D.R. Cattle
Well-known member
Well I'm still alive. A few folks weren't so fortunate. Took me all of Friday night to get the packinghouse prepared for her, barely had time to get my own home ready. By then it was too late to evacuate. Rode her out and I'm still trying to get my undedrshorts clean as a result. Got an insurance check just in time to get my roof repaired before the storm. No water damage thank the lord. Just more shingles missing. Before the storm poured on the coals, my wife decided to anoint our front door with oil; sort of an Old Testament thing called "The Passover". Friends let me tell you, that has to be the only reason my home is still standing. All through the night, to hear jeanne howling, to hear things banging on the roof, and to make worse, hearing that classic train coming down the tracks a couple of times. She blew so hard, rain squirted through thru the keyhole of my front door as if someone were standing outside with a pressure cleaner spraying the handle. My pump, tank and water softener were ripped from the side of the house and tossed to the driveway like napkins. Huge trees were snapped like toothpicks. My neighbors 5th wheel trailers were rolled like tonka toys. His roof was ripped from his home like a doll house. Through it all, God's hand kept Jeanne's breath from doing any more than removing a few shingles from my home. Tractor trailers are rolled over like toys. Steel I-beams in metal buildings look like crumpled bailing wire. 3 feet of sand is on the streets of the barrier island. Mobile homes looked like house boats on Sunday morning. Debris from a mobile home park litters one of my lease pastures. The park is 2 miles away. Concrete telephone poles are snapped with the rebar still protruding from them. Vero Beach airport clocked sustained winds of 126 MPH, with higher gusts. Almost a CAT 4. By the way, if you guys saw the black crew cab F350 waiting in the gas line on FOX news, that was me. I'm writing this by generator power, but I'm just as happy as a flea on a dog. The Grace of God shines through on my family. I'm very sorry to hear of your loss Macon. Perhaps your dolphin catcher will sport a brand new Yamaha in the near future and your home will be better than ever as a result of this tragedy. What matters most is that we are still alive to tell the story. The rest just isn't that important in the big picture. God speed.