Posted by Ed Kiser on August 15, 2004 at 05:40:31 from 64.12.116.73 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Hurricane posted by John Nichols on August 15, 2004 at 02:05:41:
John --
I dodged the bullet, so to speak. The Hurricane, CHARLIE, landed on the west coast of Florida, very near Ft. Myers, a bit south of Tampa, coming onto the land at Port Charlotte, then went north east across Florida, across Orlando (Disney World) and out into the Atlantic near Datona Beach, then to reinter the land in South Carolina near Myrtle Beach, but by then, it had reduced to a force one hurricane from a force FOUR when it it hit the south west of Florida on the Gulf Coast, so the main problem for the two Carolinas was heavy rain. But in Florida, the WIND was 150 MPH, and created heavy damage, as can be seen from the CNN TV reports. There are a lot of trailer parks (Caravan to those in the UK) which are so flimsy and get easily totally wiped out in such winds. A lot of roofs ripped off, room contents sucked out and spread across the neighborhood. Flying debris crashing about. Power line poles down across highways, with electric wires sparking on the ground. Power out for about two more weeks. No stoplights. Emergency vehicles cannot navigate due to road blockage. No gasoline (petrol) because no electricy to operate the gas pumps. No water service, since no pumps working, because no electricity to work the pumps - which also means, no sewer service, which can so quickly become a rather disturbing problem. And the final indignity - LOOTERS digging through damaged houses while the owners are away at some shelter. &#@*^$... This can be a dangerous activity, as if a homeowner IS still in the area, he is usually well armed, and will use the weapon to defend his home, what is left of it. USA still has its 2nd Admendment to its Constititution, which is the right to carry ARMS, so it does not pay to mess with an angry homeowner, as such an intrusion is apt to be permanently halted.
They are digging through wreckage, looking for survivors, and for those that did not survive, using dogs trained for such recovery procedures. There have been some casualties, regrettably.
With the damage taking out a streak diagonally across the whole state, the cost of that damage is quite a shock to the insurance companies. You can be sure they will not lose money however, as they just double the price of insurance premiums for all the rest of us, which is what they did a decade ago when Hurricane Andrew socked into south east Florida just below Miami, and destroyed the Homestead area, including the Homestead Air Force Base. So our homes may have survived untouched, but our pockets get big grabs in the Exchecquer. But I am sure that beats having no roof on my house, like those folks a bit west of here.
But this all happened to the western shore, and up through the middle of the state, whereas I am in the South East part of Florida, near Ft. Lauderdale, so all we saw of it was essentially just a rainy thunderstorm, which is very common during this rainy season in the subtropics of southern Florida.
After seeing the results of such forces, it all adds meaning to the understanding of what our dear friends endured as they fought to survive that storm in the North Sea after they were swept past Beach End Bouy in the Goblin. When Ransome wrote about the force of the wind and waves, his characters too had to survive the awesome forces of nature. He also wrote of the wind storm in SA that collapsed their the tents of the Swallows, who had to take "shelter" in the more secure tent of the Amazons, with their belongings becoming soaked in the rain. Storms can be amazing things, even when encountered in fictional accounts by Ransome. But reading about it is one thing; living through one of those disasters is something else.
Ed Kiser, South Florida