Tick Tock!

Don't forget..you get an extra hour of weekend!!! Set your clocks BACK one hour tonight!!

Recovery..

If it weren't so scary, it would be beautiful! This is Wilma as she roared ashore. As you can see, Dade County took a good hit, although the eye did not cross us. That is one of they myths of a storm. People watch where the eye is (that is the points they give you on the news), but depending on the size of the storm, a huge area outside those two points on the map.
Today on the news they were telling people where they can get the lovely blue tarps for thier roofs put on for free by the Army Corps of Engineers. This keeps out any rain that may come, and is really a life saver. The only problem is, you have to apply in person, in NORTH MIAMI, and to top it off, FEMA only has 2 people working at that location to take these applications. So, I can jump in my van, use up a bunch of gas, stand in line for hours, and HOPE I qualify for a blue roof. Somehow it just doesn't seem worth it. The gentlemen from FEMA was speaking with one of the reporters telling all of Dade County with pride that another team of 2 were working to open up another office somewhere in Dade County - WHOO HOOO! I am guessing he doesn't live in South Florida.

Pictures

I am not sure if this link will work, but try it if you are interested in seeing pictures from the aftermath of Wilma just click on the word Pictures in the title!

Hurricane Wilma

Hurricane Wilma came and went, but the recovery is just beginning.  As I type this, I am one of the very few fortunate to have my electricity back.  It is Tuesday, October 25, 2005 (at least I think it is!), but I am sure you won’t be reading this for days.  I wanted to get my thoughts and experiences down while they are still fresh in my mind, although it is something I will never forget!  
     Wilma was supposed to come through as a Category 1 when it hit the East Coast of Florida.  It was supposed to be a fast moving, non rain event.  Well, as compared to how long it hung out in Mexico, it was fast moving, and pretty much a non rain event, but, unfortunately it came in as, and stayed pretty much a Category 3 as it ravaged the East Coast.  Around midnight Sunday night, the winds began to pick up.  Around 2am, I managed to get my son to sleep, and I too fell asleep for about 30 minutes.  Somewhere around 3 am, the winds got stronger, howling through the cracks in the windows and doors making relaxing impossible.  Some how I was able to keep my satellite picture on my t.v. as well as my power, so I could watch the storm move on to the West coast just South of Marco Island.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with hurricanes, there is a “clean side” and a “dirty side” to a storm.  The “dirty side” is the NE quadrant of the storm and this is the side that Dade County got.  The eye wall is the strongest part, but next to that is the “dirty side”.  Around 7:30 am, the power went out, and the winds began to really blow.  It was still dark, and you couldn’t see what was going on outside, you could only hear.  Things banged against the walls, the wind blew so hard that the rain literally came through the wooden front door, the window next to the door buckled, and at many points I thought we would lose that window.  The sliding glass doors in my living room buckled as well, with the wind coming through the gap between the doors.  Daylight finally came, and my son and I could actually see what was happening outside – I think we were better off not knowing!  Roof shingles littered my yard, unbeknownst to me that they were all mine!  My privacy fence wiggled like a loose tooth, finally giving way and collapsing.  The wind swirled in front of our eyes, picking up debris and tossing it across the yard.  The American Flag that was attached to my house whipped in the wind, sounding like a machine gun being fired.  Looking out the front window you could see things flying by.  At one point we saw a kid’s ball fly from the back of the house to the front, and then two minutes later, it flew from the front of the house to the back (we later found that same ball about 2 blocks away).  My neighbor left a carpet remnant outside, and that flew by only to come back towards his house, wrapping itself around my mailbox and knocking it down.  My van was parked where it always is during a hurricane, against my house, and out of view from the window, so I had no idea if it was damaged.  With as much debris that was flying around, I just knew I had lost a window or three out of it. Finally, just before noon on Monday, my son and I were able to venture out to assess the damage, and to check on our neighbors.  The first thing I did was hug my van – it survived, no broken windows, only a few cuts and scrapes!  Then I held my breath and looked at my roof.  It was then that it dawned on me that all those shingles that littered my yard were mine.  Ironically, my roof had just been fixed after Hurricane Katrina this past Tuesday.  The patches that the roofers put on were there, but not much more than that.  I now have a black roof!  Hopefully we won’t get any rain for a while, as I am not sure if it will leak.  As my son and I wandered around the neighborhood, we saw many trees and fences down, shingles missing off of houses, but for the most part the damage was not that bad (as compared to this neighborhood after Andrew, and New Orleans after Katrina).  Luckily we had no flooding this go round, all in all we were very lucky.  My parents made out ok too, losing some shingles, and having their neighbor’s aluminum carport/patio litter their yard and trap their truck between the debris and the house.  Luckily their truck managed to escape with only a few dents and scratches.  My Uncle also escaped major damage.  My cousin had a tree or two fall on his house causing broken windows, and roof damage, but he, his wife, and his son were all ok, and that is the most important thing – everyone came out of this alive.  
     School has been canceled for the entire week, so the neighborhood kids are thrilled – little do they know that they will have to make up some of these days.  With this storm, it is a total of 10 days of school closure due to storms this year (so far).  They only allow for a few “hurricane days”, so some will have to be made up.  Fortunately we don’t have to worry about “snow days”, but with the weather being as wacky as it has this year, you just never know!
     This storm reminds the residents of South Florida that Mother Nature is nothing to mess with.  Prepare as you may, when a storm like Wilma blows through, you may be physically ready, but you are never mentally prepared for what is in store.   I, unfortunately, was here for Andrew, and remember all too well the mental anguish we all went through while trying to recover.  Dealing with power outages, the oppressive heat that came after Andrew (we are fortunate this time that it is cool), trying to reach insurance agents, finding a reliable contractor, and the time it took to rebuild.  We were all short of our sanity by the time it was all said and done.  Hopefully this time will be a bit easier.  All I know is that I don’t want to have to deal with this again, I am getting too old, and very much too tired of it all.  How’s the weather in Arizona??

