mail@kliewerhome.com
09-11-2017, 03:29 PM
We are slap-happy exhausted, so I hope that you (all my friends) will forgive my long reply, and take this update in the spirit in which it is intended!
First of all, let me thank you for your prayers! We are grateful to God for His protection and lovingkindness to us.
Update:
The eye (or what was left of it) of Irma arrived in The Villages at 3:30 this morning. If we thought that the sounds and winds were bad for the previous 8 hours...well they were just a little prelude of the surprise that came with the eye of the storm! The winds were SO loud, and SO ferocious! It truly was frightening. It was very black outside, but we had the lights on under our lanai, so we could see what the winds looked like (because they had rain in them) as they blasted through the lanai. Twice the winds were so ferocious from every direction, that I could see them create their own vortex - it was like small tornados on our lanai!
Here is the good news:
Our new screen enclosure (we call it a birdcage) that surrounds the pool and patio is still standing! Amazing!
All roof shingles appear to be intact!
Ridge vents appear to be intact!
Pool came within 1" of overflowing (we had taken the water level down by 10 or 12 inches), but it didn't overflow!
None of our beautiful palm trees uprooted!
No broken windows!
The news is reporting that 2/3 of the state of Florida is without power, but WE HAVE POWER!
Here are the casualties of Irma at our house:
A frog had slapped himself onto our sliding glass doors early on in the evening, and had clung there for dear life for hours. Sadly, he was blown away by the stronger winds early this morning. (No...I never went to bed.) He MUST still be somewhere inside of the birdcage, because there was no way he could get out (except....how on earth did he get IN?). So, I am hoping to find him when we go unstrap all of the patio furniture that we had no more room for in the house. (We had already moved in 4 chaise loungers, a loveseat and 2 chairs.) If I find him, I am going to give him a kiss (maybe he was our guardian angel?), and then let him eat all of the mosquitos he can find on our patio. He probably won't find any of those, but for some reason lots of lizards and spiders somehow find their way inside of the birdcage.
Two of our new hibiscus trees were ripped out of the ground by the wind, and were laying on the lawn.
Our other casualty - we had water intrusion on one whole side of the house. No businesses are open as most counties (but not ours, YAY!) are under a mandatory house arrest/curfew. Step off of your own property - get arrested. So, I put out a notice on nextdoor.com, and within 5 minutes one of our neighbors was knocking on our door, bringing us a carpet drying fan! And over the next 30 minutes, we had over a half-dozen neighbors dropping off more fans, water extractors, and blowing heaters! One of them (a public thank you to you Joe!) even stayed and helped us pull up the carpet, discard the wet pads, and get the blowers going. And then....he helped us replant our hibiscus trees! And wouldn't accept any form of thanks except a handshake!!!
Now...that is the true spirit of the people who live in The Villages.
Moral of the story: The next time you hear someone say: "You know what they say about what goes on in The Villages", - You can tell them our story and change the legacy of The Villages forever! LONG LIVE KINDNESS !!
First of all, let me thank you for your prayers! We are grateful to God for His protection and lovingkindness to us.
Update:
The eye (or what was left of it) of Irma arrived in The Villages at 3:30 this morning. If we thought that the sounds and winds were bad for the previous 8 hours...well they were just a little prelude of the surprise that came with the eye of the storm! The winds were SO loud, and SO ferocious! It truly was frightening. It was very black outside, but we had the lights on under our lanai, so we could see what the winds looked like (because they had rain in them) as they blasted through the lanai. Twice the winds were so ferocious from every direction, that I could see them create their own vortex - it was like small tornados on our lanai!
Here is the good news:
Our new screen enclosure (we call it a birdcage) that surrounds the pool and patio is still standing! Amazing!
All roof shingles appear to be intact!
Ridge vents appear to be intact!
Pool came within 1" of overflowing (we had taken the water level down by 10 or 12 inches), but it didn't overflow!
None of our beautiful palm trees uprooted!
No broken windows!
The news is reporting that 2/3 of the state of Florida is without power, but WE HAVE POWER!
Here are the casualties of Irma at our house:
A frog had slapped himself onto our sliding glass doors early on in the evening, and had clung there for dear life for hours. Sadly, he was blown away by the stronger winds early this morning. (No...I never went to bed.) He MUST still be somewhere inside of the birdcage, because there was no way he could get out (except....how on earth did he get IN?). So, I am hoping to find him when we go unstrap all of the patio furniture that we had no more room for in the house. (We had already moved in 4 chaise loungers, a loveseat and 2 chairs.) If I find him, I am going to give him a kiss (maybe he was our guardian angel?), and then let him eat all of the mosquitos he can find on our patio. He probably won't find any of those, but for some reason lots of lizards and spiders somehow find their way inside of the birdcage.
Two of our new hibiscus trees were ripped out of the ground by the wind, and were laying on the lawn.
Our other casualty - we had water intrusion on one whole side of the house. No businesses are open as most counties (but not ours, YAY!) are under a mandatory house arrest/curfew. Step off of your own property - get arrested. So, I put out a notice on nextdoor.com, and within 5 minutes one of our neighbors was knocking on our door, bringing us a carpet drying fan! And over the next 30 minutes, we had over a half-dozen neighbors dropping off more fans, water extractors, and blowing heaters! One of them (a public thank you to you Joe!) even stayed and helped us pull up the carpet, discard the wet pads, and get the blowers going. And then....he helped us replant our hibiscus trees! And wouldn't accept any form of thanks except a handshake!!!
Now...that is the true spirit of the people who live in The Villages.
Moral of the story: The next time you hear someone say: "You know what they say about what goes on in The Villages", - You can tell them our story and change the legacy of The Villages forever! LONG LIVE KINDNESS !!