['ol Pinion head]

From texts I received this AM, Sanibel Isle development is a major disaster.

3 1/2 - 4 miles inland (directly east) in Ft Myers, my in-laws condo was fortunate to not have it's windows ripped off/destroyed. Their late model leased cars are in near 4 foot of water/ totals. Fortunately, a fellow they have used for some remodeling came by Monday & hauled to his place the contents of their freezer & fridges.

Anyone hear anything from anyone on Marco Island?

[Mcronk]

I have lived in Florida all my life and been through a few of these. Anything Cat 3 and above is no joke. Personally I would evacuate if winds were forecasted to be sustained above 100 mph. The stress a building takes in a prolonged wind event is severe. That said most fatalities are not because of the wind but the storm surge. I "worked" Katrina in Waveland/Pass Christian area a day after the storm subsided. I saw buildings completely lifted off their foundations by storm surge and then deposited on top of cars when the water receded. Saw a shrimp boat miles from coast in a wooded area. Cars were everywhere and in all positions (see pics). The storm surge was miles inland from the coast.

Currently I am living in Leesburg area but grew up in Melbourne on the Central Florida East Coast. We received very little storm damage at all.

One thing I will note is how far off the track forecast was 24 hours out of landfall. Initially the storm was supposed to come in further north and take a more north northeast track either up into Georgia or exiting near Jacksonville. Even with all the models and technology the Hurricane Center admitted that the track consistently kept shifting to the east and south during the event. They do mention track error but this storm had them playing "catch up" the whole time. Thank goodness for the wind shear and dry air that impacted the storm just about landfall. The storm ingested a lot of dry air and you could see the rain being confined mostly to the north of the eye. Mother nature still has a upper hand.

Here are a few pics I took after Katrina of cars I saw.

[GT182]

I've been all thru Florida a few times, when I was picking up produce to take back North and visiting friends in the Orlando area. Thankfully not during the Hurricane Season.

I hope and pray everyone in this mess is ok.

[johnta1]

I think I saw the pics of the bridge to Sanibel.
Not good.

We stayed at Periwinkle RV park a few years back. Wonder what they did with the birds and animals there?

Hard to fathom all the destruction.

[sdbob]

Prayers for all affected.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Originally Posted by johnta1

I think I saw the pics of the bridge to Sanibel.
Not good.

We stayed at Periwinkle RV park a few years back. Wonder what they did with the birds and animals there?

Hard to fathom all the destruction.

That Sanibel road is toast, BUT in many of the pictures of just the destroyed roadway, it was JUST a thin layer of asphalt layer on top of sand?

I know that Florida is just one large sand bar, but??

Maybe there is no choice in road building methods?

Im not knocking any particular state, or who ever built that road, just wondering???

[Tom Vaught]

Ft Myers is where a Summer Home for Henry Ford I was located.
Thomas Edison's Home and Lab are very close by.
Wonder if they are still standing or are damaged beyond repair.

Tom V.

[dataway]

Talked to the inlaws today, they sat it out in Naples. At the moment they have water back, and their community has limited electricity because of their own backup generator. They live in a very nice assisted living community so I'm not sure how Naples in general is fairing.

Anyone see the pics of the two Plymouth Super Birds wrecked, one of them upside down?

Lots of rare cars just got rarer.

[tigergto]

I was able to speak to a friend of mine that works for Charlotte County water. He was able to get into my community. My worst fears were confirmed. My place is totally destroyed. My wife and I will be starting from scratch. I wasn’t able to get full insurance coverage because of the year of the house… (1978).
Salvaging what we can and arranging clean up is next.
Most of the infrastructure in Englewood has been destroyed, so this will be a very slow process.
I was so looking forward to not spending any more winters in northern NY.
On the bright side, we’re alive and we still have our NY home and camp.
My wife is taking it very hard.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Geez.

[67drake]

Yeah,that sucks tiger. Hope you can figure out how to get that house put back together.
I don’t know what town my son is working in today, but he said it’s at least sunny and 70’s down there today.

[carcrazy]

Originally Posted by Tom Vaught

Ft Myers is where a Summer Home for Henry Ford I was located.
Thomas Edison's Home and Lab are very close by.
Wonder if they are still standing or are damaged beyond repair.

Tom V.

Went to see them a few months months ago. Hope they survived.

[Greg Reid]

Very sorry to hear that tigergto.

[tigergto]

Originally Posted by 67drake

Yeah,that sucks tiger. Hope you can figure out how to get that house put back together.
I don’t know what town my son is working in today, but he said it’s at least sunny and 70’s down there today.

Thank you Drake. There will be no putting it back together. It will have to be removed and a new one put in it’s place. There will be a lot of out of pocket money

[tigergto]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Very sorry to hear that tigergto.

Thank you. Thousands of Floridians have it much worse than me.

[Valley Pan]

I’m in Alva, and had a pretty rough go. Lots of damage in my neighborhood. The continuous roar as it goes through is something you never forget. And the tornadoes.

I drove to Naples today to get gas for the generators. I saw incredible damage and flooding.

I stayed for Irma, and Ian was worse because of the duration. We don’t know when power will come back. I drove past miles of downed power poles and lines.

We will make it through this. Every day will get better.

[sdbob]

President of our local POCI Chapter has a 2nd floor condo,towers,(they had to reinforce concrete because of the condo that fell,before the hurricane) in Fort Myers he owns. It was flooded on first floor. He will find out more Monday. He got lucky as he lives there in the winter. He brought his Soltice home in the spring to Pa for service. His friends were to take it back for him in September but didnt. Another guy not sure where has a winter home but it is flooded he'll find out more.

[Region Warrior]

Looking at the images and vids just so sad.
Glad to report my brother(near Leesburg?), sister(Port Orange), and brother inlaw(Jacksonville) are fine.
Sister in PO 25 yrs, so used to storms. Said by far worst ever experienced. Rain and wind so loud couldn't sleep.
Brother and sister inlaw had just gone down 2 weeks early prior to winter home past 5 years.
Keeping close eye on updates, planned to stay in place. Stocked up on everything.
When storm shifted decided to bug out to sisters next morning before landfall.
State of emergency was issued, so couldn't.
Lost power at 2:26 Lost contact at 5:07 till 9:05am.
Said was REAL NARLY!(his words)
Only 5-6 blocks away real bad. 3' thick trees, street lights, speed and stop signs down.
Small food stores closed. Not much left on big box store shelves as expected. No staples.

[KJB]

I'm in Wisconsin till October 25th when we fly back to Florida. Our power in Port Charlotte is still off and the latest estimate is it won't be restored before October 10th. I have cameras looking inside and outside of my condo but of course they are useless without power.

[johnta1]

tigergto, sorry to hear that about your place. (and all the others too)