Keeping you in my thoughts and hoping for the best! Please keep us updated and do your best to stay safe.

Keeping you in my prayers. I lived in South Florida for awhile and a lot of my friends still live down there, so I understand the stress and worry. Just pray and pray and pray and make sure you are overly prepared. Remember to get food, flashlights, water, gas, ice bags, freeze water bottles, fill up your bath tub, AND CASH because if the power is out for awhile after the storm, businesses may open, but will most likely only accept cash.

Good luck to you and your family. I wish you nothing but the best.

Blessings of peace to carry you and your family through this unscathed. I would also make sure you park your vehicle somewhere safe above any potential storm surge with wind and highest tides in mind. Prepare with as much water as possible fill your bathtubs while you still can and a full tank of fuel as well as any fuels needed to cook camp out style. Two nuclear power plants are being taken offline so definitely batteries and candles with matches or lighters. BE SAFE. Evacuate if needed and prayers being said for you and others I know in Miami area. Poor souls that Irma has already left in her wake too.

Follow the warnings and get to a shelter or evacuate when they say to do so. If inland far enough to ride it out in a strong structure. Get your supplies together and be prepared for some loss of power. I'm in Palmetto just North of Bradenton. There could be storm surge here. So if she tracks too far west. I'm putting the pets in a shelter and going to a shelter at one of the schools nearby. Right now I'm making ice and already have water. Some stocks of non perishables already in place. Will get more tomorrow. I have my grill ready with enough charcoal to get by. And will make sure I have enough fuel for the camp stove. Ice and water are the two things most folks will be needing. So if you're staying put. Then have your water and some ice ready. Of course you'll need a decent sized ice chest too if you can get one. The other stuff like having cash and at least 1/2 to 3/4 of a tank of gas is a good idea. With a baby you need at least a week's supply of stuff for the little one. And of course have your meds stocked for at least weeks worth if not for a whole month. The best way not to get overwhelmed is to go by a list and check items off as you go. Prioritize according to your specific needs. Most people get through these storms with not a lot of problems. Property and possessions can be replaced. People cannot be replaced. So please do what your local emergency response folks tell you to do. Sending prayers and positive energy your way.

I live in Florida as well. I was here through Ivan though. You can do this it is scary but you can do this. It isn't as bad as you think it will be. What part of Florida are you from? I am in Pensacola so I got the worst of Ivan.

Oh yeah this is like my fifth major hurricane. And don't even have a number for the smaller storms. I've lived here in Florida for over 56 years. The storms have not gotten me to date. And I plan on keeping it that way. Do what the emergency response folks say to do. Mistakes on the the side of safety are not mistakes at all. Mistakes the other way around are not worth the risk.

I lived on Guam....we had Typhoons and the highest land wind speed ever recorded then it blew away the anemometer that reads wind speeds....anyway be prepared for water to come in under doors...put towels down and also pick up your carpets if you have any....the water will damage the carpets.....now if you have wall to wall carpet that is different....I mean rugs....

having cash is smart and also having gas tanks filled....if you have a generator too that is usually good when the power goes out to give your refrigerator power to keep food safe....if you need to the thing to do is have a typhoon/hurricane party with the food...cook it all up and then keep as much in the cooler as can be kept cooked....in baggies...keeps water off the food....remember the freezer will thaw when power goes out so do not open refrigerator unless getting something important out fast!

Yes definitely evacuate if they tell you to. Don't stay trying to hold on to what you have if it's all going to be swept away with you and your family as well. Sounds like you have gotten a lot of good advice here. Sending prayers.

We up here in NC are hoping it will weaken significantly as it reaches up. My mother-in-law lives in Charleston, SC and they'll get it pretty good after Florida gets it. I went out today after work and picked up some flashlights/batteries/a couple of coolers/3 cases of bottled water and some food/drink items. Hopefully it won't be as bad as they're making us think it will, or it will veer off the Coast into the Atlantic.

Hope you and are family are safe and well!

I am in an area that was told to evacuate by 3 today. The storm is going to be a cat 2 when we get it. We have no car so we will have to find a ride to the shelter. I am scared too.

under no circumstances cook with charcoal in your house unflued. that way lies carbon monoxide poisoning. Just saying.

You guys who live in Fla. have balls of steel. I'm in Md. and get nervous when winds hit 35 mph. That's old age for you. In the 1950s, we had three mean ones in Baltimore: Hazel, Diane, and Connie. The last two came within a few weeks of each other, but I was a kid and afraid of nothing. It was fun. Last one we had up here was Isabella around 2003. Had a bunch of trees down and power out but only about a week. Full house generator next year. LOL.

It's funny, my brother has a winter home on Marco Island Fla. and he doesn't worry about a thing. Sometimes I wonder if we came from the same parents. LOL.

Praying for your family to be safe, Please keep us posted. We are in Florida too but evacuating because my disabled father needs oxygen to sleep.

We called 211 to get a ride and they are going to pick us up in the morning. We are ready and have everything packed by the door. Still nervous but I guess that is to be expected.