Charley Came To My House
 

Charley stopped by my house on Friday the 13th. He brought a little lesson. That lesson was- DO NOT try to ride out a CAT4 storm in a mobile home. As you can see by my join date and post count I dont say much, but I like hangin around, especially the tech forum and looking through old threads for nuggets of info about boats. Anyway, here's what happened to me:

I have never particularly liked mobile homes. I dont like their looks- the cheesy air of phony class- like a small town used car salesman's wife in Vegas for the first time. I dont like the way they feel- the spongey give to the floors and all the doors just a couple inches too narrow for my 6-4 frame. But, when I got a great new job here in Punta Gorda just ten weeks ago, I found a terrific little concrete dock on one of the many canals that criss-cross this place, only two miles from work, and with a brand new boat lift-- I was sold. The built up trailer home was just a place to put my stuff between the new job and time on the water. It was such a great view, and the first time I had lived right on the water, I felt like I was being paid to be on vacation.
I spent the day doing all the last minute things- bringing in the grill and deck furniture and taping up any openings on the boat where water might get in. Covered the instrument panel and doors with clear vinyl. I was ready, the boat was ready. Even put duct tape around the back door- I was gonna stay dry. I had spent the afternoon the day before lashing the beams of the boat lift to the support poles. I was ready, and I was gonna stay put. After all, I had hurricane experience. I rode out six of em in the nineties on the North Carolina coast. What was one more?
Things were fairly calm all day, really no rain to speak of until 2:30 or so. I sat at my desk overlooking the canal, making and remaking little mpegs with my digital camera. Oh, look, the wind is turning the prop on the boat- that will make a cool shot. The four large palm trees across the way danced in unison to the rhythm of the wind. This lasted for about an hour or so, intermittent rain and steadily building wind. About quarter to four it started to get serious- the wind kicked up a notch and did not let up. Light aluminum awnings, tarps and untied lawn furniture started rolling across the yards and down the street across from me. Hmmmm, I thought, this is getting interesting! Things got interesting real fast. The wind continued to build and soon the entire house was shaking. Pieces of the house next door started flying off and into the side of my place, sounding like gunshots as the debris collided with the plastic siding. The big window in the kitchen was bowing in. I better go hold that, I thought, so I went over and pressed back against the glass to keep it flat. I had recently put three layers of tint on it, so I knew it would be fairly strong. The wind continued to get stronger.

Here's a before and some after pix of my dock...

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

I'm standing to one side of the window (it's about 5ftx5ft- typical thin glass found in mobile homes) with both hands pressing against the glass. The house next door is disintegrating and pieces of it are slamming against the wall of my place- shingles, aluminum, tree branches, everything. It sounds like a machine gun with a misfire- loud bangs nonstop now, and the sound of the wind is still getting stronger. I'm looking at these huge pieces of house, tree limbs, decking and god-knows-what flying towards me at a fairly high rate of speed and I'm thinking, maybe I shouldnt be near this window. It was like a view from the cockpit in one of those science fiction chase scenes through the asteroid field- stuff everywhere, and moving real fast right at you. I'm starting to get nervous. The wind is so strong now that it is shaking the trailer so hard enough that lamps are falling off tables, bookselves are falling over and I'm wondering what to do as I step back from the window. I didnt have long to wait. When the window blew it was immediate chaos in the room. It is impossible to describe what 120mph wind in your living room is like, but if you think of those movie scenes when they lose cabin pressure in the airliner you can get a general idea of the moment. The room was instantly filled with rain and swirling debris- leaves, branches, pieces of drywall and yellow insulation are spinning everywhere. I could hardly see and the roar was deafening. In an instant I am soaking wet, along with everything else in the room. It seemed like everything in the room was moving- cabinet doors were blown open and dishes were breaking as they were blown out and hit the floor. Ten or fifteen seconds after the window blew, half of the wall in the living room blew out and the trailer started to tilt and then slowly moved sideways and off the foundation supports. I remember a loud creaking sound and then wood splintering as the center supports, which did not fall over, came up through the kitchen floor like Godzilla coming into the house. I'm really getting nervous now, and all I can think of is Dorothy and Toto and I dont want to go to Kansas. I'm worried that the place is gonna come completely apart and blow me to somewhere that I dont wanna be. The wind is still getting stronger. I start to think about a Plan B. The living room door is on the downwind side, so I go over and pull but it wont open- the whole building is skewed and it's jammed. I keep pulling on it, and as the storm shakes the building, it finally opens. The first thing I see is the deck at waist height, since the trailer has settled off its supports and is now 3 feet lower than it was just a few minutes earlier. Looking out the door, everything is surreal- trees down, freight train wind and blinding rain, all kinds of material flyin through the air as it comes over the roof of my trailer at incredible speed. The roar of the wind is deafening and it is still getting stronger.

