How are the Florida peeps doing ?

Ok so far, the main brunt isn't to our side (East Cost/ MLB) yet. We will see the larger impacts tonight and tomorrow. Have some friends about 40 miles north of the eye wall and they're out of power and some downed limbs/trees, nothing too major. Where it made landfall is a TOTAL mess! Thoughts and prayers go out to them... and those still in the way of it as it's still reporting a Cat 4 and has been on land a couple hours now. It'll hit central FL as a Cat 1, which is impressive given the land it will have crossed by then.
 
just a rainy day up here in NE FL so far.
Watching the news earlier and saw several shots of flipped planes. Apparently at a few different airports.... led to believe even in the ORL area but I'm not sure I heard him correctly.
I've got a friend down in FT Myers.... texted back and forth a bit mid AM.... haven't heard from him since then.
 
Was supposed to go to a wedding in two weeks in Naples - but the venue got storm surged with 14 feet of water.
 
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So far so good, here in Haines City. Worst winds won’t arrive for a couple of hours. The storm is moving very slowly which is giving it a chance to weaken. SWMBO and I are in bed watching old movies. I was tempted to pop in Key Largo but decided that would be pushing it.....
 
Any PIREPS on the Punta Gorda / Fort Myers area airports, now that the storm has passed?
Specifically PGD their Wx appears to be offline. searched online for weather/traffic live cameras but they are all offline since 28th (yesterday), makes sense since the power is out.

I know its been only one day, but I ask because in the next day or two if the airport opens-up for GA traffic I might need to fly an extraction mission down there to pick-up a family member who's house got ruined.

Can anyone give me any advice from previous hurricanes how airports re-open ? I guess first priority is getting power back to the airport then a minimum crew of essential workers to re-open the airport (Tower controllers, runway debris clearing, turn the lights back on, etc)

I imaging there might be no fuel service, I can handle that.... but the airport might be closed for a day or two, and when they do re-open how do they handle the reopening? They run a temporary Tower ??? or just "you're on your own its a CTAF ???"
do they say "the runway surface is open, but there's no FBO services"?

Those of you who have been thru this before, please advise how was it handled in the past? (e.g. Charley in 2004)
 
We lost half of our barn roof last night. Power out all over the state. This place will look like a war zone for a while. I don't advise flying into SW FL in the next few days.
 
Pictures starting to come in on the news. Just devastating!

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Massive claims coming not only for aviation, but for the boat world!

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ChopAndDrop said:
Any PIREPS on the Punta Gorda / Fort Myers area airports, now that the storm has passed?
Specifically PGD their Wx appears to be offline. searched online for weather/traffic live cameras but they are all offline since 28th (yesterday), makes sense since the power is out.

I know its been only one day, but I ask because in the next day or two if the airport opens-up for GA traffic I might need to fly an extraction mission down there to pick-up a family member who's house got ruined.

Can anyone give me any advice from previous hurricanes how airports re-open ? I guess first priority is getting power back to the airport then a minimum crew of essential workers to re-open the airport (Tower controllers, runway debris clearing, turn the lights back on, etc)

I imaging there might be no fuel service, I can handle that.... but the airport might be closed for a day or two, and when they do re-open how do they handle the reopening? They run a temporary Tower ??? or just "you're on your own its a CTAF ???"
do they say "the runway surface is open, but there's no FBO services"?

Those of you who have been thru this before, please advise how was it handled in the past? (e.g. Charley in 2004)
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From my experience with Katrina, it may take several days for the airport to be minimally open, and even then there may be TFRs or restrictions in place to only allow military or authorized relief flights.
 
WDD said:
Wow. I would have thought anyone with a plane would have evacuated.
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Assuming the aircraft was airworthy, and the owner was in-town or didn't have other items higher on their evacuation plans. Some may have had a ramp queen and were hoping for an insurance payout, lol.
 
I see they just extended the Fort Meyers NOTAM for airport closure to Oct 8
 
Thanks for asking. Plane is in Sarasota in a hangar .Boat rode out the storm ,storm surge hit south of us.
 
Thanks for the insight. I see the info about RSW Airport closing extended to Oct 8, and so even iF PGD opens soon there’s a good chance it’s NOTAM for only first-responders and relief flights.


