Hurricane Michael

The only thing I am missing is propane but we should be fine. We don't have enough fuel to run a generator for a week but we should be fine for a couple of days if we lose power. When this storm passes I have decided better to be safe than sorry and buy some plywood to cover the windows. Lord willing we will be OK, we have been thru them before without covering the windows but this is the first one we have had that is a direct hit. A couple of my neighbors have boarded up their houses and NONE have evacutated. There are more houses without windows covered so that made me feel a bit better. Either we are all stupid or they aren't worried (I am). Made a last minute trip to Walmart this morning (3:30AM) and grabbed some more batteries, I was surprised they had any. It was actually pretty busy there. The drink isle was wiped out, it looked like the end times.

I am at work already today (we operate 24/7) but the production lines have been shutdown and only a few people here. I may end up leaving early but will try to get a full day as I am hourly and if I don't work, I don't get paid. Not a big deal so I'll leave if needed. The Yeti cooler is iced up and should hold ice for at least 4 or 5 days. We must keep my daughter's insulin cold and it is my back up if for some reason the fridge doesn't run (it will be the first thing hooked up to the generator). Not sure what will happen with cell service but if the cable goes out the landline goes down with it. We don't have an antenna so if we lose cable we won't have TV. In the past when losing power the generator would run a fan, tv, cable box, refrigerator, lamps and microwave. Keeping it at a minimum I can run 9 or 10 hours on a tank of gas.

I'll post some updates if available, if I am not here during the storm assume I have lost cell service.

Best of luck Mike !

Stay safe buddy. Praying your Daughter is good through this.

Stay safe!!

Hope it isn't too extreme and you and your family are good.

Stay safe Mike.  Sounds like you've got things planned out.  You couldn't pay me enough to live in Florida.  I just got back from visiting my Mom last month and I can't stand the weather in that state; the scenery is nice but the weather totally sucks and storms like this just confirm my philosophy. 

Good luck my friend.

2am update: now a Cat 4. We are still not in evacuation zone but very close.

I managed to find some plywood at Lowe's and we are now boarded up. That took me most of the afternoon yesterday.

Only minimal rain and wind at the moment. Too late to leave now. So far 100% of our neighbors are still here.

Stay safe Mike, take care and keep us updated if possible.

Be Safe

That thing ended up being a lot stronger than most of the predictions I saw said it would be.  I saw it's the strongest hurricane to hit the states since 1969.  Fortunately it apparently took a slight turn west and made landfall in the most sparsely populated part of the Florida panhandle, which sucks for the people living there but is generally good news.

We are safe. Damage is catastrophic I have never seen anything like this. We have major damage to our home and no power. But we are safe and alive. It was the scariest thing in our lives. 2 solid hours of banging wind and rain.

Will post updates as time allows

mikeinfla wrote:

We are safe. Damage is catastrophic I have never seen anything like this. We have major damage to our home and no power. But we are safe and alive. It was the scariest thing in our lives. 2 solid hours of banging wind and rain.

Will post updates as time allows

Sorry it's hit you hard but at least you are all safe!

Glad you guys are ok.

mikeinfla wrote:

We are safe. Damage is catastrophic I have never seen anything like this. We have major damage to our home and no power. But we are safe and alive. It was the scariest thing in our lives. 2 solid hours of banging wind and rain.

Will post updates as time allows

Sucks about the damage to your house, but at least you're not hurt. Gotta say I envy you in a way. I've always wanted to experience being in a hurricane. My wife thinks I'm full of shit, but I wanna be in one of those, and a tornado just to see what they are like. Been in an earthquake before, and thought it was cool. It was a small one though, 5.0, but cool thing to feel.

Anyways, glad you and your family are okay.

Looks like we will not have power for a while so the wife and daughters left for Tennessee this afternoon. I really wanted to go but I should stay with the house and try to get back to work (which is also down and suffered extensive damage as well).

