#HurricaneUpdate

/ Marcia Meara

 

Just taking a moment to let you know that we came through Nicole in pretty good shape. Yes, a THIRD tree (from a neighbor’s yard) DID fall on our property, but this time, it was a small one, and it hit one of our storage sheds instead of the house. (Mark can repair the tin roof. )The storm also blew down the fence again between our house and our next-door neighbor, but it had only been put back temporarily after the last time. It is old and in need of replacement, which will probably happen soon. But today, Mark is out there helping prop it up again in the hopes it will remain vertical until that happens. 

For those who may not have seen the images, while Nicole hit as a Category 1 hurricane and dropped to a tropical storm as soon as it came onshore, there are areas that were severely damaged. Not as widespread or horrific as Ian, but if one of these was your retirement home on Daytona Beach, you’d be pretty unhappy right now.

Having grown up in Florida, one thing I’ve never even considered doing is building a home on a sand dune, though I do feel sad for these folks.  The damage continues much, much farther than what shows in this picture. It was caused by the storm surge breaking down the seawall, then washing away the sand under the homes.  As you can see, these have collapsed, entire patios have been swept away, and empty swimming pools lay tossed all over the place. Truly a terrible sight. 

Our neighborhood has once again held up well. No flooding, though of course, there is some wind damage up and down the block. But nothing that can’t be set right. Speaking of which, it’s back to debris clean-up for me. This will probably take us several more days. I’m doing the easy bits, and doing them at a far slower pace than I’d normally tackle, so my new doctor won’t yell at me when I see him next Thursday.  (So much for getting any writing done this week. 🙄)

Until Next Time, Stay Safe, Everyone!

42 thoughts on “#HurricaneUpdate”

    • NED!! How wonderful to hear from you! And thanks so much for your kind words. If you ask my husband, he’d probably say you are right about Hurricane Marcia, though I prefer to think of myself as a gentle spring rain, coaxing flowers to bloom everywhere I go. (Urk … that even makes ME sick!)

      Truly, I was a nervous wreck throughout this whole event, and sincerely hope this is OVER for a few months. We need a break!

      Again, great to see you, and hope all is well in your part of the world? And thanks for stopping by, and making me smile!
      😊😊😊

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      • My pleasure, Marcia! Even though I’ve been off the blog for a little bit (ok, 5 years…) I’ve kept up with you here and am always glad to see your post notification show up in my email (right after all the incontinence and E.D. ads of course…) Enjoy the day and keep tapping those keys 😉

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        • 😂Yes, it pays to skip ads like those when they start showing up! 😂😂😂

          I knew you’d disappeared off the radar, but didn’t realize it had been quite so long. Glad you’ve kept up with me, and I’ll try to do a better job keeping up with you, too. (Swung by your blog today to be sure I was following it, too.)

          Heading off to tap more keys now ……..

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    • Thanks, Jan. I figured I’d best let folks know I was still alive down here. And yes, terribly sad for those who’ve lost so much. It’s hard to wrap your mind around damage like that, and like what happened with Ian!

      Thanks for stopping by, and stay safe!!

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  3. The wise man built his house upon the rock and the foolish man built his house upon the sand! Our most expensive real estate area ‘Sandbanks’ is just that, a strip of sand twixt harbour and sea. I guess people all over the world always think it won’t happen to them. Glad to hear you are okay.

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    • Funny you should quote that, Janet. I sang the entire song to Mark last night, much to his dismay, but he had to admit, it struck home. I’ve seen too many house and hotels disappear into the depths due to storms. I’d never want to live on or invest in beach front property.

      Thanks for your kind words! We’re doing fine, so far. 😀

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    • Thanks so much, Sally. I’m kinda glad we did, too, though I was holding my breath, praying another tree wouldn’t crush part of our house again. Such a relief to come through safely.

      And thanks for stopping by, too! 😀

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  5. Pleased to hear you had so much less damage this time. We’ve just had a couple of days of strong gale-force winds, and the fence along the back of the garden that I had fixed a couple of years ago is now leaning at a crazy angle again. We live on the top edge of a really windy glen that acts a bit like a wind tunnel, so it’s to be expected, I guess, but I must admit to getting bored with clearing up yet again 😦

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    • Yeah, the After Storm Clean-Up is always a royal pain, isn’t it? Mark got the entire side fence back up and anchored for now. Hopefully it will stay in place until a new one goes in. I also hope your gale-force winds are GONE!!

      Thanks for stopping by, Debby, and please stay safe! 😀

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    • Thanks, Olga. I’m doing my best not to go overboard with cleaning up, and so far, so good. Mark worked much harder than I today, and that’s okay. I still made some progress, and I didn’t wear myself completely out with it, either.

      Thanks for stopping by! 😀

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    • I knoooow. I could NOT believe it. Thankfully, it was pretty spindly and not very tall, and the damage it did was nothing we can’t fix. Of course, it took Mark all afternoon to cut it up and put it in the yard waste cans. (Ten of them!!) But at least we didn’t have to pay a fortune to get rid of this one, and the house wasn’t damaged.

