Hurricane Michael - October 2018

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I SO agree. How sad to die alone and terrified.
Rest in Peace.
scdiv said:
Thank you for posting that article @SeesSeas. I had not seen that. I had been following the family's search all week on social media. It was very confusing and conflicting and everyone had been hoping for a different outcome. It makes me so sad for anyone to be scared and alone.
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Ltns my wonderful cyber friends on this thread.

I never wanted to complain about my oiown woes since so many others have had such catastrophic losses of homes and lives.

But since Michael roared right over us our lives have been turned upside down so please forgive me for venting a little.

As you know I was so excited to have power restored on the 14th.

I even mentioned I knew the power was back on due to feeling cold air coming through our ac vents. Moments afterwards that all changed.

We realized our outside unit wasn't working and everytime my hubby flipped the circuit breaker back on it would immediately shutdown again.

During this time we had temps in the high 80s and it crept up into the 90s and the humidity was terribly high.

Our son spent his birthday trying to find someone to look at our unit. Finally he located one of his best friends who owns a HVAC business who was willing to come on Sunday. He came out and told us the hurricane had caused a power surge that destroyed our ac compressor.

We only had fans to cool our home until my hubby bought a window unit and put it in our bedroom. People say the older someone gets they get more cold natured but they forgot to send me the memo!!! Lol I have to have it freezing cold in order to sleep.

The HVAC unit was finally fixed this past Friday.

Meantime my hubby has been constantly clearing down trees and repairing other damage whether for us or our neighbors.

Today he has been working on taking down what is left of our destroyed gazebo.

Once power was restored I couldn't wait to make us a home cooked meal. This was the same day we realized our ac compressor wasn't working. Well that too was short lived. I loved my stove. We had just purchased it in 2015. It had double ovens which I used often when we have get togethers with our large family. It also caused a power surge and it fried the stove's motherboard.

We ordered a replacement on the 15th. We are still waiting even though they promised it would be in this past Wednesday.

Our grandaughter and oldest daughter plan to rebuild at sometime in the future. As you know they came inland to Georgia and are at a farm but they still do not have power and have been staying with family who do have power.
So many in our area of the state are still without power.

And while our son was so busy trying to help us he didn't notice their refrigerator wasnt cooling either. The motherboard had also gone out due to power surge. Monday a week ago they spent all day trying to find a replacement and finally did at the end of the day.

We both have the same insurance company. Our son filed his online and was reimbursed the very next day for the full amount plus food spoilage.

Our claim required an onsite adjuster. He came last week on Tuesday. He saw even more damage than we had seen.

So we are still in the waiting mode on somethings before it will get back to normal here but we are all so thankful all of our family and friends are safe.

During this time reading and posting on WS kept me grounded since we didn't have internet or cable service until last Friday.

Lol.. I may have some of the dates wrong. Time and dates have run together since 10..10.

Still praying for all who are still struggling to overcome Michael's wrath.
 
Last edited:
oceanblueeyes said:
Ltns my wonderful cyber friends on this thread.

I never wanted to complain about my own woes since so many others have had such catastrophic losses of homes and lives.

But since Michael roared right over us our lives have been turned upside down so please forgive me for venting a little.

As you know I was so excited to have power restored on the 14th.

I even mentioned I knew the power was back on due to feeling cold air coming through our ac vents. Moments afterwards that all changed.

We realized our outside unit wasn't working and everytime my hubby flipped the circuit breaker back on it would immediately shutdown again.

During this time we had temps in the high 80s and it crept up into the 90s and the humidity was terribly high.

Our son spent his birthday trying to find someone to look at our unit. Finally he located one of his best friends who owns a HVAC business who was willing to come on Sunday. He came out and told us the hurricane had caused a power surge that destroyed our ac compressor.

We only had fans to cool our home until my hubby bought a window unit and put it in our bedroom. People say the older someone gets they get more cold natured but they forgot to send me the memo!!! Lol I have to have it freezing cold in order to sleep.

The HVAC unit was finally fixed this past Friday.

Meantime my hubby has been constantly clearing down trees and repairing other damage whether for us or our neighbors.

Today he has been working on taking down what is left of our destroyed gazebo.

Once power was restored I couldn't wait to make us a home cooked meal. This was the same day we realized our ac compressor wasn't working. Well that too was short lived. I loved my stove. We had just purchased it in 2015. It had double ovens which I used often when we have get togethers with our large family. It also caused a power surge and it frued the stove's motherboard.

We ordered a replacement on the 15th. We are still waiting even though they promised it would be in this past Wednesday.

