Dave and Liz Robertson First Letter from September 2004

(WARNING: this is very long and detailed: get yourself a snack before you read.)

We weathered the hurricane with our lives and all our property intact. We thank you for your prayers. We thank God that Hurricane Frances lessened from a category 4 to a 2, doing roughly 50 times less damage. We only lost a little refrigerator food and time in moving our stuff. Sadly, Dave came down with a fever at home Monday night.

2 Things I Learned This Weekend

1. Never try to predict a hurricane.

2. It's great to be prepared.

I studied hurricanes a lot this summer. But Hurricane Charley turned from a category 1 far away to a category 4 skirting us. Hurricane Frances was a category 4, (a guarantee to flood and damage us,) but she stopped, dropped to a category 2, and then passed over. So while we don't think Hurricane Ivan will hit us, we're not taking down our window boards.

We already had food, supplies (duct tape, etc), and knowledge, so I didn't even go to the store the week before or after the hurricane. We just grabbed our 72-hr kits and some pantry food, packed up water jugs and books, and left for shelter. (Well, I did panic when our landlords hadn't yet planned to board up our windows, but it all got done.) Some people displayed their inability to live without restaurant food, electricity, or Walmart. I am grateful for a religion that teaches self-reliance!!!

Before the Hurricane

Thursday many companies let workers go home and prepare. Friday only a few stores were open til afternoon. There were funny phrases spray painted on boarded windows like:

On a home: "Lighten Up Frances"

On a business: "Use Side Door or Just Take Off Roof"

On a salon: "Special: Wind-Blown Look"

On a pet clinic: "Looters Will Be Neutered"

It was sunny, windy, and the surf was high (we looked). It felt like a ghost town, as roughly 1/3 of the people I knew left town. Every hotel in Florida was booked, so Dave and I stayed at the church, with a few other members.

During the Hurricane

It was the weirdest ward get-together I've ever been through! There were 30 people, half Spanish. At first it was like a party, with movies, food, talking, and hurricane updates. We never lost water pressure, but we lost power Saturday morning. By then the wind was blowing maybe 80 mph, which we observed out the shatter-resistant windows. We watched about 8 trees snap and fall over. We duct-taped the doors shut, though it didn't keep the wind from forcing the rain underneath, and the men constantly mopped it.

The church was quite the fortress...it was quieter than I expected. We slept in the classrooms and hung out in the foyers, near daylight. It felt a sacrilegious to walk around the church in pajamas, play dominoes in the halls, and fill the font with emergency toilet-flushing water, but I guess the ox was in the mire. Sunday meetings were obviously cancelled.

By the end of 2 days, the church was stuffy, smelly, dark, and confining. The wind lessened and changed directions Saturday night, and by Sunday people were standing outside the doors to get fresh air. We went home to water (thank heaven) but no electricity: meaning no AC, reading by candlelight after 8 pm, and a thawing freezer. Our power was restored the next night, at which point the hurricane felt like it was over (despite the radio reports, Dave's sickness, and no milk.)

Aftermath

I've decided that you all have experienced a hurricane a piece at a time:

You've been without power.

You've run out of milk and bread.

The stoplight near your home stopped working once. You've seen trees felled in big wind storms.

You've been snowed in.

You've wanted to go to the store after it's closed.

You've been camping without a shower.

Your refrigerator/stove/dishwasher broke.

You've been too hot to sleep where the AC doesn't work.

Well, try having all those things at once, multiplied by everyone for hundreds of miles.

On Sunday, it was mostly emergency officials on the roads. Monday a few gas stations and restaurants were open. Tuesday the grocery stores opened, with or without electricity, and I saw postal trucks. By Wednesday there were huge yard waste piles on sidewalks and Wal-Mart got ice and milk (but you had to stand in line). Thursday I saw a bread truck and a garbage truck. Friday 95% of our county's stoplights were working, although some on generators.

A week later, probably 1/3 of businesses are open (Wendy's, etc), 1/3 are employing their employees to help clean up (my friend's bank), and 1/3 won't open for a while (dentists, etc.) About 25% of my county is still without electricity, the beaches are still closed, and there are lots of roofs with tarps covering the holes.

It's weird to go to the store and see the freezers and certain shelves empty. It's weird to have an 8 o'clock curfew, and yes, the gas station lines were an hour long. But Floridians are being quite patient and neighborly through this whole thing. We thank you all for your support. We pray we will be spared from another hurricane.

I posted pictures and more stories under e-Scrapbook: Hurricane Frances. Don't let this deter you from visiting Florida! In fact, all those visiting Florida during peak hurricane season get a free power carwash, as we just did!

Love,

Liz