Ron Reefman
Active member
Thanks for asking. We are fine and so is our house. But we are very, very concerned for the Keys and the reefs. We are scheduled to do a 2 night camping trip to the Dry Tortugas the middle of October. We have some serious doubts about whether the trip will happen or not. I'll post info here as we get closer.
As for us, we just barely dodged a huge bullet!
Most important, we are OK, our house only lost a few shingles, our yard only lost a couple of small trees and some other tree limbs and my tank only lost a few fish. But considering how close we came to losing everything, we are very grateful to Mother Nature for turning Irma ashore south of us. Here is how it happened.
You see, we are about 1.5 miles inland on a peninsula and 9 feet above sea level. As Irma was to track up the east coast we would be fine, very windy, but fine. As the track migrated west over a couple of days, and as big as Irma was, the wind event looked worse, but still, we can survive a 100+ mph wind. But then the track migrated even further west and we were going to get the 125 to 140 mph wind. But we decided to stay and ride it out.
As Irma got close on Friday, the track moved a bit further west and we would now get storm surge of 1' to 3' above local ground level. Our house is about 2' to 3' above the street, so we might actually get some water in the house. We also became a mandatory evacuation zone so we evacuated to a friends house about 5 miles north and 15' above sea level. Saturday afternoon they adjusted the surge and our house was in a 3' to 6' above ground level surge. Now we knew we would get some water damage and maybe even some serious damage. Sunday, Irma was predicted to go a bit further west and run up the coastline and the surge at our house was changed again, now at 6' to 9'. At that level we would likely lose almost everything. Even our friend's house became a 1' to 3' zone, but it was too late to move. Winds were already in the 40 mph range and it was raining very hard. Elaine and I just discussed the fact that we would assess the damage, deal with insurance companies and make the most of starting over. The financial side of it wasn't a big deal; we are retired and have a healthy nest egg and are well insured. But who wants to start over in their late 60's?
Well, just a few hours later as Irma was closing in on Naples (30 miles south of us) she unexpectedly jogged east and came ashore over Marco Island and up through Naples. Then up I-75 and just east of our house and the house we were staying at. Just far enough east that although we didn't see the eye of the storm, we were in the western side of the eye wall and had 125 mph winds from the north. But all that movement to the east meant that only a couple of very small communities south of Naples (and mostly the Everglades) got the storm surge and our house was back to not seeing any storm surge at all! So in 24 hours we went from; this could be bad, to this is going to be really bad, to this is going to destroy everything we own and back to, we can survive the wind damage! It was an emotional roller coaster. I deal with stress really well, whatever the end result was going to be, I'd just pick myself up and deal with it. But through the whole thing my wife was a nervous wreck!
Now we are home. All the hurricane shutters are stored away and the yard is fairly well cleaned up. We got power back late Tuesday afternoon, way before most other people. And that was a big deal for us as our generator failed (and the stores are empty) and my tanks were at risk. Not to mention 90+ degree heat and no A/C! Now we are looking at a whole house propane generator and a new circuit breaker box that will start the generator and switch over automatically when the electricity goes off for whatever reason. And we lose power here maybe 2 or 3 times a year due to severe thunderstorms and serious lightning.
We were very lucky and I'm very grateful to Mother Nature for the way she steered Irma ashore early. On a more serious note, my heart goes out to everybody in the Keys and out in the Caribbean who got slammed!
As for us, we just barely dodged a huge bullet!
Most important, we are OK, our house only lost a few shingles, our yard only lost a couple of small trees and some other tree limbs and my tank only lost a few fish. But considering how close we came to losing everything, we are very grateful to Mother Nature for turning Irma ashore south of us. Here is how it happened.
You see, we are about 1.5 miles inland on a peninsula and 9 feet above sea level. As Irma was to track up the east coast we would be fine, very windy, but fine. As the track migrated west over a couple of days, and as big as Irma was, the wind event looked worse, but still, we can survive a 100+ mph wind. But then the track migrated even further west and we were going to get the 125 to 140 mph wind. But we decided to stay and ride it out.
As Irma got close on Friday, the track moved a bit further west and we would now get storm surge of 1' to 3' above local ground level. Our house is about 2' to 3' above the street, so we might actually get some water in the house. We also became a mandatory evacuation zone so we evacuated to a friends house about 5 miles north and 15' above sea level. Saturday afternoon they adjusted the surge and our house was in a 3' to 6' above ground level surge. Now we knew we would get some water damage and maybe even some serious damage. Sunday, Irma was predicted to go a bit further west and run up the coastline and the surge at our house was changed again, now at 6' to 9'. At that level we would likely lose almost everything. Even our friend's house became a 1' to 3' zone, but it was too late to move. Winds were already in the 40 mph range and it was raining very hard. Elaine and I just discussed the fact that we would assess the damage, deal with insurance companies and make the most of starting over. The financial side of it wasn't a big deal; we are retired and have a healthy nest egg and are well insured. But who wants to start over in their late 60's?
Well, just a few hours later as Irma was closing in on Naples (30 miles south of us) she unexpectedly jogged east and came ashore over Marco Island and up through Naples. Then up I-75 and just east of our house and the house we were staying at. Just far enough east that although we didn't see the eye of the storm, we were in the western side of the eye wall and had 125 mph winds from the north. But all that movement to the east meant that only a couple of very small communities south of Naples (and mostly the Everglades) got the storm surge and our house was back to not seeing any storm surge at all! So in 24 hours we went from; this could be bad, to this is going to be really bad, to this is going to destroy everything we own and back to, we can survive the wind damage! It was an emotional roller coaster. I deal with stress really well, whatever the end result was going to be, I'd just pick myself up and deal with it. But through the whole thing my wife was a nervous wreck!
Now we are home. All the hurricane shutters are stored away and the yard is fairly well cleaned up. We got power back late Tuesday afternoon, way before most other people. And that was a big deal for us as our generator failed (and the stores are empty) and my tanks were at risk. Not to mention 90+ degree heat and no A/C! Now we are looking at a whole house propane generator and a new circuit breaker box that will start the generator and switch over automatically when the electricity goes off for whatever reason. And we lose power here maybe 2 or 3 times a year due to severe thunderstorms and serious lightning.
We were very lucky and I'm very grateful to Mother Nature for the way she steered Irma ashore early. On a more serious note, my heart goes out to everybody in the Keys and out in the Caribbean who got slammed!
