Of value i hope
 

We went to Sparrs the hardware, farm supply place across route 44. You can see it from Publix in traverse plaza.

They are well stocked. They have charcoal and grills. They have duct tape-I PLAN ON TAPING MY WINDOWS BEFORE THE STORM HITS US. They have mops, tons of buckets. ETC..

PLEASE REMOVE ANY STUFF YOU HAVE OUTSIDE THAT WILL BE BLOWN BY A 100+ WIND.

GOOD LUCK

Building codes have been updated about five times since 2000. The homes in The Villages do not come with hurricane resistant glass. Homes built after 2005 likely have reinforced garage doors (code change), but there are different degrees of that too. After 2005 for instance, there were garage doors rated for Miami-Dade (Dade, Broward, and Monroe counties) versus the rest of the state. All of our homes have wood roof trusses. Codes changed in 2005 to require straps, which help.

Wind breaches the envelope of the home through garage doors, broken windows and roof lift (gable roofs worse than hip roofs). ALL of our homes are susceptible to sustained wind damage.

What can you do about it now? Look around outside your house for things that will become missiles. Your hanging name/number sign out front. Planters. Lanai furnishings (umbrellas, chairs, decorations, etc.) Move them into your house or garage. The east side of your house is likely going to take the brunt of the wind. If you can't bring them in, bring them as close to the outside of your house as possible.

Stay safe.

Please do some research on taping windows. Generally speaking, it doesn't prevent anything and leaves awful tape residue on your windows.

do not tape your windows-totally useless

I PLAN ON TAPING MY WINDOWS BEFORE THE STORM HITS US.

No! No! No! Taping is useless and you will spend hours scraping it off.

Why look for numbers? Just leave, if you can fit your car into a space on I75. The hurricane should not be a particular issue, its the winds from spun off tornados that you should be concerned about.

If I thought it was very dangerous to stay I'd be gone by now. (Heck, driving the rotaries here is dangerous.) I have a whole house generator, because I've lived through hurricanes and understand the effects that can linger. I'm also here because my skills as a volunteer may be needed after the storm. Rather than fuss do something useful to help your neighbors and our community.


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The "standard" is the code that was implemented by Dade County after hurricane Andrew. Almost all counties in FL adopted it, including Sumter. And the homes are inspected as they are constructed. In addition, we hired an inspector to check things out for us.

Sumter County is a stickler for inspections. When we added a generator, there were 3 different inspections conducted, and we had to get ARC approval to boot.


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Great update. Thank you.


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I'm trying to be useful by warning people not to be lulled into a comfort zone because your house is built to some standard. That is not a reason to stay. Also to counter some posters irresponsible advice of not to worry - won't happen here. What if it does. Just because it didn't since you have been here doesn't mean it won't. Folks pay attention to the experts. And by the way so far they have not said to evacuate our area. FYI I am not there. Left in May. But if I was there I would have left. Why would I want to put myself in harms way. Every time I do lately I get hurt. And if tornados is the concern (and I agree) not a single house in The Villages is safe. Not even those tin strips on the roof rafters can withstand that kind of force.

We agree. I'm not afraid of hurricanes but I do have a very healthy respect for them.


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Do not tape
 

(AP) ORLANDO, Fla. - Officials with the National Hurricane Center had a message Tuesday for residents living in hurricane-prone areas: Don't tape your windows.

Center officials are joining with a consumer advocate group at the National Hurricane Conference in Orlando, Fla. this week to encourage residents to skip taping their windows when a hurricane is heading their way. They believe it leads to a false sense of security and actually increases danger.

Instead, residents should use proven methods such as hurricane shutters or impact-resistant windows, Bill Read, director of the National Hurricane Center, told hundreds of meteorologists and emergency management officials at the weeklong conference. Attendees are going to seminars on insurance policy and emergency communications as well as hawking hurricane-related wares such as canned food and building-hardening materials.

"Our goal is to break this myth," Read said, referring to taping. "It does not protect your windows. At best, it's an inconvenience. At worst, some people have the illusion that they're safe ... and people can get severely hurt."

Taping windows can create larger and deadlier shards of glass when winds blow through a home, said Leslie Chapman-Henderson, president and CEO of Federal Alliance for Safe Homes.

"The shards can become bigger because they're being held together," Chapman-Henderson said. "You're wasting your time. You're wasting your money and you're potentially increasing the danger to your home."


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Having been here since 2002 and having survived the hurricanes of 2004 (Frances, Charlie, and Jean), I'd say that personal injury risk is rather slight. However, if Irma goes right up the peninsula of Florida, the chance of water intrusion into your house is significant.

Water can get in when shingles blow off, or get blown in around windows and doors. It can get in when the soffit vent under your eves blow out and the water blows into your attic that way. Water can also blow in through the roof vents. Water can even penetrate block walls if driven into the walls long enough with enough force.

Then, as someone mentioned, a few days later you have a serious mold problem if you haven't removed all the wet materials like carpet, drywall, furniture, clothing, etc. The cleanup is doable if you're here and able to do the physical labor, but if you left town or haven't returned for the winter, then the mold can be a very serious problem.

Of course, the lack of electricity doesn't help any since you can't run fans or AC to help dry out things. Good luck to everyone.

I read an article, do not tape windows. If a window gets blown out, you will have large pieces of glass flying that could be very dangerous.

We live in a time where belief is the same as fact and you cannot change a person's beliefs regardless of the facts.

Once my wife was fighting to the death when I questioned what she told me. Finally I got her to see that it was physically impossible. She looked at me and said why would Sue (her friend) lie to her. I think that sums it up. Many believe what they hear or read assuming what they were told is the truth. Most are unwilling to do their own research and can endanger themselves in the process.

I have no sympathy for anyone who refuses to listen and learn. We all suffer the consequences of our actions. My wife is panicking with all the news predicting the end of the world. I am doing research until 4am to find out what our real risk is and prepare for those. Other than that, I do not worry about things I cannot control. That just makes you worry twice, once before and once during.

Same response as to poster about amount of rain to flood: if you had a number, what would you do with this information?