We survived our first hurricane. The damn thing lasted nine hours! It just hovered and stalled over the region for nine hours. Floridian's have said there were 200 mph "gusts."
Debbie and I and the Maltese have been living in an apartment complex waiting for our new home to be ready. The complex was built three years ago to latest hurricane standards. We were not in a mandatory evacuation zone, so we stuck around.
WOW! Our utilities were out for four days. There was a temporary fuel shortage since many stations' canopies sailed away, there was no power for several days and some areas weren't accessible for fuel delivery because of flooding and debris.
I have a buddy who sold Porsche cars to the "who's who" down here for thirty years. Before 'Ian hit around 4:00 p.m., as a precaution, he moved his twenty year old Corrolla (typical car sales pro transportation) across the street to his neighbor's driveway on higher ground.
The eye of the storm passed at 11:00 pm, things were calm, so he thought he'd move his car back to his driveway. Equipped with a big flashlight and dressed in a rain slicker and thigh waders, he ventured outside for the first time to find his street under several feet of water.
Shining the light across the street he saw his car, but then his light caught a seven foot python gliding through the water in his path. As he entered the street in thigh high water, he shined his flashlight up and down the street when about twenty yards away, he saw what we Floridian's know well.
Those two hollow yellow eyes a few inches apart attached to a partly submerged long snout reflecting the light which belonged to an eight foot 'gator.
My pal said he hurriedly crossed the street as stealthily as possible. When he reached his car, he opened the door not realizing there was water up to the dashboard. Once the water drained, he tried to start the car and in his words, the motor turned over but it sounded like a motorboat, "glub, glub, glub..."
Then, it died.
He shut the car door, and quietly sloshed back across the street with his flashlight's beam leading the way. At his front door he removed his rain gear and entered his home. As he sat down on his living room couch to tell his anxious wife the tale of what had just happened, the eye of the storm passed and the high wind and torrential rain resumed.
Next thing their living room wall exploded as storm surge from Charlotte Harbor a couple miles away came down their street.
They're slugging it out with their insurance company and FEMA since their home needs extensive repairs, including mold remediation.
This is only one story. There are thousands.
But hey, we have the best Governor and we're impressed with how quickly 'Humpty's restoration is being addressed.
There's also been wonderful disaster relief response from well funded Christian organizations such as "Just the Crumbs" out of Mississippi and "God's Pit Crew" out of Danville VA. Five weeks later they're still turning out thousands of meals from huge trailer commercial kitchens manned by local volunteers and delivering them to stricken communities.
Back to us. Debbie sold the massive motor-coach on the first phone call back in April and the bike and car trailer went bye-bye a month later. Perfect timing considering the price of fuel and RV part supply chain problems.
I don't miss the maintenance but we miss traveling this way. Debbie is urging me to get a B+ van so we can resume summer/fall travels. They're more nimble and the Mercedes powertrain has plenty of torque and fuel economy is pretty good, so we'll see.
Maybe we'll catch you guys next summer...unless there's no diesel fuel... LORD!
Our new community a few miles east was not badly affected by the storm and we're hoping to move in to our new home on a lake this spring.
You and Allison, Debbie and I, couldn't be in better States at this time in our nation’s history. Healthcare in Florida is terrific. I whip out my Medicare card at doctors offices and it is like the American Express Black card. Ha!
All for now,
Jeff
Edited by Wayfarer
