Forecasted Cat 2 Hurricane (110 MPH)

Hi everyone. I always drive to Orlando from Texas for vacation. I am taking the drive in the week of the 13th. Is it safe right now? With all this rain? I’m sure the main highways are cleared. Just curious to anyone that loves along the way. Thanks

From next Friday on we, a family of five from Germany, are for vacation in Florida. We planned to live on Anna Maria, but have to look elsewhere now because of the flooding on the island. We love the beaches and the pool of the house we rented. We have been there before.

We would prefer the gulf side but Helene seems to have impact on nearly everywhere from the panhandle down to Naples.

How is it in Cape Coral? What are your favourite places?

I just want the weather, especially when it’s an active weather pattern. What I get is a constant stream of commercials for d**k pills and emergency generators. The rest is an occasional update filled in with the same two minute spots repeated over and over.

Guys I’ve seen four palmetto bugs in my house in the last two weeks. Starting to think my worst nightmare is becoming a reality 😭

I’ve never been there, staying only 3 days. What kinda clothing should I bring w me ? Since I heard it’s raining a lot.

After seeing all the devastation in Florida from Hurricane Helene, I am wondering how much we can rely upon the FEMA flood zone designation. Although Helene crossed SW Florida 100+ miles west, the damage has been severe. My question is how far away from the coast and what flood zone) one should move to avoid catastrophic weather related damage. I understand hurricane risk exists for the entire state of Florida but would like to find a relatively safer place in Sarasota/Manatee county area

I've been following a Florida case & have a question regarding the defendant's court appearances. I don't want to give full details as I'm mindful of upcoming jury selection. But it's a capital 1st degree murder case.

The defendant so far has waived every single court appearance & I'm confused about which appearances a defendant is allowed to waive.

Can a FL attorney clarify if a defendant is able to waive their right to appear at trial? Can they refuse to be present throughout the entire proceedings including sentencing? If so, are there any implications to this?

For clarity, the defendant is participating in discovery.

When is the deadline to register to vote for this year’s general election?

October 7, 2024

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You can register to vote here on the official Florida voter registration website.

I am already registered to vote but I have moved/changed my name since the last election. Is this deadline applicable to me?

If you made any changes of that nature, please update your registration with the link above before the deadline!

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If you are registered to vote, you can vote during your county's early election period. By law, early voting must be held at least for 8 days. The mandatory early voting period for 2024's General Election is October 26 – November 2, 2024.

Each county Supervisor of Elections may offer more days of early voting. Check with your county Supervisor of Elections for the additional days of early voting that may be offered in your county.

Election Day is November 5, 2024. Check with your county Supervisor of Elections for your Election Day Polling Location.

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When can I request a mail-in ballot?

The deadline to request that a vote-by-mail ballot be mailed is no later than 5:00 p.m. (local time) on the 10th day before the election. For this year’s election, that would be October 24. Source

When should I be receiving my mail-in ballot?

Supervisors of Elections send the ballots during a 7-day window which is between 40 and 33 days before an election. The send period for this year’s election is September 26, 2024 – October 3, 2024.

For more information about voting by mail, please visit the Florida Department of Election Vote-by-Mail page.

I registered for a mail in ballot last election, do I need request one again?

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In addition to the candidate's website (which, if they have one, can be found through googling the candidate's name) Ballotpedia.org usually has some information on down ballot races and amendments as well.

The best source on local elections would be the major newspaper for your area (Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald, Sun Sentinel, etc). They interview almost every candidate of every race that is happening in the area so you can find out the positions of every candidate on each issue. They will also talk about any local referendum or proposals relevant to your city or county.

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Based in SWFL. Was lucky during Ian in that water peaked within 3 inches of entering our home (we're on a canal connected to the Gulf, so surge events are a case of steadily rising water rather than crashing waves). Recently when Helene went past, a friend at lower elevation who flooded during Ian used cans of "Great Stuff" Gaps and Cracks to try and waterproof sliders etc to mitigate any water entry, but it went untested as the surge peaked literally an inch below their doors.

Has anyone had success with a product like this to prevent water from entering under sliders? I'm not expecting it to prevent multiple feet of surge from entering a home, but given how close we came to flooding during Ian, anything that can gain me a couple of inches of water ingress protection is worth it in our situation.

I see there's also a Flex Tape Flood Protection product that might suit my needs - anyone tried it?

I purchased a car a while ago insured it and registered it the same day through the dealer. At the beginning of this year, I parked the car and also cancelled my insurance as I was not going to drive it for a while. (I had insurance through root, it was not a 6 month contract as far as I’m aware). Anyway, fast forward to 2 months ago (August) I started driving again and I reinsured my car. I’m about to go to the DMV and renew my license plate tags.

Will having those months of no insurance in-between cause any problems? Or will I be ok since I am insured? Trying to get an idea of how this works. Thanks in advance.

Last year I couldn’t find one

It’s inside my lanai. How do I take it out without it jumping on me ?!?

Just need to know if I should be worried or not for my kids and chickens.

Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville tag coming soon

I’m not sure if anyone will know the answers or if there is a site that can help.

We bought a house in Gulf Breeze 2 years ago. Currently I use it about 50% of the year but in early 2026, it is to become our primary residence when my husband retires. We currently live in a different state, so much about being homeowners in FL has been a major learning curve.

The house we bought was built in 1987, and we had a new roof put on immediately after buying it. However the windows & doors are original. We got our homeowners insurance through Citizen and the first year it was about $2300. Next year was $30xx. This year renewed for $4666. Our insurance agent said he did not see that any claims had ever been filed on our house and it seems to be a solid little house.

Is there anyway to know how much replacing windows/doors/HVAC/water heater would affect our policy options or price? We are wondering if our only option is to sell it and buy something newer. Our friends who live 2 miles away have been there 3 years, and their private insurance policy hasn’t hardly changed in all that time.

We are just trying to figure out the best course of action since DH will be leaving his job in less than 2 years.