The posts will be mixed with personal thoughts, news interjections and random items. I tried my best to give times, but there are points I did not write it down, so you’ll have to understand that there may be some time spans.
As I typed this out, if I’m talking about news for some bullet points in a row, I am trying to keep them together. In instances where I am rambling, as I usually do, don’t mind the nonsensical freeform. That too, I tried to lump together.
Pictures to come at some point (over 1,000 snaps).
September 30 2022
6am – Woke up. Slept with windows
open last night for cool air. Not freezing, but at least it’s less humid. Started
to find news on radio and it’s all “talk” shows. Nothing major. One of the
shows said this is now one of the top ten worst hurricanes in history. As we
spent an hour and a half listening to the radio, we tried our phones again. Got
through to a couple of people, but messages are failing again (7:30).
8:13am – talk show thinks about
83% of Lee County still without power. People are calling in to say who has
power, gas, etc. LCEC is working on search and rescue before power is restored.
No news about FPL.
9:30am – been outside for an hour
or so. Just had coffee at Ed + Joanne’s (one neighbor) as another neighbor has
a generator (Mike). We still have our front flooded. There are dry patches, but
it still is not going down. Someone was walking from one end of the street and
is trying to leave. She was at her cousin’s house in the cul de sac and wanted
to go home to her complex across the street. She found out that she has a few
inches to a few feet in her house and she’s anxious to see what her place looks
like. She wants to be able to get the doors and windows open before the mold
starts. Unfortunately, she has to cross a semi flooded street. Luckily, we saw
her get picked up by someone in a pickup, about 4 units down the road. They
were able to get her home it looks like.
10:47am – neighbors have been
trying to go out and see what’s going on as well as getting more supplies. Ed
and Joanne have taken in whatever food was salvageable from our fridge and
freezer. Same with Arlene (lady upstairs). We said we will share with everyone
as it is chicken, cheese, meat, etc. Once the grill gets on, everyone can cook
what they want. But Ed owns the grill and he’s out getting fuel for not only
that, but for Mike’s generator. He might also be getting water for him and
Joanne. He’s been gone since 10 or so. They say lines are long at Costco and
other places. News reported that about an hour ago. We have just been outside,
watching what is happening. Nothing major, but neighbors are together as much
as can be. Just to be social so we aren’t all alone. This definitely shows you
the power of people. All walks of life and political background. Times like
this, we all get along!
You don’t realize how much water
you have until you go through it. “Plan for seven days” they say. But if power
grids go down for weeks, you’re screwed. We certainly can’t ration out water,
so hopefully our streets clear and maybe we can go out. If we can get out, now
that more places are opening up and are being stocked.
Helicopters circle us every 15 to
30 minutes. Don’t know who they are – might be news, might be government. Can’t
tell.
Service on phones still spotty. I
think people in the other parts of the state have problems too. Erica in the
Keys, Emi in Orlando, Dawn in Cape Coral. Can’t reach them via text – it keeps
failing. Heard from Sue in Titusville. She is en route to the Carolinas and
it’s 11:13am.
12:40pm – came inside for a
while. It’s getting hot. Whatever station we have on the radio, someone called
in that from Miami to us, have flooding in places and gas stations are dark.
They are telling people to not
try to get to Cape Coral. Stay out until necessary. First responders need the
roads. Everyone needs to be off the roads. Sam’s Club is saying you don’t need
to be a member if you need gas. Open til 6pm. But part of Lee County is under a
6pm curfew. Airport (RSW) is blocked. If your car is there, talk to the guard
and explain that your car is there. Otherwise you can’t get in.
Our neighbors are helping each
other move the tops of the fallen palm trees so the water can recede and our
driveways are clear.
News caller said all of Cape
Coral needs to be repaired and relined with power poles.
There are still trying to figure
out how to get people evacuated from Sanibel and Captiva.
One of my mother’s friends works
for a cleaning crew and does our complex. He had been in an accident a month or
so ago and lost totaled his car. Now, he lost everything in the storm – his
rental, his house, everything. His livelihood is cleaning and 85% of his work
is on Sanibel. Luckily he has someone who can house him for now.
