I am going to start the Day 4 update with the golden words from dear Sharon, who eloquently writes:
“…..the holding pattern for tens of thousands…..”
“That’s just one thread in the word pictures presented by Sundance–a thread that is sort of a knothole in the fence…. and looking through it, there are details to be seen….confusion, uncertainty, counting the cash in one’s pocket (again), checking (again) for any possible cell phone coverage, glancing over to the neighbor who hasn’t taken a break for several hours (perhaps for fear that if they sit down, they won’t be able to get back up again)…. men at work with chainsaws…. women returning to what remains of the house to dig through the kitchen or the bathroom cupboards in search of some more, still usable everyday things….
And, … this is an open-ended transition. Length uncertain. Ultimate destination uncertain. How to get there–mostly undetermined at this point.
In terms of individual lives, places to live, jobs/careers…. most of them probably don’t know for sure, yet, whether they are on an onramp or an offramp.
Sometimes I wonder if reaction to such events from a distance clouds the reality that those who are living it have no capacity to step away from it, not even for a moment. The lines on the field have been obliterated and none who are living this can be completely sure of how far away the goal line is.”
Perfectly and succinctly stated.
Day 4, is exactly like all day fours I have experienced before this one. The autonomic response starts to give way to adrenalin exhaustion and human batteries need to be recharged. Day four is also when internal callouses become valuable.
For some a quick “stay focused on ‘the task at hand‘” can suffice. For others it’s, ‘go home to your family – take a break – see you the day after tomorrow‘.
When you build internal callouses you train yourself not to look at the miles, you look at the two to four feet in front of you. Look up and you will allow the whisper of despondency to creep in. Stay focused on the 2-to-4-foot task at hand and your brain remains wired in a manageable condition.
Steady, we fill that 20 or 40-yard container, then go eat. Reengage, clear the path, fill another 20-yard and then move… Always forward. If you start calculating the time it will take to clear and fill 4,768 40-yard containers the gremlins will whisper in your ear all day and wear you down.
Ignore the gremlins.
Instead, listen to the faces – hear their stories, then keep going to the next set of faces…. Always forward.
I should also mention that sunscreen is an essential hurricane supply. If you see the 30 or 50 block version, the thick stuff on sale, throw one in your battery box. If needed, slobber it all over yourself during morning coffee time and again early afternoon after chainsaw sharpening.
It has been a long time since I have seen so many east/west helicopter flights all day. The southwest Florida skies look like the air highways around Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I can only imagine what RSW airport looks like. Probably quite an ocean of helicopter aviation. The gremlin wants me to imagine lots of things related to seeing so many search and rescue missions ongoing this far after the event. I’m ignoring the whisper. Death toll at 76.
Warning in advance – What follows below comes from my cracker disposition:
SWFL has a tremendous amount of unemployed ‘service workers‘ right now. SWFL also needs a massive and organized laundry operation. Hint to SWFL management, please put those two elements together. Thank you in advance.
“Mandatory” evacuations continue on the barrier islands. There is a considerable resistance effort underway from the ‘crackers.’ Hint to SWFL management, if the resisting resident has a boat registered in the county (easy to check), then retreat from the severity of your effort. Again, thank you in advance.
On a practical note, I see the millionaire/billionaire boating class are being told they must remove their status yachts from a couple of major locations.
Having grown up in the region and remembering where the barges operated before the roads and bridges were built, I suspect we are going back to pre-1960’s municipal port operations as an interim action to supply the islands. This type of infrastructure repurposing makes sense, but a whole generation of the white wine spritzer tribe is big mad right now [insert cracker squinting smile here].
I mentioned on Day 2 the historic Sanibel lighthouse is still standing.
Since 1884, every twelve seconds the lighthouse beacon blinked twice, creating a sequence of four navigational alerts per minute. Ask me how I know that, and I will show you the clock of my childhood.
I learned how to read a sextant on the front porch of the Lightkeepers house. I traded Mr. Brennan 4 fresh trout from Dixie Beach flats for the lessons, there were two (one day and one night), on using a sextant. From that moment at the age of around ten, I was known as “Trout” when I came back. It wasn’t funny.
Long before there was a ‘city glow’ on the eastern shore, the Sanibel beacon remained my waypoint in life. Twelve seconds, blink twice, four per minute. I spent tens of thousands of minutes with the comforting beacon at my six. I was always safe when I could see it and I never strayed beyond its reach.
My first bull shark took me for an almost 1,000 blink-long tour of the back bay inlet during a particularly memorable night.
I also ‘caught‘ my first Silver King within reach of the beacon at sunrise. Recording the moment by removing (then laminating) the trophy scale which to this day sits in an old cigar box filled with buttons, wire, ribbons, weird metal bits and mysterious childhood treasures.
That particular morning was exceptionally memorable because I proclaimed myself a ‘king fisher.’ Unfortunately, it was a short-lived moment of ego quickly deflated by an unusually furious mom – because I was going to be late for middle school. “King Fisher” shouts I, dashing out the door, while hearing “fisher fool” chasing my ear from behind.
The Calusa Indians were smart enough never to live on this particular narrow finger of barrier islands. Instead, they buried their dead out there.
As I get older, I realize that many generations made the Calusa wise.
Love to all,
Sundance
(left) Before Hurricane Ian – (right) After Hurricane Ian
The joy of the Lord is your strength Sundance. I pray to the Lord to fill your cup to the fullest with what ever you need. Peace Peace wonderful Peace coming down from the Father above. May He grace you with His presence and strengthen your soul and spirit until your cup runs over. God Bless you Christian
What a beautiful post. Agreed!!
I don’t need a photo cause the writing is so beautiful!
SWFL management rules by the consent of the governed.
Someone (DeSantis), should remind them.
Thank you for working so hard and still finding time to write. You are an excellent writer, reporter, and storyteller. And a pretty darn terrific human being for a cracker.
Also enjoying the natural problem-solving skills of seeing a need (laundry) and finding a quick resolution (languishing service workers). That seems a theme for those of us with emergency responder backgrounds.
