...then along came Jeanne!

Yes, OO, we're still headed to MIA provided the airlines are still flying. We are due to arrive Sunday afternoon, and the circumstances are honestly not looking to be too good around that time. I wonder if we'll be able to drive anywhere to get any business done or just be holed up in the hotel room?

We are just afraid that if we postpone, MIA will end up not having any effects from Jeanne and we would have cancelled for nothing. I hope we're making the right decision.

Welcome home Statia. I'll bet you had a high time last night in St Maarten!

Hopefully by the time you are ready to leave for Miami you'll have a good idea of where Jeanne is headed. If we can count on anything, we can count on the current track changing! We were touch and go for our trip to Dallas last week, deciding the day before that Ivan was going to be enough of a miss that we'd be OK leaving.

Have a safe trip, and if worse comes to worst...head to the spa. When do you get back?

Yes, OO, hubby and I had a wonderful reunion in St. Maarten last night.

I have to go back to St. Maarten tomorrow night because I have the first flight out to San Juan the next morning. So, I don't think I'll know too much more about Jeanne before I head over there, but will hope for the best.

I already have a spa appointment this week, so if I can't do business, perhaps I can do the spa two days!

I'll be back here on Friday night, so I'll be in touch then, if not before. I'll also be keeping an eye on Jeanne's effect on Tampa, as well. Stay safe!

Jeanne seems to be an east coast hurricane, so far, and from West Palm Beach northward.

So, here we are in WPB hoping the damage is small and the power outage is short.

Good luck, everyone

PS, all you power guys, come back !!!

My parents are from Fort Myers Beach but are on a cruise right now. They were supposed to go to Nassau today and return to FLL tomorrow, instead my mother emailed me this morning that they "were hiding behind Cuba" and they get an extra 2 free nights on the cruise-- not returning until Monday.
I told her it's probably good, Alligator Alley will be packed with evacuatees.

Ugh...it doesn't look good, Statia. They are calling for landfall near Vero again around 2 AM. Maybe you can delay your departure a couple of days?

The track has been moved further west into the state as well. DH was scheduled to leave tomorrow for DC, but has cancelled. The hotel has been booked solid by people from the east coast and tropical storm force winds are expected here. Deja vu all over again--we've been this exact route with Frances. We had to toss out all the food from our freezer after 40 hours without power from her--and I just replaced much of it.

Yeah, OO, after watching TWC this a.m. and seeing that it isn't moving northward at all, we've decided it might be best to try and postpone until next week. I'll keep you updated.

Well, OO, change of plans again. After talking to friends and suppliers in Miami, they say that it will be business as usual and we should continue with our plans to come in. Guess we'll see what happens.

Can't say I'm thrilled about the thought of landing at MIA tomorrow morning, much less driving around in that storm.

Well, here she comes. My daughter's college (UCF in Orlando) is being evacuated by 9 pm tonight (Sat) and classes cancelled for Monday. Are they evacuating on the east coast yet?

There's still time for Jeanne to turn north. OO let's all get outside and blowwwwww!

Joan, it's hard to get the hang of the empty nest syndrome if she keeps getting evacuated home again, huh?

Statia...geez! You know, so many businesses have been severely impacted with this spate of storms, now no one will back off "business as usual" until the very last moment! Stay safe, and really, I hope you make it out of Puerto Rico. I worry about BTilke too, who was scheduled to fly into Orlando from Paris.

The 11 AM track shifted it west again and increased it to a category 3 now, saying it's possible that it could be a 4 by landfall.

Yes, everyone blowwwww! Maybe if you all blow hard enough, she'll go back out into the Atlantic.

I've thought of BTilke a few times today, as well. I hope she makes it into Orlando before the storm gets there.

Stay safe everyone!

No, OO, Li'l Miss Independent is spending the 'cane at her roommate's parents home in Orlando! The mom is home alone and the girls are going to board up the windows and stay there... so the nest will remain empty for now (and momma bird worrying 'bout baby bird of course). I invited them all to come here... weird that the beach house is inviting the inlanders for shelter, isn't it?

Thanks for the good wishes, Statia! Best to you too.

I'm BLOWWWWWwwwwwwwwwing, Statia, wishing you all a safe end to this weather madness.

I live on the east coast of Fl. and my sister lives on the west coast of Fl. It seems that every week or so we call each other and say "Tag, you're it".

My gracious you all! We still have that
guestroom if any one is looking to de-
stress! Comes complete with cats, a home gym, TV, patio, and this PC

Many spas are nearby.
Your nerves must be steel and we
admire you all!
Vaya con dios

The R5's

To Statia, OO, and all the rest of you anticipating Jeanne--prayers winging your way! If all this weather(the hurricanes this season and Ivan returning as a TS) wasn't so devistating, it would be absolutly fascinating. What has made conditions so favorable this year for so many storms?!

Orlando airport is closed or closing shortly (forgotten what time they said). I'm so sorry for BTilke. Just what she didn't need. I saw on the Europe board that she doens't have a valid drivers license so she can't even rent a car to get to her mother's.

Statia...wonder if you made it out? Who knows, Miami might be high and dry by tomorrow. Beach weather.

Joan I know you can't be too happy about your DD being in Orlando for this! We spend their youth trying to raise them to be independent, self-sufficient adults...then when we have succeeded...we worry more and wish they weren't quite so independent. I have one too...she worries me to death sometimes...tent camping in Africa, beaching in Mozambique.

What we can at least smile about, is that we're getting real good at the drill. Preparation time for this is about cut in half. We know the jobs that need to be done and do them automatically. And I sure have a spic and span frig and freezer. All the food in there is brand new...no more surprise freezer burn. Oh...and the biceps from carrying the wrought iron patio furniture back and forth, into and out of the house. LOL You'll know Floridians by their ripped arms!

Thanks for good wishes too. Your guest room sounds perfect Razzle5. All the comforts of home, including the cats.

I don't know why there are so many this year, but they all seem to be heading to FL because the Bermuda high is out of place, keeping us from sharing the wealth with states to the north. The storms are tracking along the southern ridge of the high, right into FL. That was the explanation I heard a couple of weeks ago anyway, but don't hold me to it.

Poochie.... you made me laugh out loud at your "tag you're it" comment. I'll have to use that with my west coast friends.

MzPossum.... I heard earlier that one of our local So. Fla. weathercasters ran into a friend from the Hurricane Center this past May and they were concerned because it was so dry. They commented to each other that, historically when it was this same weather in So. Fla in May, the worst hurricanes have hit. He didn't go into the particulars, though.

Now, here's a South Fla update as of 6:30pm:

MIA closed down this afternoon, FLL closed down before MIA did. I am looking outside my 3rd floor condo window about 8 miles due west of FLL and while we've had gusts, it's about the same weather we had with Frances. The worst of the hurricane is expected between the hours of 10pm tonight and 2am. Check with your airline before you leave for the airport to fly to MIA. The flight might be postponed until MIA is accepting flights. Barring any bad damage to MIA (unlikely) the airport will open up sometime Sunday. What time does your flight arrive? Until the storm has passed, there is no possible way to know when the airports will reopen.

If you will primarily be in the Miami area, you might not have too bad a problem getting around. Just drive safely because you never know where vegetation will be. Loads of vacationers in the coastal area and cruise ship passengers who are stuck in So. Fla. are taking up most of the hotel rooms in Miami-Dade County. You may want to double check to see if you still have a hotel room tomorrow. No sense getting here if you don't have a place to stay! I hear it's much better in Key West! LOL

Just do your homework and you might find you can make your trip tomorrow after all.

Take care. And to the other Floridians ... HUNKER DOWN!

Gosh this is just de ja vu for the Floridians all over again. I feel so bad for all of the Floridians and Fodor Floridians. Your in my prayers. Maybe Jeanne will decide to turn away last minute.

