GoofyGal1975.com

The 2004 hurricane season in Florida was unreal! FOUR hurricanes in SIX weeks! Three of them crossing over most of the same counties. I wrote out a detailed journal of our first Hurricane experince, Charley. I had intentions to do the same for Francis, Jeanne and our scare about Ivan. But after everything we went through (we had no major damage and didnt have it nearly as bad as some in our neighboring counties) I just dont have the heart to rehash it all. We survived, with only a broken front door thrown around by the wind, some fence pieces that needed to be replaced, and a few shingles off  the roof. During one of the storms my family who lives just down the street lost electricity for about 4-5 days.(even my next door neighbor to the right lost electricity...but the rest of our street kept it) They camped out at my house during that time. I lost cable...luckily I had a tiny black and white antenna TV to keep updated on the news. I took some pictures but they all look the same...rain and trees blowing everywhere. We were so blessed to have the eye of the storm miss us all three times!! I've never been so scared or emotionally drained as I was during those 6 weeks in the summer of 2004. I lived with plywood up on all my windows, getting NO sunlight in my house for a couple of weeks! What an experience that was!! I can say that the help of our family and friends during this time was amazing!! As of Jan 2005, there are still thousands of Floridians homeless from the hurricanes.

 

                                                

 

Scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page for a funny view of living in florida and preparing for a Hurricane!

 The night of August 11th, 2004 everyone in Pinellas County watched the weather reports to hear that Hurricane Charley would be heading close to us. So at work, everyone went over our disaster plans and coverage, just in case. I came home to mow my yard, and pick up things around the yard.

Thursday, August 12th, 2004 was my birthday...and it ended up being a VERY long day!!! I woke up to weather reports to hear the now the eye of Charley would be right over us. I started packing a few things, and then headed off to work. Everyone was concerned, and since I work in a hospital, we had patients to be concerened about too. After getting things in place at work, we left early around 4pm. I went to get gas, only to find LONG lines everywhere I went. One gas station was already out of gas! It was crazy!!

                  

                         Picture from St. Petersburg Times

I came home to finish picking up my back yard while my mother went to Home Depot to get plywood to board up her windows. We had already decided to evacuate to my mothers house to ride out the storm. She lives just down the street from us. We met at my moms house to have a Pizza Party for my bday. We ate the pizza and then all headed out to do things to get ready for the storm. My sister went to get sand bags, her fiance and our neighbor was boarding up the windows of our house and the neighbors house, and i went to try to get the rest of my stuff packed up.

It took my sister 5 hours to get sand bags with her finaces mother. We talked via cell phones trying to decide if we should all stay at moms house, or head to our grandmothers house on the East Coast of Florida. We were getting nervous about the 120 MPH winds that were to come our way. I decided to just go to bed early and head into work for half a day( at first I wasn't going to go in at all but thought it'd be alright to work the early morning), before the storm actually was going to hit us. Then i get THE CALL.

My sister calls me, still in line to get sand bags, and informs me that the fire trucks had gone around moms house saying we MUST EVACUATE NOW!!!!.  That we will NOT BE SAFE in our house during the storm. Michael had called and told her this. I called my boss to confirm that we had to evacuate and I would not be in to work the next day, like we had already discussed. So after 3 hours or more of going back and forth, we decide to get the heck out of town!!!! We FINALLY leave at 2am...7 adults, 2 kids (ages 9 and 2 1/2) 3 dogs and one bird! We took off in 4 cars for our long ride to safety. I was so tired, and i know EVERYONE else was too. My eyes have never hurt so bad!!

As we were leaving our neighborhood, i couldn't help but look back at my house and wonder what I might come home to. I had grabbed my pictures and scrapbooks, but that was about it. It really hit me then, how dangerous this storm could be and we all may have nothing to come home too!!!

              

            Picture from St. Petersburg Times

 

Most of Pinellas County had started to evacuate by 6pm when the mandatory evacuations started. We found out we were in one of the zones, but were stunned since we never flooded or had to evacuate during storms before. The traffic at 2:00am wasnt so bad. We knew it'd be worse in the early morning when Hillsborough County started their mandataory evacuations at 6am. We had our convoy of 4 cars, me in the lead until we hit the Disney area, and my mom took over the lead the rest of the way. We made it to Grandma's house by 4:45am. We were ALL so tired, we just fell sleep.

I woke up the next morning to my cell phone going off, but didnt answer it since i was so tired.It turned out is was my Insurance Company calling me back..."sorry...im running from a hurricane right now...i'll have to call you back!" As a side note: my insurance company would not refil my sons prescriptions for the two week supply that everyone was told to get. I had put in a call to the insurance company the night before to complain that they wouldn't give a 9 year old high blood pressure meds when a cat 3 hurricane was headed our way! Blue Cross Of Alambama...that's who I have! I still have to call them back and complain!!

