To my
surprise, I turned the news on tonight and there was my parent's town in Florida
being flashed across the screen as being devastated by the hurricane. They
live in Punta Gorda and I'm here in So CA. I immediately called my mom and
she was without electricity, but obviously still had telephone service.
She said that she and my dad were fine and there dog was okay
too. Her house had a lot of exterior damage and their screen covered
pool room was trashed. She said that the entire structure caved into the
pool. She said that they hadn't been evacuated because it was not suppose
to come close to her area and apparently the winds shifted suddenly and they
were told to stay in doors. The winds reached 150 mph! She and my
dad and their dog huddled in the bathroom for more than an hour. She
said it was scary and sounded like the whole house was going to blow down.
They announced on the radio afterwards that the entire town was basically
flattened and power may not be restored for more than a week. I couldn't
believe my eyes when I saw it on my T.V. and then heard that it was right smack
dab in the center of their town. All the residents were ill prepared
because of the sudden shift in direction, therefore the death toll is
high. A lot of folks live in mobile home parks and they were creamed
by the high winds. I feel bad for my mom. She is calm and has
already called her insurance company to report the damages! Her main
concerns were losing all the food in her freezer, which is always stocked to the
brim. She also said that their air conditioner blew of it's foundation pad
and ripped all the wires off from the house. The weather is blistering hot
with that awful humidity and being without A/C is a nightmare. My mom
refuses to open her windows because she said all the mosquitoes will come
inside.
My parents left California a few
years ago and my mom was so happy that she would never have to experience
another earthquake. Well I asked her tonight which was worse. She
replied, "they are both awful"!.
