put me on a ship

I'm glad everyone here (so far) that was in the path of this storm hasn't had any major problems, and I thank all of you that were concerned about us.

Wasn't the wobble great?:D What a difference it made as far as destruction.

Oh yeah! I got pretty excited when I saw it!

Also noticed the Fishlips cam took quite the beating ,so did the building.

Rut roh. No drinks there anytime soon.:mad:

I think most of the causeways are open, not sure about the Beachline (to the port) and Merritt Island area. Three houses in our neighborhood have power, one of them being us, apparently we are connected to a different grid, and ours also services a hospital.:D

Thought you took a nap :D Glad your up to par.

Haha!! Wish I could...didn't sleep much last night.

Currently, causeways in Brevard County are closed, until they are determined to be safe.

I'm back!!! The storm wobbled to the east a bit, so we did not get hit quite as hard as expected. Our power just came back on!!:D:D:D

No damage to our house. Our screen room for the pool is fine. No trees down...some of our neighbors lost some small trees (we live in a new development, so not many big trees). Looks like a couple neighbors lost a few shingles, and some fencing. We haven't driven around yet, still getting some gusty winds, but overall, I think we were VERY lucky.

I haven't heard anything about Port Canaveral yet.

We're in Melbourne, and conditions are going downhill for sure. I'd say we have tropical storm force winds right now. The eye of the storm won't be here for awhile yet.

That jog to the east was good news for us, for sure. Now it looks like the storm will stay off shore of us, and perhaps make landfall to the north of us.

We still have power, for now. I'm going to try to sleep, at least for a bit, and fully expect not to have power when I wake up.

Good night all. Over and out.

The latest update shows the storm passing us off shore, maybe making landfall to the north, perhaps around Cape Canaveral.

Winds keep picking up, of course, but I would say still tropical storm force for now.

This will probably be my last update tonight....I'm going to try to sleep, at least for a bit. And I fully expect we will not have power when I wake up.

Thank you all for the well wishes! Over and out.

Glad to hear that you are still online & have electricity - from watching the Orlando news update ... predictions are that conditions going downhill from here on with the eye of the storm making landfall in about 5 or 6 hours, somewhere near your, perhaps to the north closer to Coca Beach/Port Canaveral ... or, further up toward Daytona Beach, calling this a monster storm, Cat-4 now with sustained wind of 130 mph at its peak.

 

Best of luck and make sure you are shelter in the safest and most secure part of your house, with all your essentials and gears, etc. for the post-hurricane cleanup.

 

Should they managed to keep the TV & news stations online, the next best thing might be twitter feeds, as they are easier to broadcast ... Just read a tweet from Freeport, Bahamas - the worst direct hit with 140 mph wind in its history with lost of power and communications, pray for 50,000 souls there - heading for the U.S.

 

Your area is taking a direct hit, hard - just unclear now how hard and how bad it will be. Stay safe and let us know if and when you can, we are pulling for you and everyone else caught in this massive storm.

Thank you so very much!:)

It is starting to go downhill, wind probably sustained weak tropical storm force, with higher gusts. I thought I was hearing thunder a few minutes ago, but it's the wind.

Melbourne has gotten a couple of the outer bands, not too bad yet. Wind is picking up for sure...still not too bad yet, but this is when things will start to decline rapidly. I think we're in for a rough night.

Hopefully you will be able to keep your fiends on here posted on conditions in your area.

I will as long as I can. Right now, we've had some outer bands come through...no big deal on those, no serious rain or wind yet. It's drizzling at the moment. It looks like it's going to go downhill rapidly late tonight, and tomorrow morning will be the worst of it. By this time tomorrow, conditions should be improving.

I live (and was raised) in the Panhandle of Florida. I've been through enough hurricanes to know that if they tell you to evacuate, then do so. I keep reading where people intend to ride it out. I keep reading how people (cruisers) are disappointed in what Carnival is offering for those affected by Matthew.

 

I just dont get it.

 

Sure, I'd be disappointed if my cruise was cancelled or we didnt get to a port due to a storm. But I have enough empathy for people on these islands who will have it far worse than I if they get hit with a hurricane. And then we wonder why a lot of these islanders have a disdain for cruise ships coming into port; whether cruisers contribute to their economy or not.

 

Stay safe!!

I can't speak for others, but we are not under a mandatory evacuation. I assure you, if we were, we would have left, or if we had any inkling it was going to be this bad. Also, keep in mind this storm was not forecast to be a Cat 4 again, or come this close to us. 3 days ago, we thought we'd be fine. 2 days ago, we discussed possibly putting up the shutters. Yesterday, we did and still thought it wasn't going to be so bad. Today, we are praying. A lot changed last night regarding the storm. We are safer staying put at this point.

And we've also been through hurricanes, including the 2004-2005 season.

Based on the latest storm track, the eye of the storm will make landfall tonight, somewhere north of Miami - perhaps somewhere near Melborne, east of Orlando (that's further inland) ... very close to Cocoa Beach, a popular stop for those docking/visiting PC :eek:

 

It's still a Cat 4 storm with winds in excess of 125 mph, storm is mostly still in the Bahamas, 100+ miles to the southeast of PC but heading for the U.S. mainland.

 

Nassau's harbor webcam has gone offline and even their weather forecast station staff at the Nassau airport had to evacuate earlier this morning, as the area continue to take the pounding from the hurricane ... power (utilities) had been shut down orderly overnight and there are massive flooding along with the wind & rain. That's the closest non-US port that shorter cruises from the FL area often sail to - and, it won't be happening this weekend, 95% sure of that, given the live updates I am reading.

 

Even if the storm managed to miss PC area and/or leave the area by tomorrow evening or night, it will likely be just usable and/or reopen but restricted to emergency use and for residents returning home to do their damage assessments, etc. as the cleanup get underway ... restoring power & down lines, cutting away broken tree branches & clearing debris.

