#scott maxwell

I meant to send this several days ago. But there are still a few things that are possible to do, even on Milton Eve.

Transcription:

Hurricane Milton looks like the real deal — and headed our way.

One reader noted that some forecasts suggest this powerful storm may follow a route along Interstate 4 across Florida. If he does, expect him to stall several times around Champions Gate and the theme parks. Nobody ever traverses that route without serious slowdowns.

Still, there are plenty of things we can do to be prepared. Here are 12 tips veteran Floridians have shared about prepping for serious storms.

Move your car away from trees that may fall or drop branches. Either in your garage or even to a nearby public garage that allows it. This can also allow you to use your car if falling trees block roads leading in or out of your neighborhood.

Do your dishes and laundry now. If you have a stinky plate that you used to reheat old fish or some ripe workout clothes awaiting a wash, those things will only get stinkier and riper if you lose power. Might as well nip those malodors in the bud now. Plus, you can always use clean dishes and clothes.

Set up a group chat with your neighbors. These folks sometimes end up being your first-responders. You can either use a text chain or a social media app like Facebook messenger or WhatsApp. This is a good way for everyone to check on each other and be ready to help.

Don’t accidentally Facetime that neighborhood group chat at 3 in the morning. OK, so this one’s mainly for me.  When we lost power in 2022, I pulled up my group chat to see if others had the same problem and accidentally fat-fingered the Facetime button, immediately ringing the phones of 14 neighbors, two of whom answered, wondering what idiot was calling them at 3 in the morning. (Sorry, Deb and Beth Anne.)

Put things you might need in an easy-to-find place. It’s great to have a flashlight. Less so if that flashlight is tucked in the back of a linen closet when you might need it in a pitch-black powerless house. The same goes for things like chainsaws. Might as well have them easily accessible.

Get portable phone chargers. Amazon may be the 10,000 pound retail gorilla. But it’s tough to beat Amazon’s same-day delivery options for electronic accessories — if you get the order in before the storm comes.

Have comfort food ready. Obviously the No. 1 choice is Funyuns. But since there will likely be a run on the tastiest onion-oriented snack treat mankind ever invented, you can opt for others as backup. Also, the FDA recently ruled that calories don’t count during a natural disaster. Just make sure it’s something that doesn’t need to be refrigerated.

Stay informed. Anybody who made it through the 2004 storm season is familiar with the infamous last-minute “wobble” that changed the trajectory of Hurricane Charley and left an unexpected trail of devastation and destroyed roofs across the state. So stay up-to-date on the latest forecasts. The National Hurricane Center at nhc.noaa.gov is super solid. And while the Orlando Sentinel may have some annoying columnists, the newsroom will also be providing round-the-clock coverage and updates about everything from forecasts and business closings to emergency contacts and power-restoration at orlandosentinel.com

Consider getting a power inverter. If you want to keep a laptop or some other small appliance going, a $20 power inverter that plugs into your car’s cigarette lighter can be used to charge things. (Just don’t run your car in the garage with the door closed.)

Be patient. I often need to remind myself of this one. If we lose the kind of power that seems likely, it will take a while for it to come back on. Just remember that many of the people laboring to get your power back are working 24-hour shifts and had to leave their own families to do so.

Bring in campaign signs and inflatable Halloween decorations. These things can take off with ease in high winds. And the state is littered with both right now. A temporary move inside the garage is an easy fix. Or, if your campaign sign happens to be for a Moms for Liberty school board candidate, you can just burn it alongside any offending books.

Count your blessings. My wife and I had a rough house-year last year when lightning struck one side of the house, traveled through the attic and shot out the other. (Maybe I cracked one too many Moms for Liberty jokes.) The incident fried everything from the TV and the fridge to house lights and the pool pump. It was a royal pain. But we were OK and had the resources to move on. We knew not everyone was so lucky. So we tried to keep them in mind. That’s a good thing to do — remember those who have it worse — when problems happen.

Let’s be smart and look out for one another. Stay safe, friends.

[email protected]

Michael Cohen creating fake invoices for shell companies to hide Trump's hush money payments was routine, prosecutors argued. Such an invoice was submitted into evidence in NYC [above, as reported live on social media by Adam Klasfeld and screencapped by Philip Bump for the Washington Post].

Cohen's fake invoice included this superlative piece of stock art, in which eight orange stick men surround a grey conference table on which rests a spectacularly gay 3-D bar graph, climbing from purple to red. It was created in 2007 by vector artist and illustrator Scott Maxwell of Lumaxart. So happy pride to all who celebrate.

Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel

A fascinating thing happened this year in Florida. Legislators were trying to help Darden Restaurants get a tax break. Their problem was this: The Fortune 500 company was paying so little in corporate-income taxes on its headquarters in Orange County that the break was bigger than its tax bill. And it's hard to find a way to let the company to pay less … than nothing.