Heartburn I hope Ft.Lauderdale will be safe and sound! We were even considering coming back to vacation in Ft. Lauderdale in November. We really enjoyed ourselves in Ft.Lauderdale. Beautiful place.

Stay safe!

TandooriGirl or OO....
I am in Maine right now, and haven't been able to get through to the people that were looking after our home. What are they saying for our area? The only real news I can get is from the internet and it looks like it will be a tropical storm as it heads through the Lakeland area.
I live on the coast, so I am sure they had mandatory evacuations. (More specifically...in Hernando County.)

If you have any additional info, I would appreciate it. Thought I could leave these worries at home when we left.
Thanks!

Highbay:
This is a really good graphic that is updated when the National Hurricane Center issues it's updates.
Copy and paste and then click on the maps for a real good look:
http://www.skeetobite.com/weather/

Thanks hibiscushouse, I actually have been looking at Skeetobite, but the last update was the 5pm advisory. I was wondering (with the last storms, there was 24hr coverage on the local channels) if there were any mandatory of voluntary evacuations in our area.
I live at Bayport, which only gets publicity if a storm comes around!

Heartburn3...this has been the strangest wet season, hasn't it? We no longer had daily thunderstorms. We had days of heavy rain, then days and days of dry weather.

We are so close to TIA that when the wind comes from the east (which fortunately it rarely does) we can smell jet fuel. Planes are coming and going as if it's a busy weekend in-season, one after another, either taking off or landing every few minutes. My guess is that flights have been added spur of the moment to get people out of here--not only people scheduled to fly from Tampa, but those scheduled to fly from Orlando too. We ran into some at our pool this afternoon who had been shuffled from Orlando to Tampa to get out.

I found a really interesting link on www.weatherunderground.com, I'd never seen before. It takes all the computer models from the initial tracking of a storm, includes the NHC forecasted track as well as the actual path in time lapse, showing how well the actual path correlates with the computer models and the NHC model. This would probably only be of interest to those of us in areas who are frequently affected by storms, who actually look at computer models and care what they are trying to tell us. Go to www.weatherunderground.com, click on tropical/hurricane. Under Hurricane Jeanne, click on storm history/verification. Click on forecast/verification. It'll take a few seconds to load. The black line is the actual track Jeanne has taken since inception, the silver line is the NHC forecasted track, and all the others are the computer models we've followed for each of the storms. The divergence is really interesting, as is the (very) occasional agreement.

I need to preview before posting, that was suppose to be mandatory OR voluntary evacuations!

Have you looked at www.TBO.com? They have evacuations listed.

Highbay...sorry, I was eating dinner between writing the above and posting, so did not see your note. There hasn't been a mandatory class A evacuation for our area (Hillsborough or Pinellas). Mobile homes and low lying areas are voluntary evacuations.

They continued to anticipate a northward turn, but it has yet to happen and continues to track due west. As a result, the track keeps shifting a bit to the west. If it makes the anticipated northward turn, we should only have tropical storm force winds as it will pass north of us with the strongest winds on the northern side. The forecasted track puts it further north than Frances was, as a point of reference.

We haven't had much rain at all, but the winds are picking up in Tampa, sustained at 22 mph now. They are out of the north, and will gradually shift to northwest later. Channel 8 keeps hinting that they expect the next official track will shift west.

You lucky thing in Maine! I think we will be fine, so find some wild blueberries and enjoy. Eat a lobster for me...lots of butter of course. Come home when this is over and done with...if it ever will be!

_OO____OO Shoot! can't figure out how to underline, but OO I want you yo know that lots of Northeners are thinking of all of you.

Thanks so much hibiscushouse. I see that they issued a voluntary evacuation for zone A in my area. It looks like it will be tropical storm weather when it reaches my area.
Thanks too, OO. We have been indulging on the wild blueberries and lobster. Maybe I am experiencing a little "guilt". Gotta check on home syndrome. Whatever it is, I will be glad to have this season over with!

Sorry, I misspoke. Mandatory evacuations in our area (most all surrounding counties) for mobile homes and low lying areas. Eat more lobster...all for me of course. I'll work off the calories for you.

Thanks Mimi! Do you know how to make a word bold or to italicize on Fodors? Underline the same way, but substitute "u" for the "b" or "i" in the brackets.

I've done a dark and light wash, changed the sheets and run the dishwasher--not going to get caught this time wishing for electricity and water.

Last flight leaves TIA in a half hour, and airport will reopen around 5 PM tomorrow.

Sigh!! no, I'm completely inept. I can do smileys but thanks.

OO:
Please tell my husband that I don't have to run tomorrow!!! I usually run 4 out of 7 days. That's my profile. I am am L&D nurse and have been for a long time.

I sure made it sound like we couldn't be invaded by a damn thing. I really love this barrier that we have established. I really love everything that we have been through.
PLEASE,advise me

If I'm certain of anything, highbay, it's that I'm not running tomorrow, so if you eat lobster, it'll be all your baby!

Hurry home, the Susan G Komen is next weekend!

So much for a lazy Sunday morning sleep! It is windy...new track shows Jeanne passing over Hillsborough County (Tampa area) as a category 1 hurricane later this morning, much further south than they thought last night. Where is that darn northward turn they keep promising?

Highbay...it puts you on the north side of the hurricane I believe, hope you can reach the people looking out for your house...are you away from the water?

I had white noise and fans running on high in my bedroom last night to keep my pets (and me) from being afraid. They miss their "daddy" and are easily spooked right now. Even with all that I was awakened about 3 a.m when a particularly heavy band of wind came through. We have had virtually no rain or maybe the wind dries it as it hits.

I'm supposed to go to Boca Raton Resort next weekend for a conference (need CEU credits for my license). The event was already moved from the Ritz on Palm Beach due to Frances. Looks like Boca has just be getting the outer bands like Fort Myers.

Jeanne is hopefully going to move on quickly and let us get on with our neverending clean up. LilMsFoodie

The power is back on in my neck of the woods!!!
Heartburn3- Thanks, My sis and I think
that's such a funny line. I live close to you. I'm between Griffin and Stirling, just east of Flamingo.

Woke up to the power off, but it came back on.
>>>>>>>>>>Run! Turn the coffee pot on!!

Tag...this time you're both it!! Share and share alike, like Mom always told you--good sisters.

Glad you got your power back so quickly Poochie. I don't have much hope of keeping ours, but so far so good and maybe we'll be as lucky.

LMF...hope things are better in your area now and that you are doing OK. It's going to be kitty and me holding down the fort in our casita too--my choice. DH has to be in the hotel and I don't want to leave the house...with 7 skylights, one of which is already whistling in the higher gusts. Just noticed we forgot to take in the grill. Too late now...

Hibiscushouse...I got the coffee first thing too. Second thing was a shower and the hairdryer. I'm ready to face the day, whatever it brings.

Isn't that the truth Hibiscus? That's exactly what we do during a blizzard - have the coffee ready to go so we can flick the switch if the power comes on for a few minutes.

I'm having trouble relating location to the worst hit areas. My brother is in Margate outside Fort Lauderdale. Would he be south of the main hit?
And my best friend is in Orlando - are they still on the path for another hit?

I talked to them both yesterday morning, and they were still unsure. I don't want to call this early in case they are managing some shut-eye. Any info from those of you down there with power would be appreciated. Thanks, and good luck with round four. My heart goes out to all of you.

Dreamer2, Orlando is getting hurricane force winds now. Too early to know about damage. Your brother was south of the eye, which came in at the southern end of Hutchison Island. I know that area has some significant damage, but your brother was on the better side and I haven't heard--right now they are just talking about the track as it heads toward us. My guess is though...that he won't be catching any shut eye this morning so you can probably call without fear of waking him. Hope he weathered the storm OK.