Our grandaughter and oldest daughter plan to rebuild at sometime in the future. As you know they came inland to Georgia and are at a farm but they still do not have power and have been staying with family who do have power.
So many in our area if the state are still without power.

And while our son was so busy trying to help us he didn't notice their refrigerator wasnt cooling either. The motherboard had also gone out due to oower surge. Monday a week ago they spent all day trying to find a replacement and finally did at the end of the day.

We both have the same insurance company. Our son filed his online and was reimbursed the very next day for the full amount plus food spoilage.

Our claim required an onsite adjuster. He came last week on Tuesday. He saw even more damage than we had seen.

So we are still in the waiting mode on somethings before it will get back to normal here but we are all so thankful all of our family and friends are safe.

During this time reading and posting in WS kept me grounded since didn't have internet or cable service until last Friday.

Lol.. I may have some of the dates wrong. Time and dates have run together since 10..10.

Still praying for all who are still struggling to overcome Michael's wrath.
Click to expand...

So sorry for your loss. Do you have an Instant Pot? That is a lifesaver for hot food with limited electricity. What a mess to clean up...been there, done that. Sending you positive energy!
 
mickey2942 said:
So sorry for your loss. Do you have an Instant Pot? That is a lifesaver for hot food with limited electricity. What a mess to clean up...been there, done that. Sending you positive energy!
Click to expand...

Thank you for the tip and thoughts.

Yes I do. I have been using it and my crockpot and the micro works thank goodness so i had to use it to make my hubby's tea.

Having to improvise on some things.
 
Thanks for the update. I've been thinking of you and yours. How are the small businesses doing in your area? Just having to close for a week can bring them to their knees. I know cause I've been there and done that . Take care.

oceanblueeyes said:
Ltns my wonderful cyber friends on this thread.

I never wanted to complain about my oiown woes since so many others have had such catastrophic losses of homes and lives.

But since Michael roared right over us our lives have been turned upside down so please forgive me for venting a little.

As you know I was so excited to have power restored on the 14th.

I even mentioned I knew the power was back on due to feeling cold air coming through our ac vents. Moments afterwards that all changed.

We realized our outside unit wasn't working and everytime my hubby flipped the circuit breaker back on it would immediately shutdown again.

During this time we had temps in the high 80s and it crept up into the 90s and the humidity was terribly high.

Our son spent his birthday trying to find someone to look at our unit. Finally he located one of his best friends who owns a HVAC business who was willing to come on Sunday. He came out and told us the hurricane had caused a power surge that destroyed our ac compressor.

We only had fans to cool our home until my hubby bought a window unit and put it in our bedroom. People say the older someone gets they get more cold natured but they forgot to send me the memo!!! Lol I have to have it freezing cold in order to sleep.

The HVAC unit was finally fixed this past Friday.

Meantime my hubby has been constantly clearing down trees and repairing other damage whether for us or our neighbors.

Today he has been working on taking down what is left of our destroyed gazebo.

Once power was restored I couldn't wait to make us a home cooked meal. This was the same day we realized our ac compressor wasn't working. Well that too was short lived. I loved my stove. We had just purchased it in 2015. It had double ovens which I used often when we have get togethers with our large family. It also caused a power surge and it fried the stove's motherboard.

We ordered a replacement on the 15th. We are still waiting even though they promised it would be in this past Wednesday.

Our grandaughter and oldest daughter plan to rebuild at sometime in the future. As you know they came inland to Georgia and are at a farm but they still do not have power and have been staying with family who do have power.
So many in our area of the state are still without power.

And while our son was so busy trying to help us he didn't notice their refrigerator wasnt cooling either. The motherboard had also gone out due to power surge. Monday a week ago they spent all day trying to find a replacement and finally did at the end of the day.

We both have the same insurance company. Our son filed his online and was reimbursed the very next day for the full amount plus food spoilage.

Our claim required an onsite adjuster. He came last week on Tuesday. He saw even more damage than we had seen.

So we are still in the waiting mode on somethings before it will get back to normal here but we are all so thankful all of our family and friends are safe.

During this time reading and posting on WS kept me grounded since we didn't have internet or cable service until last Friday.

Lol.. I may have some of the dates wrong. Time and dates have run together since 10..10.

Still praying for all who are still struggling to overcome Michael's wrath.
Click to expand...
 
KALI said:
Thanks for the update. I've been thinking of you and yours. How are the small businesses doing in your area? Just having to close for a week can bring them to their knees. I know cause I've been there and done that . Take care.
Click to expand...