The trailer is shaking so hard now that it feels like it is gonna come apart any second. I feel the overwhelming need to be someplace else, like a cat that will suddenly decide he needs to be in another room and makes a mad scramble out of a room for no apparent reason. I decide to make a dash next door to my neighbor's house. It's on the ground and seems to be holding fairly well, even though the carport roof is gone. There's no lull in the wind, so I plan my route, two steps across the deck, jump to the ground, around the big tree (down) and over the little tree (also down) and around behind his house and plan from there. My plan goes well until I get to the little tree and start to jump over it. The wind catches me and carries me about ten feet through the air and slams me to the ground. I lay there on my back for a second and look at the debris hurtling through the air above me. There is so much stuff flying around that I am afraid to stand up, so I belly-crawl behind the house and out of direct path of the wind. I go into his garage through a side door held with a bungee cord. The wind is still getting stronger. It is now roaring with a sound I will never forget.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Are you and your family OK through all of this?

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

The garage is really just a big metal shed with a roll up door. The building is shaking like a can of paint at the hardware store, the garage door is halfway up and doing some kind of crazy dance, cans of paint and tools are falling off shelves all around me. Then the windows blow out. Debris is peppering the metal building with that funky machine gun sound as I try to hold the door shut- as the bungee cord was there for a reason. The wind is still getting stronger- a nonstop ferocious, gutteral roar that sounded like the devil himself. The building starts to move. I open the door just a crack and it immediately disappears- grabbed from my hand and flung to the heavens in an instant. The roof of the garage starts to peel away and now the building starts to rise off the ground-- it feels like an elevator. I dont wait for the second floor- when it gets 4 or 5 inches off the ground I dive out the door to the ground next to a central air conditioning unit just behind the building and curl up in the fetal position with my head pushed into the corner made by the side of the house and the ac unit. A friendly piece of aluminum lands at my feet and I cover myself with it like a blanket. My head is about two feet from the corner of the garage. As I lay there, I watch the garage creep slowly towards the house until it is up against it. This was a three foot walkway only minutes earlier. The wind has been viciously steady for what seems like hours, and then slowly changes direction as the eye passes. It never really got calm, so I assume I was just on the edge of it, at the eyewall. So I lay there, under my aluminum blanket listening to the monster roar for another half hour or so until finally the wind died down enough to venture back to what was left of the house.

I wasnt sure what to expect when I came out from under my little aluminum blanket, but I knew it wouldnt be good. As I came around the corner towards my house I couldnt believe what I was seeing- debris was everywhere, trees were down- the entire place looked like a bomb had gone off. It was completely transformed from the place I knew an hour earlier. The roof on the trailer seemed to be intact. The rain continued light but steady. There was beeping from everywhere- probably burglar alarms on battery backup. I sounds like dozens of them, beeping is some weird harmony. I will learn to hate the tune. The wall of the living room that had blown out had also taken one wall of the back bedroom which I use as my office and studio. It was raining on all the graphics supplies I stored in the closet on that now-missing wall, and with the wind, it was also raining on the desk, which still had the monitors on it. (I had had the good sense to disconnect the cpu and place it in a bathroom.) A portion of the opposite wall had blown down and the slab of drywall was hung over my plotter. Everything was drenched and still getting more. The rain coming in the living room had soaked my rolltop desk and everything else in the room. I'm standing in the side yard, formulating my plan of attack to plug the holes, when I look over and see the boat.

