Hurricane Dorian (2019)

[Devil's Advocate]

Do I think we should use the Amtrak equipment and commuter equipment to evacuate people north out of Florida. Definitely that would be good Pr.

The paradox with hurricane evacuation is that the people most likely to benefit from escaping are often the least able to afford another place to stay.

Use old milk jugs, triple wash out. Fill with water, store in a basement, garage, shed, or back of a closet.

Milk jugs are thin and prone to leaking when stored for longer periods. Better to choose thicker water jugs intended for extended storage instead.

I think hurricanes, hot summers, snakes, alligators and traffic are the reasons we live in rural Ohio.

I never knew urban Ohio experienced hurricanes, snakes, and alligators.

 

[Manny T]

My only hurricane experience was Sandy in NYC in 2012. The storm effects in mid-Manhattan where I was weren't terrible -- until a transformer blew out from storm surge and my neighborhood went dark. For five days. The rest of the city had electricity. It was surreal. People went up to GCT to recharge their devices.

Amazingly I had heeded one piece of advice before the storm -- fill your bathtub. This water supply allowed me to flush the toilet for 5 days via a bucket. I would go to a friend's place to take a shower. Surreal.

 

[AutoTrDvr]

Here is the 8am Cone report for Sat. 08/31. Looks like it's going to hug the east cost and head for Beaufort, SC. If it keeps this track, we in Tampa Bay might just get by with a little wind and flooding. But we can't be sure where it will cut in. I hope it stays off shore, as my Aunt and a cousin are in SE Georgia near Jacksonville. They were going to EVAC to SC, but that may now be advisable. We'll all hope for the best, here.

 

[PRR 60]

The forecast models are even a little east of the official track with a couple of oddballs. Hopefully this holds.

 

[pennyk]

8/31 11:30am Amtrak Service Advisory

Amtrak Temporarily Suspends Service in Florida
August 31, 2019 11:30 AM
Severe weather expected to impact Southeast

Due to severe weather expected to impact Florida and the Southeast, Amtrak is cancelling select southeast services for Saturday, August 31, through Tuesday, September 3. For the safety of our customers and employees, the following trains will not operate.

Service cancelled between Miami and Jacksonville on Saturday, August 31 includes:

• Silver Meteor 98

• Silver Star 92

Service cancelled from Saturday, August 31 to Monday, September 2 includes:

• Silver Star 91 (New York – Miami)

• Silver Meteor 97 (New York – Miami)

Service cancelled from Sunday, September 1 to Tuesday, September 3 includes:

• Silver Star 92 (Miami – New York)

• Silver Meteor 98 (Miami – New York)

• Auto Train 52 (Sanford, Fla. – Lorton, Va.)

• Auto Train 53 (Lorton, Va., – Sanford, Fla.)

Service cancelled from Sunday, September 1 to Tuesday, September 3 includes:

• Silver Meteor 98 (Miami – New York)

• Auto Train 52 (Sanford, Fla. – Lorton, Va.)

• Auto Train 53 (Lorton, Va., – Sanford, Fla.)

Bus transportation will not be provided for cancelled trains. Service will be restored pending improved conditions.

Anyone planning to travel should check their train status on Amtrak.com or our smartphone apps prior to departing, allow extra time to get to the station and be extremely careful in stations and on platforms.

Customers with reservations on trains that are being modified will typically be accommodated on trains with similar departure times or another day. Amtrak will gladly waive additional charges for customers looking to change their reservation during the modified schedule by calling our reservation center at 800-USA-RAIL.

Anyone can subscribe to automated email or text message notifications if Amtrak trains are behind schedule at specific stations. Notifications can be given for up to six trains and stations by either text or email and delivered when you choose - on a single day, every day, or just certain days of the week. Create a subscription at Amtrak.com/DelayAlerts.

To be notified of service disruptions on the Northeast Corridor (including Acela, Northeast Regional and other corridor services), follow @AmtrakNECAlerts on Twitter. For service information outside the Northeast Corridor, please follow @AmtrakAlerts for updates.

Customers with travel plans can review refund information on Amtrak.com. Service Alerts, Passenger Notices and other announcements are posted at Amtrak.com/Alerts.

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. This information is correct as of the above time and date. Information is subject to change as conditions warrant.

https://www.amtrak.com/alert/amtrak-to-temporarily-suspend-service-in-florida.html

 

[pennyk]

Brightline will resume service Sunday 9/1

Get Your Labor Day Weekend Back
on Track With Fares Starting at $5
Dear Guest:

With Dorian’s path shifting to the northeast, Brightline will resume service on Sunday, Sept. 1 with $5 fares and a limited schedule.

The reduced schedule is available at www.gobrightline.com and please please monitor gobrightline on Twitter and Facebook for real-time service updates.

 

[JoeBas]

Ballsy. Better hope this thing doesn't travel about 60 nautical miles farther than expected, we might have a repeat of the Matecumbes in '35.

