Christmas Fish
4 hours ago
Saturday, September 16, 2017
More details from the ground
While my dad has passed and no longer lives in a FL retirement park, my lovely wife and I still know people who live there. This park is in Brooksville, maybe 50 miles north of Tampa. Early indication were that it wasn't that bad. Everyone we knew got out of the part and were in shelters or hotels.
Last night we got more details. While it wasn't anything like the devastation in the Keys, there were sections that did not do well at all. The two small ponds on the property became one good sized lake. Low lying trailers were flooded.
The scary part was the handful of trailers that had huge oaks come down on them. One of the things that made the park nice was all the shade from the mature trees. Those trees were less nice when falling over in high winds.
The power is still out in the park. In Florida, the lack of AC alone can do damage to a building. Black mold is always a concern. Many trailers were built with wafer board. Less expensive than plywood, it was especially popular with trailers built years ago. Heat and humidity can cause that material to basically fall apart.
I remember a housing development in another part of Florida that suffered from the 2008 housing crash. There were about 300 houses in the project. Very few of them were occupied when the developer when bust. After 6 months of being left without air conditioning, the walls weakened enough that the siding fell off. What a mess. Of course, during the housing boom a lot of construction was pretty slap dash.
I'm guessing that the longer the power outages lasts, the more houses will become unfit for habitation.
-Sixbears
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Funny , we have power now. Yet the house next to us does not...go figure.
ReplyDeletePosted a more full report on your post of the 13th life without AC
I know a little of what the folks in Florida are going through and I feel for them. It's sometimes hard to pick up the pieces after a storm like this.
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents lived in Brooksville. In the 1950's, we used to go down to visit them. We lived in Donaldsonville, Ga. It was a great place then. I remember the play ground around the old courthouse. Last time I was there, some years ago, it was Christmasland and I didn't recognize anything.
ReplyDeleteHumidity is a big problem for people living in the South at the best of times, in terms of mold and mildew. Now, with no power and the water from the storm, it's even worse. We are drying our place out now, humidity got up to the mid seventies during the power outage. I usually try to keep it at a max of 54.
A lot of people lost a lot of their stuff, but didn't stayed alive. Between Harvey and Irma I have only heard of a couple of deaths. Of course that is a couple too many.
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