I made coffee on our gas grill the entire time I was without power. It was a pretty hysterical operation as I no longer have my Chemex lowtech coffee maker. Just boiled water in a kettle on the grill, removed the filter basket from the Braun unit and held it over the pot and poured the water through it. I made a makeshift Bain Marie to keep the pot warm.

I had people lined up for coffee in the days after the storm. I had bought ground coffee in advance of the storm. Being LMF, I usually grind my beans each a.m.

Of course, with the winds this morning, this system would not work but in the aftermath of a storm when the weather has died out but you have no power, this is a great way to get your caffeine.

I called it the "caffeine addiction station" LMF

Oh LMF, its great to see your sense of humor is intact LOL How very ingenious of you and of course you'd grind your own beans!
But seriously, I've been thinking of you, and everyone in Florida and praying you're coming through it okay. We have close friends in Longwood who we recently visited to assist in their clean up. They were fairly fortunate that time, although their beach house an hour away took a direct hit.
Know that you have many Fodorite Friends pulling and praying for you.
Hang in there and be safe.

Dreamer2- Margate is a few miles north of me. The worst is over for us and your brother. About 70,000 homes without power in Broward County.
Sending positive thoughts and prayers for all of you now in Jeanne's path.

OO...we are right on the water. Hope there isn't too much of a storm surge. That is one of my greatest fears. We do have a generator if the power is lost for any length of time.

We finally got through to the people who are looking after our home. They said they would give us a call if there are any problems. I guess I will be glued to the computer today, watching Jeanne's progress.

Wow, I can't believe I still have power. It's really blowing here. My son is at a sleepover in Brandon and DH is working. So I'm solo on house patrol. If my cable modem stays intact then I can use my laptop by plugging into a converter in my car. A transformer on the next street over is exploading but it only dimmed my lights.

So that's it from South Tampa. I still have a tree that's way too close to my home, as I discovered with Francis. But the first tree surgeon said, not to worry, it won't do MUCH damage if it falls on the house. So nice to know there is a bright side to that scenario. Everybody stay safe.

I'm astounded we still have power too, TG. I'm baking cookies while we've still got it. Of all weeks, I picked this one to forget to order my junk food quota. That's a mandatory storm provision! We saw flashes from an exploding transformer around 5 this morning, but the hotel kept it's power--it wasn't ours.

It looks as if your son is having a wild ride about now and we are next.

The big podocarpus by our front door is leaning ominously...but if it comes down, it'll fall away from the house. It looks as if the root ball is pulling up.

Highbay they are talking about 3-6 foot storm surge in Hernando County, 2-4 here, possibly higher as it continues to track directly toward us.

Cookies are done...come on over!

I'm having trouble getting this to post. Hopefully it won't show up 4 times now! My internet connection has slooooowed waaaaaaaay doooowwwwwnnnn.

My heart goes out to all of you across the center of the state. Again, we are escaping it in Naples. Although at 1 AM I heard a transformer blow out and the power went out for almost 9 hours. Just came back on. That's with "little gusts" here. I can't imagine what's happening everywhere else. I just heard that inland Polk county has actually had the eye of three full fledged hurricanes pass directly through it this year -- unheard of -- and those are people who may live inland to avoid hurricanes!!

I haven't heard yet how extensive the damage is on the east coast.

At my mother's retirement home in Naples they've been "hosting" about 100 extra people from a sister home in Vero Beach that evacuated to this one for Francis, then their building sustained some pretty major damage so they are still here, living on rollaways in the activity rooms and living out of plastic bags for closets. This morning one of the nurses with them told me their building took really major damage again last night!

OO...
3 to 6 ft will put water in our yard, but not in our house,thank goodness. We live in a stilt home, with breakaway garage walls. I do have too much stuff stored in the garage...like extra freezer & refridgerator.
We were also able to get in touch with a neighbor. He said that they still haven't called a mandatory evacuation.
Hope you remain with power and stay safe.

Thanks Poochie and OO. I just got off the phone with my sis-in-law and they are in good shape, as you both projected. Now they are hosting coffee and showers (and A/C) for many friends and family.

I won't call my girlfriend in Orlando just yet. They got through Charley with minimal damage, but so many of their friends have really suffered. It must be so scary for all of you.

LMF, I have the funniest visual of you working your brew! I picture you like the Greek ladies at our church festival stirring up their traditional "mud." Of course, that's not to imply that you are serving mud!

I just heard the magic word. Wobble. The eye may be deceiving us but the meteorologist says he thinks he sees a wobble. North.

Wobble-wobble-bo-bobble, bananafanafofobble...

Curious - how are the animals at Lion Country Safari protected? Do they ride out hurricanes ok?

All I can say is please God do away with all this bad weather. Let the sun shine on them again.

I've not heard any horror stories about animals in parks or outdoors, other than many many dogs and cats deserted by their owners, and sea turtle nests washed out to sea (these storms are hitting at the end of nesting season so some baby turtles are still hatching). I heard first-hand a story about a man's horse who refused to go into the barn and dug his hoofs into the ground, facing the storm as the eye and subsequent winds passed by.

So I'd guess that unless the lions are tuned into the hysteria on the weather channel (can't you imagine it?) that they're too facing the storm bravely.

Jeanne's winds are diminishing. She may be down-graded to tropical storm, the media says.

cigal, we just might get a glimpse of the sun when the eye passes

The seabirds...egrets, herons, roseates, pelicans, gulls etc hunker down in the mangroves...head to the wind. Toward the end of Frances I was out looking at our docks and found a snake in the same position...still as can be, lying on a pile of seaweed, head up pointing into the wind. Marsh rabbits were another matter. They were freaked out by it all. They are so used to hotel guests they rarely move much when anyone walks by, but as I walked back to the hotel during the end of Frances, they took off like the proverbial "bats outta hell" as I approached. It was flooding and they ran right into the water in utter terror! Sad. The footage of unclaimed pets is SO sad! From..Charley, then Frances.

Highbay..glad your house sits up above it. When do you get back? Your high tide, I just heard is 1:30-2 so after that your flooding potential should lessen.

The wind is really howling still but in bursts and it's getting lighter, as if the sun isn't too far off. I can't believe we haven't lost power!

MIMI!!!! You did it! I see those bold words. Good job. (And thank you too for the thought.)

Good day my dears!! I hope all of my Florida pals are fine. I have been watching the news from here (Portland OR) and hoping for the best.. sadly some were not spared again. I am so sorry for the losses they are going through and the trauma of these storms. We were up late last night, following the news, but I have to say that those idiots who stand out in the wind and rain and talk about how fun it is should be forced to spend a year living in a house in those "fun" storms and see how much fun they really do have... My daughter has pup at her house, he thinks he is in heaven, sitting on the sofa watching tv, sleeping on her bed, he even has a cat to play with..he will be sorry to see us return!! Until next week! Take care,

regarding wildlife: across my retention pond sits a huge banyan tree. With Jeanne still blowing hard in Fort Myers, my tree is full of all manner of birds and ducks, tucked into the roots. Herons, Ibis, Egrets, Ahingas, Muscovies, brown ducks, Osprey and others. Just the regular suspects on my lake, but today gathered in the protective branches of this huge tree. It gives me great comfort to look out at them and know they are safe. After Charlie, the tree also had quite a few Roseate Spoonbills who I assume had evacuated from Sanibel's Ding Darling Sanctuary. They are not here today and I hope they are safe.

