

ALL of the above suggestions AND stop feeding on the 24/7 "news". We've been here 14 yrs, experienced Irma so just use common sense and stay put. Now, deep breathes!!

Run Forrest Run. In all seriousness stay indoors for the worst of it and just in case keep water and canned goods on hand.

There is no such place as Lake Sumpter. Are you in Lake Sumter?

Get ready to run.