Hello: We plan to leave from Rochester NY to FL on Friday with a double stack and vanload of people. . We’re looking at two options in getting there:



Option 1 is the western route that takes us down through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.



Option 2 is the eastern route down through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, NC, SC, Georgia and Alabama.



The western route has less hills is and is normally about 3 to 4 hrs faster than the eastern route in good driving conditions. Our dilemma is that we’ll probably meet up with what’s left over of LILI in Kentucky at about 12AM Saturday.



Anyone have thoughts one-way or the other? Pushing through or go around?



Thanks



Good luck to those in the path of the storm.

If you don't mind driving in the rain, push on through. By the time it gets that far inland, the wind will have lain down and the rain won't be horizontal anymore. The uplands have less of a potential for flooding and closed roads. That's my vote, anyway.



Drive carefully - can't wait to see you guys.



John

It's hard to say until it gets closer to Saturday what the best route would be. I'm coming down from St. Louis and wonder if I will have to postpone for a day until Sunday if the weather looks terrible for Saturday. I'm going to wait and see. This may really break up once it hits land. I know driving in 60mph wind with a boat is no fun at all and can be downright dangerous.



Keep an eye on the weather.

Mike Hill

H20 #791

Here is a decent prediction that I just found for the path add hours from 10am CST on Oct 2.



http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/2002/LILI/track.gif



I would keep checking on this.



mhill

Lili's now a Cat 4 storm and still strengthening beyond what the models predicted. If you're in NOLA, get the hell out. If you're flying into NOLA or Mobile on Thursday, make other plans.



Bob, you guys should take the eastern route.



J

A Southern Boy responds:

I've lived in New Orleans (Betsy), Pensacola (Opal), Atlanta (Newt Gingrich), Fort Walton (George), Hattiesburg, MS (90 mi. north of NOLA), Tallahassee and a few other Southeastern places that are vague patches of memories back in the '60's and '70's. I drove across the Mississippi Gulf Coast to the Florida panhandle on the afternoon well before Camille hit that horrible night in 1969. The television weathermen make the most of these hurricane attractions to the point of hyperbole but I wouldn't be messin' with Miss Lili. She's not one you'd compare to a long, bad southern thunderstorm.



This hurricane will dump a lot of rain well (*way*) inland. With the loads you mentioned I would take the drier route and the extra time it takes to keep the slippin' and slidin' factor to a minimum. No sense in tempting the fate of becoming a headline on the eleven o'clock news.



(Well, that was dire. ...but heartfelt.)

It sounds like you will be South of the major rain soon after you leave New York on Satuday. I'd take the fastest route.

Jack

Jack has a point. This hurricane has lost 50mph of wind overnight (Wed. night to early Thurs. am) Check on it's track and rainfall amounts before you leave Sat.