wcco weather

Storm supplies remained stocked and unsold as Central Floridians awaited the gusts and soaking signs that hurricane season actually has begun.It's been that way as long as 125-year-old Makinson Hardware in Kissimmee has been selling lumber and nails.Even as the first Atlantic tropical storm soaked the Florida Panhandle early this week and Hurricane Bill grew into a Category 4 storm on Wednesday, Central Floridians will wait until the last minute to prepare, said Makinson manager Walter Zaldana and other building-supply dealers across the region."We haven't seen anything yet," Art Lucas, manager of Lowe's of Waterford Lakes, said this week.In this age of real-time satellite tracking, Lowe's and other corporations monitor tropical depressions as closely as the state Emergency Operations Center to know where to shift resources when the demand for plywood, tarps and generators soars. And when it does, Lucas knows that "plywood's something you're usually loading in the wind and rain right up to the end."By late Wednesday, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said Bill continued showing signs it would turn north before it could threaten Florida's east coast.With maximum sustained winds at 135 mph, Bill is expected to pass between the Carolinas and Bermuda on Saturday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. The only effects here might be 6- to 8-foot waves that could cause rip currents along the east-coast beaches, said weather-service meteorologist Don Van Dyke."It should pass well to the east of here," he said. "I mean by several hundred miles."Backing him up were recent atmospheric pressure changes that should push the hurricane away from the Eastern Seaboard.For now, the National Hurricane Center in Miami projected just a 10 percent chance of 40-mph winds when Hurricane Bill moves north, possibly Friday. Before then, Central Florida expects sporadic to heavy rainfall as the remnants of Ana move northward through the Gulf of Mexico.Officials in Brevard County learned Wednesday that the Caribbean Princess will make an unscheduled stop at the Port of Canaveral at 5:30 this morning, Canaveral Port Authority Director of Communications Rosalind Harvey said. The cruise ship, carrying 3,100 passengers from New York to the southern Caribbean, altered its itinerary because of Bill.The likelihood that Florida will be spared signaled that recent and longtime residents would hold onto their money."Until five years ago, I never worried about hurricanes until Charley blew the roof off my house," said Patrick Keefe, 40, who was raised in Azalea Park in east Orlando. "You'd think that would have scared me enough, but I had plywood on all the windows and nothing came through the windows."Standing outside a Home Depot near Colonial Drive and Semoran Boulevard this week, Keefe said he might pick up a tarp, but that would be his only preparation unless a more serious threat arises. Inside the store, a pallet loaded with red 5-gallon fuel cans was the only sign that a hurricane might be heading to town.A Floridian since 1960, Longwood's Lenny Maxwell isn't nervous about the need for more supplies after decades of false alarms. "I don't get that stuff until the last minute because it just sits," he said. "The last time, I finally put the gas in my car."Only one shopper claimed to be prepared for whatever might come."Absolutely," said Bob Shue, a 45-year resident of Florida. "I have three 24-packs of water, candles, three lanterns, plenty of food and a little bit of beer. I'm ready."The devastation left by Hurricane Charley's surprise arrival Aug. 13, 2004, convinced him he should always have extra everything on hand."We do it every year, and it doesn't go to waste," said Shue, who lives near Lake Fredrica. "And if it gets too bad, I leave."