Hello my GP Family! I am back! I have rejoined the world! A little tornado thing, and then hurricane Irma(direct hit Cat 4 w/142 mph sustained winds).. Two of my four houses need shingles, one house needs the screens w/frames replaced, one house needs pool cage repairs,
three houses need serious power washing, two properties need fencing repairs/replacement, and all seven properties need major tree and debris removal. I have a row of nine tall palms on the front side of this property. Luckily, for my OCD, I lost the center palm. How lucky was that?
Going into this, they were fairly certain two of my houses would be under water, and this house could be wet. Everything a few blocks east, west, north, and south of this house, was under a mandatory evacuation order. I am blessed. All four houses are still standing, no broken windows, and none are under water. The cats and I hunkered down in the guest suite. I put mattresses and box springs up against the windows. I tried to stay in there, but I just had to see Irma. So, I came out at times to watch. Most of the back of my house is glass(windows and sliders). Since that was the direction Irma's wind was coming, that was an intense sight to see. My pool cage saved my house. She took the direct hit. The winds came across the pond, and hit her head on. Trees on the other side of the pond were snapping like twigs, becoming missiles directed at my house. I was told by the person who has that property listing, there are around fifty trees snapped and/or down on that property. I don't know if that many trees are damaged over there, but I know quite a few hit my pool cage. I have an older pool cage. She is hefty. And, when I had her rescreened, I rescreened with Super Screen. I paid that extra money, because it is cat proof. I remember them saying it is hurricane proof as well. They were right about that! None of those tree missiles broke
through. Those trees bounced right off. It was like I had a magic shield. The pool cage is a little bent, but every panel and screen remained intact. The only thing that blew off the pool cage, was one of the doors. The wind was so strong, it bent the chain link fencing on my lot next door, to the ground. Bent the poles even with the ground. I have never seen that before.
Before the storm, I had no clue where to park the Hummers. I didn't know what direction the wind would come from. So, I decided to park them in front of the glass doors on the south side of the house. I didn't know how to protect the Hummers, but maybe they could help protect my house? Instead, the house protected them. Again, blessed! The trailers stayed put. A good portion of the big tree on that side of the property dropped on them, but didn't break
through. And, no damage to the warehouse.
Eight days without power. The day I got power, my refrigerator decided she didn't want to work. I worked on her until 4:00 am the next morning, and finally got her running. That day, I had my very dear grocery delivery couple bring me some food. The grocery stores had limited supplies, but I was happy for whatever I could get. It has been very hot and humid, so I mostly wanted something cold to drink.
Eleven days without television or internet. So, I have limited knowledge of Irma's path of destruction, or of much else that is happening in the world. My local paper(low info) and mail resumed four or five days in. UPS and Fed-Ex had my zip code classified as undeliverable for about six days. UPS had stopped delivering to my zip, two days prior to Irma. They had a package of mine sitting local on the Thursday prior, but would not deliver it. A dear friend from up home, was kind enough to order a kitty litter shipment from Chewy for me.
Finding a tree person or roofer is nearly impossible. Booked solid. I now know, the trick is to get on their lists before a hurricane. Who knew? Not me. My pool isn't swimable yet. My pool guy always complains about not making enough money. But, when I offered him big bucks to get me up and running once I got power, he didn't take me up on it. Young people these days.. Sigh. He is a lousy pool guy. I think he still has a job, because he is easy on the eyes? There are a lot of old widows here? Next week, I'm shopping for a new pool service.
I had a security camera focused on my pool cage during the storm. I was going to watch Irma on my computer from the guest suite. Unfortunately, I lost power very early on. So, no wifi for the video feed or cloud for storage. I will purchase a battery operated camera with memory for next time. It would have been nice to have those videos.
Luckily, I have Verizon for cell phone. Irma pretty much wiped out most AT&T cell towers. Neighbors with AT&T cell, were going house to house, looking for a working phone to call their friends and families.
I couldn't find any help to shutter my houses before the storm. People let you down. No surprise there. Oh well. I am working on options for that in the future. I am having this house priced for hurricane glass. But, the price tag will probably give me heart failure, so I will probably opt for the friendliest of shutter options.
The cats were spooked by all the days of hurricane preparation. Cats don't like change. They didn't like me moving everything from the outside into the house. The lanai is their favorite place in the world, and I removed all of their furniture and stuff. They weren't happy about that. To calm them the night before, we stayed up all night and played. We had catnip and treats. We were watching the storm from the lanai. We ran around the pool deck in the rain. My Alicia(21 y/o w/cancer) decided to not join us in the rain. But, my Beige Boy (20 y/o) did. Since I was wet anyway, I went for a swim. I can say I swam through Irma? We had a blast.
At 10:00 a.m., the tornado thing was a bit of a shocker. My doors slammed shut, and I was being sucked out my sliders. I held onto the slider handle, and struggled to get the slider shut. Bruised my hand, arm, and leg. I pulled something in my groin. Mostly healed now. It was like a paranormal episode in an old thriller movie? We live and learn. Too funny!
Several days in, I could hear my bigger diesel generator purring through the woods. The young couple down the street have a baby, so I insisted they take the generator down there. The only thing I cared about saving in my refrigerator, was my cat's chemo drug. So, they kept it in their refrigerator for me. My generator purring through the woods made me smile. It reminded me of happy times, when Norman and I would have her purring through the woods at our cabin in Maine. The young man is going to get the other one running too, so we will both have one next time. We are going to get both our houses wired for them. He and his Father complimented the quality wiring connections I have for the generators. I was so very proud to say, they were constructed by my dear friend Joel. Joel has since passed away. But, his work still impresses. How cool is that? He was a great electrician, a good man, and a very dear friend. Norman and I loved him.
A lot of things went right for me in this storm. And, I am so very grateful. Mother nature spared me much. Many others were not so lucky. My heart breaks for them. I am blessed...
Things were looking as bad as they could be. Cat 5/Direct Hit. Now, they are looking better for winds. But, looking worse for storm surge. Who knows? Everyone south and west of me by a few blocks are under mandatory evacuation.
