Hurricane Charlie turning more Northeast

[karl]

Storm tracking east of Tampa. 125 mph Cat 3.

New track may take it very near WDW area.

-- Karl

[Mad Madam Mim]

A friend of mine and her husband are moving to Florida as I type this. He got an amazing job offer and they packed the truck yesterday. They should be arriving tomorrow.....? I'm thinking the move will be delayed, I just hope their new home is still in tact when they get there it is about ½ hour from WDW.

[grozas]

I heard the World was closing at noon today.

[dlashe4977]

Changed to 1 pm

[ericles]

What is the history of WDW closing due to weather? I'm just curious, as I've never heard to much about it closing. According to the local talk radio channel in Baltimore I'm listening to (I think it's an ABC news feed) it's up to a Cat. 4. hurricane.

[Grandmouse]

Disney World has closed twice -- for Hurricane Floyd and on 9/11.

[teri]

All Ft. Wilderness guests were moved to hotels. The parks were open til 1, except Animal Kingdom which was closed. There was an unconfirmed report of a funnel cloud near I-4 and 535, and given the squall line that came through, I believe it was entirely possible. We are under tornado watch now, and mandatory evacuation of modular, manufactured and mobile homes to shelters.

This page .. http://www.wftv.com/wxmap/811642/detail.html shows the precipitation radar loop map for the region.

We are just waiting...

[karl]

I should update my prior message.. Charlie came ashore as a 145 mph Cat 4 right on top of Port Charlotte.

Gonna be a very rough night at WDW.

[Dlandmom]

Hang in there, teri, and everyone else in the area!

[dizy4disney1]

Hope you all stay safe down there. Being in Oregon has it's advantages at times, I guess.

[tappenfeat]

My heart goes out to anyone that lives in that area (including my mother-in-law and brother-in-law's family!)...

Stay safe!

And anyone vacationing at this time...my heart goes out to you with sympathy. We were there during Hurricane Floyd. It wasn't pretty! We were in the middle of Animal Kingdom when it hit and they were putting the animals away FAST!

WDW closed for 1 1/2 days and no restaurants were open...we were stuck to find food!

It was memorable, that's for sure!

Everyone, please take proper precautions for safety. :(

[Klutch]

I expect Charlie is going to test every bit of Disney engineering and organization; flood control, securing the property, protecting and providing for guests.

I'm surprised that tappenfeat reports no restaurants were open during hurricane Floyd. I would have thought Disney would make some accomodations for guests to eat; even if it meant handing out MRE's, for crying out loud!

The latest radar pictures look like Charlie's eye is going to pass directly over WDW. I'm sure the winds will be much less intense than when it hit landfall. However, Charlie is likely to dump many inches of rain over Orlando in a few hours. Those currently visiting Disney World will certainly have a vacation to remember!

[efoxx]

as of right now it looks like the remains of the eye are passing over and slightly east of celebration. hold on teri. the good news is it looks like it is disapating quickly. in fact the worst of the weather may have been the really nasty look line that passed through earlier today. it's still out there heading towards jackson and is still showing the highest intensity nexrad can show.

right now Orlando int is showing only 30 kts wind at 8:45 local, is this true?

[LeslieM]

You and yours are in our thoughts and prayers. Hope all goes as well as possible, under the circumstances.

[tappenfeat]

Quote:

I'm surprised that tappenfeat reports no restaurants were open during
hurricane Floyd. I would have thought Disney would make some accomodations for guests to eat; even if it meant handing out MRE's, for crying out loud!

:rolleyes:

Uhhh, sorry I didn't elaborate better. That year we stayed at a time share and all the McDonald's...Burger Kings and area restaurants were closed. Only one place was open and that was a Chinese Restaurant and they hiked up the prices! We stood in line for a table for hours!

BIG HOWEVER:

We visited the Grand Floridian that evening and they were offering a FREE dessert buffet. Very generous of them! We enjoyed it very much!

I'm sure Disney took care of their guests just fine in the food department. Heck they even offered food to "non-guests"...that's magical!!!

[Mark Goldhaber]

The Weathernet camera on top of the Swan/Dolphin shows that the wand is still standing next to Spaceship Earth. Drat.

[Drince88]

The Weathernet camera on top of the Swan/Dolphin shows that the wand is still standing next to Spaceship Earth. Drat.

Mark, I laughed out loud at that one (my cat already knows I'm crazy, this one just confirmed it to him). I guess if the wand is still up, the hat is too. Bummer. Though if that wand detatched, it could do some SERIOUS damage in Epcot.

[ChoEarfan1]

Hey now let's not loose sight of waht has happened here.......people lives were to say the least turned upside down. At 7:30 AM Saturday there are reports of several deaths in the Punta Gorda area od Florida.

[Drince88]

Sorry if I offended anyone - I was serious, though, that if that wand had detatched it would have been a very dangerous missile. Humor (albeit bad humor) can be one way people deal with tragic events.

Watching the weather channel this morning, it looks like a trailer park in the area was totally destroyed, and MCO is closed at least until noon, and then it's up to the individual airlines.

[ChoEarfan1]

No offence taken here...I am an ex-Floridian who has seen more than my fair share of hurricanes ( including dear old Andrew, lived 37 miles from the eye of that one ).

I too am very glad the wand and hat survived....I kind of like them.

Have read several reports of power loss and we are still trying to find my sister-in-law who lives 18 miles northeast of WDW.

[teri]

Thanks for your kind and protective thoughts. Celebration was directly hit. I posted on another thread. There are hundreds of trees down, and lots of minor damage to houses and cars. Our house is drying out from water that came in through the roof vents, and our yard is littered with debris from the roof and attic of the house next door. 192 is a zoo. We have a thunderstorm moving through again right now, and tornado warnings in nearby counties.

You would not believe how many trees are down.

[Mark Goldhaber]

I've got a call in to Brian Bennett, but if they're asking people not to use cell phones, as you posted in the other thread, then it might be a while before I hear.

[Tutter]

I'm here is the lovely comfort of Scotland and have seen the devastation on the news. I am sure a lot of padders are unable to post, due to loss of power, or due to the fact it is the last thing on their mind. But I just wanted to say that, for when you return, there are many of us all over the world with you in our thoughts just now. If we could we would give you a big hug.

[teri]

My neighbors report that East 192 is totally out of power, with many signs down, lights out and one hotel front collapsed. One said it looks like Water Mania may have lost a slide. West 192 is relatively spared, has power, and most things are fine. The eye wall came between I-4 and the airport. The airports had quite a bit of damage. Many roads are impassable, and lots of folks who can least afford it have lost way too much.

[stever]

Having seen and tracked the hurricane on friday, i wanted to know how bad it is in orlando as we are due to fly out from UK on sunday 22nd for a vacation but not sure the amount of damage and whats happening

any news?