Thoughts and Photos After Hurricane Irma ...

Our decision to stay-put was the beginning of another adventure. Needless to say, our thoughts were filled with a lot of anxious moments, as our undivided attention continued to focus on Irma. More than anything, we needed to know her wind speed/direction and her path related to our location. We also needed divine intervention. Not paying attention to every intricate detail as it related to our location could mean catastrophic results.

We posted updates on Facebook of our situation. Everything seemed to unfold as predicted. The rain started, there were tornado watches, the winds started to increase, and then came the first gust of wind.

It was still light outside when that first gust of wind lightly rocked the RV when it hit us from the side. Even though it was inevitable, I still jumped when I felt it. John looked at me, and commented, “Let's do it again!” Then we both laughed, knowing we would! And I jumped again when I felt the next two gusts of wind at later intervals. We had already rolled up our window awnings. Window awnings on this RV are accessible from inside the coach.  We just opened the window, reached outside, unhooked them, and slowly let them roll up.

When we finally went to bed, Angel was between us. It was really raining and with the noise of the rain and the wind hitting the RV, Angel voiced his dislike of the storm as he barked once and growled. We told him it was a bad storm and the rain and wind would continue all night long. He settled down as though he understood.

We had chocked the wheels on our trailer, which was directly behind us. John parked our daily driver in front of the motorhome and in line with the direction of the wind with enough room for the pine tree at the right front of our RV to fall parallel to the van or perpendicular between the RV and the van. Roots on that tree spread out approximately three feet in either direction. The electric went off for half a second, but never affected the time on the microwave. Thankfully, we never lost power.

At one point while continuing to pray, I remember trying to somewhat relax as I imagined our RV as a giant cradle gently moving with the rhythm of the elements. I woke up minutes before 2 AM. Predictions were that the wind speeds would continue to increase every fifteen minutes, from an easterly direction hitting us on the side, until 3 AM. By 4 AM, the wind direction rotated and was coming at us from the back, so the movement on the RV was not as noticeable.

Except for the wind and the rain, the night was fairly uneventful for us except for an occasional pine cone or small limb falling from the pine trees around us, occasionally making a loud noise when landing or bounding off our roof. Fortunately, all trees were still standing in the morning.The highest predicted wind speed for our area was 49 mph, but there were a couple of times when the gusts felt a lot higher than 49 mph, or maybe it was just how many we felt while watching the tall tree tops swaying back and forth.

We are Safe

It is hard to find words to express the relief we feel. This all could have turned out very badly. Thank God, everyone who remained in our park is safe. It was 8 AM on September 11 when we awoke. Hurricane Irma was straight west of us heading in a northward path along/near the west coast of Florida. Overall, winds in our area were decreasing to 20-some mph with tree tops occasionally moving at higher gusts. Rain was letting up to a light mist.

What we Found Outside

Small to medium branches from pine trees and bark from palm trees were scattered throughout the park. Please read the captions under the photos for description of the photos.

Small tree went down at fence boundary northeast of us.

A limb which came down in row of RVs southeast of us has
already been moved near the trunk of the tree next to the 
red truck.

John and Angel are walking ahead as I lag behind to take a
photo of the drive going toward the front entrance of our park.

This beautiful duck pond was nothing but a dry hole when we
checked in here in April. 

The ducks obviously survived the hurricane.

Old Glory, a little tattered from the storm, is still flying. The
branches are from the tall tree that toppled over the duck pond 
toward the driveway. Vehicles at the back of this photo are in 
the storage section.

View from opposite direction showing fallen tree and rain
waters. Ducks are swimming on the other side of the fallen 
tree.

Wider view of pond and fallen tree shows debris field in
grassy area and close proximity to park drive.

Rain waters collected in this grassy area, located between the 
main drive and the drive along the row of trees at the back 
(south boundary) of the photo. We have named the drive 
along the row of trees the "shady lane" since it is often 
shaded by the trees. There are no campsites along this 
particular stretch of the "shady lane".

Flooding looking west along the "shady lane" 

View of the "shady lane" before the flood
waters. You can see the mail box in both the 
photo above and the previous one. 

View of same camper from east end looking west and off to
the north

New storage building which was protecting things under the
blue tarp is setting upside down behind the RV.  It had three 
lightweight ropes over its top, obviously not enough to protect 
it from the winds. Flood waters are an extension of those in 
the grassy area. 

Debris in grassy area and skirting down at front of fifth wheel
 in row across from the clubhouse.

Palm fronds in foreground. The fellow with an RV parked 
between the scooter and big tree left temporarily fearing the 
big tree might be taken down by the wind and damage his RV. 
He removed the roof from his screen room, and left his car and 
the red scooter, which looks like it never moved. 

Debris on main drive entering/exiting the park.

John and Angel are waiting for me to catch up as we head back
to our RV, passing the duck pond on the right. The blue and 
white building ahead on left is one of the restroom/shower/
laundry buildings.

Ground was saturated under parts of the Storage section,
and some debris was setting in front of some of the units.

Angel liked getting out even if he had to tread a little water.
Light debris and limbs were common. 

Puddles and pine branches as we walk back to
 the RV.

We turned the picnic table with the PVC pipes upside down
 so the wind would not flip it through the air during the storm. 
The ground is saturated; look close to see where water has 
collected.   

We thank God for watching over us and keeping us safe. And thank you for all of your prayers for everyone touched by Hurricane Irma. We are very thankful to be safe.

Food for thought ... Did Irma die due to natural causes or was she beaten to death by prayer? Think about it...

John's blog post about the aftermath of Irma is available at incargonito.blogspot if you'd like to read more.

In the next post, I will get back to where I left off ... arriving at the Escapees Park in Deming, New Mexico. If you would like to be notified when the next post publishes, put your email address in the appropriate box at the top right of this blog. Be sure to go to your email inbox and confirm your request, so you receive a notification.

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