Alphabet Soup is my pride and joy. She is the only boat I have ever owned- a 1986, 27' Harbor Craft that I bought in 1992. I cant begin to count all the wonderful memories I have from times spent aboard, and with the latest $1200 worth of work done since I moved to Punta Gorda ten weeks ago, she was running as good as ever. The culmination of a four-year project that began in Wilmington, NC and went to Newport Beach, California, traveled to Charleston, then to Atlanta, and now here-- with little steps as I could afford them being taken along the way. The beams of the lift were securely lashed to the big posts that support the structure, but I never really thought about tying the boat to the lift. After all, she weighs 4,000 pounds- no way is wind gonna blow enough to move her. Say hello to Charley. I guess he decided he didnt like the position of the boat, so he rearranged it for me. The Soup was standing up on her transom, bow skyward- leaning at a weird angle against the rear lift beam like some crazy, out of control rocket. I stand there in the rain looking at this sight for a long time. Memories of good times past flood through my mind. I fight back tears. There is work to be done, my stuff is still getting rained on... I cant do anything for the Soup right now, but I can slow up the water damage to the house. I grab a hammer and some nails, get my ladder and start picking up pieces of plastic siding that is laying everywhere, and start covering the holes.

All of the pictures here were taken within a half mile of my house. 4 people died within a mile of me.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

whoa, :eek: i'm speechless

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

With that complete, and the rain starting to end, I go back inside to survey the damage. Everything is soaked, there are leaves, pieces of drywall and styrofoam and yellow insulation everywhere- stuck to the walls, inside cabinets, on the ceiling. I walk from one end of the house to the other and back again. I sit and stare at the walls, at the mess. I make a chicken salad sandwich. I start pulling slabs of drywall and insulation off the floor and throw them out the broken door and windows into the yard. I get all my wet supplies, monitors, printers and everything else I can see that is wet, onto countertops or dry spots. It's now about 9:30 and I decide to try to drive over to the shop, which is about 3 miles away, and assess damage there. The road is unreal-- the northbound lanes of Hwy 41 are impassable- trees, streetlights and powerlines are down. Even the southbound side is one way in places due to trees and debris. I get to the shop and see one of the main windows is out- the one in the boss's office, and two smaller side windows are also blown out. Inside most of the ceiling tile is missing from the front office and there is an inch of standing water in the production room. I tape a piece of coroplast over the broken window. There is nothing I can do for the side windows. It is now about midnight and I am running on adrenaline. I go back to my house and crash.

The sound of helicopters woke me up. The entire day hummed with the drone of their rotors in the background- news choppers, Coast Guard choppers, and every now and then one of those big heavy lifters with military markings. I spent the morning picking through the mess- moving wet things out to the deck for drying. The beeping from the alarms continues without letup. I wipe drywall clumps and yellow insulation off of everything I feel like might be worth keeping. All the books in the studio were soaked... but now have that rumpled look after drying that says, "Hey, I survived this thing- a little bent, but still usable." I am worried about the plotter- the drywall that fell over it may have kept some water off it, but with no power I cant tell. Oh well, nothing I can do. I walk next door to my neighbor's yard where the prettiest grapefruit tree had stood. Now, all the fruit was laying in clusters on the ground. I photograph the green orbs and grabbed a half dozen for myself. I grill some burgers for lunch and invite Gordon, my neighbor to join me. He has just returned from staying with friends in Port Charlotte. He says the damage is just as bad inland. I have trouble imagining how it could be any worse. I take a nap after lunch- the feeling of fatigue is overwhelming. Later, I take a walk down the canal here, only to five or six houses away- all have major damage, some are totally destroyed. Only one or two on the whole block even looks remotely rebuildable. I find the nice 26' Grady White that was on the lift right across the canal from me sitting in the yard on the corner. I have seen enough. I walk back along the street. In the driveway of one of the houses is a six pack of Gatorade. A gift from my buddy Charley, I think to myself, and I snag it. I feel the need for a bathroom so I go back to the house on the east side of me and climb through a back wall that has blown down. The place is on the ground and I know the bathroom will work. The inside looks a lot like mine- stuff everywhere and the roof totally blown away. I take care of business and inspect the house. In the roofless master bedroom I see a very nice large screen (maybe 32") television. I file this info away for future reference. I make a mental note of the well-stocked bar. I take a short dip in the nice pool that is now full of aluminum supports and styrofoam, but still looks fairly clean. It feels great, nice and cool- and washes all the dirt and sweat away for a few minutes. I decide to try to go find some ice. Rio Villa runs directly off of Hwy 41, as I get to the intersection, I see traffic northbound towards town backed up for miles. I turn around and go home and spend the afternoon picking through more of my stuff, trying to make a plan.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Im sorry to hear about your loss, I cruised right passed that area on my spring break. We rented a 40ft tolly craft and cruised the IWC, I was so envious of even the trailers on the water with a boat lift. I kept telling my girlfriend that I would be buying a trailer on the water and building a massive off site garage to hold all my toys. Good luck with everything

