Jaye, the storm surge is driving the water up past our dock....very spooky.

<i><b>Finally</b></i> heard from my Mother in Boca. They are fine. :)&gt;-Phone service restored (obviously)but still no electric (since Sat afternoon). That means they can't get their car out of the garage. They're unaware of any major damage to the house.

There were some more fierce winds during the night here on <b>Siesta Key</b>, but I didn't see any serious damage when I walked around this morning. There are some palm branches flying around as well as other plant and garbage debris. Rain was never a problem here. It's still raining a little and it's steady, but at no time it was heavy. Last night around 2a I kept on hearing a loud pop, as in a gun/fireworks goin off. I went outside and discovered that a transformer on a pole down the street was making this noise together with very big sparks. I called 911 and was surprised to find out that they were not concerned. They told me to go back to my house. I watched from my window on and off for about an hour and I didn't see any emergency vehicle arrive, although I did see a sheriffs car checking the parking lot at a highrise across the street, so they were definitely out. Strange, but true. Maybe they finally did arrive later as the transformer is not blowing sparks anymore this morning. I was concerned because there are 3 old wooden rental cottages right under the pole. These are the old Florda wooden cottages.

Other than that we're fine. I was expecting a lot more and heavier rain. My street becomes a river everytime it rains heavy, and this time it's basically free of any standing water.

Well, back on Saturday afternoon just after reporting that we felt pretty confident here in Naples, our power went off. Seems it was a fluke pretty well unrelated to the storm but some branches had hit and damaged a line -- even though we had NO real wind yet.
We just got power back on about 9 this morning (Monday), so we've had a hot weekend. Other than what we saw on TV during the Fri. and Sat. night hurricane parties we went to, I was out of touch with what was happening with Frances.

By the way McLaurie, I'm not sure what the problem is about not getting a car out of the garage. Any garage door today should be equipped with an emergency pull switch. One tug and the lock releases and the counterbalancing SHOULD allow you to very easily lift the door. The only problem is someone needs to hold the door up while the other drives out -- but our double door is still very light (even though it is a heavy and solid door) to hold up. Checking on my mother and counting out her meds four times a day, I've been in and out of my garage all weekend.

Thanks Patrick. They did manage to get the car out.

Croque Madame posted this on the Europe board:

Author: Croque_Madame
Date: 09/06/2004, 02:24 pm
Message: Sorry, but I haven't time to write a message for Fodors, but did want to check in, so am using copy/paste of an email just sent to a friend in Japan who has been worrying:

Hi, Chie, just time for a quick note. Thanks for being concerned, my family is OK.

Yes, it has been difficult. Since Saturday,I have been working at a shelter for old and sick people. Since yesterday, no electricity, no way to cook for them. Have been serving only bottled water and juices, snack foods,cookies, anything that doesn't need refrigeration. We have an emergency generator that supplies only one light in each room and powers the oxygen breathing machines, etc.

NO AIRCONDITIONING! No way to take a shower, we are washing our faces in the sink. Some of the rooms smell of urine and/or vomit. The fire alarm keeps going off at all hours of the day and night, further terrifying the old people with it's dreadful noise, but is only something wrong in the wires. We have paramedics, nurses, and police officers at our site.

Gainesville is damaged only in certain areas, for instance our house is OK, no loss of electricity here, but my daughter's house has a tree fallen on it. More importantly, she and James are OK. Throughout the city, there is damage everywhere. When the storm ends, (we still have wind and rain today) we social workers will be working in disaster response teams out in the community.

I have just now come home for a hot meal and a shower (how delicious both are!!), but am going back to the shelter where I am needed. Only that husband of mine would go out driving around in this weather, but (finally clean and with a full belly) I am so glad he did!

I can't wait to sleep in my bed again, the floor at the shelter is NOT the most comfortable place, but when I lay down, I'm so glad just to close my eyes, even in the heat, with old people snoring all around me. Amazing to think that I once complained about sleeping with only ONE snorer!

Kathleen






By the way, Patrick, get a good pill box for your mother. You can organize all of her pills for several days in one shot so you're not doing it four times a day. Also, this way if you can't get there in time to help her, she MAY be able to do it herself (depending on her cognitive skills, of course), or at least it would be easier for someone else to assist her.

