Hurricane Ian

[R. Pare]

Just want to say "Good Luck" to everyone down there that will be affected by this storm.

[Purple Frog]

Chris Scharnow has busted butt for a few days boarding up and raising his boat as high as the lift would go. He is in the Tampa Bay area and now that IAN may be hitting south of there storm surge may be less. He has moved the family to higher ground. Shame that he had to miss the Runoffs.

On the other hand Mark Defer's place may now be on the right side of the storm as it comes ashore. Not the side you want to be on.

Fingers crossed.

[EYERACE]

Cleaned out the french drain that's off to the side of the driveway going back to the 3 car garage with the trailer in front of one door, dug a nice trench for extra water run off behind the french drain area. The opposite far corner in front of the garage is a low spot that can have water come up into it about an inch deep and about two feet in...but there's just some shovels, rakes and the like in that corner. VanDiemen is on its work transporter, so it's about 2 3/4 feet off the ground. Thinking tomorrow in the morning to put the Lotus up on the ramps that are used for the scales, so it would be about five inches higher than the floor.
Expect worst winds to be from the East.......the 1K sq. ft. garage faces West and it's 2 story, so the building will be a nice windbreak with the trailer on that West side. Everything rode out Charlie/Francis/Ivan/Jean and then Irma years ago nicely - hoping for the same with Ian. Chain saw ran just fine last weekend on the big limb that came down out in the street. I may hook the trailer to the truck and turn them into the wind when gusts shift to coming from the South. Two generators and a 110 V portable one room A/C unit that I use inside the box trailer when sleeping inside at the track during the summer that I'll move into the house if/when power is lost might just keep me thinking I'm civilized.
Took pictures of everything all around the house and garage on their outside for insurance reference if it comes to that.
Biggest problem is already one third of the liquor is gone.

[Steve Demeter]

Stay safe everyone in the Sunshine State!!!

[EYERACE]

Friday morning. Blue sky, gentle breeze..........and as for ground level > lots of Central Florida and Orlando flooded and those on streams and rivers downstream are holding their breath. Streets near me in four different directions are either 3 to 4 inches deep and passable in the pick-up or so deep as to be impassable in most anything but a boat. Little branches and debris everywhere, occasional big tree down over half a road. Rare small sinkhole forming in roads as water recedes. No electric power at home for a day and a half so far......so out at the separate garage, the rather old gel cell battery that I like to keep on constant charge in the VD is going to go on the solar charger when I get back home. Generators helping the house or over at Nephew's who also lost power for a day. Garage got only a tiny bit more water than it often gets in one corner which posed no trouble. I guess the sandbags helped. Ten foot tall garage doors are now lift-by-back operated - Wife's side no trouble, the double width one has yet to be attempted. House soffit that has a history of coming loose above the second floor veranda and various 'fixes' came loose again - extension ladder up to it blew over (guess, 35 mph wind?) when I left it up for a minute and came down - heck of a noise but nothing damaged.......very lucky, the ladder was near four large plate glass exterior windows. So far latest half-baked 'fix' is holding.
Overall, things for me aren't desperate or tragic. The Khalua is gone - so OH NO! - I'll just drink straight coffee - and there are two bottles of mixed Margarita left.
I came into the Office for the person who gets something blown into their eye - and guess who just called! I take care of 'em for free when it's post-hurricane

[Marty Nygard]

I can't remember his name but one of the Apexspeed community (P2 sports racer) lives on Sanibel. I hope he got off because it doesn't look like the causeway will be repaired soon.

[Peter Olivola]

I can't remember his name but one of the Apexspeed community (P2 sports racer) lives on Sanibel. I hope he got off because it doesn't look like the causeway will be repaired soon.

Craig Farr and he did not fare well.

[Lynn]

https://teamtac.org/e107/e107_plugin...pic.php?128047

[t walgamuth]

Cleaned out the french drain that's off to the side of the driveway going back to the 3 car garage with the trailer in front of one door, dug a nice trench for extra water run off behind the french drain area. The opposite far corner in front of the garage is a low spot that can have water come up into it about an inch deep and about two feet in...but there's just some shovels, rakes and the like in that corner. VanDiemen is on its work transporter, so it's about 2 3/4 feet off the ground. Thinking tomorrow in the morning to put the Lotus up on the ramps that are used for the scales, so it would be about five inches higher than the floor.
Expect worst winds to be from the East.......the 1K sq. ft. garage faces West and it's 2 story, so the building will be a nice windbreak with the trailer on that West side. Everything rode out Charlie/Francis/Ivan/Jean and then Irma years ago nicely - hoping for the same with Ian. Chain saw ran just fine last weekend on the big limb that came down out in the street. I may hook the trailer to the truck and turn them into the wind when gusts shift to coming from the South. Two generators and a 110 V portable one room A/C unit that I use inside the box trailer when sleeping inside at the track during the summer that I'll move into the house if/when power is lost might just keep me thinking I'm civilized.
Took pictures of everything all around the house and garage on their outside for insurance reference if it comes to that.
Biggest problem is already one third of the liquor is gone.