What about father north like BKV (Brooksville), or INF (Inverness) or do I have to look farther north like Cross City?

Any PIREP up there, the BKV airport still seems to be reporting AWOS like normal.

I think if my family could get to that airport then I could pick them up from there. Big “IF” …. Or SEF (Sebring regional) might be able to get over there…
 
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ChopAndDrop said:
Thanks for the insight. I see the info about RSW Airport closing extended to Oct 8, and so even iF PGD opens soon there’s a good chance it’s NOTAM for only first-responders and relief flights.


What about father north like BKV (Brooksville), or INF (Inverness) or do I have to look farther north like Cross City?

Any PIREP up there, the BKV airport still seems to be reporting AWOS like normal.

I think if my family could get to that airport then I could pick them up from there. Big “IF” …. Or SEF (Sebring regional) might be able to get over there…
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I would definitely CALL any airport you are thinking of going into, just to confirm sure things are open and operational. I would not depend on AWOS or NOTAMs in a situation such as this.
 
ChopAndDrop said:
Thanks for the insight. I see the info about RSW Airport closing extended to Oct 8, and so even iF PGD opens soon there’s a good chance it’s NOTAM for only first-responders and relief flights.


What about father north like BKV (Brooksville), or INF (Inverness) or do I have to look farther north like Cross City?

Any PIREP up there, the BKV airport still seems to be reporting AWOS like normal.

I think if my family could get to that airport then I could pick them up from there. Big “IF” …. Or SEF (Sebring regional) might be able to get over there…
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I'm not quite sure what you are looking for.

BKV is 7 miles from me and we didn't get much wind at all, doubt they had any damage. It was sustained 40-45 mph all night, but not really anything more.

It's still pretty windy though. I wouldn't fly in it quite yet.
 
Salty said:
I'm not quite sure what you are looking for.
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Yeah, this whole ideas has gone from a “maybe could I do this to help my relatives ?” to a “there’s no way this is happening”, for sure.

I gave them plenty of chances to get flown-out before the storm, I made it clear at the time this was a “Last flight out of Saigon” kinda situation with an ultimatum that Monday (26th) was the absolute last day of clear weather I could make a flight… Now it’s all on them.
 
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WDD said:
Wow. I would have thought anyone with a plane would have evacuated.
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FWIW: In my experience along the GOM coast, unless you're retired and single, flying your airplane out would have a higher priority. But if you have a job that requires your presence and a family, household, etc. the "fly out by airplane" drops in priority. Statistically, have seen very few aircraft flown out before a storm over the years. Same with pulling your boat out vs preparing the house in that same 72 hour timeframe.
 
WDD said:
I see they just extended the Fort Meyers NOTAM for airport closure to Oct 8
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I think half of Florida is under a TFR for disaster recovery right now...or was.

You gotta think whoever owns that Bo tied down correctly in the Pembroke Pines picture is jonesing to get to the airport and make sure there's no extra damage. A single nick on the ruddervator...
 
No idea when we’ll get power back. I just hooked up my portable generator. It fired right off, after being in storage since the 2017 ‘cane, so I guess my pickling procedure worked.

Our barn took severe damage, but the horse stalls and my shop are intact. We lost all of the roof over the tack room and the breezeway. For now, SWMBO stashed tack in the tack room of her horse trailer. We’ll use the shop for hay storage until we can make repairs.

But at least the main house is undamaged and we’re safe. The gennie is purring out back and we’re reasonably comfortable with lights, water, ceiling fans, etc. All we’re really missing is AC.

Tomorrow I’ll visit the airport and see how my hangar fared.
 
Half Fast said:
No idea when we’ll get power back. I just hooked up my portable generator. It fired right off, after being in storage since the 2017 ‘cane, so I guess my pickling procedure worked.

Our barn took severe damage, but the horse stalls and my shop are intact. We lost all of the roof over the tack room and the breezeway. For now, SWMBO stashed tack in the tack room of her horse trailer. We’ll use the shop for hay storage until we can make repairs.

But at least the main house is undamaged and we’re safe. The gennie is purring out back and we’re reasonably comfortable with lights, water, ceiling fans, etc. All we’re really missing is AC.

Tomorrow I’ll visit the airport and see how my hangar fared.
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Let me know if you need anything.
 