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

About 5 or 6 I decide to take a drive around the neighborhood- I need to get out, so I drive around the corner and down towards a little marina/dry storage facility about a half mile from the house. These guys have done the latest round of work on the boat and I am curious what their place looks like. Most of the residential areas of Punta Gorda are built around a series of little canals- street/canal/street/canal and so forth, so basically every house is on the water. A quaint little drinking town with a fishing problem, say the tshirts. Most have docks and many have lifts. Nearly all have a boat someplace close. As I drive down the street I cant believe what I see. Complete and total devastation in every direction. Boats in yards, boats upside down, boats half sunk. I start to cry and cannot stop. I love boats, love em. I get upset when I see a picture of a boat in distress. Every single canal has experienced its own little version of maritime hell. I can hardly see to drive I am crying so hard. I get to Gator Creek Marina at the end of the street and it only gets worse. The dry stack has blown over and pancaked every boat on the rack. It feels like the worst thing I have ever seen in my life. By now I am so upset I cant hold the camera steady. I drive home and sit in a chair and stare at the wall. I think about the tv next door. I am working on some anger now- what did I do to deserve this? Why should I have to lose so much? That tv is just gonna get ruined sitting in that room with no roof. At dusk I walk next door and get the tv and put it in my van. I think about how nice movies and baseball games will look on that big screen. I am now officially a looter.

I make a sandwich from a cold hamburger, move some boxes around for a bit and go to bed. After dark there really isnt too much that can be done by candlelight, and I am physically and emotionally exhausted. I lay in bed to the sound of helicopters. I imagine they are looking for looters, looking for me. I think about footprints in the grass and fingerprints on the sliding door. My CSI imagination is running wild. My conscience wont let up-- I toss and turn until 1:30 or 2 am, thinking about how I am gonna feel every time I look at that tv. I get up, and in the dark, I put the tv back in the roofless bedroom and return to bed, where I finally fall asleep. My looting days are behind me.

When Monday rolls around, my boss calls me and wants to meet in the afternoon- there is no way to get through town, and we both are in clean up mode. I figure its a strategy session. Wrong. The cold-hearted bastard lays me off! Says he is gonna close up the shop and just keep the fabricators to finish all the jobs in house. Since I'm the genl manager, I'm part of the group that goes. Two weeks severance. I still cant believe it. Oh well. Life goes on- at least I am here to talk about it. The hardest part is not having any friends in the area to hang with and drink their beer. Having only been here for ten weeks I have only met a couple people outside work, so the loneliness is compounded. I've moved to a temporary place in FT Myers and guess I'll try to find a job. Damn. Gonna try to salvage the boat tomorrow, I'm told that since the motor has been underwater all this time that it can be saved. Hope so. Well, any kind words and advice will be appreciated. Jay

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

man i'm speechless. very sorry about your loss. :(

i was gonna ask last week if any marina's were hit bad....now i know.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

jay , you got a address, i'll send you a check. pm me. eric

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Jay, I am speechless!!! I know how you feel about boats.....Be right back!!



I'm back I had to go make myself a strong Captain and Coke after realizing how lucky I am. Our thoughts are with you and everyone in the area. Keep your heads up. :)

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

OUCH :eek:
At least you came through it ok. That sounds like quite a living nightmare :(

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

OMG..... what a story.... I feel so helpless...... :(

As far as your engine..... The minute you get the engine out.. Take the plugs out, roll it over by hand and get all the water out of the cylinders, and drain the oil.... fill the cylinders with diesel... fill the crank case with diesel and oil.... roll the engine over by hand a few times.... Drain all that back out and put new plugs and oil in the engine and try to start it.... Keep changing the oil will you have no water in the oil.... then fog the engine a few times after you have it running...