From one cracker to another.
May God bless you, your family and fellow Floridians.
Praying for some deep restful sleep to recharge the batteries. And keep on w/Crack’n wisdom!
So glad you’re maintaining a great sense of humor throughout.
(I do have to say, my heart was very happy seeing the dog being rescued.)
Be well, be safe. All of us Treepers and Crackers send much love and prayers.
I think, the dog might be a team member of the Rescue Team looking for the living and the dead people in the wreckage. … There’s no caption to the photograph. But, the ‘harness’ on the dog seems to be specially fitted for that particular sized dog. … There’s a separate sling for the man, and an attachment for the dog. … Obviously, the man couldn’t be sitting on the dog, as though it was a horse. … It’s on the Internet about the ability of a dog’s sense of smell compared to a person’s.
+That’s a very ~brave man hanging on a wire cable from the helicopter, to be lowered into polluted water, full of poisonous snakes, alligators and the dead. …… I can only dream and lie to myself, about being as brave as all the Rescue Teams.
That got me too and I bet that’s one of the reasons my friend stayed on Pine Island. I know that she survived and is still on the island,her house is gone..I haven’t asked about her dog or cat..prayers to all!!
There is nothing sweeter than home Sundance.
The cliche is that home is where the heart is and when I hear you talk about the lighthouse I am so glad it survived this hurricane.
It’s resiliance is like God’s promise not to wipe us out again, the rainbow after the storm.
Sundance, I thank you for your courage in action and choices, and admire your skills and ability, both taught and self-taught.
I remember catching a cowfish on Sanibel when I was about ten years old. I thought it looked so cool. I felt bad about catching it because I thought I may have hurt it.
Used to get conch right off the beach at Pass-a-Grill. Worked at Ft. Desoto Park for many years would scallop after work for dinner that night.
I used to scallop, crab and clam in Bogue Sound in Carteret County, NC. That was before the insane population explosion at all of the beaches in the south. Sundance your youth sounds much like mine. I long for the time when I could enjoy the coast.
Do they intend to rebuild with their insurance money using basically unaltered construction specs?
So they can do it again next time.
Local officials will probably make determinations if rebuilding will occur in some areas, I imagine. Building codes have become more stringent since Andrew (I was unsure if that is what you meant by unaltered construction specs). Sadly, many may not afford to rebuild. My homeowners is not replacement cost, but a set amount for structure, outbuildings, possessions, etc. Even if someone has all of the extra policies for flood, wind, etc, it may still be cost prohibitive to start a new construction. Hard decisions will be made by many, depending on what stage of their life they are in to rebuild or take on debt. Lives have been forever changed.
Sundance, my prayer for you tonight will be that through your reflection and writing, The Lord Of Lords heals and restores you mentally and physically each day. For by His grace we are healed!
I agree with Lee Smith … Sundance’s writings are a thing of marvel.
❤ and more importantly 🙏 for Sundance and rest of our Florida family.
I was not aware that Mr. Smith was a “visitor” of the CTH/TLR.
I have enjoyed the many interviews and episodes on The Epoch Times.
Question for Sundance or any SWFL locals in need: I plan on driving over mid-week from Ft. Lauderdale to volunteer for a few days with Samaritan’s Purse. I plan to fill my truck up with as many supplies as possible (water, food, fuel, etc.) but would like to hear from ground zero what the top needs are other than the obvious? Can you share the Top 5 or 10 items of need that may be in short supply that I could transport in an SUV?
Tarps
Extension cords with triple tails
Gas cans (empty ones)
Bread
Paper plates
Contractor trash bags
Sunblock?
yep, and old style yellow aloe lotion
Fashion Tan made in Ft. Lauderdale was the BEST!
Thank you. The Samaritan’s Purse HQ in Ft Myers is at Citygate Ministries. I expect to be there mid-day Wednesday. Will add these to the list.
https://www.spvolunteer.org/project-response/640
Thank you for volunteering!
I donated to Samaritan’s Purse earlier for this relief. It’s a good reminder and opportunity for
more of us to do so.
Many prayers of protection are with you every second of your days, Sundance.
Sundance, I am curious about how electric vehicles fared. If you come across any stories/owners, would appreciate if you’d share.
I just can’t imagine trying to evac from southern FL in an EV as I suspect you would need to recharge before hitting the GA line. Then imagine the power crews in electric utility trucks trying to restore power. Am curious what happens to an EV that gets knee deep in water, too. Seems possible to be electrocuted.
The idiocy of charging these cars from coal and gas generated electricity aside, they just don’t seem all that practical all things considered
Stay strong and keep focused on one foot in front of the other
Ditto for me too please.
MREs?
Dear Starnger in the midst Sundance,
Former multi days pontoon boat excursion navigator
all around those areas tenting on many of those islands,
except the ones with the many raccoons, then set up tent
on pontoon 🙂
Siloconizer roof coating works great, not only to seal
but keep the heat off dwelling areas.
You are correct, hands on is key, you know – “The Kingdom
of God is AT HAND”… Not merely “imagenings” and “happy
thoughts”, but actual true service. Casting ones bread upon the
waters, and hope it comes back… Through Faith, Hope and Charity.
Not just for friends, but even strangers in ones midsts.
His Comfort and Patience to you, your family and all within and
without.
Mosquito repellant. They’re really bad and with screens gone no protection.
Flashlights
Duct tape
Rakes and shovels
And a small 22 pistol loaded with Rat Shot,…. to protect from the non-stop # of poisonous snakes that the receding flood waters will bring down from the flooded swamps into the rivers & bayous to the SWFL bay and lake areas.
A few days after Camille’s 25 foot storm surge, hundreds of snakes were floating, coiled up everywhere on or near the receding waters,…. many gators were swept down out of the Pascagoula swamps, as well.
We lived then on a small lake (still do) just off the mouth of the Pascagoula River and it was full of large cotton mouth moccasins, etc. that were as agitated as we were from the effects of Camille.
