LINDA SURVIVES HURRICANE DENNIS!!
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IN HER OWN WORDS..................
I had to flee my home on the Ochlockonee Bay in Panacea, FL Sunday morning, July
10th, as Hurricane Dennis roared in some
180 miles to our west. My sister Susan, who lives next door, along with her son and
daughter and two grandchildren, two of our friends, four dogs and me had to run for our
lives as the storm surge claimed the Wakulla County coast. |
Saturday night July 9th - 7 PM
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We escaped to our life long friend's, the Davis', two story beach house about a
quarter mile up the road to ride out the storm. We watched their concrete swimming pool
deck slide down into the bay as the wind and waves chewed up the chain link fence and
tossed it into the pool. Water came up in waves and pounded on the large sliding glass
doors, but they did not break and their house took on very little water. |
It was a harrowing day.
Finally around 5 PM after Dennis made landfall the waters stopped rising and began to
recede. Susan and I walked our dogs down to our homes where both houses were surrounded by
water. Sections of docks that the storm had destroyed were strewn across our front and
back yards. A river had run between our homes. I couldn't get my bay side door or my side
door open. There was a foot of straw/seagrass/ seaweed mounded up in front of each door |
Sunday Morning July 10 - 7AM
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My back door after the storm
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My side door after the storm
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No one expected a 12 to 14 foot storm surge. We thought it would be about like
Hurricane Ivan last year. Reports have it now that there hasn't been a storm surge like
that in 70+ years. We were given an evacuation order, but very few people on our little
island (Mashes Sands) left their homes as Hurricane Ivan only brought about a 6 to 8 foot
storm surge. Everyone, including the Weather Service was taken by surprise. Pretty scary!
By the grace of God, the interior of my home did not take on water, but the front porch
and the back porch (where my studio was) got about two inches of water. Salt water. Debris
everywhere. An inch or more of mud. Most everything of value was off the floor, but I lost
some power supplies to some of my equipment. Time will tell if my mics got too much
moisture. My garage and my little utility building on the road side had a good foot of
water as well as . I lost my dryer and everything I had stored in the garage. My major
loss, though, was my car. I couldn't get it cranked when we were escaping the storm surge
to get it to higher ground and it got flooded. My insurance won't cover it and I've
applied to FEMA and the SBA for assistance, but I haven't heard back from them yet..
It stinks too (the car). Even if I can get the motor dried out I'm always going to
have to deal with that smell and the mold. And with the corrosive salt bath it got --it's
a ticking time bomb. I needed a new car anyway, but I wasn't quite ready for this. |
My car as the waters receded
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Some of the volunteers
from the LDS Church
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My sis, Susan, on the other hand, had a foot or more of water throughout her whole
house. Her utility building flooded too. She had about an inch or more of mud as well. It
took her and the home owners several days to get it cleaned out initially. On Saturday,
July 16, right after the storm, some volunteers from the Church of the Latter Day Saints
up in Tallahassee came down to help. There were eight men of from the ages of 16 to
50 who were indeed "our angels". They wasted no time in cleaning up all
the outside debris and helped all our neighbors with some sort of clean-up. There
was also a team of volunteers from the Episcopal Church in Medart in the neighborhood.
One of the neighbors grilled burgers and hot dogs for everyone and there were
plenty of sodas and beer at hand. We have all been grateful for each other in this
time of distress and are appreciating one another more than ever.
Of course, there are still folks here that are far more worse off than we are. Some people
lost their homes; their cars; all their precious memories - a lifetime. Completely
flooded out! But no loss of life and we are all thankful for that.
And I have to thank my other sister, Jennie and my niece, Taylor, for coming down 600
miles from Hendersonville, TN to help me get my house cleaned out. They drove down
Wednesday (July 13th) and got the front porch cleaned off and sanitized. It was an inch
thick in mud and muck. We got up the next morning and got the garage (a real mess) cleaned
out and bleached. Then she and Taylor got back in the van and took off. She was here 24
hours and did so much. I know the heat and humidity was hard on them. It's been hard on
all of us natives. This past week we've had heat indexes of 110 degrees plus. Some
are just now getting their electricity back. |
Roadside in front of my home
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Another view
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One good thing....UPS was supposed to deliver my CDs from the factory Friday( July 8th)
before the storm, but I had them hold my delivery until after the hurricane passed. A good
thing. It flooded in my house where I was going to store them. So I rented a storage
space in Tallahassee... a 2nd story unit that is climate controlled and had UPS deliver
them there on the 15th. Thanks to those of you who have already ordered copies and thanks
for your patience as I emerge from the muck and the mire.
Praise God we survived.
Linda
PS More Pictures! |
Between my house
and my sister's house
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Looking out my back door
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In front of the Davis' house looking
towards the road
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Eye level with Dennis looking at the Davis' pool disappear into the Bay
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Davis' pool
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My neighbor lost her fence
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"Therefore let all the faithful pray to you when
you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them" Psalm 32:6 |
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