Fla guys - how did you make out?

[BobCT]

Harris, I was thinking of you as Punta Gorda was on the news quite a bit. Hope everyone escaped w/o major damage.


Bob

[prowlersfish]

I have not heard any thing from him but I hope all is well . El L Sea came out ok . Hope for the best for all .

[prowlersfish]

Just a Update , RWS and the boat are ok . don't know any details .

[BobCT]

Good to hear that. Coincidentally, the people my boat have a place in Punta Gorda and said it's still about 40% w/o power.

[Big D]

We watched this thing unfold on CNN all last weekend and into this week. What a monster. We have some family living down there that decided to ride it out despite the warnings and our concerns for them. Their logic was that they've lived through many in the past and that it is no different than us northerners going through a bad winter storm....say what?! I mean winter storms can get bad and affect many communities for weeks but that comparison doesn't come close to a direct hurricane hit of that magnitude. Couldn't believe they said that. It was like listening to the folks on Mount Saint Helens that refused to leave then were never heard from again. They come out of it with minor damage but admitted that they'd never do that again. After seemingly countless hours of being pounded by the storm, they were mentally and physically exhausted. It was a full day of extreme stress not knowing whether they'd survive or not. In hindsight, it just wasn't worth sticking around and putting the whole family at risk.

Sounds like electricity and recovery/rebuilding will take quite a while, perhaps years in the Keys. We feel for you guys. Hope that goes better than anticipated. Hats off to all the first responders and trades that have dropped everything to help out, and kudos to CNN reporters for offering up their SAT phones to survivors that had no way of contacting their loved ones abroad to let them know they survived.

[El L Sea]

All good in Fort Myers, FL. Our marina is sort of a hurricane hole with mangroves on all sides. We saw about 5 feet of storm surge, but we are on floating docks that can handle up to 15 feet. A few stretched lines and nerves, and covered in mangrove leaves, but untouched otherwise. No power to the marina, house, or work, so we have been using the boat as our oasis with TV and AC running the genny. Still about 60% of our county without power, but we dodged a bullet, no so much for other parts of the state, especially the Keys.

[WayWeGo]

Glad to hear you fared so well!