Had to wear hot, long sleeve cotton shirts to try to protect from the incessant mosquitoes. Hard times during the clean-up phase, but we survived unharmed, due to our pistols and long cane machetes that were put to good use.
Don’t forget to update your Tetanus shot booster ASAP, it is deriguer in a hurricane search, rescue, recovery and clean up.
Samaritan’s Purse was a God Send to Southwest Louisiana (Lake Charles area) after hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta. They feed people and tarped roofs for free for months. Please Donate to them if you can.
At another time, these reflections might be the springboard for a novel/novella.
Sounds like your young life was wonderful preparation for this exact moment. God knew then what you might need in your tackle box to handle the unimaginable challenges you are facing now.
May God bless and keep you and your family, and your neighbors.
Agree!
Am so so sorry to see the destruction and upheaval, am so very glad to hear Sundance (and family too?) is alive; just wrapping one’s head around where to begin with the clean up and rebuilding, what could one possibly say?
Saw this 18 minute video someone just posted of Sanibel Island damage. Prayers and blessings for you and yours, and everyone that is stepping in to help.
Always interesting to see what makes it and what doesn’t. A huge building gets blown out, but the sign remains pristine. In this storm it is really hard to find too much that wasn’t untouched.
Here’s a good reason why,…. Tornadoes.
Many Cat 4 or 5 hurricanes spawn and contain many tornadoes.
After Cat 5 Camille hit the MS Gulf Coast in ’69 you would see 4 or 5 empty slabs where beautiful water front homes had stood,… then see several still standing with moderate to severe damage, then several more vacant slabs,… up and down the Coast, from Point Cadet in Biloxi to Henderson Point in Pass Christian, 26 miles away to the West.
You don’t hear much about tornadoes in hurricanes but they are there, and most that endure them don’t live to tell about them.
Our weather radars now can spot them and report them on their web site radars in real time.
Port Charlotte after Charley the same way. One house nearly unscathed sitting next to an empty slab. Saw the same way when I was cleaning up after the Xenia tornado.
Front of future in-laws house completely gone and mail laying untouched on the desk in the back!
Hurricane Storm Surges take out almost out all structures, leaving slabs,… but the tornadoes leave a distinctive trail of their destruction.
I was in OH when Xenia got hit..my late brother, a student at Miami of OH, helped with the clean up.
True Xenia Tornado story. I’m all of 19 yrs young. It snowed the next day….
Got my little ’63 Ford Econoline ready to go unload future in-laws house.
Xenia was closed by the National Guard I was told and I couldn’t get in.
Hah! says I – I’ll have no trouble!
With GF and her mom aboard I stopped at the Melodie Inn in Beavercreak and bought a couple dozen cups of coffee and fixins. Filled a grocery sack to the top.
Pulled up to Guardsman at check point and was told
“Sorry Sir” no entry.
As I handed out grocery sack of fragrant coffee to the shivering Guardsman his eyes got big and his mates gathered around. That coffee was strong with striking power!
Says I “you probably will be so busy handing out this coffee you won’t even see me drive past”.
He turned his back to me and started handing out the coffee and away we went!
In the rear view mirror I see the next car turned back LOL!
For the next several days they were waiting on the “coffee man” and I went right thru and the cars behind me were turned back.
Just need to know how to talk to people. 😉 😉
I use a similar method when I visit job sites to check on overall progress.
Consultants, contractors, and sub contractors come running when they see my vehicle. They know I bring donuts, coffee, water, or Gatorade. That is instead of hiding.
Many a laborer or machine operator would tell me, “Take a look at STA 120+12 and tell me if you think there is enough stone there.”
That was their way of telling me the stone was thin compared to what the contract said without telling me.
The super would always wonder how I knew where to look.
It is the old,”You will catch more flies with honey, than you will with vinegar.”
A small pearl of wisdom I learned from my father.
Sundance, thank you for your efforts and your reports of the ongoing efforts in Florida. Thank you to everyone down there helping out.
You are all in my prayers too.
Stay safe, or said better,”Work safely.”
Regards,
John
My Aunt lived on Back Bay in Biloxi near the Point during Camille. The water got so high in their house they had to move to the neighbor’s house which was pretty much the highest point in Biloxi right across from the Barq’s pier. My cousin told me he discovered that concrete could float because he saw the Back Bay bridge float up in sections at the peak of the storm. So many fond memories washed away in Camille, and what was left, Katrina took.
Both were devastating storms.
As was the 1947 hurricane that struck Biloxi. It deposited a large shrimp boat in my father’s front yard just in front of his house when he lived there and ran my grandfather’s Biloxi Ice Plant. That was before hurricanes were given female names, they were just known by the year that they hit the mainland.
When I worked at the Times Picayune in New Orleans in ’79, there was a map on the wall that tracked every hurricane known since about 1870 and the way that the storn tracks were displayed it appeared that NOLA was getting hit on average about once every ten years. Beware!
Memories now, such memories.
My mother’s family was related to the Barq sisters in Biloxi, of root beer fame. We often stopped for ice cream at their place in Biloxi on our way to New Orleans.
A friend of mine and his brother just bought their old building and renovated it. He has a new, outstanding blues club in it called Ground Zero,…. with Morgan Freeman as a part owner. It’s the hottest Blues Club on the Coast now.
A shrimp boat captain reported that on his way in just ahead of Camille’s storm surge that he realized all the greenery on his port and starboard side were the tops of the tall pine trees on Deer Island, just off Point Cadet in Biloxi.
Back bay, Ocean Springs and Bay Saint Louis bridges were all destroyed that night.
When we cut our way to Pass Road and down the beach to Gulfport to deliver our ice to the morgue that the MS Nat Guard was setting up, we had to use the old Pop’s Ferry bridge on Back Bay,.. IIRC,…I think it was the last bridge standing and the only way left to get in.
The Guard had to stop constantly to cut the fallen pine tress out of our way to Gulfport with their chain saws, probably like the work our Host, Sundance has been doing this past week. Downed tress where just everywhere.
Sundance reading your “cracker” wisdom makes me realize how small my current stressor is on the cracker scale of life changing events. Love and prayers to all of you.
