Took a direct hit from Frances

[Samurai_Writer]

I live in Fort Pierce, FL, which was directly hit by Frances. I had left on Thursday afternoon to drive to Houston. Normally what is a 19 hour drive took me 30 hours -- 23 of those hours in Florida. I had my dog and two cats with me in my car with no A/C. I sat in gridlock in Orlando from 4pm Wed until 2am Thur. At 3:30 am, I pulled over to sleep for two hours. I finally made it to the campground I was planning on staying at, at 10 am Friday (www.springcreekcampground.net). I stayed there until Saturday morning so we could all recoop until headin the rest of the way. I got to Houston 7pm on Saturday.

I have no idea if my apartment is still in one piece or not. I saw the video on the news of the KMart that is one mile from my house with its roof blown away, and of Chuck's Seafood, which is about 2-3 miles from my house, which was utterly destroyed. Damn that was a good place to eat, too.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know what was going on with me. I'm going to head back on Friday, unless my Mr. Corporate America boss makes me come back earlier. Hope everyone else in Florida is safe too! Can't check DU too much on my mom's old iMac with the sloooooow connection, but you can email me at [e-mail] and I will check emails once a day.

[trumad]

1. This Central Floridian wishes you the best luck

and you might not have a beach to go back to... The erosion is immense... I wonder if my old surfing grounds, Sebastion, was effected... I hope not....

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Glad you are ok!

and I hope you find your apartment is in one piece when you get home!

[soothsayer]

3. Hope you find everything ok when you get back, and that you get back

safely! Hopefully Chuck's and others can rebuild.

[molly]

4. My friend lives in Florida - Coral Springs

her electric is back on. She is fine.. Please be safe!

[Maeve]

5. Good luck--my in-laws are in Stuart

They didn't take any real damage (and them in a double-wide!), but some of their neighbors were wiped out.

[readmylips]

6. My daugher in Orlando is OK too...

She spent the worse of her time at work. She works for the State and as she calls the governor...that big head stupid foker called her uniot to work. Can't tell you what she does, it's not military.

[fudge stripe cookays]

7. So sorry, RadFem!

I hope you sustained minimal damage and that Chuck's will rebuild.

Oh, and sorry about your son (other thread).

FSC

[FloridaPat]

8. I-4 was at a dead stop Friday going west bound. Glad you and

the pets are OK. I'm in Lakeland and we're still waiting for Frances to leave. You'd better check on where Ivan is going before you head back.