Tropical storm Ian

Basements are exceedingly rare in Florida. We keep our crap in sheds like normal people!

In reply to Nicole Suddard :

Man, that looks like a whole lot of suck to deal with. So sorry you all are having to deal with this. While I'm not recommending it, when we were without power I tried the suicide cord, generator backfeed through my dryer plug. Worked a treat in terms of being able to use any 110 circuit in the house. I obviously had thrown my main breaker to disconnect from the grid and switched off any 220 breakers in the panel. Yes, I know this is dangerous.

On the coast we have a different name for basements. We call them in door swimming pools. There is no way to keep the water out of them when the water table is only 3' below ground level. 

I stumbled around some more and found a composite aerial photo from the NOAA showing damage in the area of landfall for Ian.     


That, combined with the address I found last night makes me reasonably certain DrBoost's home is intact, as well as most of the trees I can make out.  The PVC fence, however, appears to be destroyed, which wouldn't be the end of the world, as long as the debris wasn't thrown through the windows (or walls).   There doesn't appear to be any standing water as of Sept 30th.  I know there were maps showing possible 6' flooding just a few streets away.

Hopefully, everything is fine, and he spent the storm chilling somewhere safe...

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Where do all y'all keep all y'all's crap?

Yeah, its an issue.  I am very jealous of my buddy's basement in Michigan.

I've got a two car garage, its full.  I've got a trailer, its full.  I've got a covered back porch, its full (of my wife's stuff.)  Hell, I've stored a buncha crap in the back of the truck since I have a tonneau cover.
 

My friend has a ranch in Alabama, he says all the big box stores and many open fields have RVs with Florida plates.  Good idea.

hobiercr said:

In reply to Nicole Suddard :

Man, that looks like a whole lot of suck to deal with. So sorry you all are having to deal with this. While I'm not recommending it, when we were without power I tried the suicide cord, generator backfeed through my dryer plug. Worked a treat in terms of being able to use any 110 circuit in the house. I obviously had thrown my main breaker to disconnect from the grid and switched off any 220 breakers in the panel. Yes, I know this is dangerous.

I installed a transfer switch a few years ago, so the important parts of the house operate more or less normally off generator power. The hardest part is refueling the thing every day. 

Hell, I'm not in Florida, but I have a crawlspace rather than a basement. Been glad too, it's flooded at least once in the last 5 years. I've been working on drainage, but it's looking like I will ultimately need to trench in some.

My neighbors are on their 4th remodel of their finished basement due to flooding.

Tom Suddard said:

hobiercr said:

In reply to Nicole Suddard :

Man, that looks like a whole lot of suck to deal with. So sorry you all are having to deal with this. While I'm not recommending it, when we were without power I tried the suicide cord, generator backfeed through my dryer plug. Worked a treat in terms of being able to use any 110 circuit in the house. I obviously had thrown my main breaker to disconnect from the grid and switched off any 220 breakers in the panel. Yes, I know this is dangerous.

I installed a transfer switch a few years ago, so the important parts of the house operate more or less normally off generator power. The hardest part is refueling the thing every day. 

Transfer switch is on my to-do list. I'm considering whether to buy a bigger generator. Currently have a Yamaha 4000/3600. I don't want to deal with one big enough to run the AC, just the two refrigerators and a freezer, a few lights and fans. I don't know if I could run a microwave too, but that's all. 

Apexcarver said:

Hell, I'm not in Florida, but I have a crawlspace rather than a basement. Been glad too, it's flooded at least once in the last 5 years. I've been working on drainage, but it's looking like I will ultimately need to trench in some.

 

My neighbors are on their 4th remodel of their finished basement due to flooding.

Crawlspaces exist.  Place I grew up in, in Tallahassee, had one underneath.  It was an older house though.

I think slab construction is just cheaper. 

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

We have a small suitcase inverter generator that will run the fridge and some lights, then a cheap 5550 watt that will run a portable A/C and microwave or the water heater on top of the fridge and lights. We were switching between the two to save fuel, but the 5550 stopped making power on one leg so it's now on the sidelines. 

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Mine too. A transfer switch, generator plug, fabric hurricane covers, and some substantial tree trimming are on my to-do list for the winter. We ran the house on a 6600/4000 Generac and while it did ok, it did seem to be struggling a bit. Every now and then it would hunt for an idle. Could have been load, could have been some crap in the fuel filter. We ran two fridges, wifi, tv, and assorted lights and ceiling fans. I'm planning on putting in a 50amp plug so if we do get a big generator it can power the AC. We've been without power for up to 8 days after previous storms and the heat/humidity is normally the killer.