Lots of work there! I hope it is enough!

[Purple Frog]

Ian has also messed up the Runoffs.

[Steve Demeter]

I know this is Monday morning quarterbacking,
but if the Runoffs is at an East Coast venue, try to not schedule it during Hurricane Season.
Now I know that Hurricanes are about impossible to predict until they actually form and this just might be impossible to do.

[BLS]

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. Kind of hard to avoid it. Rain storms other than hurricanes are always a possibility. I remember more than one Road Atlanta cold and wet weekend.

Besides, racing in the rain is fun

[EYERACE]

Someone at RunOffs that may need help: Steve Shelton, Jr. E Production, Mazda. He is from Estero Fl. which is right next door to Sanibel Island. I'm certain both got slammed by Ian.

[Hardingfv32]

Besides, racing in the rain is fun

While the driving is fun, every thing else is a big hassle.

Brian

[Farrout48]

Craig Farr and he did not fare well.

We got off sanibel. Had 12 feet of surge water. Stohr WF1 was in garage with Miata and BMW. Trailer and truck got inundated and moved by surge. NOAA views show house intact. Causeway is gone. At least a year to rebuild. Temporary bridging timeframe unknown. When we can get back on island to assess damage unknown. Still trying to find neighbors who sheltered in our stilt house after their ground level house near was overwhelmed

[Rick Kirchner]

Pawley's Island evidently took a pretty hard hit from the second landfall and Primus is right "across the street".

[Steve Demeter]

I did not say it would be easy

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. Kind of hard to avoid it. Rain storms other than hurricanes are always a possibility. I remember more than one Road Atlanta cold and wet weekend.

Besides, racing in the rain is fun

[BLS]

I did not say it would be easy

Darn near impossible IMO, unless you have all runoffs in the middle of the country, and then you might get snow

Or, the west coast. Well no, that might get burned out

[fletch]

My father in law’s place on Isle of Capri, just south of Naples.
water in both garages 22”.
Boats banged up but still there, 3 of 5 cars toast and just a smelly mess to cleanup.
Fletch

[stonebridge20]

My Gramps house is just across Collier Blvd from the Isle of Capri. Tide surge stopped 2" below the front door. No wind damage. Don't know about the A/C unit or pool pump that were under water until power is restored. I'll fly in as soon as the airport is operational.

[EYERACE]

Waiting to hear good news...any news........ from JHerscher and Chris...............................

Yesterday afternoon (Saturday)...and at least one of 'em still this morning as I went by it......on separate sides of town .........eight different gas stations with all pumps closed/out in the big O here. I'm having to put my stash of Rec90 fuel in the motorcycle.

[Nardi]

Stan, JHerscher and family are fine, minor damage at home. Evidently some belongings that were located in some other parts of Ft Myers may not have faired well. Waiting for his report.
Thanks for your concern.

[JHerscher]

Hi Apexspeed

Thanks Stan for the concern. My family and home are safe and no problems here. My dad has power and internet, the lucky duck. I wonder has anyone heard from Mike Schiffer, FV driver, from Cape Coral I think.

Having lost my shop space at the end of this month, I was putting stuff in temporary storage until I could find another location. Unfortunately, I chose poorly in my temporary storage location, which is near Fort Myers Beach. In addition to my 11 year long custom TVR basket case project ( missing the basket contents, now complete), I also had a couple of race engines that spent time under 10’ of storm surge for a while.

compared to the lady who manages and lives at the storage facility, I got off easy. She lost everything. The TVR is insured.

It is the race engines I ask about

1-The storage units are impossible to get to with a vehicle.
2-Anything I do now is a temporary stabilization.
3-Everything I take in or out will need to be carried in by hand about 100 yards.
4- there are ZERO supplies like solvents that we take for granted available for weeks
5- I have 1/2 gallon of WD40 and some engine oil available
6- no engine crane. Nothing other than minor strip down possible. Heads are staying on.
7-Pinto 2L, orifices taped off but really not for 10’ of water.

