This morning's forecast has it skirting the east coast, but remember that the west side is the worst side of the storm, so they're still calling for severe damage. Let's hope it makes an earlier and sharper turn and leaves us with outer bands. I feel sorry for the Bahamas. The UK surely can't handle a disastrous hit there. Every time a major hurricane goes through the Bahamas, I wonder if Johnny Depp's home is still standing. LOL

Bea, if worse come to worse, I guess all those orchids will have to come inside, huh? What a chore that would be! Bet you're regretting expanding the greenhouse about now. I hope you, hubby and all your plants stay safe.

Silvia, I don't blame you at all for not replacing things. I'm trying to get rid of hundreds of plants before I move, and sometimes I just wish a hurricane would come and take them all away or that we'd have a freeze that killed them all. Not really, but it's a daunting task. I shouldn't have overdone it like I have here. We gardeners tend to want to fill every little space with something, don't we? It's a sickness, I think. I often think my blog should be named The Compulsive Gardener.

Ever since I was a kid when I read The Portrait of Dorian Gray I hated the name Dorian! Now even more -- what happened, Dorian was supposed to be a tropical storm ...now a Cat 4 Hurricane (the most damaging in a generation)?!?!

Prayers to all those affected.

Tony

There keeping it off shore now.

Sultry, it is good to be optimistic! let's hope that Dorian misses us.

D, we are not getting any younger.) I live by the motto "less is more". You have to be drastic with yourself and be ready for the move.

Thank you Tony for your concern and prayers, we are going to need them! And I agree with you Dorian only reminds me of bad things, I remember the story too.

Glenn, keep your spirits up but be ready for any emergency.

Remember, after Dorian passes by us, it will be better, no more hurricane worries...

Silvia, no more until the next one. This is peak hurricane season, but I treat hurricanes like I do freezes in the winter. Once I get the plants set up for storms, they stay there unless I have to move them for some strange reason.

You're right that we are not getting any younger. Used to be I moved hundreds of plants in and out for each storm or freeze, but I had more room then, and a lot more energy. Right now it's hot as Haedes out there, I overslept and didn't get all this done in early morning like I had planned, and I'm working for 10 minutes, inside under the a/c and fans for 10 minutes. It's heartening to know I won't have to do this but once this season! All I have to do right now is get all these into the courtyard by this afternoon, and I can work more on placing them later, if at all, because if it's just going to be a be the equivalent of a bad thunderstorm here, I'll just leave them be.

Only my most precious plants are coming inside, because they are all promised to friends before I leave, and I don't want them to get killed.

The last time I had to move major plants for a hurricane, we were going in n out of the house a lot just getting stuff prepared etc. the day before. The morning of the hurricane, I woke up and went to wash out my coffee pot (because I didnt get to it the day before) and there was a little hurricane survivor in it!! To this day that is the only time Ive seen a frog in our house. Sometimes lizards get in but never frogs lol. Still dont know how he squeezed his fat body into that little tube that goes into the center of a ninja coffee pot..thats the only way in...he was riding the storm out in his own personal terrarium, I guess :p

I sure hope it misses everything and stays away!

And not sure how many others know that there are still parts of the panhandle waiting for FEMA relief.

carolb, I've kept up with the panhandle relief, because I know two people who were affected. What really INFURIATES me is that the money earmarked for the AFB that was destroyed was siphoned off to build "the wall." I won't drag politics into it, because I'm sure we have conservatives and liberals on this forum, but I cannot wrap my head around the insensitivity to human suffering coming from Washington these days. Gardening is the only thing that keeps me somewhat sane.

It's very sad when people think they're covered in case of disasters like this, and then they find out they are not.

Ins. co.s here in FL and elsewhere always seem to find ways to get off the hook, when it comes to paying out claims.

And the delays and denials of federal relief over the past several years are disturbing. I know TX has had issues as well, after Harvey.

I have got as ready as I can.. Hope everyone is doing well.

Ugh. My A/C just stopped working today. No telling how long that will take to get fixed if we have the storm.

