My family and I were in one of large hurricanes that hit Florida several years ago. We slept on the hallway floor of a middle school that was being used as a shelter along with 100's of strangers for one night.
By noon the next morning the winds had died down enough to leave the shelter and attempt to drive about 3 miles to home. The streets were covered with all kinds of rubble and debris. So I had to drive very slowly and snake my way to avoid the trash. When I got into my neighborhood it was even worse. Large trees everywhere had been uprooted and were laying all over the streets. You had to drive around them thru people's front yards and flower beds to reach home.
My house was in good shape with almost no damage. There was no electricity and the plumbing didn't work. We just camped out and used the outdoor grill to cook on. I had already stocked a weeks worth of food and water, so we were set. But it got very boring with nothing to do, and being it was summer, we all wanted a shower and the AC working to help sleep at night.
There was no cell phone service, so I drove all around looking to find a signal and tell my relatives we had survived and everything was good. For 3 days I periodically drove around trying to get a cell signal. I happened to see a guy in the middle of a big field talking on his cell phone. I parked my car and walked around the field hoping to acquire a signal, but got nothing. Frustrated, I approached him and asked how he was able to get a cell signal? He pointed to one spot on the ground and said this was the only place he had found that worked after walking all over the entire field. I stood on that spot and instantly had service to make calls. How the guy found that spot in the middle of that huge field is beyond me?
The main Interstate had a collapsed bridge, and a lot of the roads leading into the city had been completely washed away. So it took FEMA and the National Guard about 3 days to start to arrive and begin major relief efforts. But when they finally were able to safely navigate their way into the disaster area, there was a steady parade of vehicles.
There was no rhyme or rhythm to who had their power restored. One side of the street might have power, and the other side of the street, people still had to wait a couple more weeks. I was fortunate and my power returned on day 5
It had been a week and my food and water supplies were getting low. I started driving around and was able to locate a FEMA aid relief station. They loaded my car up with MRE's (meals ready to eat) and cases of bottled water. Which we lived on for about a week until the local stores opened back up with stocked shelves.
By now my car was getting low on gas and the fuel gauge showed less the 1/4 of a tank. I found a small gas station that had cars filling their tanks, so I took a place in line. After about and hour I was the next car in line to use the pump went the gasoline storage went dry. And the station said, "sorry folks, it's empty". Grrrr!!!
On the way home, I happen to notice several National Guard trucks and a large diesel generator parked next to the gas pumps at the local Wal-Mart parking lot. Working on a hunch, I got up at sunrise to be the first one in line. When I arrived, I was like car number 50. Apparently a lot of people had the same idea as me. Within an hour there was at least a couple of hundred cars in line behind me. It was really hot setting out in the Florida summer sun. The NG personal were able to hook up the generator, get the pumps working, and I was able to fill up my cars gas tank by around noon.
After a couple of weeks things were back to normal for me and my family. But many people had houses with roofs torn off and totally destroyed by water damage. FEMA provided them with small temporary trailers as available. Eventually, temporary trailer parks were opened throughout the city, and thousands of people stayed in them rent free up to 18 months.
People who have never been in a hurricane and endured the aftermath, have no idea how much effort it takes government relief agencies to respond to such a monumental natural disaster.
As for me, I thought FEMA and the National Guard did an outstanding job. Although you would never know it listening to the media pontificating nothing but negativity from their cloistered armchair coverage of the event. .....
By noon the next morning the winds had died down enough to leave the shelter and attempt to drive about 3 miles to home. The streets were covered with all kinds of rubble and debris. So I had to drive very slowly and snake my way to avoid the trash. When I got into my neighborhood it was even worse. Large trees everywhere had been uprooted and were laying all over the streets. You had to drive around them thru people's front yards and flower beds to reach home.
My house was in good shape with almost no damage. There was no electricity and the plumbing didn't work. We just camped out and used the outdoor grill to cook on. I had already stocked a weeks worth of food and water, so we were set. But it got very boring with nothing to do, and being it was summer, we all wanted a shower and the AC working to help sleep at night.
There was no cell phone service, so I drove all around looking to find a signal and tell my relatives we had survived and everything was good. For 3 days I periodically drove around trying to get a cell signal. I happened to see a guy in the middle of a big field talking on his cell phone. I parked my car and walked around the field hoping to acquire a signal, but got nothing. Frustrated, I approached him and asked how he was able to get a cell signal? He pointed to one spot on the ground and said this was the only place he had found that worked after walking all over the entire field. I stood on that spot and instantly had service to make calls. How the guy found that spot in the middle of that huge field is beyond me?
The main Interstate had a collapsed bridge, and a lot of the roads leading into the city had been completely washed away. So it took FEMA and the National Guard about 3 days to start to arrive and begin major relief efforts. But when they finally were able to safely navigate their way into the disaster area, there was a steady parade of vehicles.
There was no rhyme or rhythm to who had their power restored. One side of the street might have power, and the other side of the street, people still had to wait a couple more weeks. I was fortunate and my power returned on day 5
It had been a week and my food and water supplies were getting low. I started driving around and was able to locate a FEMA aid relief station. They loaded my car up with MRE's (meals ready to eat) and cases of bottled water. Which we lived on for about a week until the local stores opened back up with stocked shelves.
By now my car was getting low on gas and the fuel gauge showed less the 1/4 of a tank. I found a small gas station that had cars filling their tanks, so I took a place in line. After about and hour I was the next car in line to use the pump went the gasoline storage went dry. And the station said, "sorry folks, it's empty". Grrrr!!!
On the way home, I happen to notice several National Guard trucks and a large diesel generator parked next to the gas pumps at the local Wal-Mart parking lot. Working on a hunch, I got up at sunrise to be the first one in line. When I arrived, I was like car number 50. Apparently a lot of people had the same idea as me. Within an hour there was at least a couple of hundred cars in line behind me. It was really hot setting out in the Florida summer sun. The NG personal were able to hook up the generator, get the pumps working, and I was able to fill up my cars gas tank by around noon.
After a couple of weeks things were back to normal for me and my family. But many people had houses with roofs torn off and totally destroyed by water damage. FEMA provided them with small temporary trailers as available. Eventually, temporary trailer parks were opened throughout the city, and thousands of people stayed in them rent free up to 18 months.
People who have never been in a hurricane and endured the aftermath, have no idea how much effort it takes government relief agencies to respond to such a monumental natural disaster.
As for me, I thought FEMA and the National Guard did an outstanding job. Although you would never know it listening to the media pontificating nothing but negativity from their cloistered armchair coverage of the event. .....
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