1:25pm – News - $20 million in
damage in Naples. They also said that local sheriff said there is zero
tolerance in regards to curfew. It is to prevent looting and is for the overall
safety of everyone since we are still with no power. They are still trying to
do search and rescue.
Thoughts – everyone doing auto
pay for bills, what happens if you can’t get online to transfer funds? People
have basics attached to accounts. Our HOA fees are due, along with car
insurance and what not. Big money!
1:30 – Ed and Joanne came over to
tell us there is cold water. Some people are reporting water. Still boil, but
he have a little water.. now what?
We are starting to get together
food to cook. With Ed and Joanne having a grill, we are all sharing.
News confirmed the water is back
on in places and North Port now has a boil water order.
3:01pm. We went to Ed and
Joanne’s for a meal. Scrambled eggs and cheese, left overs (cooked meats from
last night). English muffins. Everyone said it was better than the breakfast
places.
News: Power stats - 109,000 in
Collier County with power. About half of that is without power. 225,000 in Lee
County without power. Still a large number from FPL. 103,000 in Charlotte
County without power. 5,000 in Hendry and half of that is without power.
Text still is spotty. Can’t log
in to apps or make good messages or calls. IMessage can’t connect to server. I
won’t be able to do anything Apple related.
The hurricane is pulling the
weather away so we are getting cooler air (News).
We are trying our best to keep up
with the drinking and staying clean.
Announcement on news (3:10): said
US41 is closed – both ways in Charlotte County at the Charlotte Harbor / Peace
River area. It is just past North Fort Myers. So we wouldn’t even be able to
leave unless we used 75.
Some stores are open with limited
stock but the news says check the website to see list. It doesn’t help if you
can’t get online, have power or cell service.
Once everyone said the water is
back, a couple neighbors tried the toilets. One then another. We have all been
trying the “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” rule.
4pm – news says there is a 24
hour curfew on Sanibel because it’s way too dangerous to be out and about. Boat
access is prohibited and there is absolutely no access to the island. Prior
reports said that at least 1500 people are there. Sanibel and Captiva are
completely severed from help. Officials are trying to get help there.
4:49pm – I can definitely tell
the difference between 4G and 5G cell services. My iPhone 11 is 4G, while my
mother’s is a 13 with 5G. She is getting random texts to go thru every time we
attempt to turn on her phone. My phone struggles, yet, I’ve been able to call
out occasionally. But it hasn’t been working for a while. We are both on LTE,
but towers are still wonky. I keep trying to reconnect to iMessages, but it’s
circling. It doesn’t seem to connect since we have no wifi or reliable
connection for cell service. The LTE changes when everything circles after 5
minutes and goes to SOS or NO SERVICE. Totally a blow to the gut because we
can’t respond to the people who we get texts from.
5pm – news – they are talking
about the Causeway. FL DOT will have a plan to rebuild soon. There will be a
design within the next thirty days and a full on build within the year. So, by
this time next month, there will a new bridge on paper and by this time next
year, it’ll be live. There is now a “half trillion dollars’ worth of damage”.
“Charley was a walk in the park compared to this”. “30% of people will have
power overnight while 70-80% of people will have power over the next couple
weeks. 50 % ill have water within the week. Wifi will be up as soon as it can”.
Major intersections will have police detail. As of this news cast, the death
toll is: 12 in Charlotte, 8 in Collier, 16 in Lee, 5 during hurricane but may not
be from the hurricane itself. FPL says “restored 50% during Irma state wide.
SWFL is dramatically lower. Less than 50% been restored. Lee County estimate is
it could be 75% will have within two weeks. But that is being generous”.
I don’t know why they said Irma.
“There is a small percentage of
people who have power. By 7am tomorrow some places in Cape Coral could have
power in places but not sure what”. “People are warned they won’t have power
now”. “Bridge over Peace River is closed. It’s precautionary. Southbound
traffic to King’s Highway and Northbound traffic to Marion Ave is closed. 75 is
the way to go”. “The worst may not be over for Desoto County. Peace River
hasn’t crested. Water is 8 foot higher than it should be. Gas stations are not
open in Desoto so people can’t drive through Arcadia. You must use 75 for
travel”.
