Hope all is well down there. I work with a LOT of Floridians and let me just say, its going to be a SLLLLOOOOW day because none of them are at work right now. They're getting slammed. :(
Just wanted to wish you all good luck and hope that you're all safe.
farg Florida.
Yes, farg Florida, but not the posters that live there.
They're getting drilled down south, guys. Bad. Massive power outages, wind-related damage from tornadoes, storm surge on the gulf and along Lake Okechobee... not a good situation at all.
Luckily we're on the northernmost part of the storm and have only had sustained winds of 50-60 mph thus far.
Thankfully, the storm is roaring along at an amazing 25 mph forward speed, so the worst of it should only last a couple more hours.
BTW: The low temperature in Daytona is supposed to be 48 degrees tonight. Bizarre. :-D
Hi guys.
My family and I are safe. We're at my mother's house, about 45 minutes north of where I live.
The eye of the storm passed just south of my house, and from what I've heard, I can expect to see some wind damage to my house, but there should be no flood damage (I live about 20 miles inland). Even up here there were hurricane-force winds, and it was a scary proposition. My 2-year-old slept soundly all night. The rest of us slept fitfully at best.
Hopefully we'll be able to see our house sometime today. Right now we're being asked to stay where we are until there is a damage assessment- probably late afternoon at best, maybe tomorrow. Right now, the city of Naples is "closed," and they're not allowing ANYONE in.
As we find out more, I'll let you know. Thanks for the good thoughts and prayers.
I wish I had the day off.
The wind is stronger now than it was all day.
Weird considering the storm is nearly completely off-shore at this point. It's really howling outside.
It's going to be beautiful out in a couple of hours, though. That's what they keep telling us anyway.
:P
A real man would be out there golfing right about now, romey.
Quote from: FFatPatt on October 24, 2005, 01:20:58 PM
A real man would be out there golfing right about now, romey.
It's funny you mention that. My buddy called me at around 11:00 and told me he had a tee time for this afternoon at 3:00.
A 400-yard drive downwind might be possible today. 8)
think ill take a gander at the frapper map to se who we might lose
Update from Hurricane Alley:
My wife and I checked out our house today. We were extremely blessed. We live about 20 miles inland, but just north of where the eye passed, and the winds were in excess of 100 mph where we live. We had a large pine tree just outside our house that fell during the storm, but it fell away from the house.
All told, we have a lot of cleaning up to do in our yard. Lots of branches, the tree to pull, and have insurance people and contractors inspect the roof and our foundation to just double-check, but we did not find any structural damage to our house. Not a shingle missing, not a window broken, nothing, we even still have our lanai. Like I said, we were blessed. We're staying at my mom's house another night because we still don't have power.
South of us, in Marco Island and Everglades City, there is probably a lot more widespread damage. Closer to the ocean, there was more damage (Naples city had winds clocked at 121 mph). Schools in our county will probably not reopen this week, and the district that I work in (neighboring Lee County just to the north) will have at least tomorrow off.
My wife's school (Naples Christian Academy) is an older building about 10 miles from the Gulf, and they had some problems with leaks developing in their roof (the building is extremely old by Naples standards: 30 years or so, well before many of the current hurricane codes). Water got inside and caused some ceiling tiles to fall out. I'm afriad that they'll end up with about $100,000 worth of damage.
I keep half-jokingly tell my wife we're moving up north. The only reason it's half-jokingly is that if we do move, she wants to move with her family. In Maine. Way, way, WAY too close to RJS.
RJS: If you want this kind of "day off," come on down. Then again, never mind. I probably wouldn't trust you with a chain saw. :D
Hbionic: I've never been in a major earthquake, and I've managed to dodge most of the hurricanes that have come down this way until Wilma. This was the first time that I've been in sustained hurricane-force winds (my mom's house was not in the eye, but only about 15 miles away- we had hurricane winds from about 3am to 9am). This thing scared the crap out of me. I'm trying to be positive and upbeat for my son (who was the only one that slept, little brat). It was not a fear for my family's safety, but a dread that we could end up without a home. Again, praise the Lord that our house was spared. Unfortunately, not all down here were that lucky.
Romey: Hope that you are all OK up north there. Wilma is one nasty witch, isn't she?
Dio: Wilma may be paying a visit to you next. Farg Brooklyn. ;D
We're fine and dandy here, Geo.
We had a shteinload of tree branches & stuff come down but nothing major.
In fact, there isn't a breath of wind outside right now and it's about 55 degrees at the moment.
Fall has finally arrived in the south. Halleluia! :yay
Quote from: Geowhizzer on October 24, 2005, 08:54:45 PMWe were extremely blessed. ...Like I said, we were blessed.
I call it lucky, and I'm glad you were that. :D
Quote from: Geowhizzer on October 24, 2005, 08:54:45 PMDio: Wilma may be paying a visit to you next. Farg Brooklyn. ;D
I live in the Bronx, dude. It's even in my profile. What is it with you Southerners? Do all we Northerners look alike to you fools?
Rome and Geo -- Glad to hear all is OK with both of you. Having been through a bunch of typhoons, and I know what can happen.
Let's hope there's no #9 this season.