SHE'S HERE!

Wilma is roaring ashore as I type. It is a little after 3 am, and the winds are starting to get a bit intense. I managed to doze off for about 30 minutes, but the howling of the wind woke me right back up. I am amazed we still have power. I know this is nothing compared to what we are going to get, so I am not niave to think this is the worst. My house already smells "wet" and humid. That is one thing you never forget, the smells of a hurricane! It is not a pleasant memory. I will try to post more later, as electricity allows.

Not long now

So it looks like Wilma intensified instead of weakening - NOT GOOD! She is currently a Cat 3 storm, and you can just start to see the wind blowing a little harder than earlier. One of the most difficult things is not being able to see what is going on outside. During the night, you hear things, and wonder. These things always seem to come in the overnight hours. Wilma is a night owl too! I am hoping to keep power throughout the night, don't know if I will be that lucky. If so, I will post throughout the night to let you know what is going on!

and closer....

Looks like we are down to a matter of hours now before Wilma seeks Fred in Florida. Hopefully she will find him and just go away. They are now saying that Wilma may even impact New England before it is all said and done. This has been the strangest hurricane seasons I can remember. I thought last year was bad, it was a piece of cake compared to what we have been through this year. The winds are blowing a bit, probably somewhere around 15 mph, no big deal YET. I will post as long as I can. To everyone in the strike zone- good luck!

Getting Closer...

Wilma is getting closer... still calm around here, well the weather is at least.. The thought is the weather will start getting bad sometime around 11 pm, and get progressively worse throughout the night, and by this time tomorrow we should be done. Luckily Wilma has decided to pick up forward speed, so we wont have the 24 hours of hell like Mexico did. Ok...that's all for now!

Here She Comes!

Wilma has finally moved away from Mexico, and is making her way to her next vacation spot - South Florida. Hopefully she won't like it here as much as she did Mexico! Maybe she will realized that everything around here has been canceled and there is nothing for her to do here. Again, we are just sitting, watching, waiting. I am ready, I have battened down all the hatches, removed or weighed down anything that could be moved or weighed down, The last of the dirty laundry is being washed (hey, if you lose power, you can't wash clothes!!), I have canned food and bottled water, candles, batteries, flashlights... I have never been so prepared. Hopefully since I am so prepared Wilma will just leave us alone.
I will post later, as the storm gets closer. Hopefully she is nothing but a bunch of hot air!