Hurricane Frances
After living in Florida for 18 years I finally experienced a hurricane firsthand. Only thing I have ever been through is tropical storm winds when hurricane Andrew hit down in Miami. I live in West Palm Beach. I thank God it was only a category 2 by the time it hit us. I only need to experience something like that once. Next time I am at the very least leaving my house and going to a hurricane shelter.
This whole past weekend has just all run into one unnerving blur. By the time Monday came along I lost track of what day it was. For a few days before the storm was definitely going to hit we were just waiting to see what would happen. It wasn't until Wednesday afternoon I believe that it was definitely going to hit us. So waited until that evening to discuss everything when my father got off work, as to what we would do.
Our first plan was to head over to the west coast to wear my grandparents live and get a hotel room. That night we were looking and everything was booked. We couldn't figure out why at first, first thought everyone else just had the same idea. We had forgotten it was Labor Day weekend. Another factor was probably the fact that anyone who lost their homes in Hurricane Charlie probably was in a hotel. Not to mention volunteers were probably staying there too.
So the next plan was just to board up the house and ride it out. We had to move quickly because if I wanted to go to the special needs/medical needs shelter I would have to be there by 10 AM Thursday. As it was the television was showing nothing but long lines and stores running out of plywood. So in the early morning on Thursday, about 5:30 my parents headed out on a quest for hurricane supplies. 8:45 came along and I had not heard from them. It was getting kind of close to what I would have to get going to the wanted to go to this shelter. So I gave them a call and they said they had just left Home Depot with the wood and were headed to Publix for some canned goods and any other supplies.
I did not sleep well at all on Wednesday night worrying about what we would do. Was able to take a little nap while they were at the stores. After I've heard they actually got some plywood I was able to relax quite a bit. It was just that not knowing and cutting things close that was getting to me. Once you actually have some sort of plan of action it gives you some sense of control of your situation, even if it is a false sense.
On Thursday afternoon my brother came up from Fort Lauderdale to help us and to stay during the storm. When he arrived him and my father started putting up the plywood over the windows. At about 8 or 9 that night they stopped after having completed about half of the house. The storm was not scheduled to affect us at all until Friday night at the earliest so was not a problem. They were able to finish Friday morning shortly before noon I believe.
Friday night was rather uneventful as far as the storm was concerned. Could hear the wind and some rain outside but not much more than you would hear during a thunderstorm. The closer it got to morning the worse it got. By the time my nurse arrived at 8 in the morning the wind was blowing pretty steady. At about 11 AM the power goes out when it was really that bad yet. But who knows how bad it was in other areas near us.
So at this time we got the generator out because it was obvious the power would be out for quite some time since the storm hadn't actually made landfall yet. I couldn't believe how many things you could power with this thing at once. We had our refrigerator, the television, the VCR, my ventilator, some fans, the microwave (could only have about 7 plugged at once with the amount of plugs we had on our power strip). Even had the computer at one time. And while it was being set up was able to let the neighbor hook things up to it.
So we spent the day and the night on Saturday either watching the 24/7 coverage of the storm on whatever channel decided to come in over the air on the TV or watching videos on the VCR. As the night went on the sound of the wind got worse and worse and you could hear things start to get blown around. From time to time with the wind gusts you could hear what sounded like things being blown around in the attic. Afterwards we discovered the sound was actually the shingles flying off the roof. And as more time went by you could hear the trees hitting up against the roof and walls. I was sitting in my bed and sometimes could actually feel the wall bumping up against my bed.
Then at about 1 in the morning things really started to get bad. There was this large gust of wind and you could hear something crack and then a large bang against the wall that moved my bed. So of course everybody turns around and looks at the wall. There is this one point on the wall where it meets the ceiling and you could see a crack had formed.
Then within a few minutes you could actually see the wall and the ceiling start to separate about an inch or more. So at this point my father just about throws me into my chair and we all pile into the little hallway. Had to go over some wires so ended up smashing the VCR onto the floor in the process, better a smashed VCR than a smashed up body. All of this happened as the eye wall was passing over us. We were more than halfway through the hurricane I believe. Coming to the back end of the hurricane when the wind shifted directions to come from the South instead of the North.
So we stayed in the hallway for several hours. The wind did start to die down and it never got any worse than those few minutes that were rather scary. I don't think anyone slept that whole night. When things calmed down a little sometime Sunday afternoon I think I only slept a few minutes here and there. You would be amazed how long you can stay awake on nothing more than adrenaline and a little fear.
The important thing was that everybody made it through the storm alive and healthy. And the damage to the house was not catastrophic. Every one of our trees had fallen down and was leaning against the roof. We believe this is what kept the roof from coming off when we could see the wall and ceiling separating. We have a deck or should I say had a deck outback that is not safe to be on any more. We are not sure what the damage is exactly to the wall yet but it's sounded like something broke inside the wall. Wish I would think it would have had to have done in order for the ceiling and wall to separate. Some of the flying shingles scratched up my brother's car and put a huge dent in the side of my nurse's car. Other than that and a little water damage from a leaky roof in the attic we had little damage compared to the devastation some other people have received.
If you want to see some pictures of the damage at our place just click below
http://photos.yahoo.com/u2lightmyway000075
I don't know about anybody else but going through something like this really makes you appreciate life. I guess it just depends on the person as to whether or not you can get that out of an experience. When I didn't get to get out for a little bit on Thursday evening it seemed like it affected people in one of two ways. Either they didn't change at all and were still just as inpatient and so self-involved that they don't see the world around them, still bitching and moaning about the same old shit they always have. And the other group were more friendly and helpful and just in a sort of more appreciated state of mind. I would consider myself in the second group. After all of this my family can really use a vacation and luckily we have one coming up in a week. :-D
This whole past weekend has just all run into one unnerving blur. By the time Monday came along I lost track of what day it was. For a few days before the storm was definitely going to hit we were just waiting to see what would happen. It wasn't until Wednesday afternoon I believe that it was definitely going to hit us. So waited until that evening to discuss everything when my father got off work, as to what we would do.
