Reg, Thank you for your thoughts at this time. I have to admit that I am a little concerned about Hurricane Milton as it barrels its way towards Florida. My main thoughts are for the people on the west coast as they will bear the brunt of it. I live on the east coast in South Daytona, about two miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. There have been headlines like “Hurricane of the century” which must send fear into those on the west coast. The National Hurricane Centre has predicted the storm will be “one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida”. The last Hurricane Helene about two weeks ago caused the death of 227 people. It skirted up the west coast of Florida and headed north into Georgia, South and North Carolina. I spoke yesterday with my stepdaughter, who lives in North Carolina, and she told me that they had only just got back electricity and water.
I think I have done all I can do to prepare for Milton. I have put everything that was lying around in either my garage or garden shed so they don’t become projectiles. I had a little trouble with my electricity generator. It would not start so I put a new spark plug in it, cleaned the filter, drained the carburetor and drained all the old petrol out of it. Even then it refused to start. The following day I bought what is called starter fluid and sprayed it into the filter hole and the carburetor. After a while it did finally start so I left it running for half an hour, left it and tried it again. It seems to be fine now, thank goodness.
As I am writing this, you’d think it was evening as it is so dark. It is only 9 o’clock in the morning. The rain has been on most of the night and it looks like it will be on for the rest of the day. It is expected that we may get anywhere up to a foot of rain on top of the rain we’ve already had over the last couple of days. The ground is already soaked so that doesn’t bode too well.
Once all this is over I’ll send you another report.
Best wishes, Jack
Hello Jack, Excellent to hear from you, especially under such trying circumstances.
Well done on bringing the generator back to life: your technical abilities are undiminished. I know that I speak for us all when I say that you will be in our thoughts over the next few days. All the very best: you will get through it!
Best wishes, Reg.
Jack updates (Sun 13 Oct 2024): Just got back from my walk. The more I look around the more convinced I am how lucky we were. When I say we, I mean just a couple of houses at the side, in front and behind me. There are still loads of homes around me that do not have electricity yet. Outside a lot of the homes at the back of me there are piles of bedding, mattresses, carpets, wooden cupboards, wooden flooring, and even washing machines, cookers and tumble dryers.
This photo is just a good example of what I see around me. And you have to realize that these people were inundated with water exactly 2 years ago. I did read that some bastard insurance companies will be pulling out of Florida so you will not be able to get insurance.
The local electricity provider, Florida Power and Light, have called in loads of repair trucks from out of state to help with the electricity restoration. I was only without electricity for two days so consider myself fortunate. The same with the Internet, just two days down.
We have a board meeting* next Thursday but I believe some of the members have not been able to use their phones so they do not have notification. (*This is a get together of five or six guys every two weeks or so for a few beers and to put the world to rights. As the so-called chairman I try to organize meetings in different pubs, bars, etc.) So, no electricity, internet or telephone. All very strange and frustrating.
Another side effect is that some people are finding unexpected visitors in flooded streets, back gardens or even their homes: displaced wild animals. An alligator was caught on video Thursday morning resting on the porch of a home in Tampa. Another lunged at the tire of a vehicle driving through floodwaters in North Fort Myers during the storm Wednesday night, according to a local news report. Check it out here.
Towns near the coast are also told to watch out for stingrays that have washed up into the flood waters. Wildlife experts warn people to leave the animals alone. Are they kidding!
Best wishes, Jack.
Hello Jack, Excellent to hear that you have survived the turmoil. We knew that you would do it! We think a normal dose of bad weather is a tragedy, but you get the real thing. Even the alligators join in. Exciting as it all sounds, I think I will stay here and ‘enjoy’ the early winter. Off to read it all again – meanwhile, all the very best, Reg.