What I've learned about hurricanes...

[M Gravlee]

1. The Three Little Pigs were right, houses built of blocks and mortar do much better than wood frame houses.

2. The people on the left side of the path of a hurricane will have far less damage than the people on the right side.

3. Flood water and storm surge cause much more damage than wind.

4. The speed that a storm moves is as important as the wind speed of the storm.

Everybody in Florida be careful. Wilma is not a nice lady!

 

[dun]

How did your place fare during Wilma?

dun

 

[M Gravlee]

Don't know for sure. Headed back today. Neighbor said we had no damage. Almost too good to be true. No phone, electricity or water.

 

[dun]

Blind luck sometimes is better then good preparation, but the 2 together are even better.

dun

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Been wondering about you Macon. Good to hear from you. I'm riding it out right now.Got tired of watching the radar and decided to check the boards out. Unbelievably we haven't lost power yet. Winds about 70MPH. Not expected to get much worse but the pastures are flooded fierce. News says 2 million without power already. For once it isn't me. Usually goes out with a whisper in nowheresville. Plenty of tornadoes reported though. Check back later- just heard a wierd noise.

 

[myakka145]

Glad you did OK Macon. D.R. & Flaboy it's over you now. We are just coming out of it. No damage but the creek is overflowing. Lost power for a little while. Top wind only about 60 mph. Sure better than Charlie. Blessings to all!

 

[flaboy+]

All is well here. Only one tree on the fence but the fence is ok. Lots of clean up in the yard to do but that will have to wait for the water to receed. Oh, I have some cedar tree's on the back that are up rooted. I think I can pull them back up as the whole root ball came up from too much water.

Glad all is well with the rest of you folks. Dodged another one.

 

[msscamp]

I'm just happy that you guys are all back online and safe and that damage seems to be at a minimum! Macon, I sincerely hope that your neighbor is right and you have no damage!

 

[D.R. Cattle]

I ended up losing power and phone lines. Wind got a lot worse after my last response. We expected gusts to 70 and ended up getting gusts to near 100. Lost the roof on my barn again. House, cars, cows, horses fared well. Anybody find it very strange that we got a hurricane and had to put on Winter coats immediately following? The Earth is groaning. Maybe I'll have power in a few days and catch back up with yall then. Came in to town to my sisters to use her machine this time. Gotta tread water for now.

 

[Ann Bledsoe]

Our area (Okeechobee) got hit pretty hard by the rear eyewall, we were 30 miles from the center of the eye (eye was 55 miles in diameter), but we were very lucky and had minimal damage (knocked out a screen on the wrap-around porch, tore up a screen door, plus lots of trees and 1 fence down)
We're still without electricity (running on generator power), but other than that, we're doing just fine.
But then we were prepared - I spent several days rounding up all every plastic jug I could find, filling them with water, and freezing them. I also filled all my glass milk jugs with drinking water and even filled the bathtub with water for flushing the toilet. We have enough food and animal feed to go at least 3 weeks. With the generator, camping equipment, and a hand pump on the well, we'll do just fine until they eventually get our electricity back on (they're promising by Nov 8th).

What surprised me was the number of people already standing in lines for water and ice less than 24 hours after the storm.

And I was totally disgusted today -- the Red Cross sent trucks of ice to Okeechobee. Okeechobee didn't need it -- we'd already gotten a couple of trucks, plus most of the stores are open and well stocked. The drivers were told to take the ice 40 miles to Pahokee where they really need it (Pahokee suffered tremendous damage). The drivers refused and dumped the ice on the side of the road!!!!!
This is not just a rumor, it's the God's honest truth -- my son and his employer witnessed it.
I plan to call the Red Cross first thing in the morning and report it -- I donate to the Red Cross and I am appalled at such blatant waste.

Ann B

 

[flaboy+]

Ann, glad you made out ok. I knew there was someone else down that way but I hadn't seen you posting lately. You are right, the Red Cross is no better than FEMA in my book. It seems both are just looking for numbers so they can say oh, we delivered X amount truck loads here or there. Doesn't matter no on needed it there.

 

[Beefy]

the end of the world is near, and FEMA aint ready!