I am grateful that this 'cane is not as powerful as it could have been. It is hard to find anything to be grateful for right now, so that will have to do. Glad everyone is safe. LMF

LMF, I saw your earlier posting about the "white noise". Do you have a machine to create this? I'm asking because one of my cats is terrified of thunderstorms and very heavy rainfall. He was abandoned by his previous owner and lived on the streets for awhile before we took him in so I guess that's how he developed his phobia. When he hears thunder or rain he drops to his belly and crawls down to the basement. We can't lure him out even with his favorite treats. When he thinks it's safe, he will venture back upstairs (usually an hour or so after the rain stops). Nothing we do seems to help him feel secure. The vet said that sedatives don't usually help with cats as it just stresses them out more. Maybe the white noise would mask the sound of the rain and thunder. What do you think?

Hi Scarlett! That icon is sort of what I feel like. Weary...so ready for this to be over. Am glad your casa grande was spared...it sure looked for a while like it might be in for it. Can't wait to read your trip report...IF you ever decide to come home again, that is! Who would blame you?

Jeanne just seems to go on and on and on and on. We are on the backside now, which isn't much different from the front. I hear there are 9' waves in places in Tampa bay, 10' along shore somewhere in Clearwater, and as high as 20' off shore, and although I'm yards from the bay, and fortunately elevated...I can't see it. I don't dare leave the house to peek around the corner, it is still so rough including horizontal rain.

My Podocarpus tree out front is slowly slowly just sinking to the ground. No crashing loss, just leaning out further and further, now part of it resting on the roof of the casita next door. Toast. The tree off our back patio had the top break out of it. It was too tall anyway, but I can't imagine how it will ever look like anything again. That's all I know about damage as there's no way I'd poke my head out the door further.

DH says he has a new lobby feature. A waterfall cascading from a lobby bar light fixture. Interesting concept. Reminds me of the opening of Hyatt Reunion in Dallas where he was part the opening team. The first day doors opened a main water pipe broke and water cascaded down the glass elevators in the atrium lobby, creating a waterfall falling onto the tops of the elevators then to the base of the elevator shaft. Some of the guests thought it was a new lobby feature! Atrium lobbies were novel in those days (1978), with each one being more fabulous than the one before...but no one had created an 18 story waterfall over elevators before!

The upside here is that it is now a tropical storm and we still have power. My skylights held and the casita is still water tight.

Hopefully those that haven't checked in are OK. Ominous silence in particular from Sarasota, and Treasure Island.

OO...
Sorry for the delay in responding. My husband dragged me away from the computer to go for a hike to take our minds off of the weather!
We will not be home until Oct.4th. I think we got lucky again. My housewatcher told me they would call if there are any problems, so I'm hoping no new is good news. Glad you were spared the pain of a power outage.
I feel so bad for the people on the East coast. They haven't had any time to recover from Frances.
Take care.

Sound Soother or white noise: usually attached to an alarm/sleep system....what most of us think of as a clock radio. Looked for mine online but I've had it for years...Sharper Image has at least one:
http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/productview.jhtml?pid=41930500&pcatid=2&catid=38053500&catpage=1
Probably Brookstone also.

Mine has running water, birds (no rest for kitty with that one), loon that is spooky, thunderstorm (if your are wierd), white noise, etc. It helps them and me a lot. Hope this helps. LMF

Is there any looting going on? If so the B&*^%^%*# should have their hands cut off. I read today in The NYTimes about the sewage problem. Still praying this misery all ends.
OO, I feel so sophisticated posting in Bold. Even in your terrible situation, you took the time to teach me.
May you and everyone and our animals be safe.
Hello to Scarlett.

Wind & rain starting here in Tallahassee. Son in Jax has been out of power for 6 hours this time. Frances was 13 hrs. This time they ate all the ice cream the minute the lights went out. Then they cooked pork stir-fry & brown rice on the Coleman stove in the garage. Mom reminded him to keep the door open.

Hi, OO and you, too, lucky Scarlett off in Portland. Glad you're not here for this stuff, you have already had quite enough of Florida, I think!

I posted my travails over on the Europe board. Have water within AND without at the moment. Am perched on high in the hopes of avoiding electrocution-by-carpet.

The electrocution issue may become a moot point soon as we can hear transformers blowing in the neighborhood and police sirens shrieking as our lights flicker, but somehow stay on. For now, anyway.

Hang in there, Floridians! We're seasoned, sodden veterans now, we can handle anything!

GREETINGS FROM THE "PLYWOOD" STATE:

Poochie.... we are only about 5 miles apart. Email me, if you want, at HEARTBURN3@MSN.COM.

I drove by Ft. Laud. beach today and couldn't believe how close the water was to the sidewalk just north of Sunrise Blvd. Not much sand on the roadways until north of Sunrise, too. To anyone with plans for coming to the Ft. Lauderdale area, c'mon down... we are doing fine. I had no problems getting around today. Keep your plans for November (barring anymore storms coming this way!)

Only was out of power 8 hrs (8pm last night to 4am) so I slept through most of the power outage. I consider myself very lucky!

Friends west of Lake Okeechobee (Lake Placid/Avon Park area) told me this afternoon they were still having effects of the hurricane and lost the remaining trees in their yard (well-established trees!) However, they were happy none of the trees fell on their house. Said the roof was "breathing" during the worst part of the hurricane and worried them (they live in an older house.)

Hope all my friends and Fodorites don't have too much damage on the west coast. Take care.

I'm afraid the ominous silence south of Tampa is due to major power outages in our area (Bradenton). Ours was out for 12 hours today and is only back on because my next door neighbor is on some utility board for the state of FL and she raised you know what. Some poor FPL guy was in our back yard with a chain saw in sheets of rain. I feel a little guilty, but we went without power for a week almost 3 years ago to the day from a tropical storm. We were literally the last block in the city to get our power back. The neighbor was NOT on the utility board at the time!

Around 4:00 this afternoon we got a frantic call from my sister who lives on the Manatee River just west of I-75. She had a foot of water in her house and the tide was still rising. We had to park our Suburban about three blocks from her house so DH, DD and oldest DS and I hiked though about two feet of water with two giant crates to get to her and her critters. I can't describe how gross it was; esp. not knowing what was under the water.

With the help of her neighbors, we got her, the dogs and the cats to our truck and out of there. At one point she had two feet of water in the house. There are glass siding doors across the back of the house and two feet of the river were resting against them and pouring in under the doors through the sandbags. Do you know how strange it is to see things swimming through glass siding doors? It felt like the house was floating out into the river. Just as quickly, the river zipped back to the bank. It was surreal. When it receded tiny parts of what looked like jelly fish and grime coated her tile floor.

Fortunately she had been in the process of moving into a house she just bought in town so most of her valuables had already been moved. I'm sure the renters who were supposed to move in next weekend will be quite distressed as I'm sure it will be weeks or more before sis can get that mess taken care of. I don't even want to think about the high tide in a few hours.

Thanks for the info on the sound soother, LMF. I'll give it a try.
To all our Florida friends, I hope you're weathering the storm well. I just saw some pictures of the damage on tv and it looks real nasty in places.