 

Anyways, I am still sleeping off and on when my sisters fiances mom comes in upset and hands me a cell phone!! We need to get her other daughter and her 1 1/2 year old son to us NOW! Before the storm hits. She had decided the night before not to come with us. It was a tense hour trying to decide how to tell her how to get to us, and where to meet her, since she did not have a cell phone we had to make our plans and hope for the best.  We were all sleep deprived and very emotional. This would also be her FIRST time driving the interstate! I'm so proud of her though, she did a great job getting there and going back home!! She got lost on the way over and a cop wouldn't stop to help her but she did run into our Local CBS news, Channel 10 twice. The second time she asked the anchor women for help, and she was SOOOOO nice to find someone to get her on the right track!!

OK....so here comes the good part!! The Ironic part. The part NO ONE was expecting!!! The storm has sped up and is now going to hit SOUTH of the Tampa Bay Area!! Infact, the storm is going to pretty much travel up I-4. THE VERY ROAD WE JUST SENT CHRITINA AND BABY MICHAEL ONTO!!!! OH, AND NOW IT IS A CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE!!!

My sister and Michaels mom go to the rest area to await their arrival, while the rest of us intertain the kids, and make quick runs to this store and that when we remember something else we might need. We were all getting nervous now, since the very place we had travelled to for saftey, was now expecting to get hit directly by Charley!I went to the local Winn-Dixie to get my son some tylenol and some more ice, and everyone was frantic. Pepole had carts stacked full, some had two carts. The express lane i was in took 25 minutes to get through. Those people had just a few hours to prepare for the hit.

We take turns taking naps, watching the news, looking on the internet for stories from the Tampa Bay Area, and waiting to hear if Christina had made it. She made it, and actually made pretty good time. We all hunkered down and just stayed glued to the TV watching and waiting for our turn. We all had flashlights, and they came into good use. Just as my mother was talking to my dad on the phone(he's in another state right now due to his job) telling him how we were fine and it turns out we will just get the outskirts of the storms, she hangs up the phone and BOOM. The power goes out!!! Good going mom! Haha! This was about 10:30pm.

Brandon in "our" room, playing the Disney Music game to keep his mind off the storm.

Michales family watching the news coverage about the storm.

We round up the flashlights and sit around for a bit. Mom and grandma go to bed, and Michaels family decides to play Yatzie. Brandon surprised me by wanting to play, and not being *too* afraid of the storm. We opened up the windows and front door to get some air...it was VERY hot. After midnight we finally gave up waiting for the electricity to come back on and went to bed. Did I mention the wind? It was very scary. And we only had about 50-75 MPH winds! I can only imagine what 120-140MPH winds sound like! I don't ever want to know!!!

The three kids having fun before the lights when out.

No electicity? No problem!! We can still have some fun!

 

Sometime during the early morning the electricity came back on, thank goodness!! We all got up slowly and inspected the yard/neighboorhood. Luckily, there was no read damage! It was unbelievable! After the sound of the wind, I'd have thought a few trees at least would be down. My great-aunt did not fare as well, and she still was without power Saturday Morning. My mom and grandma went to visit her, and saw downed powerlines and trees.

We decided to pack up and head back home, though whose idea it was to leave that early in the morning, Im not quite sure. If i could do it over I'd wait till Sunday or at least wait to later in the evening to head back on the interstate. We all pack up in the 5 cars now...8 adults, 3 kids, 3 dogs and 1 bird! We all give grandma hugs and thanks for letting us weather out the storm with her.

Packing up to head back home 8/14/04.

So off to the gas station we go...my first dose of reality...CASH ONLY!!! OMG! We went to pay for our gas, and this was a big station and people we waiting in line to get gas. We bought some munchies and some drinks, and i filled up my tire with air. Off to I-4 we go!!

Getting onto I-4, we saw the National Gaurd Convoy. At this time, they were very spaced out and made room for us to get onto the interstate. We quickly got over so we would not be in their way. It was very surreal to see all the National Gaurd trucks!!

 

 

 

 

Ok, so by now everyone knows how much I LOVE Disney!! I can say i've never noticed that you can see Pop Century from I-4! I guess going 5-15 miles per hour lets you take a good look around!!

We saw this sign down, and Brandon took a picture. As we drove past it we noticed it was a DISNEY sign!!!!! We tried to get a picture of it, but the National Guard guys were driving by and saw Brandon taking a picture, and smiled and waved for the camera!, but that one didnt come out either! LOL

We were SO glad to see our favorite Mickey Head was still safe and sound!!

We decided to stop and get gas in Polk County, and exit area we always stop off to get gas or Wendys on our trips. We didnt even THINK that this area was hit pretty hard!!!!!!! Half of us pulled off, and realised there was NO electricity. The gas stations were closed, the fast food places were closed! Only Walgreens was open! They are a pharmacy...so they got power first. We got water, made restroom stops, got snacks...and headed back out to the awful traffic. But wait...Christina's car isn't starting!!! Of course, it starts pouring rain at this time also! So we finally get her car jumped, thank goodness its just her battery...and we head back to the interstate.

here we are "driving" in Polk County trying to get back to I-4. You can see they are already working on the power lines!