Glenn, from the latest track predictions, I think you will be o.k. It's a small storm, and even if you're on the bad side, I don't think it will be much more than outer bands if it keeps moving eastward like it has been.

writersblock -- oh no! I would think it's hard to get a/c's fixed anytime in FL in the summer

Carol, I remember after Charley, a lot of people were having trouble getting insurance to pay for the stupidest reasons. Some companies were refusing to cover under the "Act of God" exemption, even if the people had hurricane coverage. Then there were those that couldn't get any internal damage from flooding or wind covered because ins. cos were claiming that it wasn't really flooding, because it was because the roof was blown off, so it wasn't covered. I remember Jeb Bush forcing the legislature to pass laws against such actions. I wonder if Scott had those laws repealed? Probably, since he was the insurance guy.

This state has gone completely to hell in the past 20 years. I moved here for the second time in 1996, and it was great until 1999, then it started going downhill and never stopped.

It's a Cat. 5 now.

"Florida Sen. Rick Scott, the former governor, warned Floridians not to let down their guard amid forecasts that the storm, once ticketed to crash through his state, appeared poised to strike farther north.

"If this hurricane turns at the last minute and heads due west, you've gotta ask yourself, 'Am I ready?'" Scott tweeted. "Don't take a chance.""

That's what Charley did. You never know what these storms are going to do. One of the models has it hitting Jacksonville, going up through Savannah, then bouncing off into the Atlantic.

Everyone check in afterwards please.

180 mph! Wow. Well, I'm leaving here even though there's no mandatory evacuation yet. I just don't feel that they have a good handle on what this storm will do, less that normal, it seems.

For a great website and accurate info check out www.spaghettimodels.com

I sure hope it misses everything and stays away!

And not sure how many others know that there are still parts of the panhandle waiting for FEMA relief.

And Puerto Rico.

And yes, everyone please check in after the storm passes.

Yes, spaghettimodels is a great website. Also ventusky.com and windy.com, although I prefer ventusky--they've done better than NOAA for storms in the recent past. I also like that ventusky shows wave height.

Puerto Rico almost goes without saying. I know so many people of Puerto Rican heritage and some with family still on the island. Stepson was there in the aftermath of Maria, working on cell towers and shared many photos & stories with us - when he could get service.

My friend in Miami says they are getting outer bands now, at least TS force winds expected.

It's gotten larger, and Orlando is back in the cone.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/weather/hurricane/os-ne-hurricane-dorian-florida-sunday-update-20190901-twuhjketgzbaflcpjgi3ipfdli-story.html#nt=screamer

We are on the West Coast (Sarasota) and I am so relieved we shouldn't have any problems. I have so many orchids and large dirt plants I was overwhelmed trying to figure out what to do with them all. So, unless it doesn't follow the models, we should be okay.

Stay safe everyone!

Jane

Deb, sorry I didn't answer you earlier about the orchids. They would be fine in any cat 1-3 hurricane because they live in my GH in which the top half all around opens like awnings. So for any major storm or cold weather I just lower the awnings and latch them.

Silvia and Deb I so agree with you about the "having too many plants". As a gardener I have wanted to fill every nook and cranny with them and in FL hanging or potted plants require such frequent watering for a good part of the year.

Having recently been diagnosed with heart disease (I'm ok) made me rethink things. When I spent several days in the hospital a few months ago hubby had to take care of all the gardens and the GH and household., and the cats and chickens. So we decided to downsize. We planted most everything in the ground reducing the hanging and potted plants to the most cherished 4 that we can easily bring inside in the winter. We also switched to using an oscillating sprinkler to water.

By reducing and not replacing we won't end up like our elderly neighbors who didn't plan ahead and ended up watching most of their gardens die bit by bit and their house detiriorate because it was all too much for them.

Writersblock I too really like Windy.com and use it and Wunderground.com for everything weather-related.

So now it looks like us west coasters won't have it so bad, after all?

We'll see, won't we?

Some idiot from up north just crashed Twitter saying we should get the Navy to drop ice in the water to cool it off, or get the air force to fly in the opposite direction to stop the winds.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1168368379629060096

Just because I'm sick of waiting to see if this turtle of a storm hits Jacksonville and effects Gainesville, and because our dear President just said it's going to Alabama...

DG this is called the dumbing down of America. Sigh.

We're getting outer bands here already. These are the latest alerts from Accuweather. No hurricane warnings yet.

