Wind it back a day or two for the poor people who've already had a taste of that hurricane.

The financial cost of this one could be huge.    I have seen estimates of 100 to 140 billion US to repair all the damage to the Houston area.   To put those figures into some context one of those huge nuclear powered aircraft carriers costs between 12 billion and 14 billion to build.    That figure does not include the aircraft as far as I know.

I'm a fan of a couple of sports teams from the Tampa Bay area and I follow a bunch of people from the area on Twitter as a result. Most were fairly blasé about Irma (just another storm, etc...) until the projected track put it squarely in their path up the Gulf Coast. Now they have had to make a choice to evacuate or not. Some have and some have not. Now there is real concern from some who have chosen to stay as Irma has gained in strength and is back up to a category 5 hurricane. Hopefully they all make it through ok. 

Wiggum:

 

This is getting really crazy. Thoughts going out to the people in Florida. I would hate to be there right now.

 

 

I wouldn't have been there right now. It's not like they had 10 minutes of warning...!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Gordon_(2000)#Florida

I 'survived' this one back in 2000!   Luckily by the time it reached Florida it had been downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane.    In central Florida it turned out to be no more than a wet and windy(ish) day.   One of the local newspapers had the headline 'Hurricane Gordon slogs ashore.'    For every devastating hurricane there are dozens of minor ones like Gordon.

Geektastic:

 

Wiggum:

 

This is getting really crazy. Thoughts going out to the people in Florida. I would hate to be there right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wouldn't have been there right now. It's not like they had 10 minutes of warning...!

 

Did you see the traffic out of Miami?

Wiggum:

 

Geektastic:

 

Wiggum:

 

This is getting really crazy. Thoughts going out to the people in Florida. I would hate to be there right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wouldn't have been there right now. It's not like they had 10 minutes of warning...!

 

 

Did you see the traffic out of Miami?

 

you mean the giant parking lot. They also did a comparison between the last category 5 Hurricane, which was Andrew, and Irma . Irma is 5 times bigger and stronger and Andrew did 26 billion in damage.

Wiggum:

 

Geektastic:

 

Wiggum:

 

This is getting really crazy. Thoughts going out to the people in Florida. I would hate to be there right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wouldn't have been there right now. It's not like they had 10 minutes of warning...!

 

 

Did you see the traffic out of Miami?

 

By my reckoning the first warnings were around 1 September. That is 9 days ago. You could have walked 90 miles in that time...! I'd rather walk and be further away than sit in the car going nowhere and get flattened when it arrives, personally.

Also, 9 days ago I bet you could have got a flight almost anywhere outside Florida. Now not so much.

As I said, personally I would have left immediately.

We were on a Fijian Island when a tropical storm came in. I am not kidding that from Sunny to Stormy to Sunny again was less than 25 minutes, but in that time it tore trees right out of the ground and hurled pool furniture that was "secured" down hard enough to go through the wall of a utility building and embedded it into the wall so hard three of us had to remove it. Was the loudest wind I had ever heard. This is many many times more powerful than that, they have my sympathy and thoughts. 

Having said that, if you are still in that area, you are a moron. 

gzt: The vast majority of those staying will be very poor. No money for gas, no vehicle, no idea where to go, things like that.

You are completely right and I feel stupid for the last part of my prior post. 

gzt: Meantime at the Florida southernmost point webcam

gzt: The vast majority of those staying will be very poor. No money for gas, no vehicle, no idea where to go, things like that.

They mostly have legs. Also, Florida is a peninsular. There isn't much difficulty in figuring out where to go...

If it is a choice between walking and living on tins of beans, begging shelter from farmers or churches en route as you head away, or almost certain death at the whim of nature, I personally would put my shoes on and head out. FEMA will no doubt be on the ground all over Florida providing assistance and direction, as will the police and National Guard.

Poverty isn't really an excuse not to make every effort to save yourself, is it?

Of course, some will be physically or mentally unable to deal with evacuating themselves and the authorities should try and make sure they get those.