Lessons Learned from Ian

So we survived the storm, must say it was an extremely tense time. We were "target landfall" expecting a direct hit which would have been devastating. Seeing the photos out of Sarasota and Fort Meyers, I know how lucky we are. Those areas are only about 2 hours away. Only 48 hours before landfall, Ian turned and we were spared a direct hit.

But the week before, watching the forecast, predicting gloom and doom, was extremely stressful. Evacuation zones A, B and C were put into mandatory evacuation. Water was cut off to the barrier islands in order to force people off. Bridges were closed. Roads were closed. Store shelves were bare. Gas was in short supply. More than 400,000 people evacuated. Predictions were dire: This was going to be the worse storm in 100 years to hit our area. I'm in a non-evacuation zone so in those zones we are told to "shelter in place." I did stock up, board up, etc. Thought I was well prepared.

Still when Ian hit land, we were on the outer edge of the storm, Ian was enormous. The wind was so extreme it sucked the water right out of the bay. Steady winds of around 70 mph. Lost power early in the day and was without electricity for nearly 48 hours. Around 75% of our county was dark. With the house boarded up, there's no ventilation, no light, it was terribly uncomfortable and nerve wracking to say the least. Wind was howling and I couldn't see outside. Kona came down with some kind of severe allergic reaction to something and began itching to the point of tearing her skin into a bloody pulp. She later had a steroid shot and is on antibiotics. I am doing daily wound care for her.

Spent most of this week cleaning up after the storm. Two waist high piles of tree branches and debris for my efforts. One branch of a neighbour's huge tropical plant fell on my fence, crushing the gate, and I was out there with a hack saw manually chopping it down. Then dragging the six foot thing to the alley. It was heavy, like dragging a dead body (not that I've ever done that!) and I had to stop every few feet to catch my breath and recoup my strength. 

In the middle of all the clean up, my kitchen table decided to break a leg, literally. So there I was hunting up wood glue, wood screws and Bob's old furniture clamps trying to repair it. Took tries, but it's finally standing up right. 

I feel beaten up, every muscle aches, and I have cuts all over my hands and my knuckles are swollen.

I learned a few things: batteries, for one, do not last that long! Even though I bought name brand expensive batteries, they all died before the power came back on. Next storm, I will buy more batteries!

The guys who put up my hurricane boards used "star" screws. I never heard of such a thing and I went out with the idea of taking down a few boards to let some air into the house and found I didn't have a drill bit that fit these star things....  so had to wait for the guys to show up, fortunately they came and took a couple of boards down so I could open a few windows. Still...  Need a star shaped screw driver or bit for drill.

I maybe should invest in a small chain saw? 

And that "5 day" cooler I bought to keep perishables in was filled with melted ice after a day. So much for that. The refrigerator actually stayed colder without power:  live and learn. But then I switched the fridge on the highest/coldest setting the day before the storm. And the a/c on the low. In order to keep things cool as long as possible in case of a power outage. That did help a bit for the first few hours.... 

Did you know a swimming pool can actually "pop" out of the ground in a storm? I did not know this, not that it happened to me, but learned you should not drain too much water out of your pool in order to prevent that. I did drain the pool a few inches as we were forecasted to have 15 or more inches of rain. We only got two inches, so I had refill the pool after the storm. My emergency drain hose broke during the storm...  That and two gates that won't close properly, and a piece of the solar heating for pool that sprung a leak are the only damage I had.

Then all the time spent carting the patio/porch furniture, plants, wind chimes, etc. first into the house/garage and then back out afterwards. 

I am exhausted both physically and mentally. But counting my blessings. It could have been worse.