The tornadoes passed about 20 miles to the south of us so we had no damage at all. We got a good ole Florida rain storm with plenty of thunder and lightning but really no wind here. We slept through it all and would not have even known it was happening if one of Nancy’s bridge friends hadn’t called at 5:30AM to check on us. Ironically Nancy and I took a drive last Saturday to a farmer’s market in Leesburg and for lunch at Gator Joe’s in Oklawaha. That took us through Lady Lake, the scene of so much destruction. We drove home across highway 42 through Paisley where most of the deaths occurred. If you would have asked, I would not have guessed 16 people even lived in Paisley – it’s a very tiny community. We’ll wait a few days before venturing into the areas that were hit to really assess the damage for ourselves. We have a favorite restaurant on the St John’s River, the Wharf, which might have sustained some damage since it was very close to, if not right in the path. A couple from my high school graduating class live very close to there and I’m trying to get some information on their situation. They’re close enough that they often take their boat to the Wharf for lunch. So far the only information we have regarding someone fairly close was Nancy’s friend, Susan, in Debary. Debary was just a few miles south of the destructive path, much closer than us. Someone on their street had a tree come through the roof but the big problem was that the next day was trash pickup for recycle stuff and everyone had material on the side of the road. I guess the area looked like a trash landfill the next morning. Get a mental image of Budweiser cans flying at 100mph. Other places we’ll be checking out will be the Deland Bridge Club – big loss for Nancy if it craters; Beef O’Brady’s, our wing spot; and Mi Mexico our favorite Mexican restaurant. All would appear to have been very close to the crossing path.
Tom and Tina live about 30 miles south of the path so they too got some rain but no wind damage. Joey’s in the Bahamas with his boat so of course he made out fine. . The storm more or less missed Brevard County where all of his property is. My sister is also in Brevard County and reported a little rain, thunder and lightning. All of the destruction took place in a narrow swath so you are either in the path or not.
We appreciate all the calls and emails we got expressing concern.
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