On Thu, 19 May 2005 10:27:04 -0400, I AmnotGeorgeBush wrote:


I've pretty much always been well equipped down here, but since I spent
a wad of cash this time, I'm fairly confident when I say we will never
have another hurricane here.

Never say never again, right? 8-))

Hurricane kit is full, generators are on
standby, plenty of gas I keep rotating to keep fresh, plenty of bottled
water, medicine kit, flashlights, lanterns, candles, canned goods,
radios, batteries, new window unit A/C.....I'm getting too old to simply
be content on riding it out and waiting for services to be restored....I
took steps to make sure I'm damn comfortable. An 110 A/C unit I can run
off a generator when we're camped in the safe room was the final ticket.

I talked my mom and step dad up here in to installing a natural gas
powered generator. So they went out and got either a 12KW or a 15KW unit
with automatic switch over and self test. They're both retired and my mom
has a bit of a hard time getting around, she needs two knee replacements
done. They've lost power several times where they live, not counting the
huge blackout the other year. Where they live it's about a 30 mile hike up
to their lake to check up on them. Knowing they have power for heat etc.
even in the winter time is a big relief.


I flew in to West

Palm Beach about a month ago to drive out to

the Indiantown area. I saw plenty of roof work

still being done as the plane came in for a

landing.

You were right by Lake Okeechobee..

That's where I stayed. I did go downtown to see the lake. All they had
was a small sand beach and that tee shaped observation pier. I didn't see
much else. Sure doesn't look much like a tourist area.

you should have brought a pole. Those
little canals and offshoots of waterways you saw driving on 710 are
among the best in the country for fishing....that's why you always see
pickups and cars prked in the middle of nowhere on that road.

I'm not really in to fishing but yeah I did see people doing like you
said. What about those, looks like, canals that run around the lake? Seems
to me they have some kind of levee on the north side and several dams with
spillways along there. What's that all about?

You should
have checked out this coast inland of Punta Gorda and the areas that
were hit squarely by all three storms. People were still living in tents
as of last Christmas and many still haven't received insurance
settlement checks.

That really sucks!

No roofs at all in some of the smaller towns...all
blue tarps.

I saw a lot of those from the air just flying in to West Palm Beach.

Regards,

Leland C. Scott

KC8LDO