Florida in Crosshairs Again…. Milton

[TCABM]

Initial report is my plane and hangar are fine. FD77 is about 30% destroyed, with 6 to 10 aircraft destroyed or substantially damaged, but most surviving. It took pretty much a direct hit from the worst winds.

While not great news for everyone, good news for you that I hope is true.

 

[Salty]

Pretty sure half fast came up with this

Nah. He'd have tanks blocking the south bound lanes as well.

 

[Half Fast]

Not bad at all. Lost a little bit of fence, power is out. Running on my generator; no air conditioning but I have lights, fans, refrigerator, etc. No internet until a few minutes ago. House, barn, and hangar are all undamaged. My well pump seems to have died (pressure switch has voltage and is functioning) so I have a well guy coming tomorrow.

 

[ateamer]

Our county (St. Lucie) was hit with multiple tornadoes today. Our airpark is okay so far. A former neighbor is in the hospital after the mobile home park he moved to a few miles north of us was hit by a tornado. Reports are 25+ dead.

We’re on an extended road trip in California and all we can do is hope for the best. If things happen that I really should be at home for, my wife and the pups will stay with relatives and I’ll marathon it back home.

It’s been revised to five dead and 25+ to the hospital. Still tragic, but not as high a death toll as originally reported. Looks like reporters took “casualties” to mean dead.

 

[FormerHangie]

Greetings from Downtown St. Petersburg. Rode out Milton at home (non-evacuation zone, post-Andrew construction).

Albert Whitted/KSPG has major damage. Many hangars destroyed (along with their contents, whether it was a plane or sofas).

Not a great feeling. View attachment 134202View attachment 134203View attachment 134204View attachment 134205View attachment 134206View attachment 134207View attachment 134208View attachment 134209View attachment 134210View attachment 134211

That is savage.

 

[RyanB]

Not bad at all. Lost a little bit of fence, power is out. Running on my generator; no air conditioning but I have lights, fans, refrigerator, etc. No internet until a few minutes ago. House, barn, and hangar are all undamaged. My well pump seems to have died (pressure switch has voltage and is functioning) so I have a well guy coming tomorrow.

Dude, you left out the most important part …






How’s the airplane?




Jokes aside, I’m glad to hear you made it out OK.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

Fort Pierce (KFPR) is closed and sustained damage from a tornado, FBO reports some planes have been damaged. They won’t let anyone on property for safety reasons and haven’t detailed what got hit and don’t want anyone taking pictures?

So now I wait.

 

[Half Fast]

How’s the airplane?

As far as I can tell, fine. I drove by the airport today but power is out and I couldn’t get in the gate. I drove past the fence and looked at the hangar and didn’t see any damage, and there was no flooding in that area.

Damage around our area seems pretty light, from what I saw today. A few trees down here and there but very few damaged buildings. Flooding is isolated to a few streets, pretty localized. Power is out everywhere, though, and hardly any traffic lights are working. As of late afternoon, power crews were still assessing the outages and not much restoration has begun yet.

 

[traumamed]

Greetings from Downtown St. Petersburg. Rode out Milton at home (non-evacuation zone, post-Andrew construction).

Albert Whitted/KSPG has major damage. Many hangars destroyed (along with their contents, whether it was a plane or sofas).

Not a great feeling. View attachment 134202View attachment 134203View attachment 134204View attachment 134205View attachment 134206View attachment 134207View attachment 134208View attachment 134209View attachment 134210View attachment 134211

Ugh, those pictures hurt to look at.

My home drome is KSRQ. I can't get hull coverage due to a prior accident (100% mechanical/not pilot error, but insurance companies say a claim is a claim and call back in 24 months). Therefore, I couldn't take a chance on leaving my plane in the community hangar I share there. I was one of the last few planes out of KSRQ on Tue before it closed. Still no word from my hangar-mates how they fared, but I heard KSRQ is still closed and assessing damage. I worry for KVNC as well. Numerous planes got wrecked in the surge/floods after Ian, and I fear the same may have happened with Milton.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

Fort Pierce (KFPR) is closed and sustained damage from a tornado, FBO reports some planes have been damaged. They won’t let anyone on property for safety reasons and haven’t detailed what got hit and don’t want anyone taking pictures?

So now I wait.

