Ike- Moving West a bit

The latest update shows that Hurricane Ike, a category 4 hurricane, is still moving its way to us, this time moving a little more southwest that originally projected. But as unpredictable as these storms are, we are just hoping it continues along this path instead of making any unexpected turns towards the Gulf Coast. I guess its just a matter of time. Today my uncle and dad are putting the hurricane shutters on my grandmother's house in preparation.

Ike

As I am sure all of you are watching, we are monitoring Hurricane Ike closely. At this time it is still a ways out but looming our way. Based on the projected paths so far, Hurricane Ike is expected to reach us around Wednesday and could be as strong as a category three or four storm. This one is serious and means bad news, especially if it slows down which will allow it to pick up strength around the warm waters of the Florida Straits. Unfortunately we will not know much more until Sunday probably. A lot of things could happen between now and then and the projected path could change. For now we will take the same usual precautions and expect the worse. We ask that everyone keep an eye on the Weather Channel for up to date info on this big storm and keep us in your prayers.

We Were On the News!

NCH holding blood drives all weekend

Originally posted by Noah Pransky on: Friday, September 05, 2008 Last updated on: 9/5/2008 11:46:36 PM

COLLIER COUNTY: While everyone is preparing for Hurricane Ike in their own ways, local hospitals are getting ready by bulking up on blood.

Anticipating a shortage in donors next week and possibly a surge in demand - Naples Community Hospital is hosting blood drives all weekend.

They even gave back themselves, rewarding donors with free movie tickets at Coconut Point yesterday.

"Whenever there's a big event like a hurricane or other disaster, they are going to need it," said donor Shawna Laufer.

The blood drives continue this weekend. On Saturday, you can get free movie tickets by donating at the Hollywood 20 theater in Naples from noon to 6 p.m.

Or, on Monday, you can donate from noon to 5:30 p.m. at the Naples Community Hospital Support Services Building.

© 2008 by ABC7 NEWS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Fay is Going Away

After making its first U.S. landfall Monday afternoon over Key West, Florida; Tropical Storm Fay made its second landfall near Cape Romano, Florida on Tuesday morning at about 4:45am ET.

A is in effect for the Florida Keys and the majority of Florida's Atlantic coast. All hurricane warnings have been discontinued and a tropical storm warning is in effect now for the Florida Keys and majority of Florida's Atlantic coast.

As of 5 am, Tropical Storm made landfall about 55 miles south of Ft. Myers, Florida near Cape Romano. Fay is moving to the north-northeast at 9 mph. This northward motion is expected to continue throughout the majority of the day as Fay crosses the Florida peninsula.

Parts of the Florida Keys have experienced tropical storm conditions during much of the day on Monday though conditions should gradually improve during the morning hours. The conditions that the Florida Keys experienced on Monday is what coastal southwest Florida can expect this morning and continue into the midday hours.

The greatest impact from Fay, however, has been the heavy rain. Fay is forecast to produce rain totals of 4 to 8 inches with some locations picking up close to 10 inches throughout South Florida. Eventually, as Fay moves north across the state, a greater portion of the Florida peninsula will deal with the heavy, maybe even flooding, rain.

As Fay rotates northward, it is also possible for isolated tornadoes to impact central and south Florida.

Fay continues to produce moderate to heavy rainfall across the southern half of the state on top of the estimated 4-8 inches that has already fallen across south Florida.

Although Fay's central pressure continued to fall Monday night into Tuesday morning, the winds never responded to the lowering pressure and hurricane status was never reach before landfall.

The extended future of Tropical Storm Fay is somewhat uncertain with computer models suggesting Fay may stall off the northeast Florida Atlantic coast before making another landfall somewhere along the Southeast U.S. coast later on this week.

Its still too early to determine if Nils and I will be reporting to work. I will keep you all posted moving forward.

Fay is On Her Way...

Bringing heavy tropical rains and tropical storm-force winds,Tropical Storm Fay has made landfall for the first time in the US and a second landfall will occur tomorrow morning estimated to be very close to home. Fay is on her way.

A hurricane warning is now in effect for southwestern Florida including Ft Myers which is where we live.

As of 8 pm this evening, Fay was located about 105 miles south of Ft. Myers,with maximum sustained winds at 60 miles per hour. Fay is moving to the north at 9 mph.This northward motion is expected to continue until tomorrow's landfall somewhere along the southwest Florida coast.

Parts of the Florida Keys has experienced tropical storm conditions during much of the day and will likely continue to feel these effect through the evening hours. Sustained winds, at times, have been above 40 mph while gusts have approached 60 mph or greater in a few locales. A gust above hurricane force (74 mph or higher) is not out of the question.

The greatest impact from Fay, however, has been the heavy rain. Fay is forecast to produce rain totals of 4 to 8 inches with some locations picking up close to 10 inches throughout the Florida Keys and portions of South Florida. As Fay rotates northward, it is also possible for isolated tornadoes to impact the South Florida area.

Fay is not a very organized system and regardless of Fay's landfall, the majority of the Florida peninsula will experience heavy rain. There is a small window of time during which Tropical Storm Fay may gain some slight additional organization and thus strengthen. It is not out of the question that Fay may reach Category 1 hurricane status before making landfall along the southwest Florida coast. This is what we are all preparing for.

Fay's peak strength is all dependent on how long it remains over the Gulf waters.

With the uncertainty of where the storm will go, we are making all the necessary precautions. This evening my dad and Nils were busy bringing in patio furniture and putting up the storm shutters. Comcast ordered that all technicians with company vehicles be off the road by 6 pm tonight. Comcast has also agreed to close the office until noon tomorrow. We were all given a card with a Hurricane Hotline number to call around 10 am tomorrow morning for further instructions on whether or not we are to report to work along with any other updates on the storm they might have. Some areas are under mandatory evacuation (coastal areas) and schools in both our county and our neighboring county are scheduled to be closed tomorrow.

With such bad weather in our near future, you would have never known it by looking outside. Outside it looks like our typical Florida summer evening rain with just a slight increase in wind. But as they say, there is the calm before the storm. So for now we are just relaxing and keeping up with the Weather Channel for updates.

Tropical Storm Fay

As you might already know by watching the Weather Channel, there is a tropical story Fay that is working its way to Florida. I know there is a lot of concern from family and friends out of state for the wellbeing of our family in the even that this storm should hit us. I just want you all to know that we are ready and waiting. Its fortunate that we live with my parents as their house has storm panels that can easily be put up should the storm increase to a hurricane status and my dad filled up his gas cans with gasoline should we need to use the generator. All the vehicles have full tanks of gas, we have PLENTY of bottled water (a plus to my mom working for Culligan which is a bottled water supplier), we have loads of can goods, emergency kits, the works. We have to chuckle a little since as we are all secretly hoping this storm will grant us a free day off of work, but without causing any serious damage of course. Since these storms can strengthen or weaken and turn outside of the projected path, we are all just sitting and waiting, living life normally until further notice. So until we have more information on what might happen, just know we are taking all precautions possible and are prepared. We are Floridians, we are used to this stuff now! LOL!