Back on Line after Wilma

[GeriZ]

Well no school Monday. Only 95 of the 164 schools in Palm Beach County have power.

 

Keysdreamin - many of our friends drove to Port St. Lucie for gas. I can't wait for things to get back to normal.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Just got power back, six days and twelve hours after we lost it thanks to Madame Wilma. What a joy it is to have lights and a computer again! Now maybe the line waiting for gas at the local station will be shorter than a mile.

 

Anyhow, my heart goes out to South Florida's senior citizens who have really been hit hard with the power outage and gas scarcity. Many have medications that need refrigeration, but cannot use ice because it freezes the meds. Too much heat and too much cold destroy the medicine. Plus many of these seniors are in multi-story buildings that have no generator to run the elevators. The disabled remain trapped upstairs with no ability to use the stairs, no working phone or cell phone, etc. They are stranded.

 

I've come to the conclusion that South Florida is no longer the retirement paradise it used to be for seniors, now that we appear to entered an extended period of severe annual hurricanes in our area.

 

On the bright side, it is really, really good to be back here at cruise critics and to read what every one is up to.

[KEYSDREAMIN]

GeriZ- It's amazing how it seemed to get better overnight. Thursday there were still alot of lines but as of Friday it seemed much better. Our friends in Delray drove up Thurs pm got gas, spent the night and drove back down Friday AM as he could not get it in Palm Beach Co and he was running out.

 

DH loves S. Fl but I am getting a little sick of the hurricanes myself. And I just don't have the patience for the people complaining that they are not getting their power on within 24 hours.....Hello people there are almost 3 million people in the same boat if not worse than some that are complaining. We are all either depending on ice or generators to get by....that's why they tell you to have at least 3 days worth of food and supplies...sometimes I wonder if people listen. Sorry just had to get that off my chest.

 

Like the previous poster said, its the senior citizens that really need help as many of them cannot get out to the store etc.

[GeriZ]

Keysdreamin - you're right, it got a lot better yesterday. Shorter lines for gas, the supermarket wasn't as crowded, but Publix was out of ice yesterday. It seems like the panic was easing.

 

3 days worth of food - I planned for more after what happened with Katrina. The problem is that when you're stuck in the house for days, all you do is eat or plan what to eat. Unfortunatley for the seniors who need assistance, meals on wheels could not even operate. Many seniors depend on the generosity of programs like this to survive.

 

My In Laws finally came here yesterday. Once we had power and they didn't we asked them to come stay with us. They refused because they had the one of the only grills in their neighborhood. They were cooking and feeding at least 12 every night. They spent the day with us yesterday and at 9 PM received a call that the power was on.

 

Friends of ours live directly across the lake from us. We have power, they do not. Can't run extension cords. We offered our generator but surprisingly they said no. We'll ask again today and maybe they'll accept now that gas is easier to get.

 

I feel for those still without power. FPL is working 24/7 to get everyone up and running. We've seen trucks from NC helping with this outage. All the power poles need to be reset and the power lines reattached. And they are keeping us informed. In PBC alone they had almost 1 million homes to get power to.

 

Tell your friends in Delray that I heard the gas stations west on Atlantic have gas and small lines.

 

And it was great to get internet access back. We recently left cable to go on DSL. Best move we made. Spoke with the cable repair man yesterday and he said cable will be out indefinitley. They aren't even getting a signal in my area.

[rolloman]

My area is still without power. They are making progress though as each night I can see different pockets of lights coming on. Thank god I bought a generator last year. I think Florida is going to change its laws to make it mandatory gas stations have generators going forward.

[KEYSDREAMIN]

Seems like Martin Co only has 13,000 people w/out power. Sounds like a lot but when you look at the whole area that's not so bad

 

Roll- Sorry you do not have power- I will keep my fingers crossed that you get it soon.

