The Sky isn't falling
 

14 threads currently running about Milton.

Get out of town. Board up the windows. Fill your bathtub with water. Fill your clothes dryer with ice. Hoard toilet paper.

As we say up north, "is this your first time on skates"?

Is this your first hurricane? Can't be, if you've lived in TV or Florida for more than a year or two. Where did you live before coming to Florida? Weather hasn't affected your life at some point?

New England has been hit with 71 Hurricanes or Tropical Storms, since I was born in 1953. One a year for me.

There have been 18 direct Hurricane hits in New England, since 1953. One every 4 years.

Close to 70 times in the last 70 years, Boston has been hit with a snow storm, dumping over 24" of snow in a 24 hour period. Worcester has been hit over 100 times in the last 70 years.

Doesn't the Midwest ever get bad weather?

Over the last 30 years, an average of 48 people per year, die from Hurricanes in the USA (136 if you include floods). Statistically, a non-event. (Weather Related Fatality and Injury Statistics)

The Villages is nearly 50 miles from the coast and probably has the most sophisticated drainage system in the USA.

Over-react much? Don't drive your golf cart through a flooded tunnel, you'll be fine. Friday is supposed to be 80 degrees and mostly sunny.

I know this isn't going to change anyone's mind or behavior, but this Chicken Little "the sky is falling" stuff is getting tedious.

The track is so wide for Milton which is causing anxiety
 

Wonder when the cone will narrow up on Milton. It could come ashore anywhere from Crystal River to Fort Myers.

Thank you !

The pressure has just dropped below 900 Millibars which makes it one of the most powerful storms in History in this half of the world. It will not be as bad as Tampa, but I would not be surprised that the death toll from this hurricane may very well be in the thousands.

Same goes with the constant threads and posts on climate change. I agree with you, it's weather. It's normal. It's cyclical. It happens. Prepare and deal with it like human kind has for millenia.

Then why read and react to it?
For many here, it [BIis[/B] their "first time on skates". No need to belittle folks with genuine concerns. With time and the grace of God, they may achieve your great knowledge and experience.

Weather? Yes. Normal? No. Natural, but definitely not "normal".

Considering the thousands of new residents we have in The Villages and for whom this is likely their first hurricane season, I'm glad their willing to ask their questions and raise their concerns to those of us who have been through this for many years.

Yes, it will be very rainy and very windy, but The Villages has been developed to mitigate flooding concerns and our houses built to the best hurricane standards in the country. And even during Irma, except for the historic district, lights mostly just flickered and power never went out for any period of time.

If I'm going to have to deal with hurricanes (I've lived in earthquake, tornado and blizzard sections of the country), this is probably the best place in the US to deal with them.

Videos showing 100 mph winds
 

It looks bad!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezIqFyjAUP4

Can you resist 100 MPH hurricane wind? - YouTube

Yes it is. Or soon will be.

Gracie, I hope you’re wrong about the death toll, but some people can’t or won’t evacuate when they should.

Or build homes in areas that are an accident waiting to happen

In the modern era of hurricane detection and warning and within the continental US it looks like there has been one hurricane that caused over 500 deaths in the US and maybe five, counting Helene, that caused over 100 deaths in the US. Given that, I would be very surprised if the death toll from this hurricane is in the thousands

But we shall see.

EDIT: In a USA Today article from this month they count one over 500 and nine over 100 if Sandy is included.

So why start a 15th?

There were quite a few very large oak trees uprooted when Irma came through along with trailer trucks flipped over, if this one is as mean as they are saying I would expect to see many more uprooted this time along with some of the "ornamental palm trees". The sky isn't falling but there are plenty of legitimate warnings about how bad this one could be. Tomorrow will tell the tale so just be prepared.