Here I Be!

I am back on-line. I have power, I have internet, I have water.... what more can one ask for? I don't have phone, but could not personally care less. I have cell if I need it.

What small damage was done by Frances was made larger by Jeanne. Where we were missing a few roof tiles we are missing many more now. The rains of Frances were for two days, creating rivers in our streets (I will post a picture of my street during Frances in a later post), but the winds of Jeanne were those to be feared. People who had suffered major roof damage during Frances lost their walls during Jeanne. We listened to our radio in the storm as a brave rescue crew took an 8 ton SWAT vehicle and rescued a family in Lake Worth whose home had come down around them. We listened as during the eye of the storm north of us, reporters continually spoke of buildings caving in and roofs being lifted off previously damaged homes. We listened as the roof tiles were being torn from our home and hurricane shutters were being peeled from our windows.

As my Mother says, anything happening to your roof sounds horrific. She is right. She sat in her safe room as Ivan ravaged Pensacola and tree limbs fell to their roof as shingles were being torn off in the same wind. No matter where you are in the house, when something happens to your roof, it sounds like it's going to blow.

The Great Omnipotent One said his next door neighbor had said during Ivan, when it got so horrible, she started to vomit and had diarrhea. I have one up on her; I never threw up. As I heard roof tile after roof tile bumping across our roof, it gave a whole new meaning to 'it scared the shit out of me'. I really thought we'd lose our roof.

But we didn't.

Our homes are built to withstand winds up to 140 MPH and that they did. When we walked outside yesterday morning, we were amazed at how little damage had been done in comparison to how bad it had sounded throughout the 7 hours. Frances had taken care of most of our landscaping problems. We had power by 10;30 AM.

Many in Palm Beach County are still without power and will remain so. We are having 12 for dinner tonight. I've invited friends and family over to take hot showers and eat a hot meal in air conditioning. Once again we have been blessed and are fortunate. I will be trying to have different people over thoughout the week as power grids come up.

The people in Port St. Lucie, Vero, and Fort Pierce got absolutely hammered again. They caught the eye and the north eye wall. The northern east eye wall is the place NOT to be. I cannot comprehend the vast destruction. It is the type you are seeing in Pensacola from Ivan.

I have to say, throughout all of this, I was most worried about blog sister Tammi. She was alone through this and this is her 4th. She has felt the wrath of 3 and tropical storm effects of the 4th. She is an amazing woman and she is the one I spend an inordinate amount of time praying for. We had a dinner planned for Saturday night as I was supposed to be in Orlando. We are DEFINITELY rescheduling!!!