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Still here

AirForceOrange

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Well made it through Hurricane Michael. We experienced the west wall of the eye. House is fine, minimal damage, no leaks. Lost our carport and and old shed. Besides that my family and I are good. No power yet and taking very cold showers. But we are better off than a lot of people. Not back to work yet. Am hearing end of this week or next week. A lot of trees down around our house...but none really on. Will keep updated as I can as cell service is very inconsistent. That is all for now...Lets Go Orange!!!
 
Day 7 AHM. Still no power. Projected within the next 2-3 days for my area. Have water, deep well hooked to generator. But no water heater...so cold showers...not fun. Have internet access at home now when genny is running. Still not back to work, but will get paid for all days off. Cell service still inconsistent at best, Verizon taking a big hit down here. They seem to have really dropped the ball. Things get a little better each day. Looking forward to cooler weather coming...was around 90 today. Apparently no damage to my well pump and plumbing. Outflow pipe to septic tank does not appear affected either. Bummer thing is one of vehicles broke down the other day. Will have to figure out a way to get it fixed. Otherwise we are still here and thankful, as there are still a lot of people in much worse situation than us. LGO!!!
 
If anyone is interested I have been posting daily updates on my Facebook page, Shawn C. Hamel. I am trying to remember to post them as public, but just in case send me a friend request.
 
Well, we got power back yesterday. Approximately 19 days since the storm. There are still some without power. Went back to work yesterday, first time in Panama City (I live about 30-40 minutes north). A lot of damage. Some buildings it looks like someone took a giant hammers and caved them in. Will probably take years, not months, for this area to fully recover and it will never be the same as it was before.
 
Well, we got power back yesterday. Approximately 19 days since the storm. There are still some without power. Went back to work yesterday, first time in Panama City (I live about 30-40 minutes north). A lot of damage. Some buildings it looks like someone took a giant hammers and caved them in. Will probably take years, not months, for this area to fully recover and it will never be the same as it was before.
Sorry to hear of all the damage to the area but glad you have power and can go to work again. Hang in there!
 
Well, we got power back yesterday. Approximately 19 days since the storm. There are still some without power. Went back to work yesterday, first time in Panama City (I live about 30-40 minutes north). A lot of damage. Some buildings it looks like someone took a giant hammers and caved them in. Will probably take years, not months, for this area to fully recover and it will never be the same as it was before.
It sounds ghastly. And I think this country has forgotten about you guys. :(

When you said “it will never be the same,” I am thinking that any rebuilding on any coastline is not smart. It is too tragic, too expensive. What are people saying about this?

19 days without power. That is grim. I echo Tomcat. Hang in there, and keep us posted on what’s going on.
 
It sounds ghastly. And I think this country has forgotten about you guys. :(

When you said “it will never be the same,” I am thinking that any rebuilding on any coastline is not smart. It is too tragic, too expensive. What are people saying about this?

19 days without power. That is grim. I echo Tomcat. Hang in there, and keep us posted on what’s going on.

As far as rebuilding, I guess it depends on the area and how much it will cost. I assume that building standards in Florida, which were one of the toughest in the country, will only stricter. The Mexico Beach Mayor has already stated they will rebuild. The beach areas will probably be rebuilt as tourism is what sustains this area economically. It's the non-beach areas that I am not sure of. Only time will tell.

I was looking at past satellite images and it appears it was still a Category 4 when we went through the west eyewall at my house. It didn't really weaken until almost at the Georgia/Florida border. Sounds strange, but it was blessing that the storm moved as fast as it did. If it had been moving slower, there would have been a lot more damage, which I can't even imagine based on the amount I have seen already. And, I haven't even seen the worst, which is East of Panama City...Callaway, Tyndall AFB and Mexico Beach. I have only seen the middle, western and northern parts of Panama City and Bay County.

It's weird, Panama City Beach had a lot less damage than Panama City. There is bay that divides the two cities, along with a bridge joining the two. Generally speaking, on the western side it seems like at the most tropical storm type damage to no damage. You cross the bridge into Panama City, and it's like a different world with all the damage.
 
