Ivan Aftermath

[chieft26]

Hi all,

FINALLY got power restored last night (and we're one of the few, so we feel very blessed). We are 40 miles to the east of Pensacola and were on the east side of the storm. We made the decision to ride it out. It was a very long night...I've never heard such winds and a few times it felt as if my house was going to be pulled off its foundation. There is much devastation in the area. Highway 98 (the major beach highway) is totally gone in places and Okaloosa Island to Destin will take months to rebuild. A lot of restaurants on the waterfront were totally washed away, all first floor condos were washed out as well, and furniture and appliances were floating all over the place. We've seen the pictures of Pensacola just like you probably have on TV and have nothing else to offer up there. My heart is aching for those folks. Our damages are nothing like what they have experienced. But my husband and I are still alive, and we still have a roof over our heads, although in need of repair. So, we are indeed very fortunate.

 

If there's a funny side to all of this (and you do have to keep your sense of humor),there's a 50-foot yacht sitting in my neighbor's yard across the street!

[Cotton]

Chief, sorry y'all had to endure Ivan's wrath, but as you say, you've been blessed. I feel almost guilty but grateful that I had only debris in my yard when so many lost so much. (Hey, I've seen yachts in yard before, too....)

 

I just learned yesterday that my cousin's beach house at Orange Beach is a pile of rubble.:(

[paralegal]

Chieft26, I am glad you were able to ride out the storm. I live in Orlando and know exactly what you are taking about when you say the winds were bad. My boyfriend and I decided to ride out Hurricane Charley. I also thought the roof was going to lift right off the house. It was pretty bad. Hopefully everybody up there can start the rebuilding process soon. I live in a 2nd story condo, and they are now just starting to fix the damages roof. We didn't get much from Hurricane Frances. Just some wind, alot of rain and tornados. Glad you and hubby made it through the storm and that you did not have alot of damage.

[chieft26]

Thanks to both of you. We're getting there now and are VERY glad that these kinds of storms only hit about once a decade. I still love Florida and will continue to put up with this kind of stuff.....hey, there's some kind of natural disaster to deal with regardless of where you live.

[IBEEMOM]

Hi chief,

 

Let me add my congrats on the return of power and survival of Ivan. My SIL lives outside of Panama City and on a bayou. They had flooding up to heir house, but not inside. They were flooded out in Opal and had to rebuild then. We also felt Ivan here in Ga. We had some strong gusts of wind and eight inches of rain. The creek running thru our places overflowed our drive way for several hours. We also lost power for 14 hours.

 

Today the sun in out here and life will go on. As a former Miamian, I grew up with the wrath of hurricanes, so I know what you have experienced. Good

wishes to all of the victims.

[judyf]

So glad to read everyone is okay that's the main thing. I don't think I would like to live through a hurricane, a northeastern blizzard is bad enough but most of the time we're just without power and can't get out of the house for a few days. At least I still have a house. I don't think after this summer and seeing all the hurricanes in the southeast that I will complain this winter about the below zero temps and a blizzard or two.

[GoinCruisin]

I hope these things don't continue to worsen... This one was ugly :( Our winds were clocked at 92MPH today, lost part of the roof at the airport, tossed small planes around like toys... trees and power lines down everywhere... ugly. And to think how long it had been on land! I know we are tired enough of hurricanes this year, I cannot imagine what you folks in Florida are going through!!!! I hope you all stay safe and I think we can all agree that there have been ENOUGH storms this year!!!!!!! Take care and I hope all of the Floridians are able to get back to normal soon....

[hill6]

I loved Pensacola when I was stationed there in the Navy and I read that the NAS took a direct hit and lots of buildings were badly damaged. In fact that is where my husband and I met and married him nearly 18 years ago