Well..... this storm was one for the books!! My wife and I are so lucky that we live where we do! We are just 8 miles off the Gulf but far enough away that we had no flooding. The hurricane produced 140 mph sustained winds with up to 180 mph gusts! This just missed being an official Cat 5 hurricane by 2 mph. The wind was so strong that a lot of the rain never really hit the ground in our development - sort of vaporized by the hurricane's wind. This storm was so large, so powerful and lasted longer than any I've ever heard of before! About 16-17 hours to be exact. It just never let up!
We lost power at 10 am Wednesday morning and our 22K natural gas powered Generac took over for the next 32 hours. We had no running water, no internet, no TV, no phone service and I am so grateful for having the Generac! In our development, despite the incredible wind, there was no damage to anyones home that I am aware of. The only damage was too a few of the lanai cages and screens. The landscaping and trees have been beat up very badly and most of the light posts are bent, knocked down or missing. The homes built here are only a year or two old, (many brand new) and have all been built to the latest hurricane codes. We all have hurricane proof windows, doors, roofs and garage doors. Well, they did their jobs because I haven't seen any damage here to the homes themselves. We did get some wind blown water underneath the garage doors which we mopped up as it was coming through. Not a huge deal.
The wildlife here has been very disoriented. Gators were thrown out of the lake, turtles and snakes are all over and we helped them out by returning them as best as possible. The lake looked like the pacific ocean during the typhoon in "The Caine Mutiny". Boats broke loose, capsized and became destructive devises. Docks broke loose and are now floating around the lake.
Just 3 miles west of us the devastation was unbelievable! I ventured out today to see for myself. Homes, businesses, roads, etc. have been completely wiped out. It looks as though someone spilled a case of toothpicks all over. We have has two sets of friends who lost their homes and are still in shock. We will be helping them out for the weeks to come as best as possible.
I stopped at Costco today not really thinking they would be opened - but to my surprise they were. They had giant generator trucks powering up the entire store and the people who run that Company performed a miracle. They diverted pretty much everything they sell from surrounding, non affected States into the stores in Florida. They had an abundance of supplies including all foods they normally carry, all size batteries, bottled water stacked to the ceiling, toilet paper, paper towels, etc. and were better stocked than just a normal day. They did not raise prices and had no limits that I am aware of on anything - except water (2 cases per member).
One of my friends who just moved down here and was temporarily living in his 37 foot trailer with his wife and kids. Well, it is now history! We offered for him and his family to stay with us until they could find a place but they are trying to dry it out and repair the trailer. I think it is futile - but they were determined when we spoke today.
Before we moved here, some of my personal requirements were not to live in a flood zone, hurricane zone or sink hole zone. I made sure I spoke to our Insurance Company and they did verify we are good for those things. Thankfully they were right and we had no damage worth reporting. WHAT A MAJOR DIFFERENCE 3 MILES CAN MAKE!
Our power and services have been restored (quite rapidly I might add), our internet is now working (phone's - sort of) and now we are starting the "getting back to normal" process. I consider ourselves so very lucky and so fortunate to have dodged this devastating bullet and will now help friends in need as best I can. This was the one we will be talking about for decades to come. I hope other Forum members who live in SW Florida and the Carolina's are fortunate and have luck getting through this as well! Again, I feel blessed that we were spared in the eye of this terrible storm!!!
Regards,
Chief38
