Hurricane Ian

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jadebox

Roger Smith
TRF Sponsor
Joined
Jan 18, 2009
Messages
5,933
Reaction score
569
JonRocket.com, Aerospace Speciality Products, Odd'l Rockets are three of our vendors or manufacturers that are in the path of Hurricane Ian in Florida. Apologies if there are others I didn't mention.

We are not closing JonRocket's online store, but I did add a banner saying that orders will be delayed. At this time, I have no idea for how long. After Irma five years ago, we were without electricity for a little over two weeks.
 
Would an on-site generator be worthwhile option, given that Florida gets hit with hurricanes fairly often?
 
Would an on-site generator be worthwhile option, given that Florida gets hit with hurricanes fairly often?
I am speaking as someone who has gone through multiple hurricanes. Roger may be under a mandatory evacuation order. Also, afterward, there will be clean up and insurance claims to file. While a generator may be useful, it is likely power will be restored before the store and staff are ready to resume operations.
 
Okay. I guess a generator is more useful for a residence then, assuming the house hasn't been wiped out nor looted before you can return.
 
Would an on-site generator be worthwhile option, given that Florida gets hit with hurricanes fairly often?

We have three generators. But those provide basic services like TV and internet and maybe some air conditioning for our home, not the office. A "whole house" generator would be great after a storm. but the rest of the time they are expensive to buy and maintain and require a large storage tank filled with fuel. I'd like to go solar with a battery backup, but that's not quite practical for us yet.

BTW, Florida's big and strong hurricanes are rare, so we, as individuals, are not really affected as often as you might think. I've lived in Florida for more than 50 years and the homes I've lived in have never suffered any serious damage from a hurricane. And I have gone without power for more than a day only twice - after Irma (over two weeks) a few years ago and Charlie (for a few days) in 2004.

Irma wasn't as bad as Charley here near Orlando even though the power was out for us longer. Life during the days after Charlie were terrible (and things for us were much better than for people whose homes were damaged or lived in areas closer to the coast). In both cases though, normally simple things like shopping for food became a struggle. If we are affected by Ian in the same way, taking care of myself and my family is going to be a lot more important for me then selling rocket kits!

We are in that period right now between having finished preparing for the storm and waiting for it to arrive. So, I'm rambling on here to pass the time. :)
 
We just looked at the wind speed chart on tv and other than real close to the eye, if you get 40 mi out, It drops down to 60-65 mph. Which is a good thing.
 
We just looked at the wind speed chart on tv and other than real close to the eye, if you get 40 mi out, It drops down to 60-65 mph. Which is a good thing.
Those are sustained wind speeds. Gusts are often much higher. Near the coasts, storm surge is usually more of an issue than wind. Inland, with this storm at least, flooding may be a bigger issue during and after the storm. We already had an excessive amount of rain earlier this month and are expecting up to 20 or more inches of rain today and tomorrow. All the rain before and now also increases the risk of trees falling which will add to power outages.
 
I am speaking as someone who has gone through multiple hurricanes. Roger may be under a mandatory evacuation order. Also, afterward, there will be clean up and insurance claims to file. While a generator may be useful, it is likely power will be restored before the store and staff are ready to resume operations.
Unless you live on the coast or in a mobile home or have some special needs, staying in your home is usually the only option for those of us in the Florida pennisula. Your only choices to go in an evacuation are north or south and there's a good chance the storm would just happen to head the same direction.

You're right, though, that after the storm there are more important things to do than selling rockets. Ordinarily simple things like shopping for groceries becomes a challenge. Life changes dramatically for a while after a bad storm.
 
So far, we have had just a lot of rain and occasional gusts of, I guess, about 40mph. Power is still on - it hasn't even flickered. The worst is supposed to get here early tomorrow morning.
 
So far, we have had just a lot of rain and occasional gusts of, I guess, about 40mph. Power is still on - it hasn't even flickered. The worst is supposed to get here early tomorrow morning.
Hoping that's all you and the locals in Florida get. I'm sure some will be hit harder than others, so all of y'all stay safe!!!

Sandy.
 
Survived Ian. One tree down. Internet went down early. Trash in the yard. Some minor leaking around garage windows. As they say in Minnesota, "Could have been worse."
Much the same situation for us. We still have power and internet. One tree is down in our yard. Lots of debris in the yard and one fence is down. The roads may be blocked with downed trees. Over all, everything for us is so much better than we expected.

But many of our neighbors in Central Florida have things much worse. One of my coworkers texted that his home is flooded.
 
Of course, the winds returned and we lost power right after I posted that we still had power. The backside of the storm as it left the area was worse than I had anticipated.
 
I just saw it flash across the TV screen that Biden said there was substantial loss of life. And just a few minutes earlier I thought they said only five people died. :questions:
 
I just saw it flash across the TV screen that Biden said there was substantial loss of life. And just a few minutes earlier I thought they said only five people died. :questions:
It will take time to sort things out. I believe the one sheriff was speculating when he stated there were "hundreds of fatalities". I hope he was just speculating, but with a storm as severe as Ian, it is plausible the casualty count be that high.
 
That bridge that gets you over to Sanibel Island, being completely destroyed.... that is going to put a serious inconvenience to all of those people living on that island. Being only able to get their stuff by boat.
 
My brother is in the Keys, so not critical at all, but he said it was interesting how much water came in at high tide yesterday (1-2ft more than usual) and it hasn't left yet. His thought it that the constant heavier than usual winds is keeping the water from being able to flow out as easily as it does during a typical tidal cycle. He's high and dry (16ft, I think. . . ) but places closer to sea level have had some inundation that is inconvenient, but far from catastrophe. Again, the Keys, not near Tampa where things got nasty.

It is amazing the forces that nature exerts. How much horsepower with pumps would it take to raise the sea level 2 feet. . . I can't fathom the number, but just this 'wind thing' did it over hundreds of miles. Then think about the energy that gets put out when the sun spits a huge fire column at almost 2000 miles/sec. . . wow. Nature is amazing. My brain can't even come close to understanding. . .

Hope all affected stay safe and well.

Sandy.
 
I just saw it flash across the TV screen that Biden said there was substantial loss of life. And just a few minutes earlier I thought they said only five people died. :questions:
Maybe only 5 bodies have been found. Don’t know can’t say, plus it left a huge trail across the state. They didn’t have a head count for weeks after Katrina. Give it time, it’s only been a day.
 
Back
Top