Our first plan was to head over to the west coast to wear my grandparents live and get a hotel room. That night we were looking and everything was booked. We couldn't figure out why at first, first thought everyone else just had the same idea. We had forgotten it was Labor Day weekend. Another factor was probably the fact that anyone who lost their homes in Hurricane Charlie probably was in a hotel. Not to mention volunteers were probably staying there too.
So the next plan was just to board up the house and ride it out. We had to move quickly because if I wanted to go to the special needs/medical needs shelter I would have to be there by 10 AM Thursday. As it was the television was showing nothing but long lines and stores running out of plywood. So in the early morning on Thursday, about 5:30 my parents headed out on a quest for hurricane supplies. 8:45 came along and I had not heard from them. It was getting kind of close to what I would have to get going to the wanted to go to this shelter. So I gave them a call and they said they had just left Home Depot with the wood and were headed to Publix for some canned goods and any other supplies.
I did not sleep well at all on Wednesday night worrying about what we would do. Was able to take a little nap while they were at the stores. After I've heard they actually got some plywood I was able to relax quite a bit. It was just that not knowing and cutting things close that was getting to me. Once you actually have some sort of plan of action it gives you some sense of control of your situation, even if it is a false sense.
On Thursday afternoon my brother came up from Fort Lauderdale to help us and to stay during the storm. When he arrived him and my father started putting up the plywood over the windows. At about 8 or 9 that night they stopped after having completed about half of the house. The storm was not scheduled to affect us at all until Friday night at the earliest so was not a problem. They were able to finish Friday morning shortly before noon I believe.
Friday night was rather uneventful as far as the storm was concerned. Could hear the wind and some rain outside but not much more than you would hear during a thunderstorm. The closer it got to morning the worse it got. By the time my nurse arrived at 8 in the morning the wind was blowing pretty steady. At about 11 AM the power goes out when it was really that bad yet. But who knows how bad it was in other areas near us.
So at this time we got the generator out because it was obvious the power would be out for quite some time since the storm hadn't actually made landfall yet. I couldn't believe how many things you could power with this thing at once. We had our refrigerator, the television, the VCR, my ventilator, some fans, the microwave (could only have about 7 plugged at once with the amount of plugs we had on our power strip). Even had the computer at one time. And while it was being set up was able to let the neighbor hook things up to it.
So we spent the day and the night on Saturday either watching the 24/7 coverage of the storm on whatever channel decided to come in over the air on the TV or watching videos on the VCR. As the night went on the sound of the wind got worse and worse and you could hear things start to get blown around. From time to time with the wind gusts you could hear what sounded like things being blown around in the attic. Afterwards we discovered the sound was actually the shingles flying off the roof. And as more time went by you could hear the trees hitting up against the roof and walls. I was sitting in my bed and sometimes could actually feel the wall bumping up against my bed.
Then at about 1 in the morning things really started to get bad. There was this large gust of wind and you could hear something crack and then a large bang against the wall that moved my bed. So of course everybody turns around and looks at the wall. There is this one point on the wall where it meets the ceiling and you could see a crack had formed.
Then within a few minutes you could actually see the wall and the ceiling start to separate about an inch or more. So at this point my father just about throws me into my chair and we all pile into the little hallway. Had to go over some wires so ended up smashing the VCR onto the floor in the process, better a smashed VCR than a smashed up body. All of this happened as the eye wall was passing over us. We were more than halfway through the hurricane I believe. Coming to the back end of the hurricane when the wind shifted directions to come from the South instead of the North.
So we stayed in the hallway for several hours. The wind did start to die down and it never got any worse than those few minutes that were rather scary. I don't think anyone slept that whole night. When things calmed down a little sometime Sunday afternoon I think I only slept a few minutes here and there. You would be amazed how long you can stay awake on nothing more than adrenaline and a little fear.
The important thing was that everybody made it through the storm alive and healthy. And the damage to the house was not catastrophic. Every one of our trees had fallen down and was leaning against the roof. We believe this is what kept the roof from coming off when we could see the wall and ceiling separating. We have a deck or should I say had a deck outback that is not safe to be on any more. We are not sure what the damage is exactly to the wall yet but it's sounded like something broke inside the wall. Wish I would think it would have had to have done in order for the ceiling and wall to separate. Some of the flying shingles scratched up my brother's car and put a huge dent in the side of my nurse's car. Other than that and a little water damage from a leaky roof in the attic we had little damage compared to the devastation some other people have received.
If you want to see some pictures of the damage at our place just click below
http://photos.yahoo.com/u2lightmyway000075
I don't know about anybody else but going through something like this really makes you appreciate life. I guess it just depends on the person as to whether or not you can get that out of an experience. When I didn't get to get out for a little bit on Thursday evening it seemed like it affected people in one of two ways. Either they didn't change at all and were still just as inpatient and so self-involved that they don't see the world around them, still bitching and moaning about the same old shit they always have. And the other group were more friendly and helpful and just in a sort of more appreciated state of mind. I would consider myself in the second group. After all of this my family can really use a vacation and luckily we have one coming up in a week. :-D
posted by Dwight at Sunday, September 12, 2004
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