I know the right thing to do is strip the engines down. I can’t right now. How can I stabilize them to minimize or mitigate the damage?

my plan is to
1-Pull the valve covers and give a good soak in WD. Probably pour some oil on afterwards.
2- pull the plugs, squirt WD, attempt to rotate. If rotateable, squirt oil give a couple rotations.
3- pull the scavenge pickups to drain any water
4- pull the oil filter
5- remove intake, squirt WD on valves, and the same on exhaust valves
6- empty water from the carb, replace with WD
7-what else? Besides a good squirt of WD all over.

neither engine has a clutch installed.

remember, minimal hand tools, no compressed air, no heavy lifting, only the chemicals I listed available, and a 100 yard haulage for what I take in.

thanks
John

PS
Please reread everything I listed above before replying with a suggestion and don’t risk making yourself look like an a$$ for suggesting something that isn’t feasible in the situation.

[JHerscher]

Pawley's Island evidently took a pretty hard hit from the second landfall and Primus is right "across the street".

communicated with Brad. Primus is ok. No damage at all.

[Purple Frog]

speaking from experience. One problem is the salt getting into the cooling passages, then later if you use the engine the rust flakes off and fills rads. At best the engines will have to be dis-assembled and checked. That said, do what you can. Even if you fill the block with antifreeze its better than not doing anything, Aluminum doesn't like salt either. Can you unbolt oil pump, distributor and carb and carry out? Even if you wash them with bottled water its better than salt.

[whadeduck]

We ended up okay. No damage to the house. We're in Estero which is just South of Fort Myers. We still don't have power, no generator either, and water is at about 50%. But the gas held so we can take a hot shower and flush the toilets at least. Just can't drink the water. I'd very much like to NEVER go through that again. I went through Hugo in South Carolina in 1989 and now Ian. That's two cat 4 hurricanes and that's way more than I care to ever deal with. This area took a beating. A HARD beating. And it'll take a long time before things ever get back to some degree of normalcy. My wife and our two dogs bugged out to the Tampa area this weekend to get away from the heat and be able to take long showers. It was only then that we were able to see the degree of damage to the area on the news. Up to that point, we could only listen to them describe it on the radio. Concrete and steel bridges have fallen into the Gulf of Mexico and entire beachfront communities have been completely wiped out. We'll deal with the heat and water and minor inconveniences. My heart goes out to the families of the people we lost, and to the people who've lost everything. I can't even begin to imagine. I thank the big guy upstairs that we still have a roof over our heads and none of us were injured. In time, our lives will return to normal. There are many others who weren't so lucky. To those people, all I can wish for them is to somehow be able to pick up the pieces and somehow carry on. God speed.

[JHerscher]

speaking from experience. One problem is the salt getting into the cooling passages, then later if you use the engine the rust flakes off and fills rads. At best the engines will have to be dis-assembled and checked. That said, do what you can. Even if you fill the block with antifreeze its better than not doing anything, Aluminum doesn't like salt either. Can you unbolt oil pump, distributor and carb and carry out? Even if you wash them with bottled water its better than salt.

Thanks Mike. Since I have the intakes off I’ll carry them and the carbs with. Forgot to list oil pump. Good idea on the water pump & distributor. .

Maybe they will have all the boats and campers that floated all over the place move around a bit and it won’t be as big a task lugging stuff in or out. I’ll throw the wrenches in to pull the heads

John

[Hardingfv32]

This storm is going to create some big problems with future insurance coverage, not to mention current payouts.

Brian

[JHerscher]

I am going to google “marine engine salvage”.

they had cleared the drive enough to get a car back there. What a relief.

1- All 8 bores (2 engines, remember) were full of water.
2- Both had about 1/2 gallon+ water in the sump.
3- Pulled distributors, intakes, oil pumps, mechanical fuel pumps, water pumps. dumped water from carbs.
4- pulled both heads. Ever tried to untorque a cylinder head while standing on 1/2” of mud? It is a lesson in the laws of physics, I tell you what!
5- rotated engines, no issue at all. Lubed the hell out of the bores.
6- wiped down the rust on the heads - a substantial amount for such a short period - lubed every surface I could find on the heads.
7- removed oil filters.
8- before I did all that, I ran water through the cooling system to flush as much salt away as that little bit would do.I used the highly technical method of dumping water into the thermostat housing opening with the water pump opening plugged with the palm of my hand. Better than nothing, but not much.

