My Greeting for WILMA
1st Hurricane Charley on Friday Aug the 13th 2004 Last year
NOW
Here comes Hurricane Wilma
I am as prepared as I can get
I am leaving tommorrow to go north of Tampa to safer ground

The path of Charley
Here is a pic showing the path of Charley  

Another Pic from Space showing excatly where I am

My Poor 1966 Corvair
( I have already cut much of the tree off of her
The windshield was broken - the hood - roof and front trunk lid ( the engine is in the rear ) were dented and the $2000.00 paint job was ruined by tree sap and scratches
My insurance company paid me ONLY $127.00 AND i HAD full coverage -- go figure
( FEMA DID NOTHING NOR DID THE Fla State Insurance Commission ) The adjuster said he did not see any REAL restoration efforts on the car !!!!!!!
More un-needed stress  

The Bomb Shelter / Storm Cellar
Thats Me in this Picture -- I am NOT  a giant (BUT  I am 6'6" ) - the door is ONLY 5ft and used to be 6 inch thick metal
 My house was built in 1962 right after the Cuban Missile Crisis and has a 'fall-out' shelter
I know not many of the visitors to this page will remeber Fallour Sahelters OR "DUCK AND COVER" -- ask your parents about that ----
but Many people were afraid of Russia Bombing us AND built these

It features three foot thick ceiling and 2 1/2 foot thick walls and a hand cranked flitered air pump to draw in filtered fresh air

It makes a great storm shelter BUT my significant other is afraid of it flooding and will not stay in it
I put My Blue and Gold Macaw ~~~ "Prince Gilligan of Florda" ~~ in the shelter for Charley where he hunkered down ( We had little warning that Charley was goinf to hit us -- as the webpage mentioned lower relates )---- I will not do the same for Wilma as the storm surge is expected to be nuch higher so He will stay with a neighbor for the few days we are gone Meet Gilligan HERE

   THE Troops ARRIVE
After a full week without power ( it was 98 one day - without air ) - I awoke on SAT Aug 21st 2004 to find these angels of mercy in my backyard

 Here is what the storm surge was like a day after the storm
My boat at low tide in the after picture _ 24 hours after the storm passed <BR.The water is STILL 4 to 5 feet over normal <BR>It rose to about 3 fet higher during the storm
But my camera had 'DEW' in it so no pics of that  

The roof of my Home Fared NO BETTER
This was taken almost a month after the storm hit
The blue tarp is off to let the repairs begin
the clay tile roof was peeled back like opening a sardine can  

My whole story and My feelings on how these storms affect people can be found linked on the "webiste" page on my Profile