We lost power around 11:00 am for good yesterday, until about midnight. I was so surprised that it came back on. Happy, but surprised.
What a ride yesterday was! It just didn't want to end! Frustrated to see that the feeder bans that went out into the Gulf picked up in strength before they headed back over top of our heads. It just went on and on. The back of our house faces south, so our seawall did fine. Our dock is level with our seawall cap, so it also survived. Our next door neighbor's dock steps down a couple of steps. We watched the entire dock lift up and down with every wave. The houses across the bay with the seawalls facing north were getting hammered. At the highest level, the bay water was about 1/2 ft from the top of their sea wall and the waves were crashing into their yards. One of the sailboats had his mast snapped, and his front line broke. Kept watching waiting for it to head out in the bay, but it didn't.
Went to check on the condo in Indian Shores, and a dive shop in Indian Rocks had it's front doors blown in and the roof came off. Lots of other roofing material was in the roads from other homes/condo's. Some signs were blown out. Didn't see any trees down (I think most of the weak trees came down in Frances).
One of our storm shutters at the condo blew off and ripped a blade off the fan when it came down. Winds were too strong still at 7:00 pm to go out on the balcony and do anything with the shutter though. So we just left it and hoped it wouldn't be blown into the sliding glass doors. Rebarr (sp?) and some type of metal sheeting for flooring had been lifted off a house that is being built next to the condo and it was a pile of twisted metal in between the house and our parking lot, hanging precariously in the wind.
My kids have school today. They weren't happy, as everyone else had their cancelled. I'm glad though. Funny how a hurricane can make the inside of a house a total wreck and the roof didn't even blow off.
My thoughts now go to those so up in Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Virginia. You all went through so much with Ivan, I hope Jeanne isn't too bad to you. My alma mater is at Western Carolina, and I love that area so. If I understand things correctly, that area went through a lot with Ivan. Crossing my fingers it does better with Jeanne.
As with Frances, I took some pictures and will post them if anyone is interested.

Yay, it's over. I was so lucky and didn't loose power but watched a transformer blow a couple streets away yesterday so that area was dark last night.
Lots more shingles off the roof but no major damage.
I live in Orlando on a small canal off a lake and it was funny watching the ducks Sunday lined up facing the wind just trying to keep their feet on the ground . Some of the egrets and herons were really having a hard time landing and flying away.
Lots of trees down and major traffic lights out but not as much damage as Charley did.
NO MORE NO MORE.

Are all the rest of you Floridians playing the Lottery heavier than usual now, hoping for a win so we can afford to pay our insurance premiums next year? I shutter to think about those!

My thoughts and prayers are with all of you having to endure yet another storm. I hope that all our Florida Fodorites are okay in the wake of Jeanne.

I'm still here on the island. Nope....didn't make it. My travel/buying companion called me from St. Maarten JUST as I was walking out the door on my way to the airport on Saturday evening. Our flight from SJU to MIA on Sunday had been cancelled, but they MIGHT have been able to get us in that afternoon.....no guarantees, however.

So, at that point we decided to postpone the buying trip until next week. After all, we didn't really know WHAT the hurricane might do and didn't want to get stuck somewhere enroute, or lose business days due to flooding or tropical storm weather.

Now, I just hope Jeanne doesn't decide to make a loop like Ivan did since we CAN'T postpone the trip again or the merchandise will never be here and get stocked before Christmas.

Thinking of all of you affected by Jeanne, as well as the other storms this season. Take care of yourselves.

We survived, and relatively unscathed. More trees blown down aside from my two mentioned earlier, lots of debris around, but no structural damage, other than further damage to the dock...which had not yet been repaired from Frances. Now it's worse. There is so much debris on the roads through our property the hotel is using a bobcat with one of those big shovels on the front to clear it out.

We have no idea how our sailboat fared. We couldn't drive last night, and now DH has his hands full here. I don't want to look at it by myself. Driving around is not easy anyway, with lots of debris and traffic lights out. It's flat tire haven.

As Hibiscushouse said...it went on and on last night with the backside. Even at 10 last night you could not stand easily in the wind. We were lucky though...the damage on the east coast is terrible. Category 3 vs Category 1...what a difference.

Glad to hear from you Jayne...I know there were a lot of power outages your way. That's something we never had this time...we were SO lucky. (I had just restocked my frig and freezer from my Frances losses). Your poor sis and her rental home. Is that the first time it has flooded? And Croque_Madame with your flood. I imagine it was seeping around your sandbags. I cannot fathom cleaning up from a flood, how nasty that must be. How much more water did you get...and were you hoping to replace carpeting anyway? That's the only thing that can make that loss somewhat tolerable.

I hope your house is OK Highbay...the eye headed closer and closer to you and the wind off the water was something. Let us know--I'll be thinking of you.

Am glad you stayed put Statia. I was wondering if you had made it or if you were stuck somewhere. I don't know if they shut MIA--Orlando, Tampa, St Pete, Sarasota airports were all closed. I've heard some planes go this morning but there haven't been many. Hopefully there won't be yet another storm either threatening your island, or us agan when you come back for your buying trip! You undoubtedly welcomed a few more days with your newly returned DH, anyway!!

Glad we all escaped relatively unscathed...some emotional buffeting around, but we did OK. Hope Joan is alright...no word from her yet, and Judyrem with her new condo going up on the east coast and a home on the west coast to boot. Nothing from Tandoori either and I suspect she is without power as much of this area is....again.

It seems crass to worry about a boat, but she is our second home too, our weekend escape from the hotel, and we do love her. Once I get down there for a look...hopefully this afternoon, I'll feel much better (I hope). It's somewhat encouraging that we haven't heard from the dockmaster. At least we know she wasn't demasted like Hibiscus' neighbor's boat. (Or I assume they'd call if that happened). There were about 12 lines on her leading to different points on various pilings, so I doubt she could escape her slip either!

Insurance...will they still write it or will we all become assigned risks? Boat as well. They have every justification for a rate hike and I guess we can't blame them. Ouch, though, ouch!

I'm glad to see that most of u guys from Florida are doing alright & made it safely thru your 4th storm!

I know you guys must be weary and tired and it's totally understandable. Watched the news this morning, only to see a grown man crying because his house went unscathed during Frances, but his luck this time around ran out...

Jayne: My boyfriends family lives in Bradenton & he wanted to fly down & check on them...We'll be trying to reach them again this evening...

OO: Glad thanks for your reports,(glad to hear your okay) my boyfriend is extremly found of your establisment and mentioned staying there again this trip (if we can make it)..What do u think...is this weekend 10/1 too soon?

nigelsmom-

Where in Bradenton do they live?

OO:
Thanks for inquiring. We got a call up here last night from our neighbor telling us it had started to flood. YIKES!!! We have a 23' ProKat boat trailered on the side of our house. We invisioned it floating down Hwy 50, tethered to her trailer!

Fortunately, the neighbor called back this morning to let us know that the boat was still in it's original location, and that we have power!!!

So we are indeed very lucky. Didn't ask him about any messes we may have to clean up...it is the least of our worries now. Glad you fared well with the storm. My thoughts and prayers are for those less fortunate than I.

Take care.

Highbay, Fantastic!! I'm so glad to hear. I was concerned for you, but there was no need spelling it out for you yesterday when you could do nothing about it. We'll check you off the worry list.

Nigelsmom, things look pretty good already. We just went to check the boat and driving along I-275 it's as if nothing has happened. Once off the interstate, damage is evident again. It doesn't look as bad as the Frances damage. It was a stronger storm but didn't last as long.

Our landscape crew plus extras were here before dawn. The grounds are almost totally cleaned up tonight. There were bobcats running around scooping up debris and dumping it in dumpsters, chainsaws and blowers operated all day, then shredders. Trees that blew over in the drive leading up to the hotel have been righted. You will see their guide wires now, holding them up until the root ball is stabilized again, but they otherwise look normal. My Podocarpus is a mere shadow of its former self, hacked and sawed. The dock looks pretty ugly with front and back ends missing. The board walk has an odd tilt to portions where pilings were pulled up by the wave action, but it is stable as is, and if you didn't know what it was like before, you wouldn't think much of the tilt. The pools are fine as are the palms around them. Palms...no wonder there are so many in FL--they shrug off the wind.

We were so lucky to keep our power this time. Everyone is commenting how odd it is...those that lost power in Frances have it with Jeanne, and vise versa. As we were driving back from the boat, DH had calls from two other hotels to see how he got through the no power situation with Frances as they are still without it.

