[(JD)]

Hurricane Andrew wiped South Florida nearly off the map. I was at the first "ground zero." The area has not yet recovered, and probably never will since they also closed the base there (losing 300 million dollars into the local economy a year.)

My heart goes out to the 80,000 residence dwellers who were displaced (over 240,000 people in all I think.) And also to those families of the over 2600 people who lost their lives in the storm. (Upwards of 5000 people died, not the 43 or so the government claims.)

Hurricane Dean came too close for comfort for all of us here in FL this week (also a category five.) While I wish those in Mexico well, I sure couldn't have handled it coming here.

[finestitcher]

I still lived in Florida back then. Hard to forget that hurricane. My mother lives in Port Charlotte across the river from Punta Gorda. It is amazing what Hurricane Charley did on August 13, 2004 to both Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte. My mother had to move to temporary quarters for 10 months before they were allowed back to their real home again.

I was a child when Hurricane Donna came through my hometown in 1960...I was 12...first hurricane I remember...no electricity for two weeks. My sisters and I ate at Crystal every day. My mother cooked on the neighbors gas stove every night.

Carolyn

[chalmette70043]

Sky, you and all who were affected from that dreadful storm are in my thoughts always and forever.

chalmette70043

[(JD)]

finestitcher we were probably neighbors for Donna! Yes it was a wet storm, but I wasn't afraid... never had been til Andrew. My Dad never showed fear, concern but not fear, so I loved hurricanes. The family stayed and played together in the great room the whole time! I recall floating around the property after Donna...for weeks... like one giant pool filled with bobbing grapefruit LOL

[wickedwings]

i can never forget katrina. all those souls in a state of misery waiting for help to come. and all those little souls, animals, not getting the help, and people being forced to abandon them, even the service dogs. i pray this never happpens again. a law was passed to include the pets to rescue. i pray for those affected by katrina. i know new orleans is still struggling.... still, i pray for the people there.

[chalmette70043]

Wicked wings, you mention the animals. Thank you for doing that. This is Cleo, my brothers Great Dane. We searched a long time for her.


http://www.lostkatrinapets.com/cleo/index.html

[wickedwings]

((((sky)))) *tears of happiness* so, so glad you found cleo. after katrina and seeing all those animal in distress, i hunted down the pet reunions and adoption placements for the animal survivors on the internet.

[(JD)]

I don't know what kind of, if any, rescue for the animals there was after Andrew. I know many disappeared in the wind into the everglades and fattened the aligators up (Aligator's "favorite" meal is dog. ) Being without power and all for so long after the storm, most of us didn't have a clue about what the rest of the world was doing (not even what they were doing for us.)

I would have melted down if Dean had come to FL. I haven't watched news so I don't know what it did to Mexico, but I know it wasn't pretty.

I told my MD yesterday that I'm set with the local special needs shelter in case of a category 1 or 2, but if it's a 3 I'm heading north. She was puzzled, but after I told her the government doesn't tell the truth and cat 3 could easily be a 4 and EVERYONE should evac on a 4 or 5, she added in how "Wilma" was supposedly only a 3, and it did much more damage...so she agreed with me

I really need Caleb to get his training done!

[wickedwings]

((((sky)))) i never really trusted the government much, but i sure lost my trust in the government during katrina. i don't blame you for going north if it's a category 3! how are you doing with caleb's energy? i remember when my dog, budha, was a pup.... man, so much energy he actually wore me out. lol.

[(JD)]

Caleb is settling ever so slightly. He automatically alerted today each time the tile layers set off the smoke alarm (dust from tile cutting?) and he hadn't been taught that yet... I'd only taught him the door bell for a few minutes. He will learn easily I think, now. The wheelchair (motorized) being borrowed from the MS society was to be delivered today, but they postponed due to other oxygen emergencies. I am eager (Friday?) to work with him on heeling that! He did have an experience with it with me when he first got here, as I took him with me to Disney world. Yep, ran over his tail or foot or something I think

My first service dog was only 8 months old when Andrew came through, and he hadn't been trained yet. Thankfully there was a hotel in Palm beach that allowed me in with him (but I had to beg.) Caleb is 10 months old. It's good Dean didn't hit, a cat 5 and me with a puppy again... talk about being triggered.

Caleb flew down to me, and I'm planning on flying with him to Disney next week... if I can get it together by then.

Thanks for asking!