Hurricane Charley vs. My VOOM Dish...

[vurbano]

I live in Va. Beach. My power was only out for four days. I missed two of them as I went to the Nascar race in Dover. So, it was nice to come back home and have power.

Regards...

I sat in the dark for a week. ugh

 

[deeann]

I'm getting local FL coverage from Tampa (WFTS) right now. I'm in CA but my local ABC affiliate is multicasting it on ABC News Now on a subchannel so some others outside of FL may be getting it also.

For those of you in FL, please stay safe!

 

[Technut]

I'm getting local FL coverage from Tampa (WFTS) right now. I'm in CA but my local ABC affiliate is multicasting it on ABC News Now on a subchannel so some others outside of FL may be getting it also.

For those of you in FL, please stay safe!

thanks for the heads up Were geting simulcast (wfts)on our ABC NEWS NOW 12- in san antonio also

 

[Orlando Vol]

so how are you fl. Voomers doin?

Well, I made it through the storm!

No damage to my house, but I went into town (Orlando) today and it was a mess... Power out, trees, down, signs all over the place...

My power went out for about 10 seconds st the height of the storm... but came back on...

My cable stayed on, Voom OTA's came in the entire time (which was awesome b/c my locals 6+9 did an awesome job covering the storm!!), and never lost phone connection.

Lightning was not even an issue was really odd... The winds in my area were about 60 MPH Sustained, with gusts nearing 100... And LOTS of rain.

Today, the satellite channels are on, but I am only getting 2 of the 7 locals that I watch (No NBC!!!)...

What could be causing this?? Power outage for the broadcasting antenna? Damage to it?

My dish seems to be in order... Let me know if you have an idea... I'm getting 0/0 for the OTA's I can't recieve...

 

[larrybud]

I just read somewhere that your NBC affiliate tower is GONE. No NBC.

Why would you stay in town? Did you have an evacuation order?

 

[Orlando Vol]

I just read somewhere that your NBC affiliate tower is GONE. No NBC.

Why would you stay in town? Did you have an evacuation order?

Being so far inland, Orlando would probably never get an evacuation order... Since the most damaging thing about any hurricane is the storm surge-- And we are far enough inland that it is not really a concern for us.

Ironically, thousands of people from the West coast (Tampa, Ft. Meyers, Sarasota, etc.) evacuated TO Orlando. Tampa was spared of really anything, while they were riding out Charley in Orlando...

Like I said, I was watching it LIVE on all of the local stations until a couple of them lost their towers... Seeing the radar, and hearing them describe it as I was going through it was surreal...

Of course, it took until sunrise for us to really find out what happened...

I took a few pics...

 

[Vaggeto]

wow

 

[Orlando Vol]

wow

That's how everyone down here feels...

The damage cannot really be conveyed through pictures. It is so widespread.

Orlando/Winter Park from the air is basically covered by a canopy of trees about 80-100' tall. That canopy has been thinned out dramatically. These trees are HUGE.

Orlando is still without power, but luckily my office has power...

The massive food spoil has begun, and Orange County has cancelled school through next Tuesday! :shocked

Continue to pray for the people in Florida who have been affected by this storm... Sadly, alot of the people on the coast who lost everything are seniors who had worked their whole lives to retire in beautiful Florida...

 

[Dvlos]

Hey man pull an extension cord over from Disney they have like 15 nuclear generators or something.

I lived in Orlando for two years and just moved back to South FLA early 2003... Orlando and it's surrounding areas (like Altamonte Springs and Longwood) are just fantastic places to raise a family. I don't even want to go back if there are trees lying in the streets.

 

[bman549]

Well i survived Charley also.
I took down the 24" dish before the storm, because i didn't think the 4 little bolts holding it onto my roof would hold a dish that size.

We had sustained winds of 90mph with gust to 105.
No damage to the house just a lot of trees down around.
Good thing i had a tree service come out a few weeks ago to trim all the trees around the house, may have saved me thousands of $$$

Lost power right as the storm hit and didn't get it back on until late sunday night.
Had to help the power guy break into the box because the locking bolt was stripped out!

Luckily i had bought a genearator a couple of years ago and was able to run the fridge, freezer a couple of fans and a small tv on it. Another $300 investment that saved me $$$ with all the frozen stuff in the freezer and fridge.

Didn't get to put the dish back up until last night but everything works ok, except for local NBC (WESH) being out of service, plus a couple of others. I still got OTA reception with just the cable hanging on the roof.
Watched the storm come through on WFTV's sub channel as they ran the radar in realtime.

My old D* 18" dish put up 6 years ago made it through with not problem. I have it mounted on a pole, which the installer didn't think was very sturdy. It bends but doesn't break!

We have trees down all over like the pics from orlando_vol posted.

The problem is finding gas for the cars and generators.
Since gas station don't have power and the few that do run out of gas in a few hours.

Driving around is something else. Dodging trees in the roads, traffic lights that don't work. Some people that don't stop at intersections.

There are many who still don't have power or water and may not get it back for a week or more.

Just hope WESH gets their antenna fixed soon so i can watch the Olympics in HD

 

[Orlando Vol]

The problem is finding gas for the cars and generators.
Since gas station don't have power and the few that do run out of gas in a few hours.

Glad to hear you're OK.

Come out my way... West Orange County.
The 408 is still free, and if you take it West to the Turnpike North and get off at SR 50--> LOTS OF GAS!

Seriously, the lines in town are ridiculous...

 

[bman549]

Thanks, I work over by Universal which is close, but live in the Tuskawilla area.
I'll check it out.

 

[jwaltz666]

Here's a pic from my house in Port Charlotte. Had the eye pass right over was quite a scary experience. The winegard OTA flew away and the dish was bent out of shape. Need some major roofing and some assorted repairs to the house. Also lost 4 mature fruit trees. I am still without voom and power.

Staying with my parents now in Palm Beach watching directv in SD.. ugh