Wrecked Neck, it's pretty insane. Scariest thing I've ever been thru. We hunkered down in our hallway with all the doors closed in complete darkness for 2 solid hours. I don't wish that on anyone.

Here are a few pics to a gallery, most of them are the trees down in my yard. I don't have a single shade tree left.
https://postimg.cc/gallery/2xmdrimfa/



Gonna be a long weekend with no power and no water. Generator running now to keep fridge cool bit I only run it for 2 or 3 hours are a time. I'll be low on fuel by.... Heck I don't know what day it is so prob 2 days from now I'll be out of fuel.

That's a hard thing to deal with but a I'm glad to hear you and your family are ok.

Wow that's some impressive damage.  Glad the family is OK Mike.  From what I've heard on the news you guys could be without power for a while as the power company says they have to rebuild a lot of their infrastructure; probably a good thing the rest of the family left (even if it was for Tennessee; I spent 8 years there, I KNOW )

Hang in there buddy.

mikeinfla wrote:

Looks like we will not have power for a while so the wife and daughters left for Tennessee this afternoon. I really wanted to go but I should stay with the house and try to get back to work (which is also down and suffered extensive damage as well).

Wrecked Neck, it's pretty insane. Scariest thing I've ever been thru. We hunkered down in our hallway with all the doors closed in complete darkness for 2 solid hours. I don't wish that on anyone.

Here are a few pics to a gallery, most of them are the trees down in my yard. I don't have a single shade tree left.
https://postimg.cc/gallery/2xmdrimfa/



Gonna be a long weekend with no power and no water. Generator running now to keep fridge cool bit I only run it for 2 or 3 hours are a time. I'll be low on fuel by.... Heck I don't know what day it is so prob 2 days from now I'll be out of fuel.

I'm sure it was, and I'm sure I would be scared stiff if I was in one, but I still want to experience it first hand, just to say I was in one I guess lol

Me and my Dad got stuck in a massive lightening storm once on top of a ridge line on the Mogollon Rim in northern Arizona. It was probably the closest I've ever been to being killed by nature. It was frightening, but awe inspiring to see that kind of power generated by the planet. I thought we were dead, so many lightening strikes hit so close by it was insane. I just love that kind of stuff, and want to be in every type of natural disaster there is at least once in my life. Doesn't mean I won't piss myself if I'm ever in one lol

Updated photo gallery. I went exploring this morning.

https://postimg.cc/gallery/306ydd9ja/

One is a cemetery. Tombstones blown over. The church sanctuary.... I took that pic from OUTSIDE. any questions about any of the photos let me know.

Sorry for the damage, but we're glad you're okay.

Wow dude, just wow. Glad you made it and here's to a great recovery.

Hate to hear about the damage. But the main thing is that you and your family are safe.

Checking in from my phone. Still no internet at home but phone works occasionally. We have power and water again and my wife and daughters have returned home. We have extensive damage but our home can be lived in. We fared better than some of the others in the area. My next step is to find a roofer to repair the damage, remove some trees and get the cars fixed (repainted and dents taken out). All of the trees on the ground have been removed from the yard. My employer sent a crew to the house to cut up everything on the ground then they used heavy equipment to move it out of the backyard. Will probably have to cut down what remains at my own expense which is going to cost thousands. My fence is destroyed from trees and the fence isn't covered by insurance. Insurance is a funny thing. My fence is insured under everything EXCEPT hurricane damage.

It is going to take sometime to find a roofer because thousands of homes in the area need a new roof. We have tarps over the house and they are holding as we had a big rain storm over the weekend and I am glad to say we had no leaks.

I want to thank you all for your prayers and donations as they have really come in handy. God is good and we will rebuild and try to get life back to normal. My older daughter says the inside of the house looks normal but it is a disaster outside so she wants to stay inside to be as normal as possible.

That was a nice gesture on the part of your employer.

And that stupid insurance quirk is why my parents put hurricane shutters around the entire house because that little "out" apparently applies to a lot of stuff insured under Florida homeowners policies.

Good to hear, hope everything is back to normal soon.