The Morning After #HurricaneIrma

/ Marcia Meara

Well, the good news (besides no injuries here to man or beast) is that he ancient oak tree out front is still vertical, though minus many, many branches. The bad news is that’s MY HOUSE under the neighbor’s oak. It crashed all the way through the attic, and into the garage, burying our cars in drywall, plywood, and stored boxes. Rain poured into the garage for hours. We can’t get the cars out. We can’t even get TO the garage door, and I’m pretty sure we won’t be able to get it open when we manage to reach it.

The next good news is that the car that sat outside all night seems fine. Go figger. So at least we have that, such as it is. (Old and on its last legs. Or wheels.)

We never lost power for more than 30 seconds, but we definitely lost water. SO glad I have containers full of drinking water. We also have a well, and since we have power, we can get bath water from the hose.

Now, it’s a long wait until we get input from insurance companies. My home insurance agent’s phone isn’t answering yet. Not even an answering machine. Of course, since it’s my neighbor’s tree, I’m assuming their liability insurance will take care of this. The tree VAST. It only came through the garage roof, but it is laying across the entire family room, kitchen, and entry hall, and it is HEAVY, I’m sure, so I’d like to get it OFF!!! Will keep you posted, but I’m likely to be plenty busy the rest of today.

It’s good to be alive and unharmed, though. I’ll try to focus on that. Hope any of you in the path of this storm are okay, too! The long days of recovery are ahead, but with any luck, we’ll all make it through that! Thinking of you!! ❤

33 thoughts on “The Morning After #HurricaneIrma”

    • We are VERY lucky it didn’t fall over the living room where Mark was watching tv, or the bedroom, where I was trying to read myself to sleep, in spite of howling winds outside! Thanks for your encouragement and support. This is going to be a “Pure-T Mess” as we say down here. (But don’t ask me what the “T” is, because I have no clue.) 🙂 ❤

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  7. That tree is HUGE! So glad you are all okay–it looks like a narrow escape. I hope the post-Irma repairs are quick and not too difficult. But mostly I’m in awe of your positive outlook. You’re an inspiration!

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  9. Glad to hear from you and know you are all okay. I was transfixed by the news reports all day yesterday and relieved to see Irma had been downgraded (not before leaving a trail of devastation in her wake) but I guess even a downgraded hurricane still has a pretty mighty power and wreaks a huge amount of damage. Are you going to be busy with a chain saw today? Or do you have to leave it until the insurance people see it?

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  11. Oh wow, that’s one hell of a tree! SO pleased to hear you weathered the storm okay (a truly apt saying this time around!), and the only damage is property. Hope you can get that beast moved off your house asap, and stay safe while it gets chopped up!

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  13. I’ve been thinking about you and worried. Thanks for checking in and letting everyone know how you fared. That’s dreadful about the tree, but I am so thankful it hit the garage and not an area of the house you were in. Know that you’re in the hearts and prayers of many.

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  16. Grateful you made it through the monster storm unhurt. Sorry about the downed tree and all the damage, though. I can’t fathom hurricane-strength winds. Our hailstorm of 60-70 mph, which lasted an hour and a half, terrified me. The deafening noise and the damage to the house, property, and wildlife were unbelievable. Hang in there, Marcia! It will take time, but everything will get repaired. Hugs, Linda

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  17. So sorry to see that picture of the downed tree on your garage. That was a HUGE tree! I do hope you can get an insurance adjuster soon. How ironic that the cars “safely” garaged are the ones who got damaged (or maybe not so much?).
    And amazing that you still have power!. We were ready to live without power for a few days, so I was delighted to wake up this morning and see that my alarm clock still glowed the time.

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  22. Holyyyyyyyyyyyyy Marsh! Tree on house almost reminds me of Wizard of Oz house on wicked witch. That is awful, but compared to the devastation I’ve been watching on TV for days, like the Caribbean islands and the Keys, you are blessed to be safe. Let the insurance take care of the rest. ❤

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    • I have a lot more pics and even a video on FB, if you want to see the extent of this mess, but yes, we were very, very lucky. We came within a family room width of being crushed, ourselves. 😯 Insurance is on it, and I’m expecting adjustors and contractors to show up any day. The 2017 Honda is likely a total loss, as it looks be “stove in” as they say around here. We have to have a new roof, of course, and will need contractors to handle block work, carpenters for replacing the shattered rafters and garage flooring, electricians for the garage wiring (one of the long fluorescent lights is also crunched right down on the Honda), plumbers for the overhead water pipes, and of course, roofers. It will be months, and is a big pain in the butt, but we are STILL STANDING, and haven’t lost our home. (Don’t know about possessions yet, because everything that was stored in the attic fell down and was rained on all night long. 😯

      At any rate, we are moving forward and I’m over the shock now. Mostly. And very grateful to still be here! Thanks for your support, Deb!! ❤

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      • Oh Marsh, my heart goes out to you and all the victims of this heinous act of nature. I hope you’ll be able to salvage what’s most dear to you, and let the insurance take care of the structural worries. I was thinking about you a lot this past weekend, especially when they kept showing your St. John’s river on TV. Grateful for tender mercies my friend. ❤ Big hugs xoxo

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    • True, and I know what a close call this was. Mere feet separated us from where the tree came through, and that made the difference between being okay, and serious injury or death. The damage is extensive, but the main part of the house is fine, so that puts us way ahead of many, many people in Florida for sure. And in Texas. And in the islands. We are grateful for that, and we will get past this! (We haven’t lasted this long by being sissies, after all! 😀 We’re tough!!) ❤

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  24. Yikes!! That is a biiiig tree. So glad it didn’t fall on the main part of the house. Yes, it will be a pain to get through all the stress, but you are safe!

    We fared okay here. Irma had fizzled some by the time she got to us—a weak Cat 1.

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    • You are welcome, Julie, but I know that even with our garage a total loss, along with at least one of the cars inside, we were very lucky. Especially compared to Miami and the Keys. We will get through this, even though it is likely to take months, rather than weeks. But we’re still here. Our most pressing need is to sort out transportation issues, since we can’t even access our vehicles, much less determine if they are repairable. But, we WILL survive! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your link. Will certainly check it out, as soon as I have a moment. I’m trying to contact insurance people AGAIN today, since no one has answered any of my calls, except for State Farm. They keep calling and calling, no matter how often I tell them they can’t access the cars! Meanwhile, the people I NEED to have call me, don’t!

      Arrrrrrgggghhhh. Back to it. Thanks again for stopping by! 🙂

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    • Thanks, Marcia! We are trying to clean up what we can, without disturbing anything the insurance people need to see when they finally get here. It could be weeks, as slammed as they are with thousands of claims, many much worse than ours. We are braced for living with the dreaded blue tarp for months. 😦 But we were darn lucky, and we know it!! 🙂

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