I know there is much to do, but I hope things are in a more stable place

I’m thinking a sonic cleaner for the carbs and maybe the oil pumps. (oh boy, a new tool!). The rest, a good soap and water wash, rinse, blast of compressed air and a lot of WD40 or other spray stuff.

And I need to google marine engine salvage. I think.

what sort of chelating agents do any of the Apex group use that have a minimal etching effect but will deal with rust effectively? I got a lot of stuff to deal with!

thanks to those who have connected offering help.

John

[DanW]

I am going to google “marine engine salvage”.

they had cleared the drive enough to get a car back there. What a relief.

1- All 8 bores (2 engines, remember) were full of water.
2- Both had about 1/2 gallon+ water in the sump.
3- Pulled distributors, intakes, oil pumps, mechanical fuel pumps, water pumps. dumped water from carbs.
4- pulled both heads. Ever tried to untorque a cylinder head while standing on 1/2” of mud? It is a lesson in the laws of physics, I tell you what!
5- rotated engines, no issue at all. Lubed the hell out of the bores.
6- wiped down the rust on the heads - a substantial amount for such a short period - lubed every surface I could find on the heads.
7- removed oil filters.
8- before I did all that, I ran water through the cooling system to flush as much salt away as that little bit would do.I used the highly technical method of dumping water into the thermostat housing opening with the water pump opening plugged with the palm of my hand. Better than nothing, but not much.

I know there is much to do, but I hope things are in a more stable place

I’m thinking a sonic cleaner for the carbs and maybe the oil pumps. (oh boy, a new tool!). The rest, a good soap and water wash, rinse, blast of compressed air and a lot of WD40 or other spray stuff.

And I need to google marine engine salvage. I think.

what sort of chelating agents do any of the Apex group use that have a minimal etching effect but will deal with rust effectively? I got a lot of stuff to deal with!

thanks to those who have connected offering help.

John

PB Blaster for rusted fasteners.

Evaporust works really well. So well you need to coat the treated surfaces right away with a WD40, LPS MP or other preservative because absolutely all the iron oxide is removed. Only useful on iron and steel surfaces. https://www.evapo-rust.com/

Lowest cost is molasses and water, but it's slow. https://christinedemerchant.com/mola...t-removal.html

[whadeduck]

Hi Apexspeed

I wonder has anyone heard from Mike Schiffer, FV driver, from Cape Coral I think.

Through the district 8 newsletter email, I heard that Mike Schiffer is okay.

[rdracr]

And this is in Orlando. Just amazing what floats. This is nine inches of water flowing thru my garage. Unfortunately the rest of the house is only seven inches high. Delaying my return slightly.

Hi Stan

[EYERACE]

Anything I can do to help? -stands? have got lots of kitty litter laying around. I have at least one set of shelves that I'm not using.

Am packing and prepping for SARRC in Savannah next weekend but will gladly run some stuff over - PM me.
Stan


and an edit post about Steve Shelton / Estero mentioned above - I was curious to see how the SCCA weekend is doing at Sebring this weekend, so I was checking out race-monitor.com ......and there Steve was in his EP car winning his Class this afternoon - no idea how his place on Estero fared but if he's at the track then home can't be so bad as to keep him from being at the track

[Farrout48]

After a boat trip to Sanibel, the devastation on the island is much worse in person than the videos, etc can possibly show. Island looks like a bomb went off. Progress toward recovery is a lot better than forecast just after the hurricane. The Causeway has been temporarily patched (full rebuild is still a year off) and electrical trucks, etc have gone across. Slow barges are still ferrying workers/equipment over daily. Residents are allowed over by boat and will be allowed on the Causeway on Oct 21. Electrical crews are stringing lines, power is available to fire station, water treatment plant, sewer, etc. Resident might have power in a few weeks. Water might be available before then.

We are much better off than most in that our house is still liveable albeit with a few repairs. Being in a stilt house built in 2000 is the saving grace. The roof shingles need replacement but we have a roofer who is going to tarp it this week and we are on schedule for him to redo the roof (maybe in a month). Siding is 30% gone. Water damage in ceiling inside the upper living area. Pool equipment gone. Lanai is in a pile. Trees, vegetation, etc will have to be cleared. The real fun is in the garage and apartment on the ground level. Water level marks are 2.5" from ceiling. Everything in the apartment is trashed. WIll have to strip it all back to the studs and hope the mold (which has already begun) can be remediated. Downstairs electrical panel will have to be replaced. Electrion has to come in to certify house can take power but outside electric meter was submerged and has to be replaced. Water plumbing has to be repaired before water can be turned on. Have electrician and plumber schedule in to repair but water availability is still weeks away.

