HooRU Projecting Erin’s path is predicting the future.
And the NHC has a track record of getting it wrong more often then they get it correct, especially that curve to the North, they have gotten the incorrect three times now, the last time was Irma.
That error caused a lot of people new to Florida a lot of misery, Irma was forecasted to travel up or near the East coast of Florida and people who didn’t know better followed the NHC and media’s call to evacuate, too many not knowing any better did just that, a lot of them landed over here on the SW coast of Florida where lacking lodging and shelters filling up had no where to stay forcing them to ride out Irma their vehicles.
I was handling radio traffic between the Hendry EOC and the Clewiston Fire Department, a call came in through the EOC to be relayed to the Clewiston FD there was a family trapped in their vehicle in the parking lot of Clewiston High School, it was a husband, wife and three children.
Turned out they came over here from SE Florida couldn’t find a place to stay and the public shelter in Clewiston was already over it’s capacity, so they decided to ride out Irma in their vehicle in the parking lot of Clewiston High, one of the parents or both thought it would be best to park next to a 52′ trailer that was not connected to a tractor, the winds rolled the trailer over their vehicle trapping them inside of it.
Because of the wind speeds the FD could not respond to their call for help until the winds lowered to 45 or less, the 911 dispatcher in La Belle and I made periodic calls to the parents to make sure no one was injured, just trapped in the car and as the Father stated to me they where getting soaked, but ok.
Eventually the FD was able to get out of the shelter to get the family out of the vehicle, they where transported to the ER which is just a mile or so away to be checked out and where found to be uninjured in any way, I wasn’t there but I am quite sure the kids where scared out of their minds and their parents where probably real close to being the same.
Now had they ignored the NHC and media warnings to evacuate, which most of us who have been here for quite awhile have learned to do, they would have been back in their home with the power and A/C on, nice and comfortable while the kids would probably be getting ready to head off to bed in nice and dry beds.
Versus sitting in a vehicle, under a trailer in the wind getting soaked.
Now that was the worst I found about, but many other family’s from SE Florida who evacuated did ride out Irma in their vehicles as well, many over in Lee where the winds where considerably higher.