God Bless Sundance and all Americans who are struggling with the aftermath of Ian. We highlighted some of Sundance’s updates in our podcast this week.
We also hit hard on who is behind the pipeline sabotage, predictions on WW3, The decline of EU economies ad USA, Biden/Harris show, Quick hits and Culture wars.
Truth Be Told Podcast: “Cui Bono?” October 3, 2022https://rightwirereport.com/2022/10/03/truth-be-told-podcast-cui-bono-october-3-2022/
Sundance, your words are so full of imagery. You should consider writing a book.
Having said that, I prefer you to continue at the Treehouse. But, maybe something for you one day.
I’m glad you are ok, and I hope you’re successful in this aftermath.
He writes a new chapter or three here every day 🙂
Sanibel actually looks better than I thought it would. I feared it might be another Irma/Big Pine Key situation, a special place that would never be right again in my lifetime. This storm was a monster. I have a lot of family displaced by the flooding of the Peace River, it’s an absolutely insane thing to wrap your head around. I was one of the first people into downtown Punta Gorda after Charlie, right before it got dark, the place was leveled. I still haven’t seen any footage or photos of that area, wondering if it got leveled again. I imagine this is going to go down as the hardest hit Florida has ever had. Thank God we have competent governance at this time. We’re going to need it to make this right.
I love thinking of you as a young boy fishing and being late for Middle School, and being sad about the fish you caught. Right there is our Sundance, bucking the system with a heart. God bless you, sir, and may He shine his light on you every single day as you toil in the sun (hopefully, with sun block!)
His life sounds a little like “The Elders” song “Bad Little Irish Boy”.
So how did Boca Grande do ?
Reports from Friends, pretty well considering Ian made landfall on Caya Costa and the eye went right over BG.
Boca Grande Lighthouse is also still standing … as well as the state park lighthouse at the southern tip of the island facing Caya Costa.
I know exactly what Sundance means by the rhythm, the heartbeat of that light. As do the fifth-generation of fishermen and crabbers still on the island. That 28-mile diameter of the Ian ‘eye’ as it slowly passed over Boca Grande somehow affected the surge to come from the Port Charlotte/bayou side of the island rather than from the Gulf side … so total inundation did not happen.
The southern tip of the Boca Grande/Gasparilla Island is the famous pass where the ‘Silver King’ tarpon pass through.
Exactly where Charlie went through in 2004 on its way to Punta Gorda.
Swing bridge and two additional lower bridges to the island were not damaged, although still flooded as you come on the island.
No power, no water, no internet/cell as of this morning.
This is drone footage of Boca Grande/Gasparilla Island, post Ian. All Glory to God that the island was spared.
https://www.facebook.com/bocagrande/videos/hello-island-friendsfamily-here-is-the-drone-and-ground-level-footage-of-boca-gr/1537703853352626/
No “clouding of the Reality”, here, SD. You make a cogent and impacting point here summarizing the condition of most in your area now.
Having lived through and survived Hurricanes Camille, (a Cat 5, 25 ‘ surge with winds that blew out a ship’s anemometer at 239 mph, 30 miles off of Pascagoula, MS) the worst storm to hit the USA in the 20th century, and Katrina, more of a man-mad flooding disaster than just a Cat 3 storm, I think “Bewildered” is the word you are looking for to perhaps describe the SWFL survivors’ condition after sustaining Ian’s wrath and destruction,… and now trying to live, day by day in it’s wake.
If I may,… “Have Heart”,… many said the MS Gulf Coast could never be rebuilt from it’s Iwo Jima condition in ’69 following Camille, and even more gave up hope of New Orleans ever being rebuilt just after Katrina, and the building codes there were ancient and no where near FL’s codes following Andrew.
The storms are bad enough, but in my 60 years experience in hurricane relief efforts, FEMA and the State and Local politicians are more damaging and have a longer term impact on the storm survivors than surviving the actual storm’s initial impact itself.
About 12 of our elderly Hurricane Katrina home owner policy holder clients that we represented in Louisiana’s State Insurance Mediation program developed heart disease and suffered attacks and strokes about one to two years after Katrina.
We successfully got them their Ins $,… but this was due, IMHO, to the levels of stress that they faced in their daily lives trying to cope with the ‘red tape’ of Fed, State and Local programs, even the one’s that granted free rebuilding funds (ironically called by LA Gov Blanco, “The Road Home”). I am sure you know of what I write.
Your SWFL Coastal region will survive and rebuild and hopefully in a manner (building codes) better equipped to withstand the next storms that will hit the area over time.
Allow me to offer you this, if it helps at all now,… just after Camille I asked my father, a former Naval Officer from WWII who was instrumental in the MS Coast’s response to that hurricane, what possible good could be attributed to such massive destruction in scope and degree, with over 257 killed?
He calmly said with that thousand yard stare of his, “Son, hurricanes are a necessary part of life. They are nature’s way of keeping the Southeast USA green with the amount of rain they dump as opposed to the dry desserts of the South West, and,…. they also force one to reevaluate one’s life, at whatever age or station, to some critically important Changes, whether they want to or not,… and I guess the good of that lies in the fact that all of life is change,… in fact, Change is the only known Constant in our universe. So, never stop preparing for Life, and try to keep the wind at your back, if you can.”
(An avid sailor and major Ice Plant owner/operator and hurricane responder, he passed in ’03 after raising 9 children and hiring and taking care of scores of people in his community. He also sidestepped open US Congressional seats (Rep/Senator) as he detested WDC’s open corruption, where he had served as a Page in his youth,… and he was also the subject of the full length feature film, Mr. Roberts.)
It took me quite a while to fully comprehend and appreciate his statement,… but I find he was right,… and I hope his courage and confidence may lighten your burden in this non relenting, trying time in SWFL. FL will be rebuilt,….. in time. TY, for the great work you are doing for that effort.
Hear, hear in regards to FEMA.
At best the federal government is picking winners and losers and tremendous waste occurs. At worst irreparable harm is done.