There are still some without power KALI including businesses and residents but slowly things are getting better. The main problem is so many downed trees and many still have trees on or through their roofs.

It's almost impossible to find tree surgeons since they are all covered up with so much to do.

And of course there has been some price gouging too at gas stations and hotels...motels.

Finally we got our replacement stove in place today. So hopefully its returning to normal for us anyway.

The home across the street suffered major damage when a huge oak crashed into one end They just got the tree removed this week. The power crew is over there now restringing the power lines that are on that side of the street.

This has happened to so many homes and businesses. Some the adjusters will total.

Thanks for asking.
 
oceanblueyes, I’d suggest contacting the adjuster from your insurance company and asking them for an advance on the claim. After Sandy, our insurance company did that for us and it helped with trying to recover and get our lives back together quicker.

What was difficult for us, like you, was not having power, a fridge, heat or electric for weeks. Your whole life turned upside down and forced to spend money you don’t have to feed a family every day at restaurants.

Did you file a FEMA claim?

Hugs to you and yours.
 
JerseyGirl said:
oceanblueyes, I’d suggest contacting the adjuster from your insurance company and asking them for an advance on the claim. After Sandy, our insurance company did that for us and it helped with trying to recover and get our lives back together quicker.

What was difficult for us, like you, was not having power, a fridge, heat or electric for weeks. Your whole life turned upside down and forced to spend money you don’t have to feed a family every day at restaurants.

Did you file a FEMA claim?

Hugs to you and yours.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the hugs JG. It means a lot.

No we haven't filed with FEMA. Can we do that even though we have homeowners insurance?

I know some our friends said they may give a rebate if someone had to buy a generator but we already had purchased three when the 1994 500 year flood happened here leaving us without power for weeks.

Thanks for the info though. I will check it out.
 
Its almost comical now. Plus laughter is much healthier than crying. Lol

The HVAC business owner was back again today at our home for four hours trying to figure out why our new thermostat isn't working properly. He has been here 5 times since the hurricane. He is such a sweet man.

It will work just fine for a couple of days then stop. He has never come across this problem before in the 23 years he has been in business.

He finally rewired a switch in the outside heat pump unit. Keeping fingers crossed it will work fine now.
 
Wellll... the mystery continues. We turned the unit on heat this morning to get the chill out. Then turned it completely off most of the day.

Hubby turned it on to ac about 10 minutes ago and we are right back to it not coming on.

Sigh. I think Michael is telling us he can still cause problems even though he roared through on October 10th.

I think we may just have to adopt our hvac guy since we have seen him so often in the past few weeks. Lol

Thank goodness we're having mild temps for a change. Many times in November the temps can rise into the high 80s here.

So the beat goes on....
 
oceanblueeyes said:
Thank you for the hugs JG. It means a lot.

No we haven't filed with FEMA. Can we do that even though we have homeowners insurance?

I know some our friends said they may give a rebate if someone had to buy a generator but we already had purchased three when the 1994 500 year flood happened here leaving us without power for weeks.

Thanks for the info though. I will check it out.
Click to expand...

FEMA will help if you need a place motel vouchers or food.

Even though you have homeowners you should apply for FEMA. FEMA didn't help us because we had flood and homeowners insurance but they did ask us if we wanted motel/hotel vouchers which we declined, as we had pets and the only availability was far away.

They won't pay for anything after the fact though, after the FEMA representative left, a few days later we decided to move to a hotel/motel but at that time it was difficult to track down our FEMA representative and make the change. Oh well, we just continue fixing up the house and living there, went to Goodwill and bought lots of blankets to keep warm (we had a snow storm about a week after Sandy), still without power.
 
JerseyGirl said:
FEMA will help if you need a place motel vouchers or food.

Even though you have homeowners you should apply for FEMA. FEMA didn't help us because we had flood and homeowners insurance but they did ask us if we wanted motel/hotel vouchers which we declined, as we had pets and the only availability was far away.

They won't pay for anything after the fact though, after the FEMA representative left, a few days later we decided to move to a hotel/motel but at that time it was difficult to track down our FEMA representative and make the change. Oh well, we just continue fixing up the house and living there, went to Goodwill and bought lots of blankets to keep warm (we had a snow storm about a week after Sandy), still without power.
Click to expand...

What you went through is so heartbreaking. Have you been able to fully recover now?

I know even when we had the 500 year flood back in 1994 it took many in the affected counties over a decade to recover and Sandy was so much worse.