- A Storm Surge Watch and Hurricane Watch have been issued for
Coastal Camden and Coastal Glynn
- A Storm Surge Watch has been issued for Inland Glynn

* CURRENT WATCHES AND WARNINGS:
- A Storm Surge Watch and Hurricane Watch are in effect for
Coastal Camden, Coastal Duval, Coastal Flagler, Coastal Glynn,
Coastal Nassau, and Coastal St. Johns
- A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Inland Flagler and Inland
St. Johns
- A Storm Surge Watch is in effect for Inland Glynn
- A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Clay, Eastern Marion,
Inland Duval, Inland Nassau, and Putnam

* STORM INFORMATION:
- About 310 miles southeast of Jacksonville FL
- 26.8N 78.3W
- Storm Intensity 155 mph
- Movement West or 280 degrees at 1 mph

Looks like it's headed straight for Myrtle Beach, SC as a Cat. 2 and then the Outer Banks of NC as a Cat 1.

cpartist, the rapper, IceT asked on Twitter if he was a White House advisor. LOL

The part about getting the planes to fly around in the opposite direction to slow it down -- WHOA! Someone has the Air Force confused with Superman!

I guess we shouldn't be making fun of him, but it just shows how poor our education system is, and evidently has been for some time.

Duval co is under mandatory evacuation for zones A & B. We only only a B due to a small branch of the Trout River behind our house.

I just got a NOAA warning on the weather radio saying storm surg watch has been upgraded to a warning.

I hope it dies down some b4 it gets up here. I've watched a few videos of people w 20ft+ of water in the Bahamas. Yikes

Re: Planes flying around...Where's Superman when you need him? lol

Count your blessings, people. Live FB feed of storm surge from Bahamas. This house is 15 feet above ground -- thank goodness!

https://www.facebook.com/mackeymedia/videos/10156592713773527/

Listen to the sound in that video above. Once you've heard it for hours on end, you'll never forget it. These people are in eminent danger of dying. Their house is 15 feet above ground and the storm surge is expected to be 20 feet.

Sadly, some of the people in those shorter houses will not make it if they didn't leave. I don't understand why ANYONE who had the means (like these people obviously do) did not leave.

Sultry, just leave if you can. This is a monster storm. The live feed of that guy from the Bahamas just died. His neighbor's house was completely under water. People who stayed are begging for help because they are neck-deep in water. Please. JUST LEAVE!

NEW INFORMATION
---------------

* CHANGES TO WATCHES AND WARNINGS:
- The Storm Surge Watch has been upgraded to a Storm Surge
Warning and a Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for Inland
Glynn
- The Storm Surge Watch has been upgraded to a Storm Surge
Warning for Coastal Camden, Coastal Duval, Coastal Glynn, and
Coastal Nassau
- The Hurricane Watch has been upgraded to a Hurricane Warning
for Inland Flagler and Inland St. Johns
- The Hurricane Watch has been upgraded to a Hurricane Warning
and the Storm Surge Watch has been upgraded to a Storm Surge
Warning for Coastal Flagler and Coastal St. Johns
- The Tropical Storm Watch has been upgraded to a Tropical Storm
Warning for Clay, Eastern Marion, and Putnam
- A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for Inland Camden

* CURRENT WATCHES AND WARNINGS:
- A Storm Surge Warning and Tropical Storm Watch are in effect
for Inland Glynn
- A Storm Surge Warning and Hurricane Watch are in effect for
Coastal Camden, Coastal Duval, Coastal Glynn, and Coastal Nassau
- A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Inland Flagler and Inland
St. Johns
- A Storm Surge Warning and Hurricane Warning are in effect for
Coastal Flagler and Coastal St. Johns
- A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Inland Camden, Inland
Duval, and Inland Nassau
- A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Clay, Eastern Marion,
and Putnam

* STORM INFORMATION:
- About 310 miles southeast of Jacksonville FL
- 26.8N 78.4W
- Storm Intensity 145 mph
- Movement Stationary

Looks to be moving more off the coast unless it builds up again. If it gets bad we will go inland a little. DH and I are medical workers. We cant totally leave or we would get fired lol. DH got called in yesterday on his day off because his facility was getting a lot of patients being moved from risky area hospitals that might get flooded.

