message to Laurie Pierce and Pete Hamlin

[harry a saake]

Hey guys , let us all know that you survived the hurricane and are alive and well, i guess we will see you all in Vegas:cheers:

[Laurie]

Checking in here... (thanks for asking)

My girls and I evacuated Thurs PM, as we live on Davis Island, mandatory evacuation zone. (a small island connected to downtown Tampa).

We stayed at friends (on higher ground) and did all the prep stuff. We returned today to minor stuff...a couple of power lines down and temporary power outage.

Of course, we have mixed feelings about being passed over...now we need to go to Punta Gorda and help out our neighbors...

We have lived here for 8 years and had a few near misses, but this one was the biggest threat...very intense.

So tonight, I am thankful that all is well and pray for the families who were hit.

: (

Laurie

PS: Pete...where are you?

[Pete Hanlin]

We're high and dry up here in northern Hillsborough. We live a block outside the most extreme evac zone, so our preparations consisted of bringing all the furniture and plants in from the lanai, making room for both cars in the garage, and getting all the laundry done ahead of time.

Essilor told everyone to go home early on Thursday (it took 2 hours to cross the Howard Frankland Bridge), so I headed out to Lowes to buy some paint. Turns out the best time to go to Lowe's is right before a hurricane (as long as you aren't trying to purchase batteries or lanterns).

Friday morning was just a bit spooky. Before stowing the truck in the garage, I decided to take a drive around and have a looksee at other's preparations. I was surprised at how many people boarded up their windows. Plus, there were very very few vehicles out and about... Mostly wierd, though, was the absence of any wind whatsoever (Tampa is usually somewhat breezy).

Anyway, once I returned home around 11am, it was fairly apparent from radar that the eye had turned east. I have to say- cause it really bugged me- I have very little respect for most of the newspeople in our area. The way they cover these events almost encourages people to panic. Even through Friday afternoon, it seemed to me they were almost disappointed the storm (and resultant news op) had missed our area.

Of course, now they're all over in Polk County, harassing the residents as they try to put things back together. It would be nice to see just one of them lay down the mike and help someone cleaning up the remains of their house...