Hello - Florida is everyone OK?

Schwan and his family are, most threads are in notices and well wishes if they're posted for status..

I have some friends in Central Florida, but they did not get hit that hard...

I have Family in South Florida, which took the brunt of the storm, and everyone that I know down there has reported in...

Only two incidents from that sector... A lost rooftop (Which in Florida, because of the building standards, IS a big deal) and a lost Ficus tree (Another big deal, since these trees are HUUUUGE and create a very entwined mat-like root structure that, if the tree ever gets knocked over, tends to pull up pipes, concrete pads, other trees and anything else that the very invasive roots tend to tangle with.)

At this point, though... No loss of life and limb.

We're fine down here in Kendall. Still without power (I'm at a local hotspot and need to run), but not as bad as all that. Minor damages. Zero injuries here.

Hopefully we'll be back with power in a day or so.

Yay, Jeffrey! This is his second hurricane this year . Glad to hear that you all are fine!!

if you believe this post, it doesn't sound like anyone in central Florida is "OK"

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Tampa escaped again. I wish the folks further south had fared as well. I'm beginning to wonder why people keep moving to Florida!

Meh.

Speaking from experience here, I've lived in South Florida for the better part of my entire life. You could say the place has grown on me, but considering I'm still "stuck" here for college, it's not too surprising.

Most of the homes, especially inland, have to conform to a pretty rigid hurricane code detailing the cans and cannots of housebuilding. Most homes need to be built fairly low to the ground, with walls that can withstand hurricane-force winds, special roofing materials (after Andrew), et cetera. The exceptions to this rule are homes by the beach, which usually "bend" the rules more, some of which are built on stilts with storm-surge in mind.


Now. The fact is, power is fried, but in terms of human suffering, this storm is fairly low in South Florida's history. About two-dozen listed casualties for the storm's duration, and $8 - 12 billion in current insurance claims. (link) Compare this with Andrew's $45 billion (link) or Katrina's $70 - 130 billion which, adjusted for inflation (25% at 5% every two years), is still much higher. (link)



Case in point is we're fine. There's plenty of damage, yes, but not much in terms of casualties or suffering. The biggest casualty of this storm so far, here, has been the lack of power, and the media's job is to make it look much worse than it really has been. Living in the midst of it, I can tell you that this is nothing compared to the recent disasters the world over, especially Katrina.

That said, my home is still without power. I'm posting this from a local Dunkin' Doughnuts' "hotspot" from my laptop.


See my detailed responses here and here. I apologize for the lack of pictures but, again, we don't have power in my home.


PS. Thanks, Euterpe.


Edit: Just got power back, so I can actually stay online again. What a concept!

Jacksonville was spared... a lil rain was all we got fortunately.

Still without power here in Miami-Dade, but managing. Thank God that priority was given to the commercial district otherwise this would have been hell. Oig, I wish I could play SL already, I have an unfinished condo in Lemonia and I want it to open >.<!

Thanks for caring, Juro.

Still without power in most of Fort Lauderdale - but I'm sneeking in where I can.

Two days without water, but that's been restored. Some lines for gasoline and other supplies but I got gas in the car and hubby did too before all this started so we will wait it out until more power is restored and more stations can open, we figure that more normal conditions will be restored by Sunday.

We sawed the fallen trees up, are repairing the roof damage, recovered what pieces of fence and awning we could and we will begin putting it all back together.

The daily grind has resumed for most people and the majority of us are slowly crawling back to work, whether we have water, power, traffic signals, or not. Life goes on.

I am just grateful that everyone I know is fine, my cats are fine, I still have a roof over my head and the weather as it stands now is the most awesome that I have seen for months in S. Florida.

So with one hand, mother nature really knocked us about with a one - two hurricane punch and with the other she caressed us with a really beautiful, dry, sunny, cool, bug free week.

My SL Future Wife, Kami Ghia, Lives in Florida, I havnt heard from her in a day...He SL boss, lives in Florida as well, And shes ok...Or he...Or...IT....I hope Kami and the Floridians are OK!

Yeah but the downside is, you have to live in Jacksonville

LMAO.. Cristiano, oh well at least the Miami-Dade Public Library System is up and running again. Currently I'm "broadcasting" from the Main Library-Downtown; they've got free wireless access and laptops for residents. Anyways Day 5 has been very progressive in terms of electrical restablishment. Out of the 2 million power customers in the County, only 345,000 remain in the dark (including me ] But, meh.. life goes on and like always Miami will rebuild, and stay the metropolitan hotspot it's been since birth.

Sorry that you are still without power - hopefully you will get it back this weekend. What part of Miami are you in? My power went out a couple of times again yesterday, but I am just thankful to have it back.

I have power and internet in my office, but no power, phone or water at home. (I had water yesterday but it is off now). Office is a mess because of blown out windows.

I still can't access SL because of the firewall in the office, so I have not yet seen the cool new map. Bummer.

Buster

street is a mess too

lol, sorry I took a weekend to reply, Cristiano, but the Library was closed. Yes, I'm sadly still without power, and that despite being in proximity to the International Airport and the Waterford Commercial District, I've gotten mediocre attention from FPL [Florida Power & Light]. Still broascasting Downtown, conditions have slightly worsened for me. A car accident, street fight, and further damage to my grandparent's roof has got me stressed.


But, with that comes experience; as Floridians we should petition and continously demand that local & state governments pressure the monopolic FPL into subterraneaning more major power lines. I mean it's inevitable that power will be lost in even a small gust of wind. But not if those lines, even if costly, were to be placed underground.


As Hurricane Season 2005 comes to a close, (And Buster's pictures show.) South Florida has suffered terribly. We are a modern megalopolis, in which something so simple as lack of power can drive us into such a disasterous state. I don't want to even ponder what 2006 will be like.