Florida

[UConniki]

Cape Coral, Estero island and Sanibel are devastated and they’re implying that the electrical grid got fried, non repairable ( many weeks to months with out power, no water pressure, it’s a mess, my 25’ vaulted ceiling collapsed luckily no one was in the family room at the time, seriously ). Everyone’s fine just a lot of damage.

 

[ctchamps]

Cape Coral, Estero island and Sanibel are devastated and they’re implying that the electrical grid got fried, non repairable ( many weeks to months with out power, no water pressure, it’s a mess, my 25’ vaulted ceiling collapsed luckily no one was in the family room at the time, seriously ). Everyone’s fine just a lot of damage.

Happy no one is hurt. Sorry to hear about the property damage.

 

[jibsey]

As I said being inland about 15 miles just north of Sarasota we had winds of 80 mph the eyewall about 15 miles south. One thing I noticed was that inside the caged lanai area there was not much wind at all. Home had no damage and we never lost power. Being closer to the water but Ft. Myers or in the direct path was quite different. If you were 2 miles in from the shore down there and you were in a concrete block structure with heavy ceramic tiled roof I wonder how they fared. Asphalt shingles took a beating everywhere regardless of location.

 

[UConniki]

Something I never thought about as a New Englander - the news is telling people they shouldn’t let kid play in the street flooding. There are gators and snakes (cottonmouths) in the water

It’s true, you don’t think about it actually happening till it does. We had 2/3’ of water rushing down the ally behind our store which is over a canal ( Cape Coral) and I yelled to one of my employees to secure the garage door because it wouldn’t close, the power was out so it was really dark and another employee comes running up with a Milwaukee work lite to see what was stopping the door from closing and when he shined the light there was a pair of gator eyes looking back so they took a floor jack and used it to push it past the garage door and close it .

Then I got a call to come back to the store armed ( we don’t allow any firearms at the store) and drive around the perimeter of the store to make sure it was safe. Cape Coral is a canal city with over 400 miles of freshwater and salt water canals. You never go for a walk at night down to your dock or boat lift without due diligence.

The new nemesis is giant ( 6/8’) assorted iguanas chilling on your patios. December and January bring newscasts warning of “ ) be careful of falling lizards when the temperature drops they fall out of the trees , seriously.

They’re telling us that certain sections of the electrical grid was completely fried and could take longer the 2 months to replace. We’re also on a “ boil water notice “which is a joke because there’s no water pressure at this time.

We’re leaving the county tomorrow for my youngest 10th birthday. Hotel, shower, air conditioning, dinner, clean clothes, ( can’t even do laundry). We’re been through hurricane Irma ( 20 days without power). This is probably going to be worse and we’re contemplating moving north of Daytona beach ( Ormond beach). I think I’ve had enough.

Finally got Wi-Fi back after 4 days and I’m babbling. UConn FB WON was the first thing that popped up and kinda made everything else seem not as important. Still sucks but hey, gotta have your priorities. You all be safe and good luck to anyone else in Florida.

 

[WillB4]

Godspeed to Florida Man and Florida Woman.

Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Sanibel Island. Can't imagine what will happen to this area.

Thinking of all of our BY Sunshine Staters.

thanks, Dove. I'm in Venice and we took a hit. Trees and debris all over the place. 130 MPH winds, lost many screens on the lanai but the house withstood the winds. No power for three days, drove my wife nuts not being able to let the kids know of our status.

 

[huskyinfl]

@UConniki huge gas lines so plan accordingly (Venice) can't image your area is any better. Lowe's is open and takes credit cards. Semi civil.

 

[jibsey]

thanks, Dove. I'm in Venice and we took a hit. Trees and debris all over the place. 130 MPH winds, lost many screens on the lanai but the house withstood the winds. No power for three days, drove my wife nuts not being able to let the kids know of our status.

130 wow! You have hard tile shingles or asphalt?

 

[Hoophound]

Naples is cleaning up quickly. Don’t doubt human determination. This job is going to be done faster than most people think. It is truly amazing what people can do when given a task and good compensation for doing it in a certain time frame. The LaPlaya Beach Club on Vanderbilt Beach in Naples was flooded out. They plan to reopen 12/15. Amazing.

Cape Coral has a lot of canals as Niki said. Unfortunately, it has a lot of older buildings at low elevation too. Part of the rebuild will be raising new buildings to 2’ above base flood. Lower elevation homes and buildings will need to be properly insured and it will come at a price.

Places like Fort Myers Beach will clean up in due time. There’s an awful lot of rubble to remove, but it will happen and life will go on. They will build higher and stronger and it will flourish. In some ways, this could radically improve some of these places with new buildings and businesses ushering in a better future.