There is no Constitutional role for the fed to be involved, period.
We need more people like your father to face our current changes.
I bet we still have plenty like him, especially in the South and in rural America, the sons and daughters of The Greatest Generation who want to pass their heritage on to their heirs and are still imbued with the same practicality, common sense and principals he had.
Funny you mention FEMA.
My father wrote the Small Biz Administration Act Bill as requested by his Governor and then signed into law by LBJ in 1964. He had one of the pens LBJ used.
Asked why, he told me then that 80% of American jobs are created by Small Business (like he was) and, as President of the National Ice Association, he knew the Mil/Ind Complex Ike made famous were hogging the feeding trough in WDC and so, he wanted to carve out a place for America’s small biz to protect it from being starved by Big Corps.
The Deep State struck back against him after Hurricane Betsey hit NOLA in ’65 (the mayor gave Dad the key to the city for his management of the emergency ice distribution there, he had the Governor mandate and implement the first hurricane Emergency Price Gouging laws implemented in Louisiana – a bourbon and coke on Bourbon streeet cost 1 $ after Besty hit, and $ 10 each with 3 cubes of ice in it).
Shortly after, Congress passed the S E Louisiana Hurricane rebuilding plan and funded the US Army Corp to do the work,… but the ‘powers that be’ chose to turn the Small Biz Admin into a hurricane disaster recovery org to deflect from it’s mission to protect funds from being Hogged by Big Corps who paid the campaign donations.
A few years later, FEMA was created to fulfill that role with the SBA still involved with loan funding.
Before Reagan and Trump, he tried to change WDC and protect Amity Shlaes’ ‘Common Man’ America, but the Greedy Grifters sold him out after the fact.
All of the profligate, imminently destructive spending in WDC that we are experiencing now, he predicted to me back in the 60’s. He didn’t mention the runiation and willful ignoring of our US Constitution/Rule of Law, not men. How prescient he was.
As I posted in SD’s first Ian blog, prior to FEMA, State, County, City, Community, Religious and Secular Orgs all came together to provide aid and assistance to hurricane struck suvivors all along the Southern Coast of the USA,…. people helping people directly, with No involvement by the Feds, as you say.
As to waste, when I was a FEMA Hurricane Disaster inspector for 6 months after Katrina, I was instructed Not to report FRAUD when I submitted my nightly computer laptop reports to the company/FEMA.
It was rampant, with one ‘Shani qua’ with a Chicago phone # claiming a damage report for her house – that never existed on the vaccant lot in Metairie, LA that I inspected. I called her # and got her mother and advised her to inform the daughter that this was a criminal violation with years in prison upon conviction and enforced nationwide by the FBI. She LOL at me. Saw all kinds of fraud then. FEMA didn’t care.
SD reminds me now of my father,… smart as a whip, a natural-born leader by nature, practical, dedicated, with a big heart for his community and fellow man, and freely volunteers his time and service, cuz it’s the Right Thing to do in a crisis situation,… no?
As to “picking winners and losers”, Hoover Harris should be keel-hauled, politically, for the overtly Raycist remarks she made Friday about the dispursement of recovery funds to Communities of Color, etc. It is a Fed Law violation to use race as metric for funds awarding in this manner that she has called for,…. just to pander to the POC/COC for Mid Term votes.
I sure hope it back fires Bigly on Lets Go Brandon and all of his puppeteer admin on 11/8.
The abomination that causes desolation is at the wheel.
The car isn’t just going into the ditch it goes into the crusher and pixie dust is offered instead.
Bold thievery to be followed by hard bondage unless there is an awakening.
Reagan put it best when he said,
“The nine most terrifying words in the English launguage are, “I”m from the Government and I’m here to help.”
And President Donald Trump said, “They are not after me, they are after You,… I am just in the way!”
My fallback is this,…. in every war waged on this Nation from 1776 to the Battle of New Orleans, WWI & WWII until today, those that attacked America here were defeated for this central fact – they misunderstood or miscalculated the true Character of the American people, not it’s political leaders.
Even now, Sundance is exhibiting this Character, and it’s what makes America “Exceptional” in every way.
I believe that the NWO political/financial Elites that now think that they can overwhelm America’s “Common Man” in the many, many millions, will also fail and for the same reason.
“In God We Trust”,… let it be ever so.
And the protracted battles between insurers-House totally demolished. Scraped from foundation. Flood -“This is a wind event”. Property casualty. “Not so, water damage due to flood.” Punitive damages of3 x the value of total loss should be imposed unless claim paid within set time period say 1 month.
Ha,… so right you are. “BUT, we all know the Wind got to the destroyed house First,… right, Ins Claims Adjuster?”
This was the defense I used representing over 300 home owner law firm clients post Katrina for several years. (No, I am not a lawyer, but I was a former FEMA Disaster Inspector)
The scope and degree of Katrina was so great that FEMA developed special regs for Katrina that included an entry on page 38(?) of it’s regs that stated that if the roof sustained about 700 square feet of missing roof tiles (shingles) then the structure was to be Totaled – Due To Wind!
I used this reg to 100% effectiveness at Insurance Mediation and gained about 90% of all the Ins Claims we made for over 300 clients and didn’t have to go to Civil District Court in NOLA, Once, to further pursue the law suit we filed.
Why, cuz I would remind the agents that since the Facts were substantiated at Mediation that we would ask the court for Fines, Fees and Punitive damages if we had to go there.
The Ins Companies didn’t want to waste Big $ on loacal legal representation in a court where the judge, clerk, bailiff and all of the possible jury also lost their homes in Katrina.
We had them eating out of our hands after we presented our computer Xactomate damage report that they would go over line by line with our contractor and reach a settlement agreement. That usually took about 30 minutes.
The Ins Mediation program put on by the LA Ins Commissioner saved the Ins Industry about an estimated $ 500 million in legal/attorney fees that were not spent at Court.
Guess who donated the largest amount$ to the Commissioner’s re-election campaign? It also allowed us to get our clients their recovery/rebuild $ in a few weeks, not years in court.