Now to the garage. Water was up to the ceiling, tumbled/floated everything around. 2009 BMW and 2004 MazdaSpeed Miata, 2002 GMC, enclosed trailer, are totaled. The Stohr WF1 was submerged and tossed off its stands and hanging from the winch (which is inoperable), parts are everywhere, etc. All electronics are wet (scales, instruments, cameras, etc). Fuel cell full of salt water. All 5 GSXR engines are full of saltwater. All tools (50 years worth of stuff) submerged and any electric/battery tools are totaled. At this point, I am not sure what can be salvaged from the Stohr and parts. It will be another week before I can even start clearing the mess out of the garage to even get to the Stohr stuff. Enclosed trailer was submerged, mold is growing in it, etc. Being 75, I think my racing is over at least for a couple of years but probably forever. Will probably part out the Stohr or let someone else rebuild it but that is months in the future. A couple of friends have already expressed interest in it.

What is the good news and the reality? Pat and I are alive and can fix the house. Flood insurance does not cover anything on the first level of a stilted house where living is not permitted. The fighting between us and the Flood and Wind insurance has yet to begin. Cars and truck have been totaled but will have to be dragged off island before Progressive can assess and payoff. Insurance adjusters will start to arrive on island after Oct 24 - have scheduled one but others are in the queue. We have an RV to live in and are trying to find out if we can bring it across the Causeway in a week. No definitive answer from City people yet. The Outback was at the dealer's having warranty work done so it survived. Overall financial out of pocket cost is a huge unknown. While we all want to be made whole immediately, the reality is that it will take time to fix the house and for the island to come back. Patience will be a virtue. We feel like we are juggling 10 balls at once but the trick is to accomplish one thing at a time.

Huge thanks to all those friends (racing and otherwise) who have reached out to us and offered help, support, a place to stay, etc.

[sheltonracing]

Anything I can do to help? -stands? have got lots of kitty litter laying around. I have at least one set of shelves that I'm not using.

Am packing and prepping for SARRC in Savannah next weekend but will gladly run some stuff over - PM me.
Stan


and an edit post about Steve Shelton / Estero mentioned above - I was curious to see how the SCCA weekend is doing at Sebring this weekend, so I was checking out race-monitor.com ......and there Steve was in his EP car winning his Class this afternoon - no idea how his place on Estero fared but if he's at the track then home can't be so bad as to keep him from being at the track

Wow. Thanks for thinking of me. Our house fared fine from Ian. Just a few trees down, and some soffit damage.

My business suffered tremendously. Several of MOLLY MAID of Fort Myers' clients sustained extensive damage to their homes and some lost their homes completely. Our Governor, Ron Desantis, has done an amazing job in dispatching emergency crews and employing local businesses to aid in the recovery effects. Using a budget surplus to bypass federal aid and get temporary bridges built to both Sanibel/Captiva and Pine Island/St James City/Matlacha in 3 days time. Amazing.

[Hartley]

OMG Craig!

I am so sorry to hear about your losses! I heard it was bad on the island but wow I feel your pain! We had minor damage in the Lakeland area. I was at the runoffs when the storm hit. My wife was home alone with 3 cats! I heard about every detail daily, it was not fun being on either end of the conversation. When I left Florida, quite early for testing days, there was barely a mention of the storm percolating west of South Africa. Diane and I are pretty savvy about hurricane behavior, tracks, etc after a combined 25 years living in Marathon in the middle keys. So before I left I arranged to have my big shop generator delivered and set up at the house. I heard the blow by blow report real time of a tree falling on the house from 80 MPH winds. I almost left to go home several times. Very stressful times!

Good luck with the home rebuild! I have some available shop space if you need it. I am 2 hours from you.


QUOTE=sheltonracing;648621]Wow. Thanks for thinking of me. Our house fared fine from Ian. Just a few trees down, and some soffit damage.

My business suffered tremendously. Several of MOLLY MAID of Fort Myers' clients sustained extensive damage to their homes and some lost their homes completely. Our Governor, Ron Desantis, has done an amazing job in dispatching emergency crews and employing local businesses to aid in the recovery effects. Using a budget surplus to bypass federal aid and get temporary bridges built to both Sanibel/Captiva and Pine Island/St James City/Matlacha in 3 days time. Amazing.[/QUOTE]