Irma

[awolff280sl]

We had a list of everything to do before evacuating the house yesterday. After we were somewhere safe, my son called to check. So he asked, "What did  you do with the Pagoda, did you raise it up". (My wife insisted that I buy a hydraulic lift a couple of years ago). "No, it hadn't occurred to me!" So we raced back home, flipped the main breaker and raised it up 6 feet.
Sarasota got lucky again. No damage, just a mess.
It's Naples, Miami, and Jacksonville. I think it was bad there.

[hauser]

Ray is in Jacksonville.  Hope all is well.

[Cees Klumper]

Our island, Big Pine Key, was reportedly one of the hardest hit areas as Irma made landfall some ten miles south-west of us at Cudjoe Key. Just now we got an aerial photo of our part and it appears to show hardly any damage at all, we can see our house is still standing with the roof on. Just two miles south of us a whole section was obliterated though, tens of homes gone. We're waiting for more and more precise info, but early signs are good for our neighbourhood. Luckily so far no reports of casualties in the Keys.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Ray is well, his major problem right now is power (per his e-mail to board members). Looks like he will make it to PUB.

Dieter

[mdsalemi]

...Our island, Big Pine Key, was reportedly one of the hardest hit areas as Irma made landfall...

There were HUGE strides made in building codes and enforcement (thus in building quality) after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. However THAT was 25 years ago, and even more changes have ensued since then. The newer the home, the better chance of surviving such a storm...in Florida at least!

[smackYYZ]

I received news yesterday from my neighbour that we only had a little water leak in by one of the sliders. It apparently only damped the carpet there in a 2 foot square area.

Around the grounds branches, and fencing is down, but no structure damage.

So very good news for us.

Once they get the electric back on the AC will kick back on and dry things out. They say we should have power back on by Sunday or Monday. Then hopefully Comcast will come back up so I can remote in and check things out.

My best friends cousin wasn't so lucky, he's in Tortola. He had 2 houses there, they are totally destroyed and he has lost everything.

[Cees Klumper]

This morning the NOAA completed uploading its Hurricane Irma imagery of the Keys. You can zoom in to house level. Shows the whole island chain starting in Key West. It appears our house may have a few shingles missing but otherwise unharmed.
The FEMA statement that 25% of the homes in the Keys are destroyed, if they have really made that statement, appears to be wildly exaggerated and to me is irresponsible. From the imagery it seems more like less than 5%, and less than that if you don't count mobile homes in the same category as 'normal' homes. A few homes in our area did incur more serious damage but they are the exception, fortunately.

https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/irma/index.html

[smackYYZ]

Cees,

FEMA does include Mobile homes in their housing numbers, since in the US that is what a lot of people call home. Mobile homes make up about 7% of US housing.  A big reason, is that it makes owning a home more attainable for low income families, but not all of them are low income.

But why, they would let them be used in Hurricane and Tornado prone areas is beyond me.

Mike