I'm back up! Power, Cell, internet were all intermittent. Power came back this morning, but internet this afternoon. Cell was in and out. We came through it relatively unscathed. Some trees down in the neighborhood - some roof tiles blown off - that kind of stuff. As you all know, Ian took a turn east in the last day and we were spared the brunt of it. What came through here was "only" a Cat1 - winds in the upper 70's. We spent the day doing yard cleanup (lots of branches down). The pond behind us is really high, but not enough to threaten our house.
Karen, I'm glad to hear your daughters are safe. Lives are what matters. Stuff can be replaced. We all have too much stuff anyhow. Give them your biggest hug when you see them.
We were only inconvenienced - much better off than the folks in Lee and Charlotte Counties. We are being asked to conserve water usage (especially toilet flushing) because power was off to the treatment plants for a while and they are struggling to catch up. We are being asked to stay off the roads while they clear the obstructions and repair the power lines. These things are just petty compared to what others are dealing with. I'm just grateful that we dodged that bullet, but still concerned for friends in Ft Myers that we haven't been able to reach. They won't have power for a while, but usually they manage to get cell service working faster.
One thing that came out of this is that I really came to appreciate what a great neighborhood I live in, and how wonderful my neighbors are. The community FB page was filled with people offering help with hurricane preps and people needing help. People all over our HOA were helping each other prepare. My nextdoor neighbors were out of town, so I called tham and told them I'd get their hurricane shutters up if she would give me the access code to her garage. Then, after doing ours, Judy was in pain (after all, she turned 80 last week), so I asked for someone to help me with the neighbor's. Someone, whom I had never met before, showed up in 30 minutes to help me help them. This morning, I couldn't reach my office to let them know I couldn't keep my client appointments today. Another neighbor had cell service and called the office for me. Midday, a couple friends showed up with a 3rd person, whom we had never met, and took down our shutters for us. People all over were running errands, taking peoples' cars for gas, helping with shutters, etc. Just a lot of good stuff.
Karen, I saw that same post on DC and had to take my hands off the keyboard! Such self absorbed crap! People are dead. People are homeless. Places of employment are gone. Their personal lives and memories are destroyed. But I want to know if I can still come to Ft Myers for my vacation? Really? I was inconvenienced - that's minor stuff. My life is still intact. My home was spared. Vacation? Really?