We saw a lot of power company trucks, as well as groups of 5-6 Ambulances also during our travels. I was still a bit nervous to get home and see what kind of damage might await us. As it turns out...our town harldy got any rain, much less wind! Go figure! It tooks us 7 hours to get home! A drive that normally takes 3 hours in traffic!! We were SO happy to get home. But guess what?? We came home to a severe storm warning and tornadoes and funnel clouds!! My sister was so nice to go get us Chick-Fil-A, my favorite, and we had a belated Birthday gathering!! I even got to eat my icecream bday cake!! I got home and fell right to sleep. I have to admit Sunday i felt all out of sorts, so lucky it wasnt us that got the direct hit, yet so emotional from everything we had been through. Also, all the local news stations covered the aftermath 24/7. I got to the point I just couldn't watch the news anymore.

Here is a wonderful site, though. We saw this beautiful rainbow over my moms house as we finished the bday dinner/cake!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a funny email I received from my Aunt today!

Subject: Hurricane Preparation for Floridians

 You all should be aware of hurricane preparations, but in case you

 need a refresher course:

 

 We're about to enter the peak of the hurricane season.  Any day now,  you're going to turn on the TV and see a

 weather person pointing to some  radar blob out in the  Atlantic Ocean and making two basic meteorological points.

 

  (1) There is no need to panic.

 

  (2) We could all be killed.

Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Florida.  If you're  new to the area, you're probably wondering what you need to do to  prepare  for the possibility that we'll get hit by "the big one." Based on  our  insurance industry experiences, we recommend that you follow this  simple three-step hurricane   preparedness plan:

 

 STEP 1:  Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least  three days.

 STEP 2:  Put these supplies into your car.

  STEP 3:  Drive to Nebraska and remain there until Halloween.

 

 Unfortunately, statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan.  Most people will foolishly stay here in Florida. We'll start  with one of the most important hurricane preparedness  items:

 

 HOMEOWNERS' INSURANCE:

 

 If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance. Fortunately, this  insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your  home meets two basic requirements:

 

  (1) It is reasonably well-built, and

 

 (2) It is located in Wisconsin

 

 Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area  that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would  prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be  required to pay YOU money, and that is certainly not why they got into the  insurance business in the first place. So you'll have to scrounge around for  an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal  to the replacement value of your house. At any moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss.

 

  SHUTTERS:

 Your house should have hurricane shutters on all the windows and all the  doors.  There are several types of shutters, with advantages and  disadvantages:

 

 Plywood shutters: The advantage is that, because you make them  yourself, they're cheap.

 Sheet-metal shutters: The advantage is that these work well, once you  get them all up.  The disadvantage is that once you get them all up, your  hands will be useless bleeding stumps, and it will be December.

 

 Roll-down shutters: The advantages are that they're very easy to use,  and will definitely protect your house. The disadvantage is that you will  have to sell your house to pay for them.

 

 Hurricane-proof windows: These are the newest wrinkle in hurricane protection: They look like ordinary windows, but they can withstand  hurricane winds! You can be sure of this, because the salesman says  so. He lives in Nebraska.

 

 Hurricane Proofing your property:

 

 As the hurricane approaches, check your yard for movable objects  like barbecue grills, planters, patio furniture, visiting relatives, etc...  You should, as a precaution, throw these items into your swimming pool  (if you don't have a swimming pool, you should have one built immediately).  Otherwise, the hurricane winds will turn these objects into deadly missiles.

 

  EVACUATION ROUTE:

 

 If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route  planned out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at  your driver's license; if it says "Florida," you live in a low-lying area).  The purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being trapped in your home when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped in a  gigantic traffic jam several miles from your home, along with two hundred  thousand other evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely.

 

  HURRICANE SUPPLIES:

 

 If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy  them now! Florida tradition requires that you wait until the last possible  minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with  strangers over who gets the last can of SPAM. In addition to food and water,  you will need the following supplies:

 - 23 flashlights. At least $167 worth of batteries that turn out, when  the power goes off, to be the wrong size for the flashlights.

  - Bleach. (No, I don't know what the bleach is for. NOBODY knows what the bleach is for, but it's traditional, so GET some!)

 - A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a  hurricane, but it looks cool.)

  - A large quantity of raw chicken, to placate the alligators. (Ask anybody who went through Andrew; after the hurricane,  there WILL be irate alligators.)

  - $35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you   can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.

 Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws  near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by  turning on your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand  right next to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it  is for everybody to stay away from the ocean.

 Good luck, and remember:

  It's great living in Paradise.

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