JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Irma and our Florida JPF Family

I hope we can help each other check on our Florida JPF families during this Hurricane. I know we have Ben Willis, Calvin Stewart, David Becker, Scott Campbell and Colin Ward down there and I am sure others that I am forgetting but please add to the list and help keep us updated on their safety and send some extra positive thoughts for their safety.


9/15/17 Barry David Butler posted that he is okay


UPDATE 9/14/19:

BEN WILLIS has checked in!!

Pretty scary, I lost my carambola (Starfruit) tree in the front yard. It was about 20 feet high. Rested against the shutters covering the picture window. I have a new respect for shutters now,



UPDATE:
I haven't seen anything posted from Calvin himself, but I do see his daughters are posting so I am assuming that he is okay. Please keep an eye and ear for Ben Willis, I am assuming he doesn't have electricity and he said he would help people with trees after the storm. Let's keep sending positive thoughts his way. Adding an update on floyd jane in Florida. Bud and Janice are added below now that the storm has moved through Georgia and Wendy Dumond is posting, so she seems fine as well. Lets keep the love and light for our JPF family flowing!


9/11/17

Colin has posted on Facebook this morning:


"Getting light. We and the house are fine. No power. Some limbs down and yard damage. Still a bit windy but the worst is gone. Hope everyone did as well as us."


David Becker posted:

"Rina, the dogs and I and the humble abode are doing great. No damage that I can see. Thx for all the well wishes!"


Message from Scott:

"I can do without another night like THAT for a little while. grin
Can't get out to look around quite yet but we're ok."


Bud and Janice:

"Parts of Milledgeville look like a war zone. Back gates to GMC and example of what winds did to a large oak. Power lines across roads and debris everywhere. Only a few have power. And we aren't part of those few. Meh."

"We're home. It's gonna be a LONG time before a mid Ga trail is rideable. Our driveway is deep in greenfall and trees down all around. Dread walking it tomorrow."

"it will take us a LONG time to deal with downed trees here. We live in a mature hardwood forest."


floyd jane:

" floyd was the one who actually had the eye pass over his home on the Fl west coast. He is OK but it could've been catastrophic. Janice and I are 200 miles inland from the gulf."

Trying to watch it all closely. Fingers crossed it won't be as bad as we fear.

Brian

Thanks Tammy and Brian. Will be putting up shutters tomorrow. I'm more worried about Calvin. He's closer to the track and lives on the lake (Okeechobee).

Good to hear from you Ben and Calvin---best of luck and be like a boy scout

And don't forget Ray Strode in Brunswick GA...that right on the coast.

Thanks everyone. We are hunkering down and making preparations. Our house is on fairly high ground but many others are evacuating. We have a couple of evacuee friends at our house for the duration. Pretty stressful. Hope to let you know how we made out early next week.

Colin

Ben, Calvin, Colin and other Florida JPFrs... prayers for your safety are airborne from me. I worry if you have chosen to stay that this one may be like nothing you have seen previously. I know it is inconvenient and has often been a waste of time in the past. Please take a close look at the projected trajectory tomorrow morning and if it looks like it's coming your way, unless you live in a Fort Knox type structure, compliant with all the Florida building codes meant to withstand a CAT-5 or greater storm... find a way to bail out for safety. Storm sugre looks like the biggest threat if this thing slides up the gulf side of the State.

Expect loss of power, utilities, water pressure for drinking and sanitary purposes... no cell towers, probably no radio signals and Heaven knows what other unpredictable element will crop up and bite you where you least expect it.

Then there is the other dreaded alternate route... that this monster storm continues to barrel into the gulf and hit anywhere from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas. Computer models are often wrong because of significant changes in a number of the elements involved. Years ago, in Hawaii, we did Hurricane Penetrations in our Super Constellation WV-2s when other resources were not available. Fortunately, technology and aircraft have improved significantly since those days. It was the only time I can remember getting "airsick" while manning the plotting table as each radar operator reported their assigned task.

All my best... and keep us posted if you can. ----Dave

I have a brother in Mt. Dora just slightly northwest of Orlando, talked to him today, his town is surrounded by lakes. It's 170 feet above sea level, so they don't anticipate floods, which is most of the damage of hurricanes, unless your house comes near the eye, then all bets are off. But, there's that oak tree right next to his home. He's concerned, but is not evacuating.

We have property and family in the current pathway... glad it seems to be a bit less intense than feared

We have had some big gusts but the eye is still a few hours away. The house, etc. seems to be doing well. We'll see what happens tonight. In a way, I wish I had skedaddled up north so I didn't have to sit through it, but on the other hand, Tuesday will be a glorious day and I will be here to fix whatever broke and resume normality. I am afraid several friends are going to return to flooded homes. Thank goodness we bought inland a bit on higher ground. My boat is on a lift in a marina under a big shed. It could either survive nicely or the whole lot could be a pile of steel and fiberglass on shore. It's pretty well protected from east and north. Not so much from west and south.

Please you guys....ben willis...Colin...etc....PLEASE TAKE CARE AND LEAVE TO A SAFER PLACE...I DON'T WANT TO LOSE ANY OF YOU...THIS HAS ME REALLY SCARED...BEN WILLIS. IT'S COMING YOUR WAY...I'M PRAYING FOR ALL OF YOU....OMG THIS IS SUCH A NIGHTMARE....I CAN'T STOP THINKING OF YOU ALL....PLEASE GIVE US AN UPDATE ASAP...PLEASE....

