I'm Back!

Two hurricanes hit us in three weeks. The odds against this are astronomical.

But it happened.

We had plenty of warning. We knew that Frances was coming.

The crazy thing is, hurricanes quite often change their paths. And Frances was so big if you planned to leave, where could you go to be safe?

I worked at a shelter on Thursday and Friday and then came home to ride out the worst with the wife and kids. It had been raining a little bit each day since Hurricane Charley hit three weeks ago, and on Saturday, it really started coming down... and down... and down.

We lost power on Saturday morning. Then the winds picked up. From about 10 AM until well after midnight the rain fell and strong winds blew. On Sunday the winds finally began to die down but the rain just kept coming.

Monday came and so did more rain. The entire county went under a curfew. Most people were without electricity and parts of the city [and many homes] were flooded. Hurricane force winds had destroyed homes and businesses. And many streets were under so much water that they were impassible. You can imagine what that much water did to homes. Luckily no fatalities have been reported.

We finally got our electricity back on today. Our house had very minor damage and just a bit of water came in. We had to cut down some trees, but other than that we were spared. I have friends who weren't so lucky, but each of them has said it could have been so much worse.

And they're right.

It's amazing how spoiled we've become and how lucky we are. After four or five days of being trapped in a house without electricity... no AC, no phones, no internet, no hot meals or hot showers, you begin to suddenly appreciate the small things.

Believe it or not, there's another hurricane out there brewing. The odds of it hitting the same part of Florida again so soon after the last hurricane are astronomical...

... but unfortunately not impossible.