Glad you guys fared well. The media definitely over-hypes things. Not that there wasn't a lot of damage, or that there weren't tragic things that happened, but thankfully FL mostly got spared from what could have been much, much worse.
Even FEMA's estimates about the damage in the Keys (which I quoted above) was being strongly disputed by local officials. I guess time will tell the full extent of the damage down there.
The Virgin Islands and surrounding areas look completely wiped out. The military did get in there pretty quickly, so hopefully things will be on the rebound soon.
Stay safe, guys.
Mike
Thanks Mike
Was insane to be out of state, listening to the non local media reporting fake hype.
One person was in clearwater stating: All of Clwtr is evacuated, all will be underwater" - wrong on both counts
Or reporting from in front of a mangled alum car port saying how terrible the destruction was to the area (not that there wasn't minor damage to structures and cars but come on...
on the flip side:
This was probably the best rating the news ever had - i am sure they are looking forward to the next hurricane, or ways to produce them for ratings....
There was a reporter in Jax, knee deep in water in a parking garage under a hotel, talking about how awful it was. Then, he walked out of there, up the ramp and had the camera looking around at the area. Turned out, he found the lowest spot around.
We had a flooded area from rain in RI a few years ago. Took out a good portion of a large shopping mall. The helicopter shots on TV made it look like one of those
100-Year
floods in the Midwest, but in reality it really only affected a few small neighborhoods and that section of the mall.
Mike
So far, the biggest issue here locally is finding gas for cars/generators.
Power coming back to 50% or so of town (less for Marco Island), so people are lining up for about 2 hours to get fuel at the dozen or so gas stations.
Limit of $30 per customer which doesn't get you too much gas...
For those with the power back on, it's a minor inconvenience to be short on gas. For those with generators, it's gonna get pretty uncomfortable. No breeze, temps and humidity in 90's
Bugs are starting to come back out...
All said, it's been quite an orderly disaster. Helps to have law enforcement presence in the gas lines.
Some idiots don't realize that a downed/non-functioning traffic light is to be treated as a 4-way stop. So a handful of car crashes in addition to everything else.
My biggest fear in those conditions would certainly be other people. Having a running generator probably makes one a target. I could live with the heat and bugs, but wouldn't survive against armed, desperate packs of people.
The stories coming out of the islands were insane (and undoubtedly censored). Storms like these bring out the best, and unfortunately worst, in people.
Mike
yes, we've received reports of generator theft as of late.
And despite minimal damage, there were reports of looting in some Ft. Lauderdale stores. All caught on video of course
I think the law enforcement presence has done wonders to keeping things civil despite long lines, heat/humidity, sewer backups, and bugs.
I still wonder why some people insist on returning to the area with full knowledge that it's not back to
normal
yet. Maybe they like to stand in line for fuel and poop in buckets...
Well, there was one person on camera complaining about the continued closure of access to the lower Keys. Their issue was that they owned the property, not the government, and should be allowed back to start cleaning up, and to keep people (who didn't evacuate) from looting.
But, you're right, as soon as something hits the fan, they'll be on the phone demanding services, which the government won't be able to provide.
Sounds like a great time for an unplanned vacation. Of course, so many people can't afford to do that.
Mike
On one hand, I agree with that citizen. It would be nice to start cleaning up their property.
On the other hand, I'd rather have law enforcement out doing their job instead of a bunch of private citizens taking the law into their own hands. While I believe in the
stand your ground
concept, I think many folks take way too many liberties with that....
Well we lost power for 6 hot sweaty nights, came back on last Saturday morning. I think the eye passed about 20 miles west of Sebring which put us in the worst place, the NE corner. I was told the wind was 80 gusting to 110, out of the south-south east, which is the worst direction for my dock/beach, being on the north side of the lake. The heaviest winds came over around midnight Sunday night, our power had gone out about 9pm so I couldn't see on TV exactly where it was going, but I was looking out the back window at the lake, using a high powered flashlight I could see huge waves were breaking over the dock and coming way up the back yard. I told my wife the dock wouldn't be there by morning and I was right.
Every dock on the north side of the lake was wiped out, lots of pontoon boats that were up on dock lifts were washed up on shore, I had one in my backyard that belonged to a neighbor two houses over, along with half his dock boards. The waves were huge and the lake level came up about 3 feet above flood stage. LOTS of trees down all over the place, my pool cage (south side of house) was completely crushed up against the house, half in the pool. Tree branches down blocking the roads and driveway, two days of cutting up limbs and piling up same at the edge of the road, in 92 degree heat. Great fun.... but then try sleeping in 90 degrees with no air, no generator, no fans and no breeze. At least the beer was cold.... until all the ice had melted by about day 2 of 6 without power.
I had taken the masts down and flipped my cats upside down in the grass, put them up against the solid fence to protect them form the wind, my biggest fear was a tree landing on them. They survived fine, two trees came down and the H14 and P18 were just in between them, but I did see a H16 down the road that was cut in half by a huge pine tree that had fallen on it. There were tall pines down on top of houses, cutting trailer homes in half and power lines down all over town, many power poles down too, blocking the roads and of course taking out the grid too, which is why it took them 6-8 days to restore power, depending on where you live.
As the lake was draining, it flooded many neighborhoods on the south side of the lake. Luckily I live on the higher ground on the north side, but the guys on the south side all kept their docks
Dermot, thanks for the thoughts, I do need to get back home! Maybe after I get the house all repaired I can get away from the swamp and get over there to see you, I hope all is well with you and the family.
Timbo,
Glad to hear you, your home and cats survived
what lake is this?
gotcha