So we went to bed last night seeing that the Hurricane had shifted down south of Sarasota...the further south for us, the better for the Condo...to far south, and worse for being in the DeLand area. Last night around 2 am I watched the newscast and was about ready to hit the road right then and there...but I can't drive at night like I use to be able to do. So this morning around 8 am I talked to Marcia about the situation, and we decided to leave the area. Not only was Ian, as a Tropical Storm, going to pass by within a few miles of where we were, there were going to be many possible Tornadoes in the area too. Enough is enough...we left and were on the road shortly after 9 am. Saw the live cams of the Interstates, and they all looked good...not much traffic. Just so happened to have a break in the rain, so I hardly got wet at all hooking up the car and unhooking the utilities. Went east to I-95 in Daytona, and north on I-95 to the Jacksonville area to catch I-10 so that we could go west. Other than about 10 minutes of huge downpour along I-95, the drive was problem free. Traffic was not heavy, but not light. It worked out well.
So we made it to Perry Florida, which is along US-19, as is our Condo...but the Condo is about 170 miles to our south. Bottom line is, we are SAFE, little wind, no rain, and one of about 20 RVs in the Walmart Parking Lot in Perry. We hope to make it back home tomorrow. With the Hurricane going so far south, all is well in Holiday/Tarpon Springs area. In fact, Tampa has done well with this southern path, but Sarasota, Fort Meyers and especially Port Charlotte have been hit hard...and since the path predictors missed on this one, they did not have much time to prepare. (EVERYONE was saying it was hitting Tampa for the last 2 days prior to last night.)
We had a LONG travel day...lots of stress for the first 4 hours or so.
Now we just fulfilled our day with some gorgeous sunset pictures. Tomorrow is another day, and we hope to be enjoying it at home in our condo...
I've been thinking about you guys all day. Glad you could move away from the storm's path!
ReplyDeleteLeft around 8:30, got to Perry around 5:00...lots of driving, but we made there safe and sound. Came on down to the condo today, and saw NO devastation whatsoever. Further south, now that's another story for sure.
DeleteGood to hear you are safe and we're able to move without any serious issues.
ReplyDeleteDriving through that HUGE rain storm where you could not even see the car in front of you was not fun, but other than that 10 minutes, all was well. Amazing that we saw NO devastation today on the way down to the condo...had some winds, but the roads and the businesses were all looking normal.
DeleteGlad you are ok. I watched it follow you right up the coast. It looked like Tampa got hit pretty hard and I was sure it was going to get you guys. Then it just sort of turned right ... lucky for you, not so much for those other people. Watch out for those 50 mph winds still hanging around.
ReplyDeleteThose poor folks in Sanibel Island (which is a RICH community) are going to have to live a life of being stranded. How are they going to get food, gas, etc.???? It is going to take months for them to rebuild that causeway... And then seeing the pictures of the devastation in Fort Meyer, Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, and so many other communities, it is mind blowing. And then to think that "IF" the path followed the one which took it right into Tampa Bay...well, that would be another Katrina if that happens.
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