 

Assuming that cruise ships will be allowed back into the port (sometime on Saturday ??) and tractor trailers are staged and ready to fully restock the ship's supplies, they might just sail out of PC doing donuts in rough seas ... with no place to go - and, Matthew is still forecasted to loop around again to, possibly, make a 2nd. landfall next mid-week in Florida as a tropical storm.

We live in Melbourne :eek:. I've heard landfall from north of Palm Beach, or maybe Melbourne, or maybe staying just off shore. This is one unpredictable storm!!

Evacuate ! Evacuate ! Evacuate ! That's what the FL governor just stated on CNN . If not people will die. This CAT 4 storm is no joke people . We usually cruise in October and I might would have stayed inland in a Cat 2 storm and then wait for Carnivals announcement on when boarding would start . But a CAT 4 Storm , I don't think so. Get out of there while you still can.

But by the time it was upgraded to Cat 4, it was already too late to leave. That was today at 11 am. Plus, a lot of people decided then to hit the road. Traffic horrible, no gas, no hotels...we don't want to be stuck in our car in this. And it was like that yesterday, also.

We have plenty of supplies, water, hurricane shutters up, and a generator. We really do think we are best off at this point to stay put. We live in a new house, so everything is built at the newest codes. It's a solid, concrete block house.

And yes, I heard the governor. He also said gas and hotels were available, not true. We are not in an evacuation area, still going to be bad, though.

Thanks all for your concerns. I'll be on here tonight (gotta get our internet fix in while we can!), but thinking we probably won't have power come tomorrow morning. And my fellow Floridians, stay safe!!

Sorry for cruisers affected, but thank the posters for feeling concern for what we are going to face. We are trying to protect our future here and don't even know what will be the destiny of our homes. We'll be wishing our only problem would be monetary loss from not getting to the ship because they didn't carry travel insurance.

Well said. We're supposed to be on the Valor Saturday too, but right now, our home, our safety is much more important.

We're in Melbourne, 30 miles south of Port Canaveral. It is predicted that we are going to be hit very hard, and possibly have a direct hit. We have never had a storm this powerful come to Brevard County, so it is hard to say what is going to happen, when will the port open, will the harbor need dredged, etc.

We will not have electricity. That's a given. Therefore, no gas, no nothing. If I had to hazard a guess as to what the Canaveral ships will do, is that they will divert to Port Everglades or Miami.

To my fellow Floridians, stay safe. We are not evacuating (we're on the mainland), but wishing now we had. We don't want to be stuck in traffic in this hurricane, so we will stay home, and hope those hurricane shutters work like they are supposed to.

Okay, In the middle of a major panic attack here. What do our resident insiders know at this point about cruises over the next few days out of Port Canaveral?

 

Royal has not updated their info since mid day Wednesday.

We live 30 miles south of Port Canaveral. I would say, based on past experiences here, the port will not be open Friday. I would also say, there is a pretty good chance it will not be open Saturday either...it's possible, though. It's also possible that the harbor will need to be dredged before ships come in. It's also likely that only residents will be allowed over the causeway at first. I really don't remember how long it was before causeways were open to everyone. It might be that ships that are supposed to go out of Canaveral will be rerouted to Port Everglades or Miami.

It's going to be bad here....very bad. Brevard County has not had a Cat 4, ever.

to all those in the path of Matthew you're in my prayers and thoughts.

We decided to ride it out.. two fur babies that are my children..

Back at you. We're in Melbourne, riding it out. And it just got upgraded to a Cat 4. 140 MPH winds.

Victory disembarked all passengers on Wednesday, and is sailing empty. Port Canaveral is closed, and all vessels had to be removed yesterday.

We have the accordian shutters that enclose the balcony. I can lock it up in 15 minutes. The windows have power roll downs. It gets really dark when everything is closed. We are on the 6th floor and I, being a board member have the keys to the roof. I'm actually planning on helping several of the neighbors with their shutters tomorrow morning.

 

Truly, my only worry is power. Well, that and taking Bella out to do her business. :eek:

 

Thanks again for the well wishes

 

https://map.bloomsky.com/weather-stations/eaB1rJytnpS4n5Wk

Stay safe, John and Laura, and everyone else in the path of this storm. We're in Melbourne, and staying also. At least we're on mainland, but still plenty worried.

Another vote for taking the offer and getting a full refund. Why deal with this if you do not need to?

 

Me? I still have some deck furniture to move in. 25 solar lights to take out of the garden beds, bring in the garden hose, and finish moving stuff in the garage so I can get the car in!

 

Sort of puts this in perspective, eh? :cool:

We got most of our stuff in, but never thought about the solar lights! Thanks! We're finishing the hurricane shutters now. We're in Melbourne....and supposed to be on the Valor Saturday. I'm hoping we are, or at least by Sunday...we would have electricity and hot food!!!:)

Stay safe, Lou!:cool:

Update: Orlando is also under a hurricane warning. East Coast is in serious trouble. And they are saying it's possible Matthew will strengthen back to a Cat 4. There is also a good chance it will loop around and come back next week or so.:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Now I am officially scared. We live in Melbourne.

Has the carnival magic cruise been moved to Sunday? On the latest update, they are listing the sail date as the 9th, but our tickets say 8th

The Valor and the Magic are both listed as 10/9 departures on the latest update, and they both are scheduled for the 8th. A little confusing, since it says the 9th is the original departure date.

That's right, be safe .

I sure hope so. We are doing everything we can to secure our home and businesses.

Thanks or the update , are you the owner :D.

Nope, but lived here long enough, and been through this enough, to know the causeways will not be open Friday afternoon. IF they are, it will be for residents only. :)