Hope this helps, and God Bless

Heather

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

I love a woman that knows her Chit!!! And it doesn't hurt that she likes to "back 'em out!!!! :D

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

There are OSO members there, they can lend a beer hand :) The rest is up to a front loader and a crane. What a mess, that is 1/1,000,000 of the damage done there. 11 Billion is not a number to be taken lightly. Glad you are ok and there will be jobs, get a truck and some tools and but a 70 Hatteras :) Good luck and welcome to FL. :rolleyes: I'm glad you gave the TV back, if it was in the rain it was not lomg for this world anyway. :)

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Jay,
After reading your posts I have tears in my eyes, that is an incredible story. Glad you're safe, P.M. me your address also, would like to help somehow.

Caleb

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

I also don't post around here much...but your story definitly deserves a response.

My Fiance' was riveted to the TV during the entire Hurricane ordeal, so when I started reading your story, I immediately got her and we read it together. What an amazing story. Well written too...

As others have said, at least you made it through and are able to share you story with others...

Good luck with the rebuilding process....

-EG

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Jay
Sorry to hear about your loss! I drove down 75 today for the first time since Charlie and I was amazed by all the damage! Seeing the damage first hand is so much worse than pictures. I live in up in Sarasota and would be willing to help out in anyway that I can please let me know!
Todd
[email protected]

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

What a sobering thread. Just be glad you weren't one of the more unfortunate people that will never have a chance to do anything ever again. What type of work are you in? Oso is a great network.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

the heck with the boats man.......I'm glad your alive!!!! These pictures are really something else. If there's anything we can do just post it up....as mentioned, I've seen the work of OSO in times of need.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Now I see why my boat insurance is so high.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Jay, no one has the words to really comfort you except you are in all of our thoughts. I'm just up the road in Nokomis, (next to Venice/north) and we just missed that chit by about 25/30 miles. I was scared chitless watching the storm's progress that morning.

We are doing a lot of remodeling on our house, have lots of animals, but also have a clean spare bedroom your welcome to if need be.

You SURVIVED, that is the main thing. Everything else will eventually fall into place.

PM me if there is anything I can do. Cell # is 941-544-1375. You DO have many friends down here, you just have not met them yet. Russ

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Rivitting story, sorry to hear of your loss.god bless.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Amazing story, glad you are here to tell it.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

I have trouble finding words, Jay. Thanks for sharing your story, I hope it at least helped vent some frustration. I can't believe what you must have gone through, there's no way to imagine it without being there. I feel even worse knowing that I was feeling joy when it turned inland, sparing us...I was taking in a sigh of relief while you were getting pummeled.:( The devestation is awful.
You have many friends here.

Jay, what do you need, what can we do?

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Jay, it might be hard to realize right now but you are one lucky man. Any one piece of the debris storm could have killed you. Stuff can be rebuilt or replaced but life cannot. I can't even imagine what you went through personally, never mind physically.Good luck and remember, lean on your OSO brothers and sisters, they are there for you.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Thanks for the time and thought you put into recording your experience. This is one of the most important threads in a long time. The pics were some of the most compelling I have seen in terms of loss to boats. I feel like you do. Love 'em.

Makes me wish I was located closer so I could be of help.

Good luck.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

All I can say is "OH MY GOD" I am from TN and have never been in anything like that. It is overwhelming. I know I am about 700 miles away but if there is anything I can do PLEASE let me know. When you hear about the devastation on t.v., it just does not seem as tragic as when you see it through the eye's of someone who has lived it. All I can say is who sorry I am for what you had to go through.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Jay the best thing is that you're still alive to write about it. I wish I lived closer and could help you put things back together. I too share the passion for boats and the pics of the dry stack made my eyes sore. I really wish you the very best and a speedy recovery. Things will improve.

God Bless
Roby

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Jay, having been in a trailer in one tornado and having lost everything to a second one, I can still barely imagine what you went through. Best thing is that you are safe. I'll keep my fingers crossed that your boat comes through as well as you.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Where are you living? Your life has been suddenly turned upside down.
I cannot imagine.
You must apply to FEMA to get help 1-800-462-7585.
(www.fema.gov).. YOU are eligible if you are out of work as a result of the
disaster.

Glad you are safe. Can we do anything?

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

ps... My heart goes out to all that suffered.

...... in all our years looking at waterfront why are there so many
mobile homes along the water?



