Does anyone live in Florida?

[Anonymous]

How did the east coast fare? Like Melbourne? What about Orlando? Any info over there?

[Anonymous]

We have friends in Orlando and West Palm Beach and both families rode out the storm just fine. There was intermittent power outages, lots of tornados and some minor flooding but generally they were spared.

[Anonymous]

My mother is in Ft. Myers. She is currently in an 8 story apartment building with both power and water downtown. Her condo closer to the beach has neither. She is trying to figure out how to get to DC now.

[Anonymous]

I live in Florida, in sarasota. More damage here than we expected, but the upper half of the county is totally safe and livable. The bottom half (with less residents) is more dicey. I'm just hearing stuff by word of mouth, other families in the school system etc. There are people who needed to evacuate because of flooding and sturctural damage.

[Anonymous]

We have checked in with 3 different sets of friends who live in Tampa. All are fine. They never even lost power.

Disneyworld and all the other theme parks around Orlando have all reopened as of today, so I guess Orlando must be fine.

[Anonymous]

My parents are in Boca Raton (Palm Beach County). They had some storms and power was lost for a bit. I think the schools closed down for a few days. But as of today when I talked to them things are back to business as if nothing ever happened. No damage at all for them.

I think parts of Orlando had/are having flooding issues- I saw pictures on Twitter of a house in that area that was filled with waist high water. But nothing like the Fort Myers area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mother is in Ft. Myers. She is currently in an 8 story apartment building with both power and water downtown. Her condo closer to the beach has neither. She is trying to figure out how to get to DC now.

NP. I’m glad she has water and power. Our families are also there and have neither or one but none of their houses have both water and power. We keep looking at this map and trying to convince them to go to Miami and we can book them plane tickets here. They are scared to drive since they say it’s dangerous without traffic lights working. They are all elderly. https://fl511.com/

[Anonymous]

the link shows which roads are currently flooded or closed in the state.

[Anonymous]

We are in sarasota. In addition to the poster above, schools here are closed indefinitely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother is in Ft. Myers. She is currently in an 8 story apartment building with both power and water downtown. Her condo closer to the beach has neither. She is trying to figure out how to get to DC now.

NP. I’m glad she has water and power. Our families are also there and have neither or one but none of their houses have both water and power. We keep looking at this map and trying to convince them to go to Miami and we can book them plane tickets here. They are scared to drive since they say it’s dangerous without traffic lights working. They are all elderly. https://fl511.com/

You should go get them, or find someone close by can help transport them. If they're elderly and unsure of their capabilities, it's not a good idea to push them to drive without the usual safeguards.

[Anonymous]

We live in Ponte Vedra Nocatee. We are fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother is in Ft. Myers. She is currently in an 8 story apartment building with both power and water downtown. Her condo closer to the beach has neither. She is trying to figure out how to get to DC now.

NP. I’m glad she has water and power. Our families are also there and have neither or one but none of their houses have both water and power. We keep looking at this map and trying to convince them to go to Miami and we can book them plane tickets here. They are scared to drive since they say it’s dangerous without traffic lights working. They are all elderly. https://fl511.com/

My mother told me this morning that Naples Transportation (I think) is going to start a shuttle service from Ft. Meyers to either Ft. Lauderdale or Miami airport for $35 this week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother is in Ft. Myers. She is currently in an 8 story apartment building with both power and water downtown. Her condo closer to the beach has neither. She is trying to figure out how to get to DC now.

NP. I’m glad she has water and power. Our families are also there and have neither or one but none of their houses have both water and power. We keep looking at this map and trying to convince them to go to Miami and we can book them plane tickets here. They are scared to drive since they say it’s dangerous without traffic lights working. They are all elderly. https://fl511.com/

You should go get them, or find someone close by can help transport them. If they're elderly and unsure of their capabilities, it's not a good idea to push them to drive without the usual safeguards.

It’s not that easy. We would definitely do this but they are old and stubborn and don’t want to leave, like many. We have considered trying to fly to Miami, rent a van and go pick them up. It’s more than one couple and none want want to leave each other. Convincing all to go is the problem and of course, there are pets. They are under the impression the houses are safer with them in them. We are concerned about looting in the days and weeks in the future.

Thanks to the poster that mentioned the shuttle. We are looking into all options.

[Anonymous]

If anyone else is trying to help family, I just found this online. Registration starts at 5:30am daily.

One way shuttle services are being offered from Hertz Arena to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Miami International Airport. The shuttle service is $35 per person and each shuttle holds up to 55 people. You do need to register and it is a first come-first served basis. Long-term parking is not permitted at Hertz Arena. The shuttle schedule will continue until further notice.

The shuttle schedule is as follows:

1st shuttle- 6:00 a.m. Departure from Hertz Arena Hockey Statue.
2nd shuttle- 12:00 p.m. Departure from Hertz Arena Hockey Statue.

[Anonymous]

Two of my sons are Line Clearance Foremen (one in Tennessee, one in Oklahoma), and they are in Florida with their crews, working storm damage. One of them arrived in Florida on Monday, the other on Tuesday. One of them called me Thursday with an update and said they were staying in camps, and there was no water in that area. He said they'll be there for a while. He was down there for two weeks after Hurricane Michael. I haven't had another update, they work long hrs when they're on storm damage. Prayers for everyone.