Coastal property is too valuable to not rebuild in most cases. People are willing to take their chances. Statistically speaking, the odds are generally pretty good that you won't be taking a direct hit. Where Michael made landfall, the return rate of storms that intense is about 100-200 years.

Not surprised at the sharp damage gradient between PC Beach and the city itself. Storms that intense typically are very compact. Panama City is quite fortunate that it was scraped by the NW eyewall and not the much stronger NE side. Survey crews estimated that PC "only" experienced Cat 3 gusts so it could've been a lot worse. If Michael made landfall just 10 or 20 miles further up the coast, Panama City would not be worth rebuilding. In reanalysis they will likely find that sustained winds at ground zero were in fact Cat 5. It's a lot more attainable to rebuild a small coastal village like Mexico Beach as opposed to a city with condo high rises.
 
thought i'd make this the general "natural disaster, i'm okay" thread

we spent the night evacuating horses from our ranch. we live in brentwood but our ranch is located in agoura hills, off of kanan road south of the 101 freeway. there is only 1 way in and out, so we began evacuating about 4 hours before the mandatory order came in. we currently board 31 horses so it was a big operation. hauled them all out to the hansen dam equestrian center in sylmar, about 50 miles to the northeast. one of our trainers went rogue & disobeyed our fire protocol. she decided to take her 4 horses to hidden valley, which was also under evacuation orders. she nearly trapped herself & had to evac twice.

i have to make some feed store runs today but otherwise all is ok. no word on whether the fire itself has hit our ranch, but we maintain good brush clearance protocol & i think we'll be ok
 
thought i'd make this the general "natural disaster, i'm okay" thread

we spent the night evacuating horses from our ranch. we live in brentwood but our ranch is located in agoura hills, off of kanan road south of the 101 freeway. there is only 1 way in and out, so we began evacuating about 4 hours before the mandatory order came in. we currently board 31 horses so it was a big operation. hauled them all out to the hansen dam equestrian center in sylmar, about 50 miles to the northeast. one of our trainers went rogue & disobeyed our fire protocol. she decided to take her 4 horses to hidden valley, which was also under evacuation orders. she nearly trapped herself & had to evac twice.

i have to make some feed store runs today but otherwise all is ok. no word on whether the fire itself has hit our ranch, but we maintain good brush clearance protocol & i think we'll be ok

Glad to hear. You're one of the board legends imo, and one of the more mysterious and interesting posters here (take it as a compliment). Remind me again what your connection to SU is?
 
update - saw our ranch on channel 4 news about an hour ago. our neighbor's property is fully involved, but so far it looks like our brush breaks are holding. we'll have some fire damage on our property for sure, but i am holding out hope that our structures are going to be safe
 
knbc news report friday morning from the ridge above our ranch. at the time, it looked like it might hold. not so sure anymore. i'll have to take a roundabout route to get there, but i might try to get out there and see myself this afternoon after feeding the horses

 
knbc news report friday morning from the ridge above our ranch. at the time, it looked like it might hold. not so sure anymore. i'll have to take a roundabout route to get there, but i might try to get out there and see myself this afternoon after feeding the horses

All of the horses OK?
 
All of the horses OK?
everything with a heartbeat is ok . . . our ranch hands were exhausted by the time we got them into a hotel last night, but everyone is ok. physically, anyway. they don't know whether or not they are homeless. of course we are going to continue to house them, one way or another, but i think getting there and doing a damage assessment will at least settle some uncertainty.
 
and the hits keep coming ... one of the hands wrecked our power wagon last night!
imagejpeg_3_21.jpg
 
update: not much to report. they claim that the evacuation order has been lifted for agoura hills, but that is only technically true. many people south of the 101 freeway are still unable to return because the canyon roads between the 101 and pch are still closed. we tried to get onto the property with our insurance assessor today but there was a roadblock less than a mile down kanan. why on earth they would let us through only to stop us there makes no sense. but anyway, we still don't know what if any damage we suffered, and we still don't know when we'll be able to move the horses back in. meanwhile, stable charges & hotel bills are accumulating . . .
 

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