There were tornadoes in Florida last night and The Villages sustained heavy damage. Has anyone had word from her?
Some of us older members have an unofficial network in place in case of disaster, and have a buddy that gets notified that lives in a different part of the country if there's a problem.
I know that there's several other members in the paths of these storms, but the national news specifically mentions how bad it is in The Villiages.
If anyone knows of others in the area, try and get in touch with the ones you have real-life contact with to see if they are allright.
Has anyone heard from Tropicalkaren or other FL members?
Thank you so much for caring!!! We are fine but one of the villages (Mallory) has been devastated. (The Villages is made up of little villages of 600 homes). No report yet on injuries. Karen
Glad you're okay TK!! It sounded like you got hit pretty bad.
Karen - I am so glad that you are okay! How scary! I have heard that there were a number of fatalities. We were on alert here with the storm moving over us. Very scary indeed. Doesn't this weather system know that we don't have basements? And we are not in tornado alley...... so what's going on here!???? Sure makes ya wonder about the global warming issue.
I also heard that the groundhog report is ........ Spring is just around the corner!!!! Yay!!! If that is true, this will be one of the shortest and warmest winters I can ever remember in 40+ years here on the southeast coast of Florida. Please pray that El Nino has strong winds blowing away from the U.S. any tropical storms/hurricanes coming off Africa. (I don't think most the people in my town could handle another bad huricane season.) I don't want Haiti getting any storms either. I have a child I sponsor over there. I don't want anything to happen to him or his family. Pray, pray, pray, please!
You got it Becky!! We were so lucky, one mile from here is devastation and we got nothing.
I saw the news tonight and see that 19 people so far had lost their lives. Two were said to be teenage children. How sad.
Something interesting was stated that I did NOT know: Florida has more tornadoes per square foot of land than any other state in the U.S. Of course, Texas has the most tornadoes in any given year, but TX also has a much larger land mass than Florida. Florida has always seemed like paradise. I guess with all paradises there is a down side.
Karen - YOU are SOOOOOO lucky. I saw the news and video footage of the damage and can't imagine how anyone survived at all in some of the destroyed homes. You must have a guardian angel watching over you! I hope help arrives and helps all those affected. {{{{HUGS}}}}
Growing up, I never recall hearing about tornadoes in Fl.... only about the last 10 yrs or so. (or is it just more news coverage)
Has it always been this bad? Or is it due to the weird weather changes everyone has seen in the past 10-15 yrs?
I was shocked to read about the devastation this morning.
So glad to know you all are ok!! I never listen to the news and am always so unaware of what is going on but caught just a little bit of it this morning.
Florida experienced 9 tornadoes and 50 miles of damage today through four counties.
tcs - I know that we do get tornadoes, but usually they aren't that strong. It does seem to me that such severe weather has been worse over the past 10 years than anytime I remember in the 40+ years I have lived here. I love living in Florida, but it does make one less confident concerning the future. I used to think that I would live out my life in the house I am currently in, but I am not so sure anymore. I live within 15 miles of the Atlantic ocean. Hurricane alley. After the double hurricane whammy that hit us in 2004, I no longer think that it couldn't happen again. It's a shame to live on the edge like that. If I was rich and could afford a second home somewhere else and had a place to go in case, it wouldn't be so stressful. But this is our only home and it has everything we own in it. Especially memories (photo albums, journals, videos, etc.) It's unsettling.
I have to tell you a weird story. There is a beautiful home at the end of my street. (It's a relatively short street.) This house has been hit by lightning 2 times. Fried the electrical appliances and had to be re-wired throughout the home. TWICE!!! What's the odds in that?? And then, about 5 years ago, a tornado came right down out of the sky into the backyard of this very same house. Ripped up the screened porch and dump parts of it on the other end of the street near my home. This tornado blew right over my home. My son (who we often wonder if he has any common sense whatsoever) was standing in the living room looking out the big front window watching the rain and wind. He was watching the palm trees and the froms bending straight down and INTO the tree instead of blowing around. And there was a very loud roar outside. He's saying out loud."Dad, come see this! It's weird. The palm tree branches are doing something very strange!" At which point, my dh is screaming for him to get into the utility room to take cover, since my dh knew it was a tornado.
I was a few blocks away at a grocery store picking up a few items for dinner. I heard the front automatic electrical doors blow open and heard the roar. Everyone was screaming. I knew immediately it was a tornado. I'm standing in the bakery section with nothing but glass all around me. I am thinking, oh just my dumb luck to be in the worst place in the entire store. So I ran over to the bread shelves. (Hey, I'm thinking padding in case things start falling on top of me! lol) I could hear this popping noise, so I look up and all the light cases on the ceiling were popping open from the front of the store one by one to the back of the store as the tornado passed through and just above the store. It was the freakiest thing! This tornado damaged a number of homes, took out a several huge old oak trees and literally tore a path through our subdivision. Caused a traffic accident. A few people were hurt. Minor injuries. But did quite a bit of damage. And it wasn't even a strong tornado. But it started at the house at the end of my street! Spooky!
To this day, I think that house is cursed. I don't know if it is on Indian Burial grounds or what. But what are the odds?? The owners homeowner's insurance I think canceled the policy on their house. They were paying out a fortune in repairs for acts of nature every couple of years. Crazy, huh?!!!
I've been through a number of hurricanes and many tornadoes. You instinctively recognize that roar. Yes, it does sound similiar to a freight train. Very loud and shakes everything. Scary, indeed. So I can not imagine what the folks who were awoken by the rash of tornadoes must have gone through. Horrible!
So glad to know ya'll in Florida are safe!!! Seems we are repeatedly cursed with the forces of nature...tornados and hurricanes...but we all are blessed by nature with a diverse amount of wildlife - gotta love those butterflies and birds :o)
Becky...that is a strange story! Scary indeed! I've read stories about stuff like that - really makes you wonder (ahem...that's a nice word for - freak out!!!)
Global warming seems to be wreaking havoc on all parts of the world. Lots don't believe it but it makes sense to me. I watched "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore (the man who was almost our President) and it is quite enlightening.
Again...am so glad everyone is safe - ya'll take care!!!
~ Cat
Hi All,
The Villages newspaper says that 1000 homes were damaged or totalled. (This is a community of 60,000 people). Yesterday, The Villages company pulled all workers from building new homes, and sent them into the damaged areas. Today, all damaged homes have tarps over the roof and all debris is gone.
The community has set up ways to donate to help those in need, and neighbors are helping neighbors.
This is why I love living here.
Karen, that is very impressive that the workers and much needed help jumped in so quickly! I had heard that some folks didn't have homeowner's insurance. I hope Mr. Crist will designate a fund to help those. And my condolences go out to all those who lost a family member, friend, or neighbor. Utterly horrible situation. Does the death total still stand at 19?
Karen - Do you have power or are you running off a generator?
Our house and our neighborhood was not touched.
Deaths were not in The Villages but 4 in Lady Lake and the rest in another area.