No word from Scarlett -- she must have lost power. Anyone else up in Jax have a report?

Jocelyn, thanks, but that's what I've been doing for about two years, including counting out the pills in a dozen such boxes for my long trips. But she's going through a period now, when she can't do it on her own. She's in an independent/assisted living facility, and if her &quot;temporary&quot; condition continues, she will need to go on the assisted plan for her meds. But right now, it's up to me.

Patrick, some advice from one who has been through this recently. Be aware that once the assisted living facility takes over dispensing your mother's medication, you lose a lot of control over options. The facility is subject to very strict regulations, so it's not really their fault, but it can complicate matters immensely.

Of course, the potential problems are in direct relation to what medication your mother is taking and how stable her physical health. I was trying to get my mother on an effective dose of anti-anxiety meds without knocking her out, and because the facility was dispensing the meds taking a half pill was impossible. So was refusing a dose if she was already feeling groggy.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but there is so much I wish I had known and only learned through tough experience.

Again, good advice, Marilyn. I'm one step ahead of you. That's why I'm still doing it myself. The worst part is that if Mom wanders down to the nurses in the middle of the night and says she wants some pain medication, they actually say &quot;your son is doing that. If he was paying us we'd be happy to give you some&quot; -- as if they could, even though she's already had her maximum dosage. In other words, they love to make me the &quot;bad guy&quot;.

I'd raise hell over that attitude, Patrick, or be looking for another facility. (Of course, the night staff are always notoriouslythe worst, because they can get away with it.)

Naples to Lantana (near Palm Beach) this afternoon. Brother drove from Naples - was able to get gas - to Lantana house 6 blocks from beach. No power, land phone works, cell phones do not. Minor tree damage and some minor damage to exterior of his building, but essentially intact.

ST AUGUSTINE AREA
Sister and niece living in mobile homes about ten mile north of St Augustine off route 1 returned home from GA today. Property is ok but no electric, no phones and celphones rarely work. Nephew finally got one call out to let us know.

Patrick-

Bless you for caring for your mom even though you could easily leave it up to the facility. It's well-known in the nursing home industry that the greater presence the family has, the better the patient will be treated. DH has dealt with nursing homes for years on both the management and patient side and it's not a perfect situation no matter how good the facility.

Is it possible that your mom is reacting to the turmoil caused by the storms? Hopefully things will stabilize for her (and you) soon.

On another sad note, I just heard on the news that Bobbie Bowden, Florida State's football icon, lost his son-in-law and grandson in a weather-related car accident.

Marilyn, we had a message mid-day today from Bob the Nav (well, from Mrs. Bob, that is). They live on Amelia Island, near JAX. Power was out, phones were out and cell phone service was very spotty. They said there had been heavy rain and winds, but things were okay.

Patrick, we need to do an offline and work on some similar issues. Your mom and my husband. Now if I can just get an afternoon in Naples. LMF

Sounds good to me, LilMsFoodie. Thanks for all the concern regarding my mother. All her confusion started a couple of weeks ago when she was put on very powerful pain medication due to an old tiny fracture in her spine which flared up. She started to get better when the doctor pulled her off that medication, but has been slipping right back into total confusion. The &quot;good&quot; part is she's aware that she is confused. This is difficult because despite the fact she is almost totally blind and has no feeling in her hands, her mind has been clear as a bell until this started. Yes, the confusion of the storm hasn't helped either, especially since they bussed in all the people from a sister facility in Vero Beach during Frances. They are leaving tomorrow.

ms go, thanks for the update on Jax. I'm sure we'll hear from Scarlett when she is able to get on line.

Patrick, good luck with your mother, and trust your instincts. You probably know her better than anyone else, including her doctors.

Of course we've been getting hit by Frances all night because I think every Depression/TropicalStorm/Hurricane/blip-on-the-radar-screen that can dump rain and heavy winds on us has hit the South Carolina coast.

We are under a tornado watch until this afternoon.

I'm glad y'all are all doing okay. These storms just suck and this is the worst I've ever seen in all my years of living on the coast.

Funny, you don't even have to live on the coast to get hit. That used to be the conventional thinking.

Sis is fine in Miami.