Hey All - Glad to be back
In case you've been wondering (and since I haven't been on - no power obviously), the damage down here in Fort Lauderdale is quite extensive. I've been hearing from others that the media has been downplaying the severity of the the hit - but for those of us going through it, it was quite impressive. Supposedly, this is the first real hit in Broward County since the 50's - and honestly, it was the first time I've ever been scared. We've all seen the pictures of the trees blowing on TV, but it takes on a whole new light, when it's the trees outside your house!
The sound of the storm woke me up around 7:45 a.m. My whole family was asleep. I came downstairs to check on the house and found that the front door was slightly opening with the push and pull of the storm - water was coming in through it and I was afraid that it was going to blow off. As I stood there holding the door shut, I was trying to think of what I could do and finally grabbed an extension cord and tied the doorknob to the stair banister to keep it closed.
My husband left one window without shutters because there were so many trees/shrubs in front of it. Well, needless to say, there isn't much left to the trees or shrubs (since the wind was blowing in that direction) but it did allow us a great view of the storm since they were gone!
All in all, we were pretty lucky, we were without power for 3 days, but aside from trees and landscaping, it doesn't appear that we have any structural damage. We obviously lost some food, etc., but there are others around us who weren't so lucky. As we drove around surveying the area, we found many homes who had lost roof tiles, shingles, screened patios, etc. and the damage to those in mobile homes is unbelievable. I'm sure you've seen the pictures before - the main road is littered with pieces from their homes. I pray that none of them were silly enough to stay during the storm.
A major source of frustration has been the radio announcements of water and ice being distributed by (none other than) FEMA. The announcement came on that they were going to give out ice/water at 2:00 at 3 local parks. We drove to one park, only to be turned away by a police officer who said there was NO distribution there and to head to another park. We got there at 1:07 and waited along with probably 700 other vehicles until 4:15 - and STILL no trucks arrived. After we left, we heard through the grapeline that ONE truck showed up! As we sat in the car, there was a press announcement where "someone" was saying the trucks were delayed because they couldn't get GAS to fill up the trucks! Meanwhile, the victims of the storm were using what precious gas we had sitting in lines for hours for nothing! We've got gas stations here, WITH gas, but NO power, so they can't get us the gas!
I'm down to a 1/4 tank - so today's the day I attempt to get gas. But again, I'm NOT complaining - I am one of the lucky ones. My neighbors have been great - we already were really close - but this has been an opportunity for us to really hang out! The other thing that has really been in our favor, is that the temperature has been in the 60's 70's - if this had happened even 2 weeks ago, when we were in the 90's, this would have been really miserable!
Anyway, just thought you'd like to know . . .