It's understandable because all you can do is wait.

FYI, Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel is in Fort Myers so he will provide good coverage from that area.

Storms are not official until we see him in the wind and water.

Just make sure you take turns which leg is uphill or on the windward side. That evens things out!

We text a bit but I try not to bother them. It's stressful enough sitting through a hurricane.

Irma is expected to drop between 6 and 10 inches of rain. The real danger with Irma will be the storm surge. Houston didn't have to worry about a storm surge (thank goodness).

Is Ft Myers in a place where a storm surge can affect it? I think so, but not sure.

I know a couple with dog who are hunkering down in FL. Don't know why they didn't leave.

The Cedar Bayou area, in eastern Harris County, got over 50 inches. It's been a wild ride. Thankfully, the statewide death toll stands at only 70. The evacuation for Hurricane Rita, which ended up not hitting Houston, had it's own death toll of over 100.

I do hope that the mayor and city council treat this as the new normal. We have had heavy flooding for 3 years in a row. There are some homes that have flooded each time. Those homes should not be rebuilt. It's just nuts. Accept the buyouts and start over. The county can turn those areas into greenspace that can absorb water.

I'm in SW La. I should know that. I agree that some homes should not be rebuilt. And they should rethink their expansion plans to allow for fields of SOIL for drainage. I doubt they do. It comes down to money.

and quit approving what's best for the developers in the short term. The developers don't care if their homes flood. They've made their money.

or builders want to do. The cover lots of ground with concrete and put in a couple of drain pipes/culverts, and everyone signs off on that as fixing any drainage issues that may occur.

Storm surge up the river will be serious. Plus, the eye will go through or close by.

relieved as I think it's so much better than their apt building. But still wish they had driven up to visit us. So far, everything is going well.

While there are "high" spots, nothing there is very high and it will catch water and wind from both directions. I went to college there for a year and have only been back twice in the forty five years since - not my favorite place.

believe he was crazy enough to stay. But at least he went to a shelter.

She's riding it out & keeping us updated on FB.

My sister's step daughter is a deputy sheriff in Harris Co. (Houston). We went through the same thing with her during Harvey, except she was on emergency duty right after the storm. She's (mainly) worked at the courthouse the last few years but it's closed now, until further notice.

It sucks to worry about someone when you can't do anything for them.

Oh, that's more sadness

Much more meaningful and less fearmongering.

Here are some good resources with links to local news http://www.tampabay.com/projects/2017/hurricane-irma/

came back on Friday, didn't have time to hurricane-proof the house, get gas, gget the pets and hit the road. Plus, we're in a non-evac zone and a non-flood zone (even tho we have flood insurance). We got one of the last flights into Tampa before the airport closed, thankfully. Plus both my husband and I are nurses. I work at home but he works at a hospital and is compelled to show up to work on monday b/c he's on the post-hurricane RN team. So we couldn't evac if we wanted to b/c of his job.

Try baynews9.com, that's a local news channel that is on the cable TV here. While I'm a few hours north of Ft Myers, it's still giving news pertinent to that area, and it's a lot less fear mongering than CNN or MSNBC or any of the other national stations that are after ratings. having grown up in Hurricane Alley my whole life (SC and FL, practically) and have seen LOTS of fear-mongering pre-hurricane news (local and national). I'm really amazed this time at the restraint that local news has shown. They have been factual, honest, but not "GET OUT NOW BEFORE WE ALL DIEEEEEEE" like I saw years ago in SC before I think Floyd or some other hurricane.

At any rate, turn off the national news and find a local feed on the intertubes. I think it will give you a bit more comfort because that is driven for locals, not national ratings.

Best of luck to your family.

literally passing over my house in north Tampa sometime around 1AM. I wish it was during the day so I could see it. We put up our shutters yesterday and within the hour will be transferring some food into coolers, assuming loss of power sometime this afternoon. Have individual UPS units available to power my laptop which will allow me to watch local stations and CNN for a long time.

Good luck to your SIL! I'll be back on the other side!

Take good care!

Lost two very small trees that just leaned over from the wind because the ground was so wet, all is well.

I was glad when it was over and my wife's sister found out there was no damage and she was OK.