A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}

So glad you and yours made it through, Burch. People who stayed in my community said the same thing you did. We are a manufactured home community, but the damages were confined to the bus ports/carports and some skirting and facia. I haven't seen any windows blown out or trees down, but a lot of tree/bush debris. Fortunately no home damage. We were flooded as well and my house looked like it was sitting in a lake. Water came within about 10 feet of entering under my ports, but it didn't. Even though I had water all around, it didn't get into my house or into my shed, which sits right on the ground. My back yard slopes to the canal, and my house is up on blocks and anchored there, so I didn't have any damage from water. That was a miracle. I did lose some pieces of skirting up high where my carport transitions to the bus port. My neighbor picked up pieces that were laying on the ground, but I am missing some that blew away. I had a guy who was working around the community re-tack some pieces still up there that were loose and flapping in the breeze and then he reattached the ones that had been picked up. I'm still missing some and will have to have some new pieces put up, but at least everything up there is secure now. A friend came down with his tall ladder and inspected my roof. It is fine. He also reattached my TV antenna which had pulled out on one side and was interfering with TV reception. That affects my kitchen TV which isn't hooked up to cable. But all seems well. Overall our community feels very lucky since we aren't living in hurricane rated homes. It will be weeks before we get the debris all cleaned up. Plus we had major damage to our plastic fencing that secures our community. Several of the guys in the "hood" were out the next several days and reset the fence, so we are once again enclosed. Our section (we have 5) only lost power for about 9 hours total, so I didn't lose anything in my freezer. I keep dishes of ice cubes in the freezers. If they melt and refreeze solid, I know the food is toast. But I still had ice cubes!

My son in Melbourne got hit as well. His house is poured concrete, though, and his roof is tied down. He had his truck pulled across in front of his garage. He had his garage door open and was standing leaning on his truck and saw a tornado rip down the street in front of him. He lives on the edge of a cul-de-sac and he saw it swoop down in the circle, then speed down the street. He estimated it was an EF0. He felt it was definitely a small tornado from the spin and the damage it was doing. Some other neighbors saw it as well. If I had not been visiting my daughter in Virginia, I would have been at his house. I would not have stayed here. One couple down the street had no damage here, but Helene hit their house in Augusta, Georgia. They lost 15 trees in the back yard and more in the front. Trees uprooted in the front ripped out their water lines going to the house. They have it mostly cleaned up now. One tree fell on a garage that had his workshop and a car in it totaling all that. He also has a bus garage with his custom Prevost and Allegro Bus in it that was unscathed. 

Prayers for those still cleaning up and recovering from losses.

Dale