 

Talked to both family and friends in Delray and Lake Worth this AM and still nothing. Offered up the spare bedroom for my BIL and his family but they decided to stick close to home. They found a restaurant and went out to dinner so at least they got out of the house.

 

I think that after both hurricane's last year we learned to be prepared. We actually have a rubbermaid container marked "Hurricane" and it has all our goodies in it- no search the garage on what we might have done with this or that. Next year I am going to invest in one of those solar showers for camping. One of my co-workers had one from their boat and said it worked great..not a hot shower but at least luke warm..ha

[patrice1]

I live on Sugarloaf Key & lost power till late Wednesday - which is pretty amazing as we got an 8 ft. storm surge. Know many folks who lost everything to salt water and no cars to worry about getting gas for. Locals are now renting those electric "rent me" carts for basic transportation. We've been very blessed as we are on the 2nd. floor, but the business downstairs is totaled. I'm very happy so few lives were lost in this storm because when we saw that water come up, we thought things would be very bad. It's ironic, actually, as we had no gas problems here as 60% lost their cars.

 

Key West is trying hard not to be sad, but so much has changed. Hopefully, the ships will be back soon & the party (Fantasy Fest) will draw a big (altho late) crowd. Heard on a late night show this weekend, "Cancun, New Orleans, Key West??? All the good drinking towns are gone!":)

[KEYSDREAMIN]

Patrice- How bad did Key West get it? I have been online trying to find pictures and info but haven't gotten very far. We usually go down to Islamorada twice a year for a week and make at least one trip down to Key West..we got engaged there so we have to go back each time.

[rolloman]

Interesting about the solar shower, I will have to look into it, unfortunately we have an electric water heater. This may sound crazy but I am not into cold anything (major reason I moved south) so I heat water on the grill and the poor it into a garden sprinkler can and the wife and I take turns. Improvise overcome adapt.

[patrice1]

KEYSDREAMIN:

 

We got flooded pretty badly. For updates & lots of good pics, check out keysnews.com - the Citizen has been pretty good about keeping us up to date.

[KEYSDREAMIN]

Thanks Patrice I will check it out

 

I hear ya about cold showers. Last year it was so hot that taking a cold shower was "almost" bearable but not this year. I boiled my pot of water on the grill and took a nice bubble bath. Had to wash the hair in icy cold water but at least I had a warm bath. Its amazing how much we learned from last year. I honestly can't think of anything we missed this year except getting all our gas cans filled earlier in the year vs waiting like everyone else. I've always been nervous about having 45 gallons of gas either in the garage or out in the shed so dear hubby and I are coming up with a rotation system for the mower, etc so that next year we are really prepared.

[GeriZ]

Solar shower - how about a water heater that runs on propane. Know someone that has one.

 

Sorry to hear about the flooding & damage in the Keys.

 

I think everyone is going to stock up on gasoline before the next hurricane season. I'm going to try to convince my DH to get Direct TV sometime around June.

 

Still waiting to see when the kids go back to school. Looks like PBC may send the teacher in tomorrow. 114 schools have power. Someone told me they need 120 schools operating to send the kids back. We'll see.

 

Back to work I go - got the call that there is power in my office.

[bobert]

Live in Palmetto Bay near the Falls and we just got power back this afternoon.

[GeriZ]

38 schools without power, 700 traffic lights missing or without power, and large quantities of debris - PBC schools are closed Tues & Weds.

 

Threeofus - what about Broward? Heard school may be closed all week for you.

 

Power came on for many people today. Looks like everyone in my community now has power.

 

We had our first estimate for damage. Much more than we thought. A few ripped screens & a gutter turned into 24 replacement screens, a new screen door, new door hardware, a new gutter, and a huge headache.

 

I'm still thinking Paradise.

[rolloman]

Broward schools closed through Wednesday, rumblings it will be longer. My neighborhood still has no power with several poles still down. Just bought a Coleman portable water heater that runs on propane. It may have been cheaper the past two years for me to just have gone ahead and bought an RV.