Good to hear from you Marc; have been wondering about you & Arlene.

Thanks for touching base Margo.

You are all in my thoughts and prayers today; good luck!!

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you ....


Dennis and Sandy

Now that the storm is coming ashore south of us we've moved our safe room to the other side of the house. We are being as calm as we can but we would have left yesterday if we had known it could go to a cat 4. I think we'll be fine but all prayers are greatly needed and appreciated.

Having been through this numerous times (born and raised in Miami) please keep safe during and after the storm...

Gretchen's cousin, who lives in Ponte Vedra, just called me and she and George have decided to stay put and not evacuate - keep her in your thoughts - we are still not out of the woods in my area - no evacuation ordered but worried about storm surge of 4 to 6 feet early tomorrow morning and tornadoes popping up constantly - - we are across the street from the ocean - I always wanted to be oceanfront but not this way!!! Thinking of you Margo - Tony's buddies are all stopping by around 6 for a drink - I can see the writing on the wall - I will be feeding everyone dinner as the MEN stayed glued to the tv screen - Joanna

Joanne...thanks for word on Gretchen and George - they are south of us as are Marty, Erika, Claudia, Mike and Pat. Keep all of us in your prayers.

Thanks,

Margo, I keep checking my instant message buddy list to see if you are still on. It's my way of keeping my eye on you!

I'm using my wifi connection - just got an IM from Marty!

We had first squall line come through. Tornadoe reports around Disney and Downtown Orlando. Calm now.

Current forecast is for us to have 90mph winds around 8-10 tonight.

coming ashore now, ft. myers/cape coral/port charlotte area

The storm is now moving inland south and east of us. We are still experiencing wind and rain but hope the worst is over!

Thank you for all your prayers...now central and eastern Florida can use your help.

Margo, glad to hear everything is ok. Any word from the rest of your group?

No word yet although I had an IM from Marty awhile ago and they seemed OK - of course Venice is getting more feeder bands than we are so I hope they're doing fine.

We just opened some wine and decided to toast our good fortune. Hope you are safe and sound too!

Margo: So glad all is well - we are following the tv reports still waiting to see what is in store for us - Tony's guy friends just left I did not have to feed them yippee - everyone on edge - Joanna

I talked to Marty too by IM, and they sounded ok...did anyone notice the first place that Charley flirted with? Captiva Island? Guess where Sheri is going next weekend? I hope it's still there.

Margo, et al, I am glad you all sound like you came through okay! Karen and I were watching the radar and worrying all day!

Sheri

Hi Sheri! How can you go to Captiva and not see us!!!!! We are right across the "Ally"....anyway, several friends of ours live or have houses over there. My best friend's Dad is returning there tomorrow, I'll let you know the damage.

I've been trying to follow all our FL friend's posts all day long (when time allowed at work). So good to hear that you are all holding your own.

Margo, I thank you for filling me in on Dunedin.

Please continue to report when you can. As you can see, you have so many of us concerned for your safety! Our thoughts and prayers remain with all who are impacted by the storms.

Just talked to Gretchen's cousin all is well with she and George - soooooo happy! Joanna

Margo, Mark,

Do you have power?

Still have power. Storm really going to arrive in next half hour. Power will probably go out in middle of Olympics.

Dear Friends!
Charley landed South of us and then headed East - didn't do a thing to us, or our beautiful house. We are most thankful to Almghty God for having spared us. Charley, however, beat the bejasus out of central Florida.From Arcadia to Orlando - Roofs gone, trees down and hitting cars/houses, people injured, evacuation centers totalled - not nice!
We feel so bad about what has happened to these people and their possessions, and are at the same time most grateful for having been spared.

Thank you all for your prayers and concern, they are most appreciated
Marty and Erika

YEAH!!!! So glad, Marty ,you'll be ready and able to aggravate me for MINT - Joanna

Wonderful news to hear that you and your home have been spared Marty.

So good to see so many Floridians still posting -keep hanging tough. Hopefully, the worst will soon be a thing of the past.

Blessings to you all. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

Glad to hear that all of you Floridians have survived the storm. Tucson had a gully-washer of a thunderstorm in your honor tonight. There I was checking on Charley's progress and concerned about your storm damage when the water started seeping under our front door, through the office window and all along the front baseboards of the office. Even our spa almost overflowed. Alan and I have been on towel brigade for the last two hours. Thank goodness we only have one small area of wet carpet. The good thing is the rain will soon end and we won't have another one like this for 3 or 4 years! Anyway, just wanted all of you to know that I can relate.

