Irma Doesn't Look Good

[bnmappraisal]

To BNM and other Floridians: First off, glad you're safe! From YOUR perspective, do you think the media over hyped this storm, or was all the hype appropriate and needed?
This morning, it seems like the news folks are searching hard for some devastation to report.

I don't think they over hyped the storm. It was a pretty big, bad SOB. Thankfully we left, as some of the damage (fallen trees, branches) that we came back to definitely would have scared the $#*t out of my young kids (7 & 8 yo) From talking with our neighbors across the street who stayed, they said they were WAITING for many of the trees we have on our property to fall over. Thankfully only 1 larger tree fell (the one that is hanging on our power line though) is the only major tree that fell causing damage.

Although my area (St Petersburg/Tampa) didn't get the direct hit nor storm surge(s) they were forecasting, I do think it was a very viable possibility/forecast, especially the way the storm changed. As of Wed/Thur of last week, it was still supposed to (with good "certainty") head up the east coast of FL. Also, after driving back into the area, especially at night, I could see the vast areas/neighborhoods that were still without power days after the storm hit the area.

Over hyped? After having gone through it all, even though I/my family evacuated, I'd rather the "over hype" and come back to minimal damage/issues than "Oh, it's not a big thing" and catastrophe strikes. When you're dealing with a Cat 4 or Cat 5 (as it was last week leading up to landfall) and the size of the storm, you can't mess around.

I must say that I am ashamed that I didn't get my family out on Friday when it looked like the worst as about to hit. It seems obvious to me know that I cared more about my "stuff" and business than my family. There were other reasons we did not go - good reasons related to family - but I could have put my foot down and made it happen. That's hard to admit but I want others to know that it's important to look at the statistics, not just the cone.

Michael, I wouldn't beat yourself up for staying. Personally, my wife and I were on the fence until Thurs morning around 9am. We are closer to the coast than you, but at the time it was still supposed to head up the east coast, not toward us. It was a difficult decision b/c for many reasons. Neither of us (you nor I) could have known what was about to happen. You made the call with the info you had and the situation you were in (you mentioned something about other family members, etc). We made a similar decision with the info we had and family situations. My wife's grandparents live here and were in a Flood Zone B evac, so would have had to get out anyway - did I mention they have a dog, parrot and squirrel as pets?!

You made the right decision with the info you had at the time you had it. Yes, hindsight being 20/20, maybe you'd do things differently, but this storm didn't give us much time to react, let alone make rational decisions. If it makes you feel better, we decided around 9am Thurs we 100% were evacuating (well before any mandatory evac's were declared for St Pete and we're not in any of those areas BTW) and were out the door by 12pm - 3 hours to pack up for an indefinite amount of time away from our house - turned out to be a week! We didn't even have places to stay nor an actual destination; we just knew we were going to head "north" and away from the coast

Glad you and your family are safe and BTW ... cute kid ... reminds me of my 8 yo boy
All the best to you and your fam ... and the rest of our FL families

 

[Tom Woolford]

This is getting pretty damn old. 5 days and still no internet, phones or cable. I have to go to McDonalds to send receive files, do research and hopefully send in finished products. It wouldn't be so bad except we never lost electric. Spectrum has done such a poor job of line maintenance, god only knows when we'll get service back. I'm about ready to start shooting people.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

but many things are out (stove, microwave, water heater and A/C to name a few)

Gennie does not have enough power for a microwave?
Our stove top burners work when power is out, just need a natch or lighter to light the gas burner. YMMV.
Window AC to the rescue, but only if you already have 1 I guess.

 

[bnmappraisal]

Gennie does not have enough power for a microwave?
Our stove top burners work when power is out, just need a natch or lighter to light the gas burner. YMMV.
Window AC to the rescue, but only if you already have 1 I guess.

MW will work off the gennie, but uses a lot of power. Don't have gas; house is all electric (as are most in this area). And no window AC, so that's not an option either.
Called power company again this morning as it seems most of our neighbors got their power on overnight. I think bc of the tree and partially snapped line ours isn't working yet. They said they have it noted and will get to us as soon as they can.

It's a 2 gal generator. I bought 7+ gals yesterday and put in the last 2 gals this morning. About $22 worth of gas. That gets expensive fast

 

[Tom Woolford]

Finally got full utilities back late last night. Worked till about 4, got up at 9 and been at it ever since. Would someone with a drone send me a pizza? Be on the road pretty much all day tomorrow doing "Disaster Inspection)'s

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

It's a 2 gal generator. I bought 7+ gals yesterday and put in the last 2 gals this morning. About $22 worth of gas. That gets expensive fast

Electricity is very nice, but it's not priceless. Good thing the gas stations have power.
Some is better than none until they fix your line. Hope it comes back soon for ya.

 

[bnmappraisal]

A before and after pic of the rear of our house

Thankfully nothing fell against the house, but as you see in the "after" pic, that tree on the right broke the fence, is leaning (barely) against a post and the power line between our house and our neighbors house. It's approximately less than 2 feet above their roof.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

Not too bad, looks like.

 

[Ms. Janet]

To BNM and other Floridians: First off, glad you're safe! From YOUR perspective, do you think the media over hyped this storm, or was all the hype appropriate and needed?
This morning, it seems like the news folks are searching hard for some devastation to report.

No, not over hyped at all. I'm in Ft Myers/Lee County. A lot of my area is still a mess and/or flooded, raw sewage backing up in the houses and the streets. All kinds of devastation. I've lived in Fl all my life. You can't predict what a hurricane is going to do. If you are told to evacuate, it is time to move. I'm lucky, my family is spread across the state and all are safe with power back, water and sewage working. Not everyone is that lucky.

 

[bnmappraisal]

Finally got full utilities back late last night. Worked till about 4, got up at 9 and been at it ever since. Would someone with a drone send me a pizza? Be on the road pretty much all day tomorrow doing "Disaster Inspection)'s

Still out at my house Tom. All my neighbors have power, but my house, nope! I'm guessing it's b/c of the tree hanging on the line, but can't get anything definitive.

Called Duke Energy again this morning (our local energy company) and they said, yes, they have my info regarding the tree, etc and will have it taken care of as soon as they can (FTR, all employees I've talked to over the past few days have been very pleasant and empathetic)

The guy did tell me there are still about 14,000 without power in Pinellas County - good thing I'm one of the "lucky" ones of that 14k ...

Generator we were borrowing stopped working over night. With the "low" of around 78* and matching humidity; made for a LOOOOONG, hot night

Friend let us use another, smaller, generator he had. Power and internet are hit/miss still with generator power, but at least the refrigerator is running!

Definitely going to make for an interesting week. As Tom points out, many disaster inspects, plus I have a few full inspects/appraisals to do this week.

I know there's nothing we can do but wait, but ... Man is this frustrating, annoying, and most of all ... tiring.