Florida--Thoughts and Prayer

[Norcalbaker59]

Wow, just looked at the lastest hurricane reports and it's terrifying! Hope all of you in Florida, Apocalypso, moved out of harm's way and are on safer ground ground. It looks like Florida is going to be hit very hard.

Thoughts and prayers to you all.

 

[Margot Howe]

You can't know how your prayers have added to my comfort. My one and only sister sat in the center of Florida and stayed in her home for the duration. Even though the eye turned at last minute and went right over her, she and most of her neighborhood suffered little damage. Her one comment about damage was about the amount of debris from the trees and plants around that will need cleanup. Despite 5 million people losing power over the state, she had electricity and it never dipped or blinked. God certainly heard our prayers.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

You can't know how your prayers have added to my comfort. My one and only sister sat in the center of Florida and stayed in her home for the duration. Even though the eye turned at last minute and went right over her, she and most of her neighborhood suffered little damage. Her one comment about damage was about the amount of debris from the trees and plants around that will need cleanup. Despite 5 million people losing power over the state, she had electricity and it never dipped or blinked. God certainly heard our prayers.

Yes according to the news some areas experienced devastating damage while many areas projected to be hard hit came through with superficial damage. Jacksonville is really taking a hit with the flooding. Nobody saw that one coming.

I'm glad to hear your sister and her neighbors came through it safely.

 

[Margot Howe]

The remnants of the eye went right over her as the storm petered out. There was a small amount of damage to the roof. She spent several hours listening to the howling wind with nothing to do but wait it out.

 

[Apocalypso]

Hi, everyone! How kind of you, NorCalBaker, to be concerned. I admit last Sunday about midnight I was pretty scared, and it sounded bad outside. I moved from the bedroom to the hallway where there were no windows, sitting up with the power already off listening to a battery-backup radio. Thankfully, for our little apartment building, there was no major damage, and we were only two days without power, whereas I have several friends in the Orlando area and south Florida who just got their power on today. Today was the day I got cable and internet back. I'd tried to respond on this thread with my phone, but back then cell signal was still pretty spotty. Lots of trees downed here, and flooding in one area of town where three lakes basically overfilled to converge on those living in between. There are some collections for funds and supplies for those families affected.

The flooding in Jacksonville and surrounding area as well as Charleston were shocking. I lived in the Jacksonville area for several years, and though some areas were routinely prone to flooding in storm season, it wasn't ever like that.

The week before the storm, people were buying food, bottled water, and other supplies in a panic. Nobody could find enough plywood, generators, or even peanut butter. I remember going to the supermarket and seeing only a few jars of pricey, extra-protein peanut butter, pricey almond butter, and the cracker section was practically empty. I was thinking no one in Orlando could whistle for a week. I baked some cupcakes last Saturday and took them, decorated rather messily like sunflowers (forgot to take a picture), to my boyfriend's place just to feel a little sunny. On Sunday, realizing I had forgotten to buy bread, I baked Amish dinner rolls and was chowing on them for the next four days. It was a very carby week! Had to toss the homemade potstickers in my freezer, and some produce.

We're now eyeing the progress of Tropical Storm Maria in the Atlantic. Please, no!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Hi, everyone! How kind of you, NorCalBaker, to be concerned. I admit last Sunday about midnight I was pretty scared, and it sounded bad outside. I moved from the bedroom to the hallway where there were no windows, sitting up with the power already off listening to a battery-backup radio. Thankfully, for our little apartment building, there was no major damage, and we were only two days without power, whereas I have several friends in the Orlando area and south Florida who just got their power on today. Today was the day I got cable and internet back. I'd tried to respond on this thread with my phone, but back then cell signal was still pretty spotty. Lots of trees downed here, and flooding in one area of town where three lakes basically overfilled to converge on those living in between. There are some collections for funds and supplies for those families affected.

The flooding in Jacksonville and surrounding area as well as Charleston were shocking. I lived in the Jacksonville area for several years, and though some areas were routinely prone to flooding in storm season, it wasn't ever like that.

The week before the storm, people were buying food, bottled water, and other supplies in a panic. Nobody could find enough plywood, generators, or even peanut butter. I remember going to the supermarket and seeing only a few jars of pricey, extra-protein peanut butter, pricey almond butter, and the cracker section was practically empty. I was thinking no one in Orlando could whistle for a week. I baked some cupcakes last Saturday and took them, decorated rather messily like sunflowers (forgot to take a picture), to my boyfriend's place just to feel a little sunny. On Sunday, realizing I had forgotten to buy bread, I baked Amish dinner rolls and was chowing on them for the next four days. It was a very carby week! Had to toss the homemade potstickers in my freezer, and some produce.

We're now eyeing the progress of Tropical Storm Maria in the Atlantic. Please, no!

I so glad your are safe Apocalypso. Fortunately it was not a deadly storm. But the damage is just astonishing. It looks like a bomb went off in some storm ravaged areas.

Maria's path is looking really scary now...it's moving on a similar path to Irma. Ive never seen anything like this hurricane season with these back to back, multiple hurricanes churning at the same time.

 

[Apocalypso]

It was, unfortunately, deadly to some. There were 8 in one nursing home in south Florida. Many more in the Caribbean. Yes, many are worried about Maria. Of course, it's far too early to predict a likely path. Several of my friends just got their power back on yesterday and one couple today. You just never know. It doesn't help that the Atlantic is so warm this year.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

It was, unfortunately, deadly to some. There were 8 in one nursing home in south Florida. Many more in the Caribbean. Yes, many are worried about Maria. Of course, it's far too early to predict a likely path. Several of my friends just got their power back on yesterday and one couple today. You just never know. It doesn't help that the Atlantic is so warm this year.

The nursing home deaths are heartbreaking. I hope the managers are held responsible for the deaths. To not evacuate the most vulnerable of citizens at the local governments' first calls for evacuations, to wait until a day or less before the storm hits to even call for help is negligence at its worst. I have a quadriplegic sister in a nursing home. The aged and infirmed are helpless to aid themselves. I just can't understand how the managers at that care facility ignored the warnings to evacuate