Now my good news. Beach Music was sitting high and proud in her slip, not a scratch on her. ONE sail tie, used to tie up the bimini (along with a dozen others) had come off. That was it. The lines had all been re-adjusted which meant the dock master was hard at work during the storm. We owe him...anyone have great ideas for a thank you basket? One dock box, bolted to the dock was ripped right off...bolts in place but box gone. I have no idea how that could happen! But our home away from home is safe, sound, and whole.

As we put things back together there, I saw a head pop up in the water off our stern, a manatee, something you rarely see in the marina, being too busy normally. He was a happy fellow, and stayed in the one area for about 20 minutes, giving us good long looks at his face and back. Life is good. There won't be any more storms: we are finished with them. I feel it in my bones.

I better post or I'll be accused of not having power but so far so good. We only have the same darned tree leaning against the house that has been leaning since Ivan. No flooding in Tampa. I've not heard from my tenant in Sunset so I guess he's not flooded either.

My son is off school -- 40-some schools in Hillsborough county are w/o electricity. And my amigos on Davis Island are powerless AGAIN.

A friend told me that Japan has had 7 typhoons this year. I can do without one of those. And please...
hold the hurricanes

Glad to hear Beachmusic is a-okay, OO!

Also, glad to hear that all you other Fodorites are alright, too.

I agree...we're done with these "things" for the year. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts.

OO....
Glad to hear that "Beach Music" made it through the storm. Our boat is "Stormy Girl". Was that an appropriate name or what!

Sunset Beach, Treasure Island, Plywood State, checking in:

We weathered Jeanne without boarding or evacuating (what a fluke). Went to "half power" the morning of the storm, and we're still that way three days later: no 220 (no A/C yuck) and only one room with power - our dining room. They told us there were 33 homes in our neighborhood with this issue. Which means we are last on the repair list, I'm sure. I'm not complaining, just sweating! We have our fridge and TV running on extension cords to our dining room. Thank goodness for the fridge - that would be the last straw (ya gotta eat!). We grilled shrimp on the barbie (in a little protected alcove we have) and invited all the neighbors the night of the storm - bring your own adult beverage! Damage to our roof is considerable - we need a new one (along with the over $5K deductible). But really we made out well. And remember this was ONLY a cat 1! Don't wanna be here for a two, that's fer sure!

Glad to hear all the good news above. Especially glad to see LMF posting, coping, and still has her sense of humor. Thanks again for all your warm thoughts and prayers, folks.

Joan, thanks for the post. I've not heard a peep from my tenant, which I hope means good news. We get a little flooding there which appears to originate from that bayside lagoona (or whatever you call it) further south on SB, but the last storms it didn't come into the house and so I'm hoping this one won't either. But I hadn't heard about power outs. The tenant works for a company that puts them up if they are at all w/o housing so that may be the case.

I sure hope you get yours back soon. So many people are w/o electric in Tampa and they are really miserable. Darned storm didn't even give us a respite from the heat.

Jeez, a $5000 deductible. Guess your place is much nicer than my cottage.

...and I'm more than a little miffed that I didn't hear about that cookout of yours. I'll bet you put on quite a spread!

Tandoori, your comment about the typhoons has me puzzled. I'm not an expert but I always thought a typhoon was the same thing as a hurricane -- just the name they give them in the Pacific. Am I wrong? Is a typhoon different from a hurricane? Although I have in the back of my head that because of where they are typhoons always spin the opposite direction from hurricanes. No?

Hi Joan...egad. Glad to see your note and that all is well for the most part, but sorry about that roof, and half power. Have never heard of half power before! Is your deductible so high because your loss occurred during a named storm? I think it goes to a percentage figure then, rather than a normal deductible--is that right? (That's new since I worked in claims, implemented after Andrew.)

We were surprised driving around Gulfport how well they seem to have fared. One beautiful old live oak along 22nd Ave S looks like every big limb it had broke off several feet from the trunk and fell all around it. Sad to see those old beauties go! One of the more bizarre bits of damage I've seen was on Armenia after you exit I-275...there are some Washingtonian palms near the armory that look as if someone picked them up and thew them top side down into the ground. Their tops are on the ground, trunks sticking up diagonally in the air.

Patrick...your definition of a typhoon is right, but they do sound worse don't they? This year being what it is, who knows, maybe they'll exit the Pacific and Indian Ocean and come to FL as well.

Highbay...and Stormy Girl weathered the storm? There was a picture in the Tampa Tribune of a large sailboat on it's side on land. It's name was on it's side rather than stern: "Gone With the Wind". I'll bet there won't be a "Gone With the Wind II"! Time for a new name.

Tampa Fodorites - This hurricane thread has touched on a lot of familiar subjects beyond storm prep, survival and recovery. Do you ever share contact information or get together? radio@muchomail.com

Yes OO, we have three insurance policies: flood, homeowners, and wind. The wind policy has a $500 deductible UNLESS the storm has a "name", then it goes to 2% of the value of the insurance. They changed to that after Andrew I believe. I still haven't even gotten to make a claim - they only have voicemail and promise to call back within 24 hours - that was 48 hours ago. And I've only gotten one roofer to return my call...thank goodness we're not actually leaking!

Yes TGirl you are definitely invited to the next shrimp-on-the-barbie-in-the-middle-of-the-'cane party!

Oooh! It's so HOT here - 86 degrees, inside and out, and about 99% humidity! Bad hair day for sure!

Patrick, did I ever tell you that you're my favorite meteorologist on the fodors board? Now whodathunk you'd have your hurricanes and your typhoons differentiated?!?

We are all so lucky that google has made savants of each of us. In my little keyboard I hold the knowlege bank of the world wide whatsis. I thought a typhoon was a big BIG one that hits only Asia.

Whatever I want nothing to do with either. There was a great story on the news last night about this guy along the Manatee River who took his shed and attached a floating dock bottom to it. So when the river rises, so does his little utility room with his washer & dryer, etc. It was teathered with a rope. I wanted one. It could become the hurricane floating party room. Now wouldn't that be fun?

I wonder how he attaches the electric? I guess it floats along with it.

Not nearly as dramatic as many of those that have suffered far worse, but here's what it was like in my little part of the world when Jeanne came near.
And don't fuss at me, b/c I know many of these pictures are the "do not try this at home" type of pictures. But nevertheless, here they are:

The narrows in Indian Shores, around 9:30 in the morning on Sunday:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/120-2078_IMG.jpg

Across the street from the Frog Pond in Redington beach right before things got bad:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/120-2079_IMG.jpg

The hobie isn't tied down tight enough:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/120-2080_IMG.jpg

Looking south in Indian Shores:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/120-2084_IMG.jpg

One of the area's finest:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/120-2087_IMG.jpg

Police disappearing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/120-2090_IMG.jpg

Strong gust:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/120-2091_IMG.jpg

Helpful visitor from Arkansas that came down to the West coast on his vacation b/c his regular vacation place in Pensacola was destroyed:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/120-2093_IMG.jpg

Coming back in:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/120-2096_IMG.jpg

Ouch:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/120-2097_IMG.jpg

Things are getting worse:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/120-2100_IMG.jpg

Time to get on home:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2101_IMG.jpg

Gulf Boulevard heading north in Indian Rocks Beach:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2102_IMG.jpg

Looking southeast across the bay off our dock:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2104_IMG.jpg

This boat did ok in Frances, but the mast snapped in Jeanne:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2107_IMG.jpg

Our next door neighbors dock is floating up with every wave. It held together though:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2108_IMG.jpg

This is the difference when you build your dock at the seawall cap level:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2109_IMG.jpg

Again, our dock, their docks:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2110_IMG.jpg

We watched these two sailboats get hammered for 12 hours straight. They came out ok:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2113_IMG.jpg

They are building a house next door to our condo on the beach, and this peeled off sometime after we left in the morning:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2115_IMG.jpg

At 7:30 at night, it was still howling on the beaches:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2117_IMG.jpg

These next few were taken yesterday, Monday September 27th. Still rough for our side of Florida, and messy:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2122_IMG.jpg

Facing north:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2124_IMG.jpg

Facing south:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/hibiscushouse/Hurricane%20Jeanne/121-2125_IMG.jpg

Thanks for sharing your pics, hibiscushouse. Glad that you fared ok in the storm.