Tom, re gas. Yep! Feeding the gen 10+ gallons of fuel a day can be a drag and a huge $$.

What are fabric hurricane covers?

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

I've just started to see them in the past couple years.  Kevlar or some other fabric, designed to catch debris.  Not sure how much they'd flex though.
Can't put my finger on how I feel about them.

I've had one for my front door for the last 17 years. Its been through a couple of storms. 

Not sure how good it is but it has the same rating as my accordion shutters, which are rated for Miami/Dade code. 

In reply to Slippery :

Thanks buddy. I appreciate the concern. 
Wow, my first named storm was a whopper! We are exceedingly fortunate. We lost out privacy fence. It's evenly distributed around Charlotte county. Part of that fence went through our metal back door, the top of my well was chopped up from debris, and some torn screens. Another piece of something broke the water pipe at the house, so another repair. We're absolutely stunned our windows are intact. Our roof is only a few months old, not a shingle lost. The weirdest damage?  The panel that runs under the rear-side window of the Odyssey, it covers the sliding door track; it got blown off!  Never expected that. 
currently no electricity or running water. 
 

as many know, it's life AFTER the storm that sucks. Going to home depot to get plumbing, waiting 45 minutes to find they don't have it, then driving to lowes to see if they have it, no dice. So you consider the hardware store that you heard was open, but every mile you drive is that much less gas you have, and who knows when gas will be available. 
on that note, seeing people line up for 1/2 a mile for a gas station that isn't even open. Just getting in line for when it does. 
and the lack of laundry facilities......

Thanks for the concern.  And to all those that are dealing with this, cleaning up, rebuilding, repairing: hang in there. Look at it this way, at least it's not 95 and humid. 
i'm driving east until I fing gas and good enough data to download docs so I can work. That's another topic. Maybe I'll start a thread....

In reply to DrBoost :

Glad to hear from you. 

DrBoost said:

In reply to Slippery :

Thanks buddy. I appreciate the concern. 
Wow, my first named storm was a whopper! We are exceedingly fortunate. We lost out privacy fence. It's evenly distributed around Charlotte county. Part of that fence went through our metal back door, the top of my well was chopped up from debris, and some torn screens. Another piece of something broke the water pipe at the house, so another repair. We're absolutely stunned our windows are intact. Our roof is only a few months old, not a shingle lost. The weirdest damage?  The panel that runs under the rear-side window of the Odyssey, it covers the sliding door track; it got blown off!  Never expected that. 
currently no electricity or running water. 
 

as many know, it's life AFTER the storm that sucks. Going to home depot to get plumbing, waiting 45 minutes to find they don't have it, then driving to lowes to see if they have it, no dice. So you consider the hardware store that you heard was open, but every mile you drive is that much less gas you have, and who knows when gas will be available. 
on that note, seeing people line up for 1/2 a mile for a gas station that isn't even open. Just getting in line for when it does. 
and the lack of laundry facilities......

 

Thanks for the concern.  And to all those that are dealing with this, cleaning up, rebuilding, repairing: hang in there. Look at it this way, at least it's not 95 and humid. 
i'm driving east until I fing gas and good enough data to download docs so I can work. That's another topic. Maybe I'll start a thread....

Glad you're OK dude

In reply to DrBoost :

Hey man, glad to hear from you!

I work in the Lakewood Ranch area of Bradenton, but live in Riverview.  If I can help by bringing some stuff down to you, please let me know.

In reply to DrBoost :

Glad that you're ok and hope you make it through the aftermath as painless as possible. Let me know if there's anything I can do. 

Well, that was fun. 

No flooding, no damage to the house. Even the solar panel for our security camera made it.

We only lost power for about six hours. The neighbors threw a cord to their generator over the fence so we could keep the fridge running. 

No internet/cell data until yesterday afternoon, though. 

The trees took a beating, though, and we had plenty to clean up.

In reply to DrBoost :

Extremely glad to hear from you!

I am 3 hours to your door and there are plenty of supplies on this side of Florida. If you need anything, let me know.

My first year here we got Andrew, luckily I was further north in Broward but I will never forget it. Its a huge learning experience.

Anyone got a spare generator for DrBoost? I sold mine a few years ago.

In reply to Shadeux :

I have a 5k watt one that has not run since 2005. It has extremely low hours, but the carb will probably need to be cleaned. 

There's power less than 2 miles from my house. I'm hoping I'll be back in yhe 21st century soon....