8:21pm – we just finished
showering after being out with the neighbors since 5:50. Everyone together,
sharing food off the grill. It was nice. But we are all so shocked over the
devastation. Some of the people have tried to go out. They say we are EXTREMELY
lucky to not get the damage they saw around us.
Note – our shower was quick.
Don’t know if it’s dirty water or not so we scrubbed good. Tried not to get in
our eyes or mouth. Just don’t know.
But everyone is really coming
together. The problem will be doing this for the next two weeks or more. The
grids are bad and the pipes are broken in places. News is reporting how that
they are going to have distribution places for people. We would see if we could
go out with a neighbor in a high car. See if we all can get water or something
because we are going to go through our (now shared) food quick. There has been
5-8 people eating every meal. The challenge is that we’d be “wasting” gas. My
mom says if the water recedes enough tomorrow we’re going to walk to our friend
Betty’s around the corner. News just said curfew is 9pm to 6am. I’m like, it’s
too damn dark right now to be in at 9. Sun set and goes dark by 8:15. It’ll be
treacherous. Question on news – main breaks are underground? Answer – they have
tech to see where breaks are, but it’s internet based and the internet is down.
They’re going to try tomorrow with other tech. no specific number of people
without water. Septic problem? There’s been some problems and surcharge, with
manholes and pump stations, but it’s little because they know where it is. But
they can’t locate the break in the main system. They know where some minor
breaks are. It’s a different grid than Cape Coral. So report any breaks you see
to the city, which means if you see things like bubbles in the road, it’s a
sign something is bad underneath. Conserve water when possible. Garbage pick up
starts Monday but perishables only – not recycle. Starz Complex is going to be
a distribution center for food for kids. No word about what places will be
handing supplies, we don’t know. We have just rethinking about it. Water,
bread, peanut butter.. stuff that needs no electricity. We may not attempt to
go – it would probably be “cheaper” to find a grocery store if we need it.
Waits are long in places. The lines are horrendous where people go. Most places
is cash only and you better be good at math in case you get screwed. People and
places tend to try to price gouge.
The news is reporting that a guy
owns three houses, which are family houses. He left in the middle of the
hurricane to swim four blocks (½ mile) and it was a rough swim. He needed to
save his wheelchair bound mother. By the time he got to her. The water was up
to her chin in her house. If he was half an hour later, she would have died. He
lost a house and some things, but his family is alive and safe.
As I write this, I’m hearing cars
SPEED down the road outside. It’s 8:50pm and DARK.
News said schools are cancelled
of next week.
Well, duh. There’s no power.
People can’t go out. How can kids expect to learn right now?
Other school news: FSW is
cancelled next week until Sunday October 9. The goal is to open on October 10.
The same with FGCU.
Who knows what is going to happen
the next week if power won’t be restored for a minimum of two weeks.
There has been a least 5
helicopters pass by. Don’t know what is happening.
9pm.
It is 60 something degrees out
right now. “It’s like fall” they say. My mother says “we haven’t had a
fall-like night since probably before we moved here”. The news says we won’t
have humidity for the rest of the weekend. So it will be nice to sleep with the
windows open.
Thought – if I don’t have access
to email, power, phone, I don’t know what the status of my (new) job is. Is the
building still standing? Did it get leveled? Will they open? Do I have a job
(and as important, insurance)? This is nutso. All the more reason we rely too
heavily on our (smart) devices. I am so out of touch with everything, like
everyone else. I don’t know if courts are open, so if they are, I may have
work. But I can’t get out of my flooded area. I don’t want to risk driving down
there, especially with no power. I’m basically out of a job at the moment (like
everyone else). I can’t totally complain – I have not had damage to where I
live. I am without power, but we have water (for now). We have neighbors.
Although I do not want to do this again, I still wouldn’t mind dealing with
snow again.
It’s 9:13pm. I should think about going bed. Oh, if I get to post this with pix – I have a picture of a military plane – a chinook (thanks to Ed my neighbor for telling me what it is. He’s a Purple Heart recipient - Vietnam Veteran). Real neat but something you don’t want to have to see in your life, flying around your neighborhood. This thing makes you truly feel like you’re in a war zone, given the fact they are talking about devastation and you’re seeing so much landscape damage around you.