      Thanks for your kind words and for stopping by today! Hope you are doing well, and send love and hugs back atcha! 🤗❤️🤗

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  10. Glad you made it through okay, Marcia. We got a little bit of rain and some strong breezes yesterday where I am, along with a tornado watch, so nothing bad. Areas west of me (the more inland areas) got some heavier rain and a few tornado warnings (no reports of tornados touching down, though, thankfully).

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    • That’s great, Jeanne. Tornados scare the heck outta me. It was one spawned during Hurricane Irma that smashed our garage and cars, and did $85,000 worth of damage to the house. OMG. The very thought of one coming through here again gives me chills. Glad they didn’t bother you!! And thanks for stopping by today! 😀

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    • Your dad was right, Darlene. We are at the mercy of storms like these, and all we can do is try to find a safe place to be until they’re gone. I sure hope Nicole was the last one for this year, though. I’m getting mighty sick of them!

      Thanks so much for stopping by today, and please stay safe!! 😀

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  12. A third tree?? Oh, Marcia! Still, your neighbours can’t have many left to fall on you now. It’s good of Mark to clear it up, but I’d have expected the neighbours to deal with it. The big take from it, though, is that you’re okay – and that you’re being sensible about the clear-up. This must surely be the last hurricane of the season. I certainly hope so. ❤ ❤ ❤

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    • The biggest one was from our neighbors to the side, and this last little one was the guy behind us. The one from Ian was in our own far corner of the backyard, and we’d been assured it was safe to leave it. GAH.

      As to the neighbors paying for it, a tree falling is considered “an act of God” when it isn’t from something a person actually did to it, and so we had to file with our own homeowner’s insurance. Thankfully, it was covered. The big one, anyway. The one from Ian, we didn’t even bother because $1200 would barely have covered the insurance deductible. We just paid it and were glad we could get it dealt with so quickly.

      And this last one was small enough that Mark could cut it up himself, thankfully. I’m worried about a much bigger one in this guy’s yard that looks to be dying. 😬If it fell towards us, it would definitely land on our house. Gulp. I don’t know this neighbor well, but I’m thinking of suggesting he have pros look at it, since it could just as easily fall on HIS house, and it would likely do some serious damage.

      And this is the latest Atlantic hurricane ever to impact Florida, though one or two late ones have come in through the Gulf. I’m just glad it’s gone, and hope that hurricanes can read a calendar, so they know it’s time for them to disappear for a while.

      Thanks for the kind comments, Trish, and you’d be proud of me for not going overboard with everything. I’ll see my doctor Thursday and hopefully, he’ll be very pleased with how I’m doing.

      Now YOU please take good care of yourself, and keep me posted on how things are going. 😀 ❤

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  13. The upside to cleaning up yard debris is getting plenty of squats, bends, and lifts. One more storm (hopefully not!) and you’ll be able to compete in a storm clean-up triathlon! But please continue being careful. It would be easy to overdo it. I’m glad to learn you and your husband are okay, Marcia.

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    • The upside for ME is that Mark does most of that. I’m not allowed to over-exert myself until I see my cardiologist again on Thursday. (How’s that for good timing? 😁) Seriously, I have been helping, but doing it a little at a time, and nothing too strenuous at this point.

      Thanks for stopping by, Nancy! Have a great day! 😀

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    • Thanks, Craig. It’s getting OLD, isn’t it? I’m heartily sick of these storms, but very grateful to have been spared some of the horrific damage that has impacted so many others.

      Thanks for stopping by! 😊

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  15. Happy to hear your damage was minimal and that you are safe, Marcia! I, too, never understood why anyone would buy a property on the beach, and yet they hungry money-munchers keep building condos on the beach and people keep buying. Sadly, it’s just going to keep getting worse. 😥

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    • I heard one man say he wasn’t worried because insurance would cover his losses, but that means insurance rates go up for everybody. *sigh* I’m just glad we came out okay, this time.

      Thanks for stopping by today, Yvette! Have a great one!

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  16. Florida is getting so beat upon, Marcia. I’m glad this wasn’t a huge hurricane, but even Category One is dangerous and destructive. I’m glad you fared well over all. I hope this doesn’t become a new thing as the climate continues to change. Hugs.

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    • Nothing new about hurricanes in Florida, though Ian was a really bad one. But I’ve been through all kinds of them, over and over again. Heck, I remember when Donna came through Tampa in 1960 (over 60 years ago), folks were piloting motorboats down Bayshore Boulevard long after the storm had passed. I’ve seen flooding, flattened homes, people trapped on rooftops, and the whole thing many, many times. We were lucky here in our area that Nicole became a Tropical Storm again as soon as it hit land, but that awful beach damage was already done by then.

      Thanks for the well wishes, Diana. If I could get Mark out from under the palm trees, I’d be living on a North Carolina mountain, but I suspect that isn’t going to happen at this stage of the game. So we’ll be alert, listen for any evac orders, and do the best we can to stay safe. Maybe we’ll catch a break during the next hurricane season. I’d like that a LOT! 😀 ❤

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    • I will need help getting my husband out from under the palm tree. 😁Trust me, I’d already be living in the North Carolina mountains if it weren’t for that. I may be a Florida native, but my heart is in those mountains! 😊Oh, well. Bloom where you’re planted, right? Even if it means you get blown to smithereens a couple of times a year. 🙄

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