Quote from: Diomedes on October 24, 2005, 09:11:48 PM
Quote from: Geowhizzer on October 24, 2005, 08:54:45 PMWe were extremely blessed. ...Like I said, we were blessed.
I call it lucky, and I'm glad you were that. :D
Blessed, lucky, fortunate, we were all of that, and then some.
Quote from: Diomedes on October 24, 2005, 09:11:48 PM
Quote from: Geowhizzer on October 24, 2005, 08:54:45 PMDio: Wilma may be paying a visit to you next. Farg Brooklyn. ;D
I live in the Bronx, dude. It's even in my profile. What is it with you Southerners? Do all we Northerners look alike to you fools?
Sorry about that. Long week. Of course, you'd probably agree with me on the "Farg Brooklyn" then, wouldn't you?
(http://image.weather.com/images/maps/tropical/map_tropinfo24_ltst_5nhato_enus_600x405.jpg)
38 MPH??
Jesus!
Also - check out the wind speed. It's actually up from 105 to 125 right now. Good riddance, you ornery bitch!
I don't know what you're talking about, Geo. Something eveil got into my hand and went bad. So I lopped it off at the write. Now I've got a chainsaw attached to my left arm. I'm money with that puppy.
Hi again: Quick update
We stayed at our house last night. We still have nothing (no power, no water, no telephone). We could have power (and therefore water since we're on a well) anytime between now and mid-November (but hopefully soon, as there were crews working out by us this morning). We're at my parents now, cleaning up, and I figured to send this quick update (with this freaking slow connection, I can't do much else :boom).
From what I've seen, the area around where I live made it pretty well. Some homes have roof damage, but mostly just shingles ripped off. No one was missing an entire roof. Lots of trees broken or down altogether. I cannot get into the areas that were probably most affected by the storm: Naples (city proper- I live way out in the sticks- is right by the Gulf and got the highest measurable wind speeds), Marco Island (south and right by the Gulf), Everglades City (very small town near Marco)- The hurricane made landfall halfway between Marco and Everglades City, and those areas got the highest storm surge. Immokalee (city near where I live) is inland but poor, as it is a farming community with a large number of migrant farm workers- I am afraid there was probably a lot of structural damage there just because of the numbers of mobile homes and slap-shack buildings that are there.
Reports actually say that the east coast (Ft. Lauderdale and Miami) may have actually had more damage structurally than the west coast. That is probably because many of the buildings on the east coast are older (1950s, 1960s and 1970s), before hurricane codes, than in Naples (many of the structures are less than 10 years old, and most are less than 20) or Marco.
One inland city, Clewiston on Lake Okeechobee (the big lake in the middle of the southern peninsula of Florida), has had a strict curfew enforced because of massive looting. There was a report of looting in Ft. Myers just BEFORE the hurricane hit (that guy must have been a real idiot- was caught and arrested), but I've heard nothing about that since in Naples, Ft. Myers or the rest of the west coast.
Collier county schools (Naples) are closed for the week, while my school district (Lee County- Ft. Myers) is day-to-day because of the blackouts. My principal said that we'll be back when 90% of the schools have power. Hopefully on that day, we're part of the majority and not the 10% without power. Businesses are opening as they are able. Many have generators. My family went to one of the few restaurants that were open last night, and it took us an hour and a half to get food because they were short staffed.
I watched the World Series last night on a 5-inch battery-powered television. I felt like I was in the 1950s. :-D
Honestly, what I have seen looks nothing like what happened in New Orleans, probably for a few reasons. Our buildings are newer, we didn't have the flodding problem (we at or just slightly above, but not below sea level like NO), Wilma wasn't quite as strong. It will take a few months, but I anticipate that Naples will be close to "back to normal" by the time tourist season starts after Christmas. A lot of the work is just clean-up on the West coast. Marco, Everglades City and Immokalee may take longer.
I hope that this sees everyone doing well. I can't really read posts because of the lack of time and a slow connection. As soon as I can, I'll check in again.
I really can't wait to see more complaining about TO. Then I'll know I'm close to back to normal. :D
I talked to a guy who was working for FEMA down in Ft. Lauderdale/Boca area.
He said the damage is way, way worse than anyone ever expected. Just total devastation in some areas.
:-[
Quote from: Geowhizzer on October 26, 2005, 11:16:13 AM
I really can't wait to see more complaining about TO. Then I'll know I'm close to back to normal. :D
Nah, the complaining is all about Jose Cortez. ;)
Thanks for reporting in!
I'm back- Lights came on around dinner time. I have everything now- even my cable, which was a pleasant surprise (supposedly out for much of the area).
I spent much of today raking and dragging in my yard, cleaning up much of the debris from Wilma. I'll have to hire someone to come in and finish off the 10-15 trees that were toppled from the hurricane in the woods surrounding my yard. All told, I'm much better off than so many that have faced hurricanes this summer. I really can't complain.
Funny thing I noticed today: I didn't lose a single shingle off of my roof, but my next-door neighbor lost about 10-20% of his. The only visible difference is that my roof slants east-west, and his north-south. Mine is a few years newer than his as well, which could be the main difference.
:yay