You shouldn’t have to defend yourself. You’re the most knowledgeable and intelligent person on this thread. Thank you for sharing your expertise.

And you retain your dignity and don’t stoop so low as to call people names.

Of all the places to be when a hurricane hits Florida, I would think that with The Villages being pretty much in the middle of the state and knowing how quickly they dissipate over land, it would be one of the safer places. I also recall reading something back when we were researching where to fully retire, that Jacksonville FL. hasn't had a direct hit in a very long time. I recall it because it seemed that being on the coast it would be vulnerable, but apparently there's something kind of unique regarding where it is located. I think it was about 15 or so years ago that I read that, because I believe in the same article it mentioned that just south of there (Daytona Beach area?) did get hit pretty hard from one that barrelled in straight from the east.

You forgot milk... Or is that only for when it snows? :icon_wink:

Yes, Jacksonville is in a pretty good location. The coastline bends westward and results in Jacksonville having the same longitude as eastern Ohio. Hurricanes are typically moving north around that latitude so it is difficult to get one in there. Not impossible, however. I seem to recall a cat1 getting in there 10 or 15 years ago, or so. I have wondered if the Navy chose that area for the Kings Bay sub base because of the protected nature of the coastline.

Or maybe he spent much of the last year wearing one and works in a job where he's still required to wear one, and he's just so used to wearing it he's like "screw it" and doesn't bother taking it off til he gets home.

Or he could be a complete absolute genius, but thinks it's a kick to make people think he's a moron by wearing a mask while he rides his bike. He's probably just laughing at the people making the snide remarks.

If you need to keep so much toilet paper you definitely need to change your eating habits! :1rotfl: I don't think we use 12 cases in a year!

Haha! New to FL is my guess. This one is a big nothing-burger.

11PM Update from Miami
 

There is not much change in the forecasted track and it is likely to stay at tropical storm intensity. Miami has it hitting FL around Tampa, or a bit north of Tampa, on Tuesday evening and then moving to the northeast. That would put the center of the circulation north of us as it moves towards the SE Georgia coast. The GFS suggests 2-4 inches of rain for us and gusty winds.

Lived in The Villages, which is in Florida the last time I checked, for over 20 years. We have never had an evacuation order or even advised to evacuate. Our part of the state is the safe haven people on the coast evacuate to.

Be careful reading general information provided by even the State. It doesn’t usually apply to the entire state of Florida.

There are tens of thousands of OLD mobile homes built in 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s that have survived every single "hurricane" that has come to the Central Florida route in all these years. Why wouldn't your friend's block-built or stick-built home in the Villages fare just as well as those? The truth is "hurricanes" that make it to Central Florida are a bunch of hype and worry about nothing. Just take a tour of the abundant 55 and over mobile home parks in Eustis, Tavares, Mount Dora, Leesburg and see for yourself. How is it that all these old things were not blown off the map years ago if these Central Florida "hurricanes" are so dangerous? Answer: They are not.

Really??? Well, if it's just the same to you, I'll stay in my newly constructed to structurally survive cat 3 winds home and you can stay in a trailer when a hurricane comes through here. Good luck with that!

Thankfully it's on a path that will not greatly hamper rescue efforts going on in Miami.

Yes! We have plenty of toilet paper, paper towels, and drinking water. Several months ago, there was a “run” on toilet paper. The prices were jacked up on those items. At the time, I didn’t keep much toilet paper in stock. Once I get “burned”, I never get “burned” again. I don’t believe in living “hand to mouth”. Some people only have a burned out light bulb in their refrigerator!

We ordered a whole house generator in January, and are still waiting for the installation. There’s a backlog on those types of items.

Before moving to Florida in December, I’d watch crowds of people buying water, flashings, gasoline, food, and other supplies at the last minute. Those people live “hand to mouth” and they live their lives being unprepared.

When my gas tank reaches half full, I fill up the tank. I’ve been doing that since high school for over 50 years, when I first started driving. I’ve never run out of gas, except with the test drive of my first car that I bought. During the test drive, the car ran out of gas right in front of a gas station that was next door to the used car dealer. Over the years, I’ve seen many fools that run out of gas. Those fools always wait till their gas tank is empty before they think about filling it up to half full.

As I recall, that was part of the explanation on why they have seemed to dodge any direct hits.

Maybe those "FOOLS" couldn't afford to keep their tanks half full, may someone else was driving the cars that belonged to those "FOOLS" and ran their tank low, maybe those "FOOLS" had a broken gas gauge and couldn't afford to fix it. No reason to call anyone a fool that had the misfortune to run out of gas.