Nice to have power again so I can clean up this messy house, laundry and me! The help we've gotten from so many States has been humbling. Thanks all you Red Cross volunteers from Montana, Power crews from Tennesee,California et al. Amazing country when the chips are down.

Where are you, John? I'm in Tampa. Never lost my power but there are plenty all around me who did. What a mess.

OO...
Cool name "Gone with the Wind"...but I too believe it would be then end of the legacy, at least for me.

TG: You got lucky with your power. My stepson & his wife live near Bayshore and were without power for a week with Frances, and they have been without power since Saturday evening with Jeanne. We hope that their power is restored within the next few days. They are of course welcome to stay at our home, but they are both attorneys that work downtown, which you know is not very close to Hernando Co.

I loved your pictures Hibiscushouse. You were braver than I...this was one storm I didn't venture out the door. I have no pictures at all as it didn't calm down enough to go out until after dark.

John, with Jeanne headed our way I was paranoid about doing the things I'd had to do without after Frances and the 40 hours we went without electricity. I did white and dark washes...not a dirty bit of laundry was left in the house. Clean sheets too. At 5:30 Sunday morning I took what I thought might be my last hot shower for a while, and washed and dried my hair. My DH was still sleeping (until that point). He said when he heard me in the shower at that ungodly hour, he knew I'd emerge with bad news. We'd gone to bed with the weathermen still telling us the storm would turn north well before us.

I didn't know quite where you were Highbay until they started talking about the storm exiting around Hernando, and I looked Bayport up in the Atlas. It would be quite a haul for them to get into town from there. How long does it take you? I take it you even have power there.

OO: Do you mean we have power now or ever? We do live in a very unpopulated area. For which I am eternally grateful. I only live about 9 miles from US19, which has seen a gigantic growth spurt since we built our home. With this particular area not being "built up", it takes about 10 minutes to get to civilization.

It probably takes you that long to get to a grocery store down there, right?

I am less than a mile from a public boat ramp, and on busy summer days, people park on the road in front of my house, and that is about my biggest gripe!

I will never have a neighbor in front or behind my house. I have a neighbor on the east side, but the neighbor on the west side has a canal between us. We are in a sanctuary area and I am thankful for this designation...over and over again.

I'm sorry OO, hope I didn't get off on a tangent. I really love the area that we live in and feel fortunate to be here. You really ought to take a drive up here some day. It really is a beautiful part of Florida.

No Highbay, LOL, I meant that you didn't lose your power, not that you didn't ever have it, although that's how that sentence reads! Giggle. I really should take a drive up there sometime...it sounds very different from Tampa. Very peaceful, except for boating days. Actually I live in a grocery store-less area...it's closer to 20 minutes for me to get to the store, and a hard drive at that.

Highbay, it does sound wonderful. Florida is pretty up there. And everywhere. I love the rivers up your way.

Talking to people, it seems alot are living with extended family to get out of the heat, so I'll bet yours are wishing you were closer for sure. Some people are holed up at hotels, but there aren't a lot of rooms available. We had linesmen in my neighborhood today working on the next st. over. I've heard some booms during the day and some emergency vehicles a few times when I've gone out. This is not a good scene. Everybody I talk to it's, hey, how are you, and do you have power? It's crazy how it's out in one block then not in another. I live outside of Culbreath Bayou, we've got it, they don't. Go figure.

You're still up in Maine, aren't you? Or no?

Hey OO & TG:
Sorry, I shut down the computer shortly after my post.
Twenty minutes to a grocery store? Wow! That's great in Hillsborogh Co.
As for as the power from the storm, we were only out for about 30 hours this time according to our housesitters. They kept our refriderators & freezers going with the generator.
TG: I am still in the great state of Maine, we will be leaving on Saturday to drive back home. I have really become spoiled to this fabulous, humid free air, @ 50 to 60 degrees.
I am sure I'll be peeling clothes off as we drive towards home!

Tandoori,
I am on the Loxahatchee River in Tequesta, Fl. (Martin County) next to Jupiter. The water which is standing has caused a mosquito explosion, and with the ground saturated the afternoon thunderstorms are hampering roof repairs. The coordination of agencies has been terrific however.

I've been down that way, John. It is beautiful. Jupiter took a hard hit, didn't it? Lord, I hope we're over this. What a mess.

HB, let us know when you're coming home. We'll get a skycam on your car with you in your buff, clothes a'flying! It's not as hot now as it was -- that's the voice of humidity speaking. It's like down to 85%, haha. I'm off to check out the beach rental and pick up debris which floated up in the hightide (luckily not into the house).

Hello from Cape Coral! nJUst got back last night. Everything ok here. We were in the UK for 2 weeks, could not BELIEVE that another storm hit!!!!!! We were on the the internet in York library trying to find out what was happening. Over there, the news was rather patchy, at best. OO, our house closing in FLL is being pushed back because of the power outages and they have but the cabash on hooking up new construction...so that means we are getting in in NOV, instaed of October....bummmer! Still have the plywood up here on the west coast....taking it down today! This is just so bizzare!!!! We were the talk of all the Brits and Welsh when we were there...we had to say this does not usually happen here...they were not believers. better get the Florida Tourist fired up soon! A strange addendum to outr tale...my son who lives in Atlanta's condo was floode because of Ivan and Jean...how unbelivable is that! Take care all and keep your spirits up. Judy

OO: Meant to tell you that I really did know what you meant about the power...I just couldn't resist! You really should visit my area. It isn't that far from Tampa.

TG: I REALLY don't think you want the strip-tease on webcam!!! Hope the clean up at the beach went well.

Yay, Judyrem is here and all is well. Terrific, Judy. Have you closed on your condo yet? Are they writing policies again? That was a big snafu here as houses couldn't be closed on because Insurance companies couldn't write coverage with a storm in blah blah. Then there was a backlog. Have you sold the house on this coast yet or are you gluttons for punishment and keeping it? It's bad enough worrying about one house, I can't imagine worrying about one on each coast! LOL Glad you were out of Dodge for this one.

We were in Dallas last week and people reacted to us pretty much as they did to you in the UK. Immediate sympathy on hearing where we were from...to a man. DH believes this will have a serious impact on business during hurricane season next year, and who can blame the meeting planners and tourists. I'll probably think twice about blithely telling someone to come and not worry during hurricane season as I have in the past. Hopefully, we can get over that and get a grip on life as it normally is again.

Highbay, as much as I've been misunderstood and berated recently here for things I didn't intend to be taken the way they were, I take nothing for granted anymore. Although...I didn't see how anyone could think I thought they lived in an area so primitive there was no electricity, as I said...I'll make no more assumptions about how someone "reads" me! LOL I really do plan on getting up there before long. It sounds like a nice area and one I'd enjoy seeing. How's sailboat water there??

johnthedorf, I was thinking about that. We had three days of high winds and rain that brought out hundreds of misquitos.. They are a serious problem this year, deadly! please, everyone be careful, stay safe.

OO: I saw the thread on "attitudes" and was clearly confused with what some people were "assuming". If you don't like the personal chat, then don't read it. If you don't like the thread, then move on. What was that dig about the southern people?
Anyway...I did get a chuckle when I read your message, I knew that you didn't really think my residence was "that primative"!
As far as the sailboating in our area...I hate to admit it, but we live in the area called the big bend. It is an area that drops approximately one foot per mile out from the coast.