GLYN....

UPDATE:
I haven't seen anything posted from Calvin himself, but I do see his daughters are posting so I am assuming that he is okay. Please keep an eye and ear for Ben Willis, I am assuming he doesn't have electricity and he said he would help people with trees after the storm. Let's keep sending positive thoughts his way. Adding an update on floyd jane in Florida. Bud and Janice are added below now that the storm has moved through Georgia and Wendy Dumond is posting, so she seems fine as well. Lets keep the love and light for our JPF family flowing!


Colin has posted on Facebook this morning:


"Getting light. We and the house are fine. No power. Some limbs down and yard damage. Still a bit windy but the worst is gone. Hope everyone did as well as us."


David Becker posted:

"Rina, the dogs and I and the humble abode are doing great. No damage that I can see. Thx for all the well wishes!"


Message from Scott:

"I can do without another night like THAT for a little while.
Can't get out to look around quite yet but we're ok."


Bud and Janice:

"Parts of Milledgeville look like a war zone. Back gates to GMC and example of what winds did to a large oak. Power lines across roads and debris everywhere. Only a few have power. And we aren't part of those few. Meh."

"We're home. It's gonna be a LONG time before a mid Ga trail is rideable. Our driveway is deep in greenfall and trees down all around. Dread walking it tomorrow."

"it will take us a LONG time to deal with downed trees here. We live in a mature hardwood forest."


floyd jane:

[b]" floyd was the one who actually had the eye pass over his home on the Fl west coast. He is OK but it could've been catastrophic. Janice and I are 200 miles inland from the gulf."

If anyone has heard from Ben Willis, please share!

Thanks for the concern, all. Our subdivision of 50 houses had about 15 big oaks come down. Some on homes and vehicles. No injuries though which is the most important thing. Most of the trees are already cut up and we got power back this morning. Glad to hear about others. I hope Ben, Calvin and Barry report soon. It was cat 1 when what was left of the eye hit us and that was plenty for me. Can't imagine what is was like in Fort Myers and other points south.

Hello :-)

We're all fine here THANK GOD ! No damage at our place.
I feel extremely lucky to still have a place to live and to not be hurt.
Electricity just came back on 15 minutes ago :-)
Thank you all for CARING SO MUCH, that's real cool of ya !

Love,
Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

My house is OK, as are most of the other houses in my immediate neighborhood. A number of plants were damaged, but they are all fast growing plants so a year from now you won't be able to tell anything had happened. Most of the fences have been blown down. Power is out for everyone around here, but my house runs on battery backed up solar power, so I have power.

All is well with us. Minor tree damage and some trees down in the neighborhood but nothing major. We got power back last night. No wifi yet so this is from my phone.

It was a miserable night and being without power is not fun but St Petersburg did OK for the most part. I saw a video from the Florida Keys and it looked a mess. Much worse than here.

Thanks for all your concern.

All of this is good news so far. Still no news about Ben Willis and I wonder how hard Brunswick, GA was hit with the ocean surge much like Jacksonville, FL received? I have not noticed a single post from Ray Strode since this thing started. Hope he and his family are okay.

No news over here in "West Mayberry." Guess that's a good thing.

----Dave

Well,
Some of you will be happy I survived, the others, Yadda, Yadda, Yadda! I believe the County is still not back to normal as some may still be without electricity. Our power went out Monday morning about 6 20 AM. We got it back Tuesday about 11:10 AM but some family may not have it back yet. Even tho we were around 100 miles from the center of the Hurricane we had lots of wind gusts to and maybe over 70 Mph. A couple of pine trees blew over in the back yard, either mine or our neighbors. There is standing water that needs to dry up before we can get to the trees. I would guess we got more that 10 inches of rain.
There are certainly a lot of people that will need a lot of help. Stay safe everybody.

Hi Ray:

Glad to know you emerged unscathed more or less. I hate to think about what IRMA did to St. Simon's and "The Marshes of Glenn." Now if only we can get word about Ben Willis. I know this thread is about IRMA but please, folks... don't forget those victims of HARVEY. I'm asking "The Man Upstairs" to please, spare us from another Hurricane or major weather event this year. Our national debt is now more than $20 Gazillions and continuing it's upward spiral. My poor great grandkids will never be able to climb out from under this massive yoke of debt.

Stay, safe you stalwart Floridians, Georgians and everyone else impacted by this last storm. ----Dave

Thanks Dave,
I know a lot of people of people are hurting and will be for a long time. I am sending some "Nasty Grams" to a few of our "Choice" "Summer Soldiers" U.S. Senators as soon as the Mail starts again. Yes there is a lot of cleanup to do right here but not nearly as bad as those that live in the Fla. Keys got. In the days of Marco Polo he did much of his traveling by water because of Robbers, Thieves, Highway men, Bandits and other all around nice guys. Today we are hearing about looters because of the hurricanes. Hell, it's better to steal it than work for it, right? Have a nice day.

Hey Ben. We're never too old to learn R.E.S.P.E.C.T. for anyone, or anything!

Thanks, Tams. for keeping track!!!!!

Midnite

Thanks Tammy. I heard from Calvin, I know that Scott and Colin are OK. I hope that Barry David Butler is OK in Sebring. Haven't heard from him yet.

Waiting for Barry David Butler to check in, if you have heard from him, let us know!

He posted on FB that he's ok.

Scott

THANK YOU Scott!!