We finally got the power back on at the office. It's nice to catch-up with the outside world.
The juice has been off at my home since the hurricane hit us on Friday night - and is likely not to be restored until the weekend (or so we're told). This ain't good, with daytime temps in the mid- 90's, so a daily forage for ice is needed to keep things from spoiling.
As for the storm itself - it came out of the Gulf much further south than anticipated - flattened Port Charlotte (killing lots of people in the process) and then just steam-rollered north east, tracking right over the metro Orlando area. I live 6 miles east of Orlando Airport and the eye of the storm passed directly over my neighborhood, with diminishing windspeeds of 114mph. I was very lucky. I'd removed a 60 foot oak tree from my back yard two months ago. It would definately have fallen onto my house, had it been there. As it was, I lost all my perimeter fencing, my pool enclosure, 3 trees and my roof will have to be replaced. My next door neighbors house was crushed by fallen trees, so I got off lightly. The destruction in the eastern half of the city is really scary - but things are quickly getting back to normal - all related to the restoration of power.
The hackneyed old adages about hurricanes being similar to runaway freight trains are all true. It's not an experience I'd like to go through again. Thanks for all the thoughtful comments and thank Christ for home insurance......