All in all, it was a very civil manner in which the process worked for the best results of all concerned. (then came the Fight with the mortgage companies who slow rolled co-signing the Ins payment checks,… but we made then say “Uncle” as well, due to Louisiana laws.)
“Some” Ins Companies make compensation a pain cuz they think that about 80% of policy holders will eventually give up and give in, if they harden the target long enough.
“Never give in, fight to win!” In America, we still have State and Fed courts to settle our civil contract disputes,…. the rest of the world, not so much.
Thank you for your posts and shared insights.
Welcome,… I hope it may help some of those in need now or in the near future, as they strive to rebuild their and their family’s lives and well being. All of life is a continuous Learning Experience, IMHO.
Husband and I volunteered in Pas Christian, Miss. after Katrina. (Big thanks to God’s Katrina Kitchen.)
City officials and residents where meeting because they wanted to start to rebuild. We attended one of the meetings. They couldn’t begin rebuilding because building codes had to be addressed first and answers were not coming. Poor things.
I hope Florida can fast track any updates in codes if necessary.
BLESSING to You, DaPicayune, for Your Memories of Camille ( which my Aunts and Uncles with their Kids Survived in the Church Building on Washington Ave / Turner Ave at Ocean Springs without a Single Pecan Tree Down on the Church Property ).
The memories of How Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Gulfport and Pass Christian WERE Before and then AFTER Camille Still Cause me AWE at the WRATH that NATURE CAN BRING.
Being a ” Coastie ” and knowing that Salt water weighs 8.5 lbs a gallon and seeing that the surge was 8 – 10 knots ( 9 – 12 mph ) – THAT IS Equal to taking a BULLDOZER and PILING UP Buildings / Boats / Trees / Cars / Trucks.
My wife, Boys and I were transferred to E.City, NC in 1990 after 5 years living in Toca, LA ( ” down in THE Parish ” ( St. Bernard Parish )) – so WE were blessed to miss the 8 feet of water that OVERWHELMED the Levies that Protected our Trailer from Lake Borgne and the SE Outlet for Shipping. SO MANY DIED for naught in the Nursing Home…
I MISS Your Surroundings Picayune, my Cousin LOVES Her Farm around Ya. ( i DON’T MISS the RED ANTS )
qrw
Red ants are nasty. Give me big welts and throb.
Two days before Camille slammed into and destroyed the MS Gulf Coast, I was about to leave for a two day fishing trip to my Tulane room mate’s family home, Ravenwood, in Port Sulfur, LA, when my mother called me at my aunt’s home where I lived in the Garden District.
Said, “Your Father wants you home Right Now, we have a storm coming and he needs you help to prepare for it.”
So, I drove home alone on Saturday afternoon in my father’s F-85 Olds Cutlass along hwy 90 from Bay Saint Louis along the Coast all the way to Gautier and Pascagoula. It was an unbelievable beautiful day, the coast, especially along Millionaire’s Row in Pass Christian never looked so good.
It was the last beautiful day on that coast that Camille struck the following night around 11 PM. I have never forgotten how pretty it all looked that day and never even thinking it would all be washed and blown away the next night.
I spent Sunday night enduring Camille’s wrath with my father and large family in my grandfatehr’s 1850 two story well built home, 25′ above sea level on Lake Yazoo, just off the MS Sound, a night that I will never forget, at 19.
The sounds were indescribable. Dad keep a journal on his yellow legal pad, all nite long,… a “Captain’s Log” by the experienced former Naval Officer.
The water reached the first step on the 5′ high front steps but never entered our house, like Katrina did 36 years later.
A very large naval ship listed severely to starboard then broke it’s mooring across the lake at Ingalls Shipyard and we though it might cross the lake and wipe us all out at 3 AM. But the surge and winds sent it up the river and it destroyed the L&N train bridge, instead. Whew!
You are very right about the power of water. My father told me long before Camille that a wave of water, pound for pound, is the strongest natural force on earth that can knock down any man-made object. Told me that on his big sloop after we had been playing and knocked about in the big surf on the seaward side of Horn Island. We kids laughed at his statement,… he didn’t.
My MD EU wife freaked after my rear passenger window on the driver side in my Toyota 4-Runner was shot out on Hwy 90 just after crossing the Huey Long bridge in Bridge City on the way to West Bank Med Center Hospital where she worked in cancer research.
So, we then sold our home in Metairie 5 years back and moved to the tall tree forest of Slidell into a home that Katrina didn’t flood.
No crime, great neighbors all around and the St. Tammany Sheriff lives two blocks away. Very peaceful here and my wife feeds the 8-12 squirrels and many different birds daily from 5 different feeders. She luvs the animals here, but I thought I would never leave Metairie, but no complaints.
Don’t mind the red ants, Andro stops them here, but I sure am glad we don’t have the criminal thugs of Orleans Parish here,… the crime is off the charts in the Big Sleazy now, Murder Capitol of the USA again, with no end in sight under the corrupt Dem political management (“Latoya Da Destroya”) that now protects the criminals and endangers their victims.
Glad you missed Katrina, a real Cluster Phk & FUBAR by the local leaders for years that was worse that the hurricane.
After Hurricane Betsey hit NOLA in ’65, the USA Corps was funded by Congress to build a movable storm barrier ( like the Netherlands’ storm barriers) across the Rigolets open water way to Lake Pontchartrain to prevent a hurricane storm surge from entering the lake.
BUT… some eco freaks at Tulane found a Socialist Fed judge downtown and got him to stop the project in 1970.
After four years fighting in his court, the Corps threw in the towel and it was never built,… allowing Katrina to flood the lake with its surge and then Orelans and Jefferson Parishes. The guilty Eco Freaks still deny their responsibility for the flooding of New Orelans,…. just like the lying Socialist they remain.
Such is life in NOLA with Criminals, Corrupt Politicians and Liberal Socialists. Hope things are better for you in your area. (BTW, Quinn was my father’s first name)
Great essay. All I can say is God Bless Sundance. And I give thanks for the opportunity to learn from Sundance.
