swashington
AH veteran
Hey all, hurricane Helene turned out to be a real wild ride. In my little town of Steinhatchee Fl, we got hit with almost 22ft of storm surge. Our town lost all four of our Marinas and both boat ramps. This is important as we are a fishing town and that is what our economy is based on. I am a fishing charter captain and will be out or work for months because of this. On top of that my wife worked at one of the marinas and will be out of work indefinitely. As will most of our town. Our one grocery store is out of commission, both gas stations, three restaurants completely gone. I would say about 60% of the jobs in our town will be gone for months at best. Most of the businesses just got back in operation from Idalia last year and Debbie in August. Funding to start rebuilding again is going to be hard to get.
We left for the storm and looking at your home and leaving it alone to face the danger by itself was heart wrenching. I felt like I was never going to see it again. So much of my life's work went into my little piece of heaven so tears were shed saying goodbye to it. All we could do is let God know we place it in his hands and drive away trusting that whatever happens it will be to our benefit and his plan. Coming back and seeing it intact with just battle wounds let a whole new flow of tears fall but this time in relief and thankfulness.
I am one of the lucky ones, I live on high ground and only sustained a little damage; however, we are balls deep in cutting down trees and clearing debris. Some of my friends and fellow charter captains lost their homes and now their businesses.
I am double lucky as I was in negotiation in purchasing a business and just closed the negotiation when we heard the storm was coming. God willing, I will close on the sale and be in business (away from this town) by the end of October.
Even though I sustained little damage it is still thousands in repairs. My house (barndaminium and cabins) is not complete yet and is not eligible for insurance. Which means all the repairs is out of pocket expenses. All around we were very lucky. The bad news is we have to cancel our trip to SA next year. Hopefully we will do our honeymoon the following year. What an amazing wife I have, I hope I can give her the adventure of a lifetime in SA without too much delay.
To all those who are believers we still ask for prayers for all those who are now homeless and in need. The linemen (real heroes in hardhats) are out there working their magic to get us powered up again and we are receiving great support from the state (God Bless Ron Desantis) and charities. It is a beautiful thing to see how a community can come together and help each other, just a shame conditions have to be so bad to make it happen.
We left for the storm and looking at your home and leaving it alone to face the danger by itself was heart wrenching. I felt like I was never going to see it again. So much of my life's work went into my little piece of heaven so tears were shed saying goodbye to it. All we could do is let God know we place it in his hands and drive away trusting that whatever happens it will be to our benefit and his plan. Coming back and seeing it intact with just battle wounds let a whole new flow of tears fall but this time in relief and thankfulness.
I am one of the lucky ones, I live on high ground and only sustained a little damage; however, we are balls deep in cutting down trees and clearing debris. Some of my friends and fellow charter captains lost their homes and now their businesses.
I am double lucky as I was in negotiation in purchasing a business and just closed the negotiation when we heard the storm was coming. God willing, I will close on the sale and be in business (away from this town) by the end of October.
Even though I sustained little damage it is still thousands in repairs. My house (barndaminium and cabins) is not complete yet and is not eligible for insurance. Which means all the repairs is out of pocket expenses. All around we were very lucky. The bad news is we have to cancel our trip to SA next year. Hopefully we will do our honeymoon the following year. What an amazing wife I have, I hope I can give her the adventure of a lifetime in SA without too much delay.
To all those who are believers we still ask for prayers for all those who are now homeless and in need. The linemen (real heroes in hardhats) are out there working their magic to get us powered up again and we are receiving great support from the state (God Bless Ron Desantis) and charities. It is a beautiful thing to see how a community can come together and help each other, just a shame conditions have to be so bad to make it happen.
