THE STORM - again

[Irene from Tampa]

First, let me thank you all again for your support.

Well, here we go again. The second hurricane to come our way with guess what, the third right behind it. We have been very fortunate here in Tampa. We were spared the wrath of CHARLEY in our area. FRANCES came through last night with lots of high winds and rain. Again, we were spared any damage and only had to put up with the inconvenience of no power, phone or water for the last 24 hours. Our power just came up as did our phone service. I felt like we were cut off from the world. We have a gas grill so were able to cook on that. We are so spoiled - I was thinking of my grandparents and how they managed in their day's while I was collecting rain water to wash dishes with. Our worse problem is that we have a well and septic tank so when power stops, so does everything else.

Can you believe with all the other problems I am facing, this was an inconvenience. Well, it worked since I forgot about everything else but making sure my daughters and their families were ok and we were also safe.

Now we are looking at IVAN which seems to be taking the same path as FRANCES. So we will start preparing for next week end again and pray it weakens before making land fall.

Through all of this you really learn to appreciate everything you have.

Take Care and will keep you all posted.

[Christine]

Irene,

You are always welcome to come to San Diego and stay with us while you wait out the storm. We only get six inches of rain a year. I think the next rain is due sometimes in January.

Hugs and well wishes,
Christine

[Christine]

Irene,

You are always welcome to come to San Diego and stay with us while you wait out the storm. We only get six inches of rain a year. I think the next rain is due sometimes in January.

Hugs and well wishes,
Christine

[Peggy]

Yes, we're back - again! I'm in Orlando where we were hit pretty hard by Charley; Frances didn't pack his punch. I was glad to see southwest Florida was spared, pretty much, from Frances.

Charley was a little scary for this old Florida girl and hurricane veteran. Frances was just downright annoying; long and very wet. I am 4 miles south of downtown Orlando. We had rain and wind starting Friday evening and ending Monday afternoon. The worst of the storm was Sunday from about 8:00AM to 4:00PM with sustained winds of 50mph gusting to 65-70 mph. We lost power about 10:00AM Sunday.

I had some in-laws staying with us from Melbourne, Florida where Frances did some of her worst damage. They had to evacuate last Thursday since their house was about 1 block away from the beach.
So from Thursday till Sunday morning, when the power went out, we cooked everything I had in my freezer and fridge and we ate.

Power came back on Sunday evening and then we got cable/internet back Monday evening. Restoration of services was pretty quick this time since many of the people who came to Florida to help us with those types of things had never gone home.

As of Monday, 9-6-04, Orlando, and many other parts of Florida, have been preparing for and dealing with hurricanes for 1 month. I'm ready for a break. Overall, everyone is safe and sound and I'm still here to continue treatment.