Thank you Sundance for the update and for your dedication to work the recovery.
Seeing the video left my mouth dropped open….I saw Dante’s where the wife and I celebrated our anniversary in 2017, one month after Irma. Incredible!
Where, or should I say, to whom can we send financial donations? I and others who want to offer more than prayers, and who cannot physically come down to assist, would like to send financial aid that we know would go to the people or organisation that would actually use the funds for recovery, etc.
Please let us know, either here or in a separate (maybe pinned) post.
Deo Vindice!
Not Red Cross. RC uses every disaster as a fundraiser and no assurance that donation goes where it is most needed.
Donate at link in upper right. Sundance will make sure it goes where needed.
Samaritan’s Purse is one of the best.
Samaritan’s Purse.
This was posted by Freakonomics in the early hours of this morning. He provided a direct link:
Freakonomics
October 3, 2022 2:59 am
Reply to Sundance
Thank you. The Samaritan’s Purse HQ in Ft Myers is at Citygate Ministries. I expect to be there mid-day Wednesday. Will add these to the list.
https://www.spvolunteer.org/project-response/640
Freakanomics’ other posts are well worth reading, too.
Samaritan’s Purse
https://samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/hurricane-ian/
Will do! Thank you!
Grew up on the east coast in the late 60s and 70s. People still had the sense not to build in certain places. Our home was built in ‘24–survived the ‘26 storm—due to having having poured concrete exterior walls and the roof being framed in Dade County pine. First floor was all cut stone flooring and all the electrical was run 2 1/2 feet above floor level. They had common sense since in those days “no one was coming to save you”. Your A/O was still the Wild West part of Florida—no idiot would build anything permanent on those barrier islands. Used to fish just north of their at Boca Grande Pass—lot of tarpon and sea trout back in Bull Bay and environs. There was a great hunting lodge call the “Eagles Nest” up the Peace River that ran a summer camp in the off season. I imagine it’s all gone now. Take care, as one old Floridian to another, you know what has to be done.
“Long before there was a ‘city glow’ on the eastern shore, the Sanibel beacon remained my waypoint in life.” Sundance
“When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.” Thomas Jefferson
Self reliance yes, but also a clarity of vision best found in the outdoorsman. You cannot cheat the fish or the game. There is no shortcut to raising the crop or the animal.
Very rich life lessons shared, mostly unspoken, for those with this common nature bond.
Twain and the storm on the island. There is always the other side and life never seems quite so sweet as after weathering the storm.
The rainbow really does hold a promise.
Sweetest of all is the accomplishment only the self reliant individual ( and his immediate companions in the struggle) will know when everything is set aright.
The other side is what makes those, “next two feet” doable.
There is a reason citizens of mostly rural background hold the best hope for our continued freedom.
“I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the health and the liberties of man. True, they nourish some of the elegant arts; but the useful ones can thrive elsewhere; and less perfection in the others, with more health, virtue and freedom, would be my choice.”
Jefferson was a very wise man.
Sundance, your reports and the way you write touch my heart. I attend a very small, but close knit church. It is unconventional in that, while we have a loose structure of formality (start by singing worship songs, then sermon, then prayer and praise reports), we never hesitate to change that structure when we hear the voice of God calling us to stop and pray.
Yesterday, before one song was sung, we stopped and prayed for the people of SWFL. It is through your description of life on the ground that we were able to pray specifically for all the people who have lost loved ones and homes. We also prayed for you and the other volunteers, as well as the professionals, that God would give you the strength to keep on taking bites of the elephant. We prayed for protection against whatever diseases might be in the stagnant waters. We prayed that, in the midst of all of the rubble, you would still find God’s beauty. We prayed that, as you previously wrote, a sense of community and fellowship would not only be found, but increase, as people talk face-to-face and not face-to-phone.
Thank you for all you do, not just in your capacity as a CERT volunteer, but for helping the nation understand what is happening in politics.
You are a national treasure and I thank God that I found your website many years ago.
So good to see you. Thank you for this moving post.
Ma McGriz, I am here multiple times per day. I just feel like I don’t have much to offer when there are so many fine treepers who know so much more than I do. I just enjoy reading Sundance’s posts and the comments. I feel no need to add my two cents.
✝️Great post✝️
Wow. Even in the face of adversity Sundance delivers another fascinating read. May God bless your family and be sure that we Treepers consider ourselves blessed to have you Sundance.
The rebuild of Sanibel will be fascinating – may just want to burn all the debris and start over.
Hummm,….. wait until FEMA/Nat Flood Ins Plan re-write the flood maps of SWFL and especially the barrier islands in the coming months/years.
If available at all, only SD’s white wine spritzer crowd will be able to afford the insurance then, house or flood, and it will be prohibitive. Ain’t Big Helpful Govt Great?
Really rich don’t care. What’s a million or five million dollar house if you are worth a hundred million?
Sell a minor position and build anew. It’s only money don’t you know?
Burnt Store marina is full of zillion dollar apartments that are occupied one or two weeks a year that the little people attend and keep ready should Buffy and Muffy decide they want a lark in the sun at Christmas. Boats that seldom if ever leave their slips….
That may be true and if it is who will save them when the next hurricane or big storm comes.
That Spritzer Tribe is helpless.
When they keep the real smart people, like the crackers out, then they will be in big trouble when big Trouble comes.
There will be no one to save their sorry rear ends.
See the end of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby,… the rich pick up and leave to live their lives without remorse or care (paraphrasing).
I’d say “Eyes forward, friend” but I see they already are.
Best wishes and Godpseed.
I didn’t see any birds anywhere in the video. I was expecting to at least see some gulls going after the fish on the golf course.
Maybe I just missed seeing them. That struck me as very strange.
The birds leave but they come back slowly, as it was with Michael. This is a very uplifting read, unfortunately without electricity those that need inspiration have no connectivity. The gremlins become very real and look like everyone around. Fear stalls your rational thought processes. Lord, Hear my Prayer.
God Bless You all in SWFL.
Woodpecker calls at 5:30 and later.
