#HurricaneDorian

Central Florida’s Ordeal is OVER!

/ Marcia / 50 Comments

Though Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia are still in danger, Hurricane Dorian is officially crossing the state line and no longer menacing us here in central Florida! Hallelujah! I was beginning to think being stalked by a Deadly Turtle was the new normal. And I confess, I’m exhausted from all the preparations and the stress of not knowing for five long days whether we would take a hit or not. 

We did have some tropical storm force winds here during the night and throughout the morning, but let’s assess the damage, in comparison to what Irma did two years ago.

Here’s what Hurricane Irma left us on September 10, 2017:

Yes, our house is under there.

Another view, showing the size of the massive trunk of this tree.

The roof is lifted off the garage and the lintel is broken.

Top of the garage, with rafters poking up through the  roof. (The other ends of the rafters are poking into the seriously damaged Honda, which  was holding up the attic.

See? A good add for the Honda, which they were able to repair because, believe it or not, the frame didn’t buckle. (Even under the combined weight of our attic and contents, the garage roof itself, and the weight of a tree with a trunk 5 feet in diameter!

There are tons more pictures of the smashed gardens, the broken trellises and lamp posts, fence damage, and of course, the entire roof ruined. But enough about Irma.

Now let’s take a look at what Hurricane Dorian wrought:

Yep. That’s it. A dead moss monster next to the driveway. 

Seems like an unbelievable amount of labor and stress just to be ready for this, but the good news is, we can clean it up in about 30 seconds. (We’re still working on yard clean-up and replanting from Irma!) 

In all seriousness, it could just as easily have been as bad as or worse than Irma. Catastrophic, even. So it’s always better to over-prepare, and not need it, than to find yourself under-prepared and in danger. We’ll do it again the next time we’re menaced and we will pray all we end up with is a dead moss monster in the front yard.

Sadly, The Tale is Still Ongoing!

/ Marcia / 22 Comments

I swear, I’ve never been through a hurricane that moved this slowly before, and after 75 years of Florida living, I’ve been through quite a few. The Stalking Turtle reference becomes more obvious every day. The image above shows you very clearly that the danger of this storm is not in the eye, which is a quiet, calm area in the center of the storm. The danger is in the bands of powerful winds which circle the eye in a counterclockwise direction. Yellow, orange, and red are the DANGER colors.

I’ve used an image from last night because it gives you a good idea of just how far these bands can reach out to wreak havoc. The eye of the storm was approximately 100 miles off the coast of Florida when this image was taken. I’ve tweaked it a bit to show you roughly where it is now, in relation to Daytona Beach and us.

We got significant winds during the night and some downed branches here and there, but so far have been lucky. However, these bands will be arcing through Florida for hours before clearing the state line, so we certainly aren’t in the clear, yet. And then it’s the folks in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and even Virginia that have to be on the alert. (The Carolinas look to be in for some rough times ahead.)

If our house doesn’t take a hit today from one of these bands of wind, we’ll be okay. Just soggy and tired of it all. If we do, and another tree comes down, that changes everything. Mark had to go in to work, so I’m sitting here by myself, watching the heavier wind gusts and trying not to panic. 😯 It’s going to be a long day, but so far, no damage or power loss, so I’m very grateful for that.

I have discovered that one can only “hunker down” for so long before it gets really uncomfortable! 😀 

Here’s a photo I saw yesterday, long before the storm itself was even close to this particular location (St. Augustine, in north Florida). This is what even an outer, outer, outer band of the hurricane looked like yesterday morning. 😯

Please forgive me if it takes me some time to respond to all your lovely comments. I thank you so much for your support and well wishes and prayers. ALL are much appreciated and have helped me stomp down the incipient panic attacks. I’m taking deep breaths this morning and trying not to worry about what I’ll do if a limb smashes a window or damages the roof–other than running around in circles while shaking my fist at the sky, I mean. I’ve got that covered! 😀 

See you on the other side! ❤ ❤ ❤ 

#HurricaneDorian Looking Worse for Florida by the Minute

/ Marcia / 23 Comments

Here’s the latest update on Dorian. Picture me standing right underneath that “H” in the center of the state, waving at you. (Actually, I’m jumping up and down and yelling “Somebody get me outta here!” 

The “H” means a significant storm with winds between 74 and 110mph, (with anything over 74 being a hurricane, as opposed to a bad tropical storm.) 

This is SO not good!