Hurricane IRMA and Us: Swedish version

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Below is an account of how Peter and I survived Hurricane IRMA at home in North/Central Florida. The report was posted to our jewelry collector club online, Jewelcollect.

Yours,

Isabelle/Liz

From: jewelcollect@googlegroups.com [mailto:jewelcollect@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Liz Bryman
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2017 3:29 PM
To: jewelcollect <jewelcollect@googlegroups.com>
Subject: JC-GOOGLE: Hurricane IRMA Florida Post Script

Dear Jewelcollectors,

This is a lengthy report on our doings, deeds, miseries, hopes and small successes as a result of being thrust into the only so called 500-year storm ever to hit the U.S. We don't know how true that statement is, or if anyone was around in Florida and environs measuring storms 500 years ago but we'll have to take their word for it.

In any case, if you decide to read my report to the end, it might be a while as they say on the Internet.

So please grab the beverage of your choice, along with ditto comfort food, turn on the little lamp, let the cat out or in, and read on:

Yesterday at approx. 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time, our house, located in an airpark in North/Central Florida (that's in the southern part of the U.S. of A. in case someone forgot his/her geography 101) was reconnected to the local electric power grid.

We could then--and did--turn off the generator and hope not to have to use it again for a long time.

An electric generator is great to have during a prolonged power outage. However, it has its limitations, at least the usual size version sold to home owners. It can handle powering refrigerators/freezers, lights and lamps, a TV, a microwave, a coffee maker, and a well pump so there always is a water supply.

Everything else drawing power is better turned off at the breaker box as it would tax the generator enormously with a poor result all around.

So one has to choose carefully as to what is absolutely necessary like lights, food cooling, water pump, power to recharge mobile phones, then moderately desirable such as one TV, two computers, an electric coffee maker, and a microwave. (Forget home phone; it was off pretty fast at the central exchange.)

Next forget everything else one would normally enjoy in one's house. Such as central a/c, ceiling fans, electric range, dishwasher, washer and dryer, hot water. Forget high-draw items like vaccum cleaners, clothing irons, other power tools used inside the house. Hairdryers we only keep available for occasional houseguests who insist on blow-drying long hair; we don't use them any longer. Outdoor heat in Florida does the job in 10 minutes or less if hair is short.

The generator is also very noisy and quite smelly as it runs on gasoline. It has to face away from the house, preferably a good stretch away from it. As extension cords are frowned upon for generators the distance to the house is by necessity a lot shorter than recommended for most generators, 6-8' tops, the length of the power cable it has.

Just walking past it while it's running is a major nose-holding minute or two. Running it at night is out of the question, it's as noisy as a Seahawk 'copter and would not afford anyone any sleep. We learned to open the windows as much as we could and it was a new experience in a completely climate-controlled house. But it wasn't bad, really. Even the concerts of the crickets and bull frogs down by our newly created lake were soothing to listen to when trying to go to sleep in 90 F; at least they sounded more melodious than the 'genny.

We in Florida live very much outdoors. That's one reason we picked Florida to live, one can spend much of the year outside without snow and freezing temperatures. It's a little slice of paradise. Except when really wicked weather hits of course. But then it can hit anywhere, as we well know, not just here.

Florida and the entire area from Texas and the other Gulf states to the northeast to Georgia and up have been quite fortunate to be almost hurricane-free for near a dozen years. Not quite of course, there have been some but not any extreme ones like HARVEY and IRMA.

I personally moved to central Florida in early 2003. No hurricane came near me then. 2004, 2005 were different, several major hurricanes but with very limited damage visited where I lived. Which was in such a sturdy apartment building that it was designated a shelter when storms hit. I was, accidentally, already in the safest place from them. Other people in more vulnerable locations came to bunk and hunker down with me, imagine that.

Last year Hurricane Matthew visited us from the East coast just a few days after my birthday in early Oct. We lost a couple of awnings, a few trees, but had no major damage for which we were grateful. We live almost at the center of the state width-wise, 60 miles from the Atlantic and 70 miles from the Gulf, 170' above sea level in the so called Florida sand hills, made up of petrified coral as is all of Florida.

We received no visit here from Hurricane Harvey, Texas did. We saw with fear and fascination what Harvey had done in Houston and to other towns up and down the Gulf. And barely had we seen that when IRMA threatened us.