So we have this nice channel out of Bayport, but...to get in 8 feet of water, you need to be approx. 8 miles offshore. This is just a rule of thumb, but is pretty accurate in our area. So, not so good if you have a pretty good keel on your sailboat.

We have to watch the tides real close when we take out the 23' ProKat. We have an 18' flats boat that we use on a regular basis in our area. It is great for inshore fishing and tooling around.

If you decide to check out our area via your sailboat, do it on high tide and give me a shout before you do. We'll show you the area!

I forgot to mention that both my husband and I went to Florida State University, and all of our really casual clothing has the Seminole logo's on them. We were approached by several people in Maine about our weather in Florida.

And yes Judy, they did not believe that this was NOT the norm. After we spoke to one fellow in a restaurant, we heard him tell another fellow that he would just as soon cut off both of his arms as to live in Florida.

I thought that was pretty unbelieveable.

Highbay, I hope you did your best to tell all those people who had the slightest thought of moving to Florida that this IS normal, that we spend all our time combatting killer hurricanes.

And did you know that since the last presidential election 800,000 new voters have moved into Florida?

What's this about FSU? I thought Fodors put the kabosh on Seminole posters. Only Gators allowed! (UF Class of 1974 here).

Judyrem,

How I can relate to the real estate closing. We've been trying to close on a house since August when Charley rolled through. Every time we set a closing date the lender postpones to see how the property fairs. The last date (the 4th time) was scheduled for Sept. 25 and then along came Jeanne. I'm afraid to schedule again before hurricane season ends because that surely will doom us to another storm.

Highbay--our DD has applied to FSU and is anxiously checking the mail everyday!!! She has no plan B. She loves politics and government so that's the place she wants to be. My hair is getting more gray everyday waiting for the mail!

Thanks everyone for their kind thoughts. The flight from Paris to Newark on Sunday was fine, although it was the first time in 4 years I had to fly cattle class transatlantic. Not the world's greatest experience. The flight to Orlando was canceled (no surprise there), so I holed up in the Best Western. A pretty lame hotel ("view" rooms overlook the freight trains, non view rooms look directly into an abandoned office building about 12 feet away), but clean and with a comfortable bed, with frequent free shuttles to the airport.
Monday morning, no problem getting to Orlando on the first flight. Kudos to the MCO people for getting the airport up and operating so quickly. As we came in to land, we got a good view of the damage...it seemed haphazard, some streets fine, then homes on the next block with serious structural damage.
We were without power until late Tuesday, but we were lucky enough to have water and phone service with only minor interruptions. No notable damage to the house. So many other people in central Florida are dealing with such serious flooding problems, we were pretty fortunate in that regard.
We're sorting through all the various details (paperwork, etc.) and giving Mom as much support as we can.

TG:
That explains some of the debates we have gotten into. I should have realized I was dealing with a lizard!

Jayne: I hope she gets her acceptance letter soon. We could use a few more good Noles!

highbay, you're lucky you're in Maine because I'm ready to take a bite outta your half-breed hide (no disrespect for the REAL Seminoles, brave and noble, intended)

OO, we sold this house already, but are still here renting from the owners and being caretakers(what a job!) We are closing hopefully in mid November...God am I praying for that date. Jayne, I know how you feel...is this not the pits? NO MORE HURRICANES, hurricane expert Dr. Grey has stated !!!!! YEAH!!!!! Highbay, we all should write to the Fl Tourist board, telling them about our negative vibes and opinions about FL. BTilke, I am so sorry for your loss...please accept my condolences.

I do believe you guys are worse than UT and TX A&M!! They even steal mascots, or UT has been known to. It'd be sort of hard to sneak Bevo out (he's a longhorn, sort of obvious.) And I doubt the kids would go after a gator either.

Highbay...we'd have to go 5 miles offshore before we could sail. Yikes. That's a bit far for a mooring. You'd need a GPS on your dinghy just to find the boat again. Still...I do plan on seeing that area, Cedar key too. Have a safe trip home.

Jayne...you are moving?? What? Where? She'll get in I'm sure. She must be looking for early acceptance? I do recall the stress of waiting for "the letter", and how thrilled our kids were to get theirs (us too). One of my friend's daughters is looking to get in too...I've forgotten which school now, but either FL or FL State...and was talking about needing a 1300 SAT to be guaranteed? Pretty strong, if I remember my SAT figures accurately!

Judyrem...I'll say, "what a job"! During all these storms you must have been frantic, hoping to hold the house, and the sale (!) together!! No more storms...it's a gut feeling I've got that we are done with them for this year. Let me go knock on my fallen down tree!

All I have to say to that, OO, is...AMEN.

OO: There's nothing like a great "in-state rivalry! In this part of Florida, you are either UF or FSU...there is no "I really like both".

Didn't think you could bring your sailboat into our area, unless you anchored her in the channel.

TG: Since my half breed arse isn't in the mood for any gator wrestling...I'll let your comments slide!!! (Darn I wish I could figure out how to make all those cute faces!)

BTilke, I would like to send you my condolences .. I am so sorry for your loss.
Best wishes, Scarlett

Well Florida Fodorites--wasn't it GREAT having a weekend with no hurricanes?!

OO--yes we're moving; a whopping mile down the road. My dad has been very lonely since my mom died and he has finally agreed to move in with us so we're buying a place with enough space to add a guest house. He's still living in the house we grew up in and he's tired of the up-keep. It's over an acre in town and one of his doctors has been bugging him to buy it so that he can build an office, so he's finally selling it. Dad is a spry, 85 year-old and our kids adore him so we're looking forward to having him with us 24/7.

Yes! A weekend free of hurricanes, except for the one in our living room as DH watched the Bucs "game". It was nice (weather, that is...the game was seriously ugly).

Has everyone else lost track of time as I have? Jeanne seems like so long ago. And when were we worrying about Ivan? Was that two years ago or two weeks ago? We were sitting out on our bench yesterday evening looking out over the bay. There was hardly a breeze; the gnats, who can only be out when it's still, otherwise they blow away, were out and happily snacking on us. It was so serene it seemed impossible that 7 days earlier to the hour, it would have been difficult to stand up in the location where we now sat peacefully (swatting gnats).

Jayne, in Bradenton? There were some gorgeous old homes down by the river near the library...hopefully that's not one of the houses that will become an office! I love that area..but I'll have to say, the homes though gorgeous also look suspiciously like money pits! How nice for your Dad...mine would have been a delight to have around as well.

I love some of the hurricane jokes that have ciruclated...the one that reads "enough was enough" and shows a map of the country with FL now located snuggly up around Montana. Or the actual satellite picture of the hurricane(which one, Charley? Frances?) covering the state, and the caption, "Welcome to Florida", with a little arrow pointing down into the storm, "you are here". lol. Or a map of the country with FL having plywood nailed all over it. You've just got to laugh at this stuff..although it might be a nervous laugh!!

OO, last night, our weathermen joked that it was nice to have a hurricane free weekend. I do like your funnies about FL . If we can't laugh about it, we will go batty IMO. NOw we just need to crank up the Florida Tourist Board's talking heads and get the word out. Today was a gorgeous 88* day, not too humid and the water was 85*.....can anybody beat that?????

Got home today from Maine. Managed this in 26 hours split up by 11, 10, and 5 hour days. We have an Acura navigational system that we have used a few times, and she normally works very well...SHE was having an off 3 days. (Got my sorry you know what lost in the Bronx area of NYC). Not exactly cool with that!!! I plan to purchase a new disk this year. I think I need to pose that question before I make the commitment.

OO-

The area you're thinking of near downtown Bradenton is Point Pleasant, and yes it's a beautiful old neighborhood. We live just down the river (west) about a half a mile from there. Our current house isn't as old as those but it was definitley a money pit. The house my dad is selling is near the community college.