Thanks to oragator1 and 96gatorcise

Absolutely! Too Hot becomes one of my main go-to spots for hurricanes thanks primarily to those guys. Even found myself asking "hey, where's your updated forecast track?" Depended on it as much as I did the NHC's. Thanks!

 

Special thanks to @96Gatorcise who apparently weathered out the storm as he was providing precision updates. Condolences to anybody whose family experienced loss during the storm.

 

Nothing mixes extreme politics and extreme weather coverage like Too Hot.

 

Yep. Thank you guys. Its very helpful to many in a time of need.

 

Did we even have a hurricanei Milton thread? Guess I missed it

 

I believe if you're blocked by the person who started it, or if you block him, you can't see it.

 

Good thread. These guys have been great to read during these traumatic events. Thanks to them.

 

Thanks. I rode out Milton at a Hilton Homewood Suites in Maitland Florida. We never lost power. One of the guest told me they lived in Tampa and stayed with a friend in Port Lucie. That didn't work out well

 

For the record, I've never blocked anyone or given anyone a negative rating (unless by accident). Why not talk it out?

 

No worries. It's a pseudo hobby. I freely admit most of what I do is copy and paste. There are people far more informed than me and I just pass on the info. I do like to plot out the coordinates on Google maps to see what the NHC is thinking where these things go. They have been pretty good 3-4 days out the last couple of storms.

I'm still without power, being told by the 17th it should be fixed.
Spent the last couple of days cutting up a 40 ft oak tree. First with clippers, then a sawzall and final a chainsaw once Lowe's opened. I'm down to the stump. We were getting quotes of 4-6000 to chop it up and haul it away. We should of paid since I have done most of the work while the other owners in the building just bitched about not having power or didn't bother even show up ( investors).

Brutal work, I now understand why they charge so much.

 

$4000-$6000 seems a little high to me. Perhaps it’s supply and demand in your situation. It’s been a decade now, but I paid $1600 to take down a 3-foot diameter ash tree that was a good 30 to 40 feet tall.

 

I'm sure it's an inflated price due to there being so much work because of the storms. They throw out a price hoping you will pay it. If not they move on to the next job.

We needed the tree moved because it blocked access to the power pole. We didn't want TECO to show up and say they can't fix it because of the tree.
Our pole feeds 20+ homes, all without power.

 

Gouging. Read a Houston, Texas arborist's comments about the rapacious practice.

The Dark Side of Tree Service: Price Gouging After Storms.

Liriopes Muse: The Dark Side of Tree Service: Price Gouging After Storms
"Natural disasters bring out the best and worst in people. In the aftermath of major weather events, communities come together to support one another, showcasing the resilience and kindness that define humanity. However, this period of vulnerability also attracts unscrupulous individuals looking to exploit the situation for personal gain. One such issue is price gouging by tree service companies, which takes advantage of desperate homeowners in the wake of storms. This practice is not only unethical but often illegal.

Understanding Price Gouging

"Price gouging refers to the act of increasing prices for goods or services to an unreasonable or unfair level, particularly during emergencies. For tree service companies, this can mean charging exorbitant fees for services like tree removal, pruning, and debris cleanup after a storm. Homeowners, already dealing with the stress and damage caused by the weather event, are left with little choice but to pay these inflated prices to ensure their properties are safe.

"Price gouging exploits the vulnerability of the people seeking services, erodes their trust for seeking those services in the future, and leaves the people with few financial resources in danger."

____________________

Even though we no longer live in Florida and find it necessary to sink our patio furniture into the pool, I too followed the thread's updates and appreciated the information provided. Thanks for your dedication. Hope your power is soon restored.

 

After one hurricane, my large oak tree (it was actually two trees grown together) was topped at about 18-20 feet off the ground. I got a guy to cut the tree (34" diameter at the base) down, but he did not remove stumps. So I spent an entire summer with a shovel and an axe, digging up dirt around roots (several more than 8" diameter) and chopping them apart from the stump. Each time I thought I removed every possible root from the stump, I tried to flip it over, but it wouldn't budge. It turns out that there was a 1" tap root at the very bottom of this 3-4'-diameter root ball. I basically had to dig a small tunnel to get under the stump, and make one hack at the tap root and then I was able to flip the stump. Then, knowing that the county wouldn't take a 400-lb stump, I had to roll it uphill to the back of the yard (away from the house) to let the termites work on it for a couple years before I could chop it apart and bring the pieces to the street for removal. I didn't want the termites to get too comfortable feasting on wood that close to the house.

I worked with a chemical plant operator that had a similar problem after a storm, and he "solved it" by pouring grain alcohol or some other flammable mixture on the stump and then set it on fire. What he didn't realize was that the chemical he chose would flow readily through the roots to wherever the roots went. Pretty soon after he got the roaring stump fire going, he noticed that trails of smoke were coming out of the ground leading away from the stump. Some of those trails were heading toward the house, which set him into a panic. He had to quickly dig up the roots at the edge of the house before the fire got underneath the foundation. He said he won't do that again.

 

Five years ago, I paid $3200 for two large sweet gum trees. One was about 3 feet in diameter and the other about two. The larger one required a crane.
My god, those are horrible trees.