Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

Difficult to describe your photos as they speak for them selves.
Hard to imagine what it must have been like for every one involved over there.
Our appreciation goes out to you here at accyweb for giving us an exclusive insight as to how it was.
Thanks.

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

I think Len speaks for us all here at Accyweb.
Thanx Baz.

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

Welcome back Baz, it's good to hear that you came through it OK. I hope that John has too. The pictures are tremendous. I was in London during the hurricane in 1986. That was pretty scary, but the damage was nothing compared to what happened where you are. Best wishes, mate!

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

as anne says len speaks for us all here on accyweb glad you & your family are ok, hope jw is as well, are prayers were with you all over there.

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

The pictures are horrendous Bazf, glad you are safe. Hope John W checks in later and is alright. This is very worrying.

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

Let's hope it's only lack of power supply that is preventing JohnW from posting.

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

Glad to hear you are OK Bazf. I expect that telecommunications would have been hit hard and that we should hear from JohnW in the next couple of days fingers crossed.

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

Hi y'all from murky Florida,

Well, like Bazf, we dodged the bullet. The hurricane went offshore over Daytona Beach which is about 70 miles South of where I live. The strongest winds in a hurricane are on the South East side so we missed the worst of it. I don't think that any gusts were recorded much over 40 mph in our area although it was worse for people living right on the beach, we are about 20 minutes away. Thank you for all of your good wishes, we had no damage at all to our house and we are fine. There's another one on its way over the Atlantic at the minute, lets hope it turns North prior to entering US airspace.

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

glad you & the family are ok , hope the next one misses too

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

Nice to have you back John...............all the best

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

Glad you both are o.k, after seeing all the damage i will not call accy again.

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

Half the problem with damage to housing here is that there are a lot of prefabricated buildings that are called 'mobile homes.' A lot of the snowbirds own them. They live in the northern part of the US but come down in the wintertime to escape the snow etc. There are a considerable amount of families living in these types of houses all year round though. These are, of course, unable to stand up to high winds such as are generated by a hurricane. Having said that, conventional dwellings are not built like British homes, most of them being just wooden framed houses. Mind you, they are built very quickly and less expensively than those in Britain. To my mind however, you would think that in a State which is prone to hurricanes they would try to build housing which would withstand the high winds.

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

John.The fact that Florida as a hurricane season does the state not provide hurricane
shelters,underground facilties for example were people could collectively group to
be safe such as we had during the war?.

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

There are no cellars to buildings in Florida as a general rule. The place is really built on swampland and there is much water not too far down. The only chance you have is to go into what is termed a hurricane safe building. Things,like schools,are built to special codes which (they say, whoever 'they' are) can withstand hurricane force winds. These shelters are opened with volunteer helpers whenever a hurricane approaches. Most people who live in prefabricated buildings and people living on the barrier islands are then advised to go to the shelters until the storm passes.

The biggest problem with conventionally built houses is having the windows blow out or get broken by flying debris. Then the high winds can come inside and are apt to take off the roof, of course, it's really all over for the house then. Some houses have metal storm shutters fitted which can cover all the exposed glass of the house as the storm approaches. This certainly make the house a much safer place to be. I have already requested a company who supplies and fits these to come and give us a quotation. :cool:

Re: The dreaded Friday 13th.
 

Good to have you back in one piece mate!