Here is todays Photo
2005 Hurricanes
In 2005 I was personally affected and devastated by hurricanes. Living in the Florida Keys at the time I felt the effects of 3 different storms that year. Hurricane Wilma caused me the biggest losses. This storm was the final straw to drive me out of the Keys. Below I share those storms and photographs.
Hurricane Katrina - August
Katrina came across the Keys as a storm. It had little effect on the Lower Keys, but by the time it got to Gulf it changed into a beast.
The radar capture I took during the storm. The second photo is not mine.
Hurricane Rita - September
We were on our way back from a road trip to Arkansas as Rita hit the Keys in late September 2005. The traffic was nearly all outbound from the islands. We had concerns we may not be allowed in, but we made it home. She moved along our southern side and caused minor damage to Key West.
She flooded our street, but the water level failed to get into the house, much. Just a 1/2 inch or so. The above photo I took just as she passed us by a few hours.
Smaller trees suffered as well as some really large trees on the island. Overall the damage was minor. others I took on our walk of the island post storm.
There was flooding along the beach and it took crews several days to remove the sand and debris from the road. These I took on drive right after the storm.
Hurricane Wilma - October
Wilma had passed with high winds and rain to our north. We felt blessed that we at least had not flooded during the night. At day break we began cleaning up debris. There was no power, but beings it was October the temperatures were tolerable. We began cleaning the yard and I noticed water coming under the fence gates. The back yard was incased in a concrete fence all around except two wooden gates on each side of the house. I looked and see the street is full of water. Within two hours, the storm surge that followed Wilma came in and we ended up with 2 1/2 to 3 feet of water all over the island.
Below is the back yard and street within an hour AFTER the water started to recede. We spent frantic time before the peak attempting to get as much off the floors and lower cabinets as we could. Much was still lost. This statue of a dolphin is NOT suppose to be in water. He stands 3 feet tall.
This was taken a few hours later in the day after the water begins to go down.
These I took of the street out front. Note in the first one you can see where the water level reached by the mark on the concrete fence on the right.
The water level reached high enough to get into the motor and interior of my Jeep. Below you can see where leaves rested on the top of the tire. Needless to say the salt water destroyed my beloved Jeep Cherokee.
Streets became parking only for debris thrown out of homes after the storm. There was no place to park cars. This was only a fraction of what we threw out.
Even our loss was not near what some suffered. This was likely the left overs of a boat that many of the population lived on at the island just off Key West to the west.
This historic dock next to where I worked was completely lost and had to be rebuilt completely.
The interior of one of our dinning rooms at the resort was devastated. Below is one I took when I was finally able to get to work to assess damage and start photographs for the insurance company.
Here is another I took of the devastation.
Here was a dock. The dock has been destroyed and the water recedes back out to sea.
I cherish the nearly 18 years I lived on the islands, but after the storms and deviation commercial interests came in and it seemed that this marked the beginning of the end of Key West as it used to be. Not all cleansings are for the better.
No comments:
Post a Comment