Oooookay, all you curmudgeons!

The page appeared to be gone when I tried to access it just now, but I have
a fair idea of what it might have been all about, given that I live in this
tarp infested area.

First off, we chose a roofing contractor a few days ago, so our tarp will be
gone in a few weeks. Hmmf. We were starting to get used to that blue roof.
I imagine that flying over this area would have given one quite a shocking
assortment of roof damage. But all in all, roof repair is going quite down
well here. It took us longer because we insisted on someone local and
reputable. There was no shortage of "contractors" from Texas, OH, and IL who
wanted to get their thieving mitts on our roof. But, we didn't lose the
roof, after all; we lost shingles, had some water damage in the master bath
and had some minor ceiling stains, which will be painted, not replaced. So
we waited for the good guys. There is other stuff to be done, screens, etc,
but we will do it all in order.

Someone mentioned stick built houses. Only a fool would build one now, but
many years ago all those Florida "cracker" houses were flimsy. There were no
building codes here in the middle of the last century. (Wow! "Last
Century"......) I first lived in Florida in the early 70's in Fort
Lauderdale, and my ex and I built a concrete block house. Down here it's
usually referred to as "CBS": concrete block and stucco. All construction in
this area is CBS, or at least CB with a different facade if someone wants a
wood look, which is unusual. The houses are quite sturdy, and at no time
were we afraid that the house would go down (we stayed through both storms).

Anyone can lose shingles in the kind of storms that we experienced, and
older roofs were of course especially vulnerable. But the worst hit, as
would be expected, were roofs that were already in need of repair, or at
least old beyond their time. Also, older houses here tend to have less pitch
on the roof, and the wind just tore through them. As far as our roof is
concerned, the damage was scattered, but it makes sense to replace the whole
roof. The insurance company agreed with that theory.

And preparation means everything. We moved here from CT in 1999, and in 2000
we purchased storm panels, hoping we would never use them. That is something
that a homeowner can do on his/her own, but we opted to have professionals
do it for us. It cost us a bit more, but that's what we did. And we got good
advice from the company with which we contracted. At the rear of our house
we have a covered patio, and beyond that is the pool, with the patio
continued but with a narrow drain line separating the two sections (you
don't notice the drain). There are two double sliders and one triple that
open onto the patio from the house, and our idea was to get panels to cover
the doors. The contractor wisely pointed out to us that the roof over the
patio was an extension of the roof over the house, and recommended that we
panel in that entire area, sides and all, to prevent wind from getting under
the roof and tearing the whole thing off in case of a bad storm. It did not
cost more than just doing the glass doors. We also opted for a few clear
panels here and there, so we weren't as claustrophobic as we might have been
with all metal.

Some people down here were so used to false alarms that they made few
preparations; many didn't even take the trouble to move things that could
cause damage, didn't board up, didn't stock up on water, didn't, didn't,
didn't, didn't. Many stayed in mobile homes, or those infamous stick builts
or in houses in close proximity to the water. There were alternatives
available to all; no one needed to do that.

Don't get me wrong. It was awful. But so are Nor'easters, CA mudslides, ice
storms, floods, Plains tornados, etc. Having said all that, if we get
warnings of that type again, we will already have located a cat friendly
assortment of places to go and be comfortable. The worst part of all was
being without power and, for long periods, phone and also cell phone
service.

Hey, Dave! Tarps r Us! LOL

Diana