 

[pennyk]

Brightline will resume service Sunday 9/1

According to an email I received at 2:16pm on 9/1, Brightline is suspending service on Monday 9/2

Dear Guest:

Due to Hurricane Dorian, Brightline will suspend service on Monday, Sept. 2.

All Brightline stations including West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Virgin MiamiCentral will close until train service resumes.

Please monitor gobrightline on Twitter and Facebook as well www.gobrightline.com and our mobile app for real-time service updates.

Please be prepared and stay safe.

Stay Safe,

Brightline

 

[Lonestar648]

With storm at 185, 5 mph lower than the Allan at 190, this storm will have far reaching effects, even if it hugs the coast line. Reading the data, having the storm go slower and slower is not good for Florida since it seems it continues to drift due west. Models seem to be confused and once expert stated that at this strength, the steering currents have less and less control on where the storm will go. His fear was that the storm would equal or exceed Allan in strength. Those who wait until the last minute will experience what has happened with every other Hurricane, total outbound grid lock at virtually a standstill. At this point, it is a question of how much damage will the East Coast receive. Just the storm surge could be 23 feet over normal tide levels. Our prayers continue for the people in the storm's path.

 

[justinslot]

Wonder what the chances are for another few days of cancelled Silvers...I was thinking of rebooking my trip for Wednesday but worried I'll just have to move it around again.

EDIT: As of right now the 91 and 97 are showing as cancelled on Amtrak.com for 9/4 and sold out for 9/5 except for coach seats on the 97. So, ummm, I guess I will not be able to quickly rebook my trip.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Wonder what the chances are for another few days of cancelled Silvers...I was thinking of rebooking my trip for Wednesday but worried I'll just have to move it around again.

EDIT: As of right now the 91 and 97 are showing as cancelled on Amtrak.com for 9/4 and sold out for 9/5 except for coach seats on the 97. So, ummm, I guess I will not be able to quickly rebook my trip.

It will depend on how much damage from flooding & winds from FL up to at least NC.

 

[AutoTrDvr]

Here's the 8AM Cone report for Monday, 09/02. If it continues on it's projected path, we might just dodge a bullet in Tampa Bay. However, people along the east coast will now be evacuating, up through SE Georgia, where I have family (that must now evac as well). And we still don't know where/when it might turn inward. We must all stay vigilant.

 

[pennyk]

Here in Orlando, we are starting to get rain bands and wind gusts from the storm.

 

[west point]

Georgia got a rain band Sunday that dropped 1/2inch rain south of Atlanta.

 

[cocojacoby]

I know you got to prepare in advance for these things but Amtrak lost a lot of business by cancelling everything so early. There are lots of people who had to cancel plans for what is always a busy Labor Day weekend down here.

It's now noon on Monday and there is still no effect from the storm. The airports are still open at this time.

I would think that Amtrak's numbers are going to take a hit this month. What are you going to do? Stay safe everyone.

 

[Qapla]

It may have been out of Amtrak's hands - it could be that CSX cancelled the Amtrak trains so they could move their freight to safer areas in the time remaining before the storm got here

 

[user 14106]

If there is a year to year decrease on long distance line this year it will be exclusively due to this cancellation. It was up year by year as of June due to decent spring/summer ridership on a lot of routes particularly the Florida ones. Hopefully advocacy folks will challenge Amtrak if management tries to cite a decrease in ridership this year as a justification for changing the route structure in the re authorization and point out that any drop this fiscal year for the Florida trains is likely due to this hurricane - all three were up on last year as of June - but this cancellation will likely put all 3 in a deficit. Anderson had previously mentioned in a recent letter that decreases in ridership in the last couple years were not because of train cancellations but cancellations in Florida can make a big impact as it affects three routes - if CSX is not the reason for the cancellation they could have operated all three routes until even today and it would have inconvenienced a lot less people...I would note last year during Hurricane Michael which hit the panhandle (I actually was on the Auto Train while it was slamming into Mexico Beach) only the Star was cancelled - Meteor and Auto Train continued to run throughout.... so hopefully that indicates maybe this is CSX. Absent forcing by CSX, a cynical person may otherwise conclude that this was a cynical attempt to drive down numbers for the long distance service line and tick off a lot of people on the holiday weekend by present management. Northeast and Mid Atlantic to Florida is undoubtedly Amtrak's most popular product as far as passengers traveling greater than 500 miles so any disruption to that has a big impact on true long distance ridership.

 

[PRR 60]

Here in Orlando, we are starting to get rain bands and wind gusts from the storm.

Lots of bands out there.

 

[jis]

Here in Melbourne so far it feels like a regular summer day with random rainstorms passing by. But that should change tonight.

Currently at 1:15pm eye wall replacement taking place. The blocking high to the North is gone and the high level trough is almost in place to provide the impetus to move north.

Here's the 8AM Cone report for Monday, 09/02. If it continues on it's projected path, we might just dodge a bullet in Tampa Bay. However, people along the east coast will now be evacuating, up through SE Georgia, where I have family (that must now evac as well). And we still don't know where/when it might turn inward. We must all stay vigilant.

