Horror in Haiti and Florida Update

I'm listening to the radio and watching the squalls of wind and rain that come and go.  They just announced that the death toll is at 478 now.  And more than 50,000 people are in immediate need of water, food and shelter.  Having lived on a small island in the South Pacific, my heart goes out to these people.  Even if help is on the way, logistically it takes time.  The news about Haiti puts our situation in Florida into perspective.  Thank God it was not as devastating here.

My "weather gauge leg" is back under water.  And the water is starting to look more like a pond than a pool.  I believe that takes my rain estimate to 9 inches from 7:00 p.m. Thursday to 10:00 a.m. Friday.

This is some of the standing water by the pool pump.  Only about an inch now.  At times its been over my ankles.

 I just came back in from fooling with the pump to lower the pool for the fourth time.  My "rain gauge" was under water again.  Since we're anticipating even heavier rains as the storm moves away from us, it looks like this will be an on-going process today.  In case you're worried about my attire, given that the sun is up now, I wore clothes.  Nothing fancy but I now have a designated "pool lowering, who cares if I get soaked" outfit.  It's a little number I had custom made in Myanmar.

The radio also reported the first fatality in Florida related to Matthew has been reported.  It seems a 58 year old woman in Port St. Lucie refused to evacuate.  During the storm she had a heart attack and 911 was called.  They refused to come out.  Government leaders in the state had announced repeatedly that if you ignored the evacuation and called for help they would not respond so as not to put first responders in unnecessary danger.

There seems to be a logistical problem now for Duke energy.  They've brought in extra crews/trucks in from outside the area.  Now that they're here they can't find anyplace to feed these guys.  I wish I could help but just don't have enough to feed over 30 guys.

And, you owe me a million dollars.  Just heard Marco Rubio who'd called in to get a little press time and defend himself.  "You can't overhype any storm."  He's doing an admirable job of defending his position prior to the storm.  Better safe than sorry.

And, as the bands roll through, the wind is getting worse and the rain is back.  I'm so grateful to be safe and comfortable in my house.

BTW, according to the radio, people are getting very antsy to get out of the house but the curfew is still on.  They said it might be lifted in a couple of hours since the worst of the wind was expected to pass within an hour.  15 minutes later they reported that as the far wall of the storm passes us tonight around midnight we'll have the worst wind and rain yet, expecting 100 MPH winds and 8-12 inches of rain.