I dont think we will really get much from this storm where we are now. We have been through Katrina and Rita when we lived in LA and got totally flooded out by Rita.

I probabaly wouldn't leave unless we were getting a direct hit by a 4 or 5 but then we couldnt totally leave anyways or we might not be abe to get back in lol.

Most hospitals have hurricane disaster/plans and employees have to sign up to be available either during or after the disaster and even if its your normal days off, you have to come in. We are used to it. Just like working many holidays and everything else lol.

We are really prepared and have a generator and if we have to get in the boat we can do that too lol. I would NOT advise others to stay but we kinda have to anyways and we knew that when we started our careers and moved to risky hurricane areas. If you are advised to leave and can, you should.

There is currently a tropical storm warning for Eastern Marion County, which is below us here in Alachua and slightly to the east. I'm pretty sure we'll get TS winds, the question is, how strong they will be. We regularly have 40mph winds up here during bad thunderstorms, so if it's at the lower end of the scale, I'm not worried too much. You can only be so prepared.

Water already near top of the River Walk in Jacksonville on the St. John’s River at high tide right now. Worst of#Doriandoesn’t arrive til tomorrow. ⁦@weatherchannel⁩pic.twitter.com/RO5mQjovWR

— Jacqui Jeras (@JacquiJerasTV)September 3, 2019

This is not good news for Northeastern or N. Central Florida.

Model trends today are for#Dorian to get closer to Jacksonville, FL & Savannah, GA than previously forecast.

While still expected to be offshore, the storm core is now rather large, and risk of storm surge, rain flooding, and damaging winds is growing. Don't sleep on this one.pic.twitter.com/LmSEVNqOKM

— Levi Cowan (@TropicalTidbits)September 3, 2019

Before and After pictures of Grand Bahama island. The yellow line is where the old shoreline was.

https://twitter.com/NBChristinaGinn/status/1168888568451862528

Looks like we got lucky this time. Hope everyone is doing well.

We all got lucky this time but like D said it is only till the next....

Today is moving the pots outside and using the supplies.:)

My prayers are for all the people affected in the islands and I hope that you all get the help needed and fast!

It was a non-event here, but we're still expecting some outer bands later this afternoon, but largely - nada.

Glenn - glad it all turned out well for you. My friend in Orlando said he got some winds and rain, but no damage.

Silvia - My courtyard looks like a sea of plants, and I have more than I planned in the LR, because I figured some couldn't handle the deluge of rain we were supposed to get. I threw my back out slightly moving all those plants, so I put a few back out and will work on the rest tomorrow.

Bea should be getting hit right about now. Hope she's o.k. Sultry was evacuated, so can't wait to hear from her.

The Bahamas took the hit for us, and we need to repay them by donating to some legitimate charities. United Way is guaranteeing that anything earmarked for the Bahamas will go directly to aid, not to administrative costs. They got slammed with how they handled Haiti and Puerto Rico, as did the Red Cross, so they're trying to do right this time.

When I saw the Bahamas I couldn't help but think of our own precious Mexico Beach, which STILL hasn't gotten the aid it was promised from Washington, and the aid that was supposed to go to repair the AFB has been diverted to build the GD wall. I won't say more. Don't get me started.

It was basically nothing here no damage and only about 1/2 inch of rain. Sorry I wasn't more talkative I had to do a lot around the house. You just don't realize how much you have until you have to move it. I will be taking down the plywood today and going to help some others.

Tell me about it! I remember when I could do it all in a couple of hours, but now it takes me days to get it all done.

As of 12:10 pm, all hurricane warnings are lifted, but the First Coast is still under a tropical storm warning.

The whole NE area dodged the bullet is time!. Jax didn't even get tropical storm winds and we got even less. There was some flooding in low areas.

We don't get nervous around my neighborhood unless it's a 3 or above. With a 1 we just bring the plants in. With 2-3 we board the windows. With a 4 we would evacuate.

We picked this area because it is the highest point in the county and has no risk of flooding.

Bea, I'm so glad things turned out well for you. I was a bit worried when it started getting closer to the coast. Sadly, the Bahamas took the hit for us. I hope everyone supports their recovery efforts. We really do owe them.