Irma Came calling- part II

                    Irma came calling- part II

         Saturday night, the howling monster crawled along the northwest coast of Cuba, devastating that rural area. The Cubans claimed ten deaths from the storm. In the early hours of Sunday morning Irma made an abrupt right turn to the north. It crossed the Florida straits, headed for the southern tip of Florida around Everglades city. It crossed over the middle keys, of the 150 mile long Florida island chain, like a wrecking machine over paper. Boats, trailers and manufactured housing were tossed about like children’s toys. Those who remained in place were lucky to survive.

       The destructive eyewall of Irma hit exposed Marco island first, with winds gusting to 140 mph. The mean height of the island is seven feet above sea level. Experts had called for an ocean surge in the 10 to 12-foot range. Luckily, the weakened storm only managed 3-4 feet rise in sea water levels, flooding all the streets of the island. From Marco, the giant storm, stretching some 500 miles across, rolled into the sea side City of Naples. It flooded the streets and did the usual damage, but nothing lethal. Bonita Spring and Estero were next. Gale force winds battered the trees and tall structures, but Florida’s stronger building codes, arising from destructive storms in the early 1990’s, saved the day. Lots of damage and flooding but no fatalities. We thought we would lose our place, but it survived with some structural damages to the roof and lanai. Some angel was watching over us. The electricity is out and will be for weeks. By storms end on Monday, over seventy five percent of Florida’s population was without electricity in the 90-degree heat.

     At the west coast port of Charlotte Harbor, the storm turned inward and ran up the central spine of Florida. Sarasota, St. Pete’s Tampa and Gainesville got a hammering of torrential rain and hurricane-force winds. Curiously, all the water in Tampa Bay was pushed westward into the ocean. That was an eerie site. Everyone knew, from watching films of the Tsunamis in Asia, that the water had to come back in with a vengeance. Luckily the winds moderated the rush and it merely filled the bay up again in the later hours.

       Daytona and Jacksonville were next in line and got drenched and wind blasted. The ocean surges in Jacksonville were particularly severe, flooding most of the downtown streets for days. Finally, the storm crossed into Georgia and swamped both Savannah and Charleston with rain, wind and flooding issues. This monster storm seemed to go on forever. Irma finally headed towards the Northwest, to drench Atlanta and the Western Carolinas before breaking up into regional rain storms.

      By Tuesday most of the storm was dissipating. It left behind it a 700-mile trail of debris and wreckage that will take us all many weeks to clean up and recover from. By Tuesday, the Florida shelters, which held over 200, 000 refugees, started to release them. There was still no electricity and thus no red lights working. Driving became a game of driver’s bluff and bravado. A few retail stores opened but there was little gasoline to be had for hundreds of miles.

      Most of us were thankful that we had weathered the storm. Our homes were damaged but intact. The ruin in the Florida Keys and the Caribbean islands will take forever to straighten out. Forty deaths have so far been attributed to Irma. The toll may yet rise.

      Collectively, we had weathered a monster storm of biblical proportions that had gobbled up several states. There are lessons to be learned from all of this. Prepare early, respect the ferocity of nature and pay heed to local emergency personnel. And, don’t forget to send a few prayers skyward, asking for help. All of us can use the help of caring friends, family, officialdom and the Good Lord above..

                                    -30-

                                (655words)

                         Joseph Xavier Martin