But we were fortunate in many ways. We had over a week to prepare after we had been warned of it coming. Peter and I stocked up on food, gasoline already a week before IRMA was due to make landfall in South Florida.

Good thing too because stores and gas stations quickly ran out we saw on the news. We had already decided not to evacuate. Our house is built to withstand a Category 4 hurricane; we wanted to see if it was true. By the time IRMA hit our area and house it was downgraded to a Category 2 anyway so our house could literally thumb its house-nose at the Cat 2; nothing budged on it.

Electrical power was not totally cut off until 9:15 p.m. on Sunday night although it had been flickering several times. When after a couple of hours it became clear that power was not returning Peter started up the 'genny.

After that we braced ourselves for the onslaught of the storm that actually came pretty slowly up our way. Deceptively so as when we looked outside it could be very calm for an hour or two, a break in the rain, and then the storm would assault nature and the house again. We took Maggie out in the lull times, took some photos for posterity.

Better not to be outside when the storm resumed, a big branch or tree in the head can kill fast. It rained massively and the winds howled all night between Sunday and Monday, continuing on Monday when we could watch the rain come down too. Filling our run-off lake, Whirlwind Lake, at one end of the lot, it had been near dry for the 9 years we have lived here. One year we drove across it with a neighbor in an ATV!

Not now, f'er sure. When appraising its progress, the lake had gained some respectable inches in depth and crept about 25' up the previously grassy area above it. Not deep or far enough to shop for a yacht this time; it would likely take the Flood of Noah for that, but a small flatbottomed boat could probably get us around it now.

On the bright side we have now joined the rich set, as we have lake-front property. At least for a month or two until the water has gone down again and we're back to where we were before Hurricane Irma. 

The massive rains arrived mostly in the night between Sunday and Monday, then they moved on but the winds were still very strong. It appeared to us that as long as the rains pounded the ground the winds somehow were held back some, not so fierce. But when the rains stopped the winds had free rein, shook trees mightily, broke some and ripped branches off them too. We feared for two huge pines in front of our house but they only lost some branches, did not split or fall. Pines in other areas were split in half, had huge rips in their branches now hanging sadly along their trunks like broken arms, sad to see. Nothing hit the house though--were we ever thankful.

If someone wants to know what we lived on, i.e. ate, we did not suffer. We were not stuck with peanut butter & jelly sandwiches like you may have seen on the news. The 'genny kept our regular food fresh. Peter grilled steaks on the liquid propane gas grill, baked potatoes in foil on it too. A small two-burner camping stove Peter takes to auto races when the fellows camp there was good for cooking other things, like greens and soup. With the 'genny on, the microwave came in handy too. We washed ourselves and did dishes in rainwater collected in drums.

I had cooked hard-boiled eggs well in advance of the storm. They were great when cut up and mixed with mayo and relish, crab paste from a tube, spread on whole-wheat bread revived in the toaster. All green salad stuffs, tomatoes, etc. were consumed first so they wouldn't spoil as the 'genny was not run 100% of the time.

Maggie May, our dog, held up well, she's one tough cookie. [What, me worry? photo attached]. Two big Sand Hill Cranes with chick showed up in a lull of the storm on Monday just to show they had survived.

A local road experienced a major wash out, but it's not a sink hole. Instead of having 6.5 miles to the local post office where I keep a rented box I now have to drive 20 miles around to get to it. That's a 40-mile round trip so I guess I'll probably only ship once a week from now on. At least until they fix the road. Which may take some time; t'is the South and things get fixed here in their own good time I was told. Update: The road was repaired after just one week.

When the storm was over we celebrated with dips in the pool on Wednesday and Thursday. Today, not. It just started to rain again! We were told that it may just be a so called outer band of Hurricane Jose', let's hope that's all it is. [Update: That hurricane may not be much of a problem for Florida according to current reports.]

Thanks for all worried notes and prayers from so many of you! Thanks to Ed Davis who txtd me for news and posted for me here. Internet service did not return until Wednesday evening and we could only use it when the 'genny was on as our broadband required electricity.

Small Smile: When it was all over, a glorious double rainbow graced our horizon over the Brit windsock Peter had hung!

Stay safe, you all,

Affectionately yours,

Liz of JC

This page was updated in April, 2019.

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