Good to hear everyone is fine. These things are really scary and it is great to know our friends are all well and safe.

So glad to hear that everyone seems to be OK after today. Know what it's like to go through a hurricane but tornados scare me more!

Dear Friends:

Thank you again for all of your concerns and prayers. We were so lucky to be spared and are now waiting to hear how the rest of Florida fared.

I was so exhausted when it was done that I fell asleep watching the Olympic coverage.

Lesson learned - next time we will evacuate, even though originally we were told that we could stay! When the storm went to Category 4, I nearly lost it. Fortunately, Tom just sat down and turned on the golf channel which brought me back to reality!

Of course, as it turns out, if we had evacuated we probably would have gone to Orlando - right into the ultimate path of the storm. Hurricanes are scary - I hope we don't have to do this again any time soon.

Marc & Arlene, Joanna and Tony, hope all is well with you.

We awoke to a very messy yard, etc but all is fine here - seeing the pixs of some of the little towns that took the brunt of the storm is so sad. Thanks all for good thoughts and prayers - as usual they worked! Joanna

I'm so glad to hear that the Florida posters are safe. I had computer problems yesterday and couldn't access LCT to follow this thread earlier, but my thoughts were with you all. By the way, we have friends in the Fort Myers area and haven't heard from them yet. We know they evacuated. Anyone have any news on that particular area?

Great news hearing that many of our Floridian friends averted the worst and weathered this latest storm . When you see how other areas have been more greatly impacted, it makes you realize how truly lucky and fortunate you are.

Donna,

Sorry to hear of your water damage. I hope the mop-up is now over and done with.

Today is a new and, hopefully brighter, day...NO MORE CATASTROPHES!!

Most of central Florida is without power so we may not hear from Marc for awhile.

My mother lives in Polk county and my sister is now trying to reach her - we can't call, so she is driving there to make sure all is OK.

I think everyone is Florida was touched by Charlie in some way. The toll has been enormous and recovery will take some time.

Denise is so right - a new day - count your blessings.

I just heard that Captiva has been cut in half - divided by 400 feet of water. I have vacation in that area & it is so upsetting to hear about all the damage.
Am happy for all of you that came through it fine. But for those with damage, my heart goes out to you. Having lived through several of these I know how lifes can be changed for a long time to come.
Will be thinking about you.

So good to hear from you, Margo and Joanna; I hope Marc did as well.

Haven't heard from my friend who evacuated; she said they were either going east or to her son's in Coral Gables. Hope they chose the latter. My sister chose to stay near Hilton Head and haven't heard from her today. Now it looks like #1 son in Raleigh may have a problem and they're on vacation in Michigan! Will certainly be glad when this one's gone!!

I heard from the Sheik! He and Erika are fine as are Gretchen and George. Great news from everyone so far! A New Day Beginning!

Coming in late to report but we sure did dodge a bullet here on Amelia Island. We were battened down and ready for a big night of tornadoes, high winds, etc., etc., but it didn't happen. Just hope all wasn't too bad for Joanna of Ponte Vedra since you are South of us. Guess Daytona got hit the hardest on the East Coast. Poor Captiva--such a lovely place. Guess it really was battered. Thank the Lord you are all safe and I'm hoping to meet many of you on MINY. Jean

I meant MINT!

Glad to hear that most of our FLA friends only woke up to messy yards and minor damages. I know that isn't the case for so many living in Florida and my heart goes out to all that have to pick up the pieces of their lives. It makes my minor water damage from last night's storm seem trivial.

I agree with Denise and Marcy, here's to a bright new day!

Jean, I was hoping you would check in! I am glad to hear that all is well.

Still waiting to hear from Marc and Arlene; Anyone else not checked back in; Anyone on the list from North of Florida to be worried about?

We lost power at 9:30. Storm eye struck around 10:00. Then came the period of calm. We all went out on the lanai to experience it. Luckily, the back side of the storm had eroded so we didn't get the back side as bad which was good.

We are lucky in that our power came back on at 2:00am. We lost a few trees and our bouganvilla has fallen down and will need to be given a drasic cut. We lost our arbor and will have to restake a number of roses. Lost a few roof tiles. All in all very lucky. We drove around this morning looking for breakfast, checking on Arlene's sister, and to take her mother home. Trees down was widespread. All traffic lights were out and people were just running through, not treating as a four way stop as they should. Arlene took some pictures that we might post if I ever learn how.

Now the bad news...no cable and no high speed internet for up to three days! Since 9:30 last night, we have been out of "news." So, now, I am off to surfing the web to see all that has been happening.

Thanks for all the well wishes!

marc & arlene