Come now, you at least have to be in one of the Tropical Storm Watches to claim close shave or dodging a bullet. Outside of that you are just an interested sideline observer LOL! Sort of like we on the east coast were for Hurricane Michael. Well, you were actually bit more than that. At least you were in the 5 day cone for a while, but you were never in the three day cone as I recall.

In Brevard County there is mandatory evacuation of barrier islands, low lying areas (of which there is very little on the mainland so very little mandatory evacuation on the mainland other than weak structures), mobile and manufactured homes. For everyone else it is stay put in place unless you prefer to be somewhere else. But get to a safe structure or away from the Hurricane warned area. So places like Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, Merritt Island and all the beaches are under mandatory evacuation. This was announced two days back, going into effect this morning. Well, originally it was yesterday morning, but they postponed it by a day when the storm started screeching to a halt.

There are other counties with a lot of low lying areas on the mainland, like Duval where mandatory evacuation is much more extensive. This includes almost everything along the St. Johns River which is expected tog et a storm surge upto 7' and maybe more up river. And guess where the Silver Service and Auto Train runs In SC virtually all of Charleston and North Charleston is under mandatory evacuation. So the Silvers won't be running I guess until that is lifted.

The evacuation order in Georgia is very broad, essentially most of the area east of I-95. And they won't even be facing a Major Hurricane anymore since it is projected to be a low Category 2 by then.

 

[Rail Freak]

I'm in Clearwater & hope we all are spared from what the Bahama's has taken! If this thing does turn North, I dont care if you call it Dodgin A Bullet or what, I'll be thankful!!! My prayers are with all in Dorian's path!

 

[SarahZ]

In Brevard County there is mandatory evacuation of barrier islands, low lying areas (of which there is very little on the mainland so very little mandatory evacuation on the mainland other than weak structures), mobile and manufactured homes. For everyone else it is stay put in place unless you prefer to be somewhere else. But get to a safe structure or away from the Hurricane warned area..

I've always been curious about this, never having experienced a hurricane.

I know about hurricane shutters, but what other special things do builders use to hurricane-proof* a home? How do you keep the roof from flying off? What about things like doors, particularly large garage doors that would be easy for the wind to "shove"?

I can't imagine being in the basement would be safe, in case of flooding, so do you pretty much hunker down in an interior room without any windows?

Also, are homes built after a certain year automatically hurricane-proofed*? Or does this vary from home to home?

*I realize there is no such thing as 100% hurricane-proof. I can't think of a better word.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I've always been curious about this, never having experienced a hurricane.

I know about hurricane shutters, but what other special things do builders use to hurricane-proof* a home? How do you keep the roof from flying off? What about things like doors, particularly large garage doors that would be easy for the wind to "shove"?

I can't imagine being in the basement would be safe, in case of flooding, so do you pretty much hunker down in an interior room without any windows?

Also, are homes built after a certain year automatically hurricane-proofed*? Or does this vary from home to home?

*I realize there is no such thing as 100% hurricane-proof. I can't think of a better word.

Not having been in a hurricane, I'll take a stab at these and let Jis & Penny shoot me down.

There are few, if any basements in FL as I understand it - the ground isn't conducive to them. The best place in home is most likely a bathroom (tub or shower). I believe there is a date at which time all new construction had to meet certain standards. That may have been after ?Andrew?

 

[Rail Freak]

Dont forget about the water, I dont think you can water proof a house!

 

[Qapla]

Yes, there are very few basements in Florida ... ground is a bit wet for that - you have to remember that most of Florida is less than 100 feet above sea level - and the coastline is quite low ... there are no mountains or cliffs.

The building code requires that all new homes have metal tying them together from the ground all the way to the ground on the other side. This is done with "hurricane anchors/clips". Even mobile homes are now build to new wind code standards. However, even built to the highest standards, the relentless bashing a hurricane brings can overcome most of the advances building construction has devised ... hurricanes are just too large, too powerful and too wet to keep all the damage away. There are also many older homes that are not built to the current wind codes.

In coastal areas, storm surge and flooding is a major problem.

Where I live, in the interior area further north in the state, we do not get the storm surge. However, wind damage and road flooding is common with hurricanes along with extended power outages.

Also, tornados and massive wind gusts often accompany hurricanes - causing additional damage.

If Dorian follow the coast north, the damage to the coastline will be disastrous even if the home damage is kept to a minimum.

 

[pennyk]

Not having been in a hurricane, I'll take a stab at these and let Jis & Penny shoot me down.

There are few, if any basements in FL as I understand it - the ground isn't conducive to them. The best place in home is most likely a bathroom (tub or shower). I believe there is a date at which time all new construction had to meet certain standards. That may have been after ?Andrew?

True. However, I have been in one house in Orlando with a basement. Internal rooms/closets with no windows are the best place to hunker down. Building codes did change after Andrew. I live in a condo building that was built before Andrew and after hurricane Donna. During our direct hit by Charley in 2004, things were very scary. I did not evacutate, but did sit in the lobby area of my condo floor, away from all windows. The building held up just fine, although there was significant water intrusion on the east side (I live on the west side).