florida keys still there?

Thanks for asking Steve. Yeah, still here. It was also not a good day to try drying pots...not in a 110 mile per hour wind blowing rain. (I watched the wind drive rain right through 1/2 inch plywood. Now _that's_ wind!

We pretty much escaped damage in Key West, though the poor folks in Port Charlotte got wailed on. I know people (potters) that lost everything except the clothes on their backs (literally.) I am extremely grateful that it wasn't our turn. We had ours in '98 with Georges.

Who was it said "Nature bats last" ?

So happy you are safe. I was wondering if you know anything about Cape Coral? I have friends there, and the last communication I received was that they had closed their storm shutters. The news only talks about Punta Gorda. I think they are close to Punta Gorda. I thought maybe the local papers might mention other cities. Thanks, and remain safe through this hurricane season. Martha

Cape Coral is only about 30 miles south of Punta Gorda. They are lucky if they have storm shutters. They are on the right side of the eye so they could have gotten tornados. I hear the storm hit at low tide and that is what saved them from flooding from the storm surge. I'm sure they didn't have a good time but I bet they are ok. Hope they didn't have any damage. The devistation hit all the way across Florida. Orlando is a mess too and it's on the other side of the state. It's on the news a lot here in New Orleans because a hurricane like that would be New Orleans worst nightmare since the city is below sea level. Flooding would be about 3 stories high. They estimated about 50,000 people would die because most people don't leave when a hurricane hits.

I just did a Google search on Cape Coral for you. Here's a couple articles you may want to see. There was a tornado. It does say no injuries reported.

Thank you all for info re: Cape Coral. Still haven't heard from friends, I'm sure the power hasn't been restored. Thanks again for all of the links. They have been helpful. Martha