QUOTE ["It was such a great view, and the first time I had lived right on the water, I felt like I was being paid to be on vacation]

jayboat: Are there any mobile homes built after Hurricane Andrew that surrvived??

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Kitten, not everyone knows, but FEMA is a LOAN. I discovered that after tornado 2. I didn't have renters insurance and also discovered that I could claim all losses on my taxes.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

All I can say is WOW!
I know you lost pretty much everything, but I'm glad you're ok. You're lucky to be alive.
I hope you've found a place to live. I hope all goes well with your insurance and you can rebuild.

We were slammed pretty good in Kissimmee by Charley too.
I say "we" but I mean all the residents and property owners. Somehow my house came out without so much as a scratch while my next door neighbor lost her second floor roof right down to the rafters. Ceilings have since caved in, all their clothing is contaminated by insulation. Insurance adjuster told them to move out before the insulation causes health problems. He found high moisture content in the lower walls and the entire house may have to be stripped of all sheet rock and rebuilt.
I feel so bad for my neighbor. She lost her husband early this year, he was only 49, their dog had to be put down cause old age and now this.

Be well.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

I was listening to some people on the radio and they were talking about the high deductable most homeowners are facing.
I was shocked to find that new policies are written with deductables that are 2 to 5% of the homes value. With a 5% deductable on a 250k home you'd have to cough up 12,500. :eek:
Can you imagine??!!
Even at 2% it's still 5k!

I never knew this till now. I don't know how they get away with it.
Fortunately my neighbor and I both have $500 deductable on a total replacement type policy.
Jayboat, I hope you don't have that high deductable.
Everyone else, go take a look at your policy ASAP! Be sure you can afford to rebuild if it ever becomes necessary.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Jay, I watched the coverage of the storms here in MI & felt sorry for everyone's losses but now there is a face to the storm. I am so sorry for what you went through. I hope you come back and post more often, please let us know your address and what line of work you are in, there are a ton of members in FL and they have a wide net work, you never what might happen. Best wishes, Donna

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. You folks are unbelievable. So many encouraging PM's and people I dont even know sending me money. It reaffirms my faith in people, at least from those here who understand boatlove...

I've rented a room in Ft Myers and plan to stay here for a month or so. I'm in the sign business and specialize in boat graphics- I've lettered more than a thousand boats in my life and hope to do a thousand more here in south fla. There is a huge need for signs in the area, but the place is so devastated it is a month away from needing any real work. People are still concerned with their windows and roofs and inventory to worry about anything else. It hurts me to go back there right now- the wound is still bleeding. Something good will come from it- "out of adversity, comes opportunity" has become my mantra of the month. What else ya gonna do put push on?

As a few of you have mentioned, the important thing is that I am still around to tell the story. In retrospect, it probably wasnt my brightest move to jump into the belly of the beast, but in the high anxiety of the moment, it seemed like my only option. For those of you that have asked, I did manage to save my clothes. The fact that I was there and was able to get things dried out immediately made a big difference in the final tally of what went to the curb and what stayed. All in all, a terrible experience that I am still dealing with all day, everyday. Wouldnt wish it on anyone.

If there is anyone in the area with some scuba gear, I could use a little help looking for the engine cover for the boat. The canal is only 10ft deep and based on wind direction I have about a 30 or 40 area that I know that sucker is hiding in. The flat deck hatches- fish boxes and gas tank covers can probably be refabricated, but that doghouse would be impossible to match. If anyone can help, please PM me.

Thanks again you guys. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
Jay

ps- attached is the bedroom closet- makes you wonder what was flying thru the air to make a hole like that...

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Wow. Amazing. I have tears in my eyes. I wish the best for you and your loved ones. OSO is here for you. Lets us know if there's anything we can do.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

You will recover. Glad you did not get hurt.

Re: Charley Came To My House
 

Jay:

Thanks for capturing your experience in "print" for us. The television pictures really do not do justice to the devastation.

My marina made it through relatively unscathed. Especially in comparison to Gator Creek and Pinelands Marina. I lost the roof off my offices and the restaurant. Insurance adjusters figure six months to repair. However, the storage barn made it through with only a scratch.

There is still work in the area. In spite of the tragic losses, people are gearing up for business. As an example, I need banners and signs made up for the fall boat shows.

Although it sounds like a platitude, it really is only stuff that can be replaced. I'm glad your OK to write about your experience.