Took some pictures from outside the fence:

The 2nd picture is of the brand new hangars, I’m always amazed that some things get destroyed and others don’t. How that jet survived unscathed I don’t know.
I see other hangars with either their doors ajar or buckled, I presume the contents are not damaged.

This all happened when the eye was still over a 100 miles away.

 

[Half Fast]

I’m always amazed that some things get destroyed and others don’t. How that jet survived unscathed I don’t know.

This all happened when the eye was still over a 100 miles away.

That sounds much like a small, brief tornado. Often they spin up quickly on the edges of a cane, then rapidly dissipate. We had several tornadoes here in Polk 6-8 hours before the eye got here.

 

[traumamed]

That sounds much like a small, brief tornado. Often they spin up quickly on the edges of a cane, then rapidly dissipate. We had several tornadoes here in Polk 6-8 hours before the eye got here.

Agree in general, and that surely happened with Milton to some extent... but in highly atypical fashion for a tropical system, it spawned numerous violent long-tracked wedges. A lot of scenes on Wednesday resembled something you'd expect to see out of Oklahoma in May.

 

[Sluggo63]

Ugh, those pictures hurt to look at.

My home drome is KSRQ. I can't get hull coverage due to a prior accident (100% mechanical/not pilot error, but insurance companies say a claim is a claim and call back in 24 months). Therefore, I couldn't take a chance on leaving my plane in the community hangar I share there. I was one of the last few planes out of KSRQ on Tue before it closed. Still no word from my hangar-mates how they fared, but I heard KSRQ is still closed and assessing damage. I worry for KVNC as well. Numerous planes got wrecked in the surge/floods after Ian, and I fear the same may have happened with Milton.

Yeah, my plane rode Helene out on the ramp. I was gone from home for a while between work and visiting kids that when I left, there wasn't even a low pressure system, and while I was still gone it turned into a hurricane. I wasn't too worried about that one since it looked like a glancing blow and most people didn't evacuate. My plane was getting worked on while Milton was forming and wasn't in flyable condition for me to get it out of there. Mechanic was able to leave it in the maintenance hangar for Milton, which worked out. I was able to get eyes on it, and it was fine in there. There was some water on the hangar floor, but nothing that looked like it was more than just some rain blowing in. I dodged a bullet on this one.

I have to come up with a better evacuation plan, since I may be gone from town for up to 2 weeks at a time for work and that's plenty of time for something to go from nothing to a Category 4 storm. The other guy who flies my airplane is also an airline guy and may not be able to get my plane out. I may need to find a local MEI to fly out if I or my buddy can't get it out of the way.

 

[traumamed]

Yeah, my plane rode Helene out on the ramp. I was gone from home for a while between work and visiting kids that when I left, there wasn't even a low pressure system, and while I was still gone it turned into a hurricane. I wasn't too worried about that one since it looked like a glancing blow and most people didn't evacuate. My plane was getting worked on while Milton was forming and wasn't in flyable condition for me to get it out of there. Mechanic was able to leave it in the maintenance hangar for Milton, which worked out. I was able to get eyes on it, and it was fine in there. There was some water on the hangar floor, but nothing that looked like it was more than just some rain blowing in. I dodged a bullet on this one.

I have to come up with a better evacuation plan, since I may be gone from town for up to 2 weeks at a time for work and that's plenty of time for something to go from nothing to a Category 4 storm. The other guy who flies my airplane is also an airline guy and may not be able to get my plane out. I may need to find a local MEI to fly out if I or my buddy can't get it out of the way.

DM sent

 

[Sluggo63]

DM sent

Got it. Thanks.

 

[Ed Haywood]

As reported, my plane is unscathed. Those port-o-hangars are stout. Mine is more rust than steel at this point.


Turns out only one aircraft was destroyed, with another 6ish damaged but repairable.

5 of the old wooden hangers collapsed. None of the steel structures gave way. The shade hangar held up well, except for some corrugated panels. Aircraft secured with ratchet straps had no damage. Those tied with ropes were pushed around and sustained damage to wing edges.

 

[Half Fast]

Glad to hear your plane and hangar are okay, Ed. Sorry about the damaged ones, though.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

In Fort Pierce the only planes with damaged were tied outside, hangars were damaged but still protected planes. Models are showing another one in about 10 days in the gulf.