Hurricane Michael is the biggest hurricane to hit Florida in years and we, my wife and I, rode it out. We live in Tallahassee, which for a State Capitol, is in the arm pit of Florida. Several hours North the coast in the 'bend' of the panhandle. We are inland. Not on the coast. Many of our friends asked, "how is the hurricane?" Our answer was windy. Winds were clocked at 69 MPH in Tallahassee. Michael was somewhere between a one or a two when it swept past us on its way North at 13 mph.
(you can see my van next to a small tree) The wind broke half the trees in our complex in half. Including the one next to my van. We lost power on Wednesday at 3:45pm. That night the apartment was hot, humid, stuffy, and very still. Darkness ruled the night. Ironic that it was so dark. We seemed to be one of the few apartments with lanterns and battery operated candles. My wife and I lived in Missouri for years. Power outages and heavy snow storms are the norm. Of course we have "camping supplies" on hand.
The next morning we left. Power had not yet been restored and it was going to be a warm day. The construction workers that live near us informed us of what the roads were like. Bad. The main road out of our area was closed but there was a detour and they told us how.
Trees and closed roads were everywhere. Downed powerlines were the norm. Our building managers said it would be at least 5 days before power is restored. So we navigated to the highway and left for points South. Highway 10 and interstate 75 were filled with both first responders and emergency crews. We counted more than forty Fla State Troopers and almost a hundred tree trimmers, electric trucks, and National guard vehicles. Help is and was on the way.
Currently we are in the area known as the Villages just South of Ocala. Power is still not on but we are hoping for the best. Staying out of the way of the workers is the plan at the moment. For books I'm working on Jack Dalton and planning out the next in the Federal Witch series, Draft of Dragons.
To read the first Jack Dalton book Click here