One thing you never hear in Florida is “can’t”. The attitude toward economic progress is contagious. Florida has its warts, but I never doubt it’s resilience. You don’t hear much whining. If you don’t go make it happen, someone else will. I’m excited to see how this rebuild goes. It took me a long time to appreciate Florida but I’ve seen it face catastrophe many times now and it bounces back bigger and better every time. Some people think we shouldn’t rebuild, I think we should rebuild using current technology and climate models to build structures prepared for this sort of thing. It is also important to keep perspective. Most of the areas you see on TV that are decimated are on or very near water. The majority of the areas in these cities is in good shape. They don’t show you the thousands of neighborhoods in Southwest Florida that are perfectly fine.

 

[Hoophound]

130 wow! You have hard tile shingles or asphalt?

We are using windows and tile roofs rated for 170mph these days. I think the better shingles are up to 150mph, with 120 or 130 being minimal.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

130 wow! You have hard tile shingles or asphalt?

Ft Meyers looked like it was bombed
Much of the electrical equipment destroyed is currently in short supply
This is a rebuild of the grid not repair
The effort to will be on a scale we have never seen before
I love the Ocean but , I have a healthy respect for it’s power
since witnessing first hand the destruction of my uncles cottage in Milford when I was 5.
I’ve also seen plenty of Cat 1 maybe even a 2 but anything beyond that is unimaginable in terror
Years ago I was in St Pete and we were browsing around . I remember reading that current geography was The result of a hurricane in Spanish Colonial times . If a hurricane can do that what chance do flimsy structures have. Remember Miami Beach was a sandbar in the 19th century and much of the coast is reclaimed swamp land . Man’s victories over nature are temporary at best.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Naples is cleaning up quickly. Don’t doubt human determination. This job is going to be done faster than most people think. It is truly amazing what people can do when given a task and good compensation for doing it in a certain time frame. The LaPlaya Beach Club on Vanderbilt Beach in Naples was flooded out. They plan to reopen 12/15. Amazing.

Cape Coral has a lot of canals as Niki said. Unfortunately, it has a lot of older buildings at low elevation too. Part of the rebuild will be raising new buildings to 2’ above base flood. Lower elevation homes and buildings will need to be properly insured and it will come at a price.

Places like Fort Myers Beach will clean up in due time. There’s an awful lot of rubble to remove, but it will happen and life will go on. They will build higher and stronger and it will flourish. In some ways, this could radically improve some of these places with new buildings and businesses ushering in a better future.

One thing you never hear in Florida is “can’t”. The attitude toward economic progress is contagious. Florida has its warts, but I never doubt it’s resilience. You don’t hear much whining. If you don’t go make it happen, someone else will. I’m excited to see how this rebuild goes. It took me a long time to appreciate Florida but I’ve seen it face catastrophe many times now and it bounces back bigger and better every time. Some people think we shouldn’t rebuild, I think we should rebuild using current technology and climate models to build structures prepared for this sort of thing. It is also important to keep perspective. Most of the areas you see on TV that are decimated are on or very near water. The majority of the areas in these cities is in good shape. They don’t show you the thousands of neighborhoods in Southwest Florida that are perfectly fine.

We are using windows and tile roofs rated for 170mph these days. I think the better shingles are up to 150mph, with 120 or 130 being minimal.

It's a crappy way to get it done but every major hurricane decimates older buildings built to older code and the newer buildings will be built to a higher standard. This goes for residential housing, commercial buildings and water/sewage and infrastructure.

 

[traitor71]

This seems like overly optimistic thinking, but I hope they are right.

https://www.fpl.com/government/pdf/etr-map-sec.pdf

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

In Sarasota, coupla properties out of (pre-defined?) flood zones lucked out. No electricity for a few days, relatively minor damage, no flooding, this time. Medical office building partner/orthodontist's office was partially "opened" to the elements by a large oak tree branch late in storm. Most of tree fell away from building. Feel real badly for the 'yarders and many others severely impacted in Ft Myers, North Point, etc.

 

[jibsey]

In Sarasota, coupla properties out of (pre-defined?) flood zones lucked out. No electricity for a few days, relatively minor damage, no flooding, this time. Medical office building partner/orthodontist's office was partially "opened" to the elements by a large oak tree branch late in storm. Most of tree fell away from building. Feel real badly for the 'yarders and many others severely impacted in Ft Myers, North Point, etc.

I had zero damage in Sarasota but I'm inland and not on the ocean. lots of branches down, some people report asphalt shingles and some screen damage. Majority of damage on coastline but going in it was better.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

My parents left this AM to head to their place in Naples to make repairs. Staying at a friend's condo.