Half Fast said:
No idea when we’ll get power back. I just hooked up my portable generator. It fired right off, after being in storage since the 2017 ‘cane, so I guess my pickling procedure worked.

Our barn took severe damage, but the horse stalls and my shop are intact. We lost all of the roof over the tack room and the breezeway. For now, SWMBO stashed tack in the tack room of her horse trailer. We’ll use the shop for hay storage until we can make repairs.

But at least the main house is undamaged and we’re safe. The gennie is purring out back and we’re reasonably comfortable with lights, water, ceiling fans, etc. All we’re really missing is AC.

Tomorrow I’ll visit the airport and see how my hangar fared.
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I'm surprised you have communication ability. After Katrina, we couldn't even get a cell signal much less any land line connection. Forget internet access.
 
I made the mistake of reading Twitter replies on a news article about Ian that was posted in that cesspool, and it seems that hurricane deniers are an actual thing. Sigh.

Plus a bunch of political back-and-forth, which is a little more expected though does not serve to further my faith in our citizenry.

But best wishes to everyone here who is impacted. People are suffering and that is not political.
 
midwestpa24 said:
I'm surprised you have communication ability. After Katrina, we couldn't even get a cell signal much less any land line connection. Forget internet access.
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It was like that here after each of the 2004 hurricanes. There are many more cell towers now and much better emergency power.
 
ChopAndDrop said:
Any PIREPS on the Punta Gorda / Fort Myers area airports, now that the storm has passed?
Specifically PGD their Wx appears to be offline. searched online for weather/traffic live cameras but they are all offline since 28th (yesterday), makes sense since the power is out.

I know its been only one day, but I ask because in the next day or two if the airport opens-up for GA traffic I might need to fly an extraction mission down there to pick-up a family member who's house got ruined.

Can anyone give me any advice from previous hurricanes how airports re-open ? I guess first priority is getting power back to the airport then a minimum crew of essential workers to re-open the airport (Tower controllers, runway debris clearing, turn the lights back on, etc)

I imaging there might be no fuel service, I can handle that.... but the airport might be closed for a day or two, and when they do re-open how do they handle the reopening? They run a temporary Tower ??? or just "you're on your own its a CTAF ???"
do they say "the runway surface is open, but there's no FBO services"?

Those of you who have been thru this before, please advise how was it handled in the past? (e.g. Charley in 2004)
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My brother and his wife live in FMB. They decamped by car yesterday (Wednesday) and are now in a friends’ Condo in Vero Beach. They can’t get in contact with anyone local. The head of their HOA has emailed that no one should try to return to FMB as the roads remain blocked with debris and water, that there are NO municipal services, etc. It sounds like it will be a long time before things normalize.

I have no experience with airports reopening after a disaster like this. Sorry, I can’t answer your question with direct knowledge. Just from my brother’s experience, it will be a long time until things become even close to normal.

-Skip
 
We dodged a bullet here in Tampa. Went by my Hangar at Tampa Exec (KVDF) and it looked undamaged. Couldn’t actually get to it because the gates didn’t have power or were shut down, but I was within 30-4o yards of it so I’m satisfied.

my in-laws live just off FtMyers beach and that whole SW FL area got truly hammered.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Man, that was lucky. I'd have been upset if it took out a Ford F'n Ranger!
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We got VERY lucky. If the storm track had been 5 or 10 miles closer, I think we would have lost most structures at the airfield and some beautiful vintage airplanes.
 
that's good. What were the max winds you got there?
 
Don't really know actual. I think about 70 or so with gusts to 90mph.
 
Half Fast said:
Don't really know actual. I think about 70 or so with gusts to 90mph.
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Yikes. And that's a couple hundred miles inland from landfall.
 
Salty said:
Yikes. And that's a couple hundred miles inland from landfall.
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We took a center punch here. The eye went directly over us. Lakeland had much lower winds.

The big deal was duration. I think we had TS or greater winds for almost 24 hours. Much less destruction than 2004’s Charlie, however. The track was similar, but Charlie was a fast-moving buzz saw that didn’t lose much strength before it hit my house. The golf course a couple of miles from me recorded something like 115mph winds during Charlie.
 
As best as I can judge from this map, our place is a little north of the “p” in “Tampa.”


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