Well our HVAC guy is at a loss as to what to do anymore about our system not coming on so he is sending someone out today who has been in business over 40 years so now we wait ......AGAIN. LOL
 
oceanblueeyes said:
What you went through is so heartbreaking. Have you been able to fully recover now?

I know even when we had the 500 year flood back in 1994 it took many in the affected counties over a decade to recover and Sandy was so much worse.

Well our HVAC guy is at a loss as to what to do anymore about our system not coming on so he is sending someone out today who has been in business over 40 years so now we wait ......AGAIN. LOL
Click to expand...

We stayed in our home. We pulled up rugs and pull out the walls and insulation up to 4 feet. He put down new hardwood floors and walls. We did that for 2 years after Sandy, always in remodel mode, our home was never the same.

Then came time for us to elevate the house. We had our funds and grant money to do that. We moved out in March 2016 for what our contractor at the time said "4 or 5 months". We found a short term rental. The contractor kept making what we now see as little progress but continued to ask for hefty "deposits" on this or that. Then came time to have it lifted and he ripped out our furnace, AC unit, washer and dryer and 2 rooms attached to the house.

He promised to make those repairs when he started elevating and enclosing our carport. More money - no progress. Finally, we filed a complaint with the State Division of Consumer Affairs, at that time our home was on dangling on cribbing 15 feet above the ground - for a year and a half.

Once we filed suit against the first contractor we had to find a reputable 2nd contractor - not only one that does good work, but one who would start in the middle of a badly disassembled project. Luckily, we found a contractor to pick up the pieces but we lost a lot of money that we paid the first contractor who has since filed bankruptcy. The State acknowledges that he clearly provided poor workmanship and contractor fraud and we could be reimbursed the money given to him for work not done - we are also trying to get funds from the State to help pay for his damages too (including the entire electric, heat, AC systems and washer and dryer) as well as frame and insulate the 2 rooms he demolished.

So, no, we are not back in the house. The new contractor is working great and things are moving along much quicker, we just don't have the funds and are waiting on the State to figure that out and return the $$$$ we lost.

We have since depleted out 401K's, savings, and am now in the process of taking out a home equity line of credit to get this project done, completed, and behind us and worry about reimbursements from the State after we move back in, it's been 6 years too long.
 
JerseyGirl said:
We stayed in our home. We pulled up rugs and pull out the walls and insulation up to 4 feet. He put down new hardwood floors and walls. We did that for 2 years after Sandy, always in remodel mode, our home was never the same.

Then came time for us to elevate the house. We had our funds and grant money to do that. We moved out in March 2016 for what our contractor at the time said "4 or 5 months". We found a short term rental. The contractor kept making what we now see as little progress but continued to ask for hefty "deposits" on this or that. Then came time to have it lifted and he ripped out our furnace, AC unit, washer and dryer and 2 rooms attached to the house.

He promised to make those repairs when he started elevating and enclosing our carport. More money - no progress. Finally, we filed a complaint with the State Division of Consumer Affairs, at that time our home was on dangling on cribbing 15 feet above the ground - for a year and a half.

Once we filed suit against the first contractor we had to find a reputable 2nd contractor - not only one that does good work, but one who would start in the middle of a badly disassembled project. Luckily, we found a contractor to pick up the pieces but we lost a lot of money that we paid the first contractor who has since filed bankruptcy. The State acknowledges that he clearly provided poor workmanship and contractor fraud and we could be reimbursed the money given to him for work not done - we are also trying to get funds from the State to help pay for his damages too (including the entire electric, heat, AC systems and washer and dryer) as well as frame and insulate the 2 rooms he demolished.

So, no, we are not back in the house. The new contractor is working great and things are moving along much quicker, we just don't have the funds and are waiting on the State to figure that out and return the $$$$ we lost.

We have since depleted out 401K's, savings, and am now in the process of taking out a home equity line of credit to get this project done, completed, and behind us and worry about reimbursements from the State after we move back in, it's been 6 years too long.
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Oh, JerseyGirl, I am so sorry to hear this. You have been through he** and back. And still you contribute so much here on Websleuths. I will definitely keep you in my prayers. I admire your fortitude.
 
Holiday style, post-hurricane: Two-by-four trees and ornaments cut from shingles
Clobbered by Hurricane Michael, people in Panama City are getting festive with the debris.
December 21, 2018
AR-181229894.jpg&MaxW=1200&Q=66

A handmade snowman crafted from Hurricane Michael debris is on display in Michael Overend’s yard in Panama City. Overend made the sculptures. [MONICA HERNDON | Times]
 
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