The park that they have their unit in was mostly flooded out; their friends who were down there checked on the place...my parent's place took on water that went a few inches up over their flooring; the underlayment is basically pressboard so it's already swelled up and crumbling apart. Mudroom area (ground-level) flooded out and washer/dryer are toast. A/C until also may be shot.

They got intel from friends that the Lowe's in Naples had plywood, but at a cost of ~$95/sheet. They need at least 20 sheets to do floor repairs. Dad contemplated buying supplies here and driving them all the way down to FL. I thought that was crazy. They called a Lowe's on the East Coast of Florida...some suburb of Fort Lauderdale....$55-ish per sheet. They placed an order, and Dad will load it into his full-size truck once they get down there and cart it across I-75 to Naples.

 

[huskiesouth]

In Sarasota, coupla properties out of (pre-defined?) flood zones lucked out. No electricity for a few days, relatively minor damage, no flooding, this time. Medical office building partner/orthodontist's office was partially "opened" to the elements by a large oak tree branch late in storm. Most of tree fell away from building. Feel real badly for the 'yarders and many others severely impacted in Ft Myers, North Point, etc.

Live on the inland side of Sarasota County, no damage to house, pool cage minor damage, landscaping is mostly toast, very fortunate. We had traveled to East Coast on Tuesday, stayed in CT friend’s oceanfront condo in Delray Beach until Sunday when we drove back.

Neighbors tell me it sounded like a freight train for about ten hours, they were mostly scared out of their minds, said next time they’re leaving.

Tragically sad for many here in Florida and South Carolina.

 

[superjohn]

What I really care about is did the Bubble Room and The Mucky Duck survive?

 

[huskiesouth]

What I really care about is did the Bubble Room and The Mucky Duck survive?

The Bubble Room, a real landmark, hard to imagine it’s still standing, very ad.

 

[NJHusky]

Live on the inland side of Sarasota County, no damage to house, pool cage minor damage, landscaping is mostly toast, very fortunate. We had traveled to East Coast on Tuesday, stayed in CT friend’s oceanfront condo in Delray Beach until Sunday when we drove back.

Neighbors tell me it sounded like a freight train for about ten hours, they were mostly scared out of their minds, said next time they’re leaving.

Tragically sad for many here in Florida and South Carolina.

Glad all is ok. We r in south side village near Morton’s. No damage and didn’t loose power. Just some tree limbs and lots of leaves in the pool. Neighbor said the same thing about the sound. Might be prudent to invest in some hurricane shutters going forward

 

[huskymedic]

What I really care about is did the Bubble Room and The Mucky Duck survive?

My buddy from Naples and I were talking about Mucky Duck the other day… he sent me this today. Standing is good, impact to inside, probably not good.

 

[Hoophound]

The Bubble Room is still standing as well. Most of the restaurants on Periwinkle Way are in big trouble though. The water rushed down the street and damaged most of the restaurants really bad. Lazy Flamingo is destroyed. Mad Hatter is completely gone. I like the Clam Shack a lot (Rhode Islanders). No way that survived, that building was a junker before the storm.

I love Sanibel and am glad they will rebuild. The news today is that a temporary Sanibel Causeway should be open by Halloween. That’s amazing if true. The DOT insists they will make it happen.

 

[NJHusky]

They got intel from friends that the Lowe's in Naples had plywood, but at a cost of ~$95/sheet.

Wonder if that’s a violation of the anti gouging law?
Residents who suspect price gouging can report it to the Florida Attorney General hotline (866)- 9NO-SCAM and also by using the No Scam app.

 

[HCCForever]

Wonder if that’s a violation of the anti gouging law?
Residents who suspect price gouging can report it to the Florida Attorney General hotline (866)- 9NO-SCAM and also by using the No Scam app.

I had a roofing company quote me $72 a sheet 3 years ago in Central Florida. Expensive but not sure if $95 a sheet would fall into gouging.

 

[huskiesouth]

Glad all is ok. We r in south side village near Morton’s. No damage and didn’t loose power. Just some tree limbs and lots of leaves in the pool. Neighbor said the same thing about the sound. Might be prudent to invest in some hurricane shutters going forward

Thanks. We live in Lakehouse Cove in Waterside, have hurricane impact windows, generator and hurricane blinds for lanai were already on order, but still would have left town, was concerned about major flooding and I’m a wimp.

Have friends who live near you, also never lost power, their theory is power stays on because of proximity to SMH.

 

[jibsey]

Glad all is ok. We r in south side village near Morton’s. No damage and didn’t loose power. Just some tree limbs and lots of leaves in the pool. Neighbor said the same thing about the sound. Might be prudent to invest in some hurricane shutters going forward

Windows broken if not on shoreline of direct hit? Probably not. Somewhat of a Florida scam maybe.