Thanks, Mycroft.
I have hearing issues. My computer is on permanent mute. I haven’t heard a video in years. I use cc or, as in the case of these hurricane damage videos, just watch. No commentary is particularly necessary.
The woodpeckers make sense. All that chewed up wood and stripped bark makes for easy access to a lot more of the insects they go after.
I did expect to see gulls rummaging around. As Wheelbarrow mentioned, I’m sure they’ll be around soon enough.
Beautiful and lyrical homage to the human spirit.
my husband and I think you.
I read your piece out loud to him while he was in the kitchen starting those chores for the day and he was pretty emotional at the end. Godspeed to you all.
“Thank”you
I believe that our Lord and Savior is with the people of Florida. You may not see Him, but He is there, working right alongside of you. Thanks Sundance…..we will continue praying for all of you! ALWAYS FORWARD!!
My son lives in Estero, about 15 miles from Ft. Meyers, 14 miles from the water, and almost due East from the Sanibel Lighthouse. He is working in the recovery efforts, focused on the clean up of stranded flooded vehicles.
His family had temporarily relocated to a relative farther inland due to having no power at his home. FPL had advised that it would be many weeks before the power would be restored at his home.
Yesterday, FPL notified him that his power was back. A blessing, and almost unbelievable. He is in a recently built home, and so far no serious damage. He got the hurricane shutters up early, and other than down trees, his real damage seems to be to the pool cage in his back yard.
Sundance, may God bless you for all that you do.
I hiked the 2650 miles of the PCT. Took 5 1/3 months. Like you said, the way to mentally get through these things is to focus on the immediate, small, bite sized task at hand. I can make it to the next town, it’s only 4 days away – at camp, I’ve already done 1/4 of the distance. Progress. Same with the cleanup. One small step at a time. Take the series of small wins, it keeps one motivated.
Many a mickle makes a muckle.
Or, in modern language, many a small deed makes a great deed.
So… who in their right mind thought it would be a good thing to have the NFL play a football game in Tampa last night.
Bodies are still being discovered, for God’s sake. I imagine there was a moment of silence, or some other meaningless gesture.
Our depraved “civilization”.
I read a moderator’s comment in another chat room stating that there were 90 confirmed fatalities from Hurricane Ian; thousands of people still missing. The moderator lives in Florida; possibly near Orlando.
Who would pay attention to an NFL game after a catastrophic event like Hurricane Ian? It would really make my day if the NFL (along with MLB and NBA) games were banned until further notice.
Stay the course Sundance. Your wise words are just like lighthouse of which you speak. I’m sure you fill all those in contact with you with hope. Even us interior landlubbers can feel that hope. Godspeed on your task at hand. Just remember, that which we survive makes us stronger. My prayers are with you and all SWFL.
This post really hit me. I’ve only been a Floridian half my life (25+ years), but it is home for me now. My daughter is studying “A Land Remembered” in her 4th grade class right now and it is truly fascinating learning the history of this great state. Godspeed.
After the numerous times the US has sent help and $ to other countries, I’m curious. How many other countries have offered assistance, funds to help US recovery from this hurricane?
With 10% going to The Big Guy, if so?
Retired Magistrate here: I hope the people left on Sanibel Island stay put. Actually Sanibel doesn’t look any worse than other photos I have seen of areas where Ian hit; in fact it looks better than Ft. Meyers Beach. I was surprised to see some electric poles still standing along with many palm trees. Looks like one older motel survived almost intact although I am sure it has water damage. If a resident has supplies, fishing poles (most probably do) and a boat, let them stay put. They rode out Ian, they can certainly survive on the island with a boat for supplies.
If it is habitable enough for the National Guard who are not used to living there, it certainly should be habitable enough for the remaining residents.
Unfortunately I can see a big developer wanting to purchase the entire island and having everyone off the island and condemning all remaining structures and invoking imminent domain would certainly make that a lot easier.
Am I suspicious, yes. Sanibel functioned just fine before the causeway was built via ferry and boat traffic. I have been in enough zoning battles to know if a big developer wants a piece of property when enough money changes hands the developer wins.
Hopefully this is not the case. But I remain very, very suspicious.
I thought the same. That is of developer’s moving in. Home owners may want to reconsider the house plans. The ones that have to be rebuilt from scratch. Camps on stilts. As far as I am concerned the beauty of the beach and area makes up for all the fancy, expensive homes.
In much of western Florida you cant even see the GOM what with high rise hotels blocking the view from inland. I never go to the east coast but I imagine it’s the same.
It’s a mixed bag. Some cities, like Cocoa Beach, have density ordinances and there are many structures the max 5 stories (new) to 8 stories (grandfathered). There are also many structures one or two stories. There are homes as well as condos. However, Miami is a tower jungle.
I read Sundance’s wonderful and inspiring posts.
And then I hear some NFL player state proudly that his team “overcame adversity” during a game.
I know who’s side I am on.
I have always considered Sundance to be the best “political” writer and analyst on our current scene, but his posts from the cleanup operation in SW Florida have exceeded even that work.
There is so much to be learned from his ongoing commentary- boots on the ground- that is not even touched upon by the hacks of the MSM. (Not that I would expect much more than their click bait).
Sundance’s postings on the hurricane are more like epic poetry, think the Odyssey or the Iliad, than mere reporting and I treasure all of them. His generous spirit and compassion shine through.
Godspeed, Sundance! Hope to see you soon.
Well said Sir!
Good luck to you and yours, Trout.
🙂
Sans sunblock, SD may be ‘Specked Trout’ now.
Hey Sundance,
How about Periwinkle trailer and campground park? I had years of memories tied up at that place.
“And we’ll rise up
Rise like the waves
We’ll rise up
In spite of the ache
We ‘ll rise up
And we’ll do it a thousand times again
All we need, all we need is hope
And for that we have each other
And for that we have each other” (Andra Day)
Convoy about 2 miles long moving from Glades County along State Route 80 West into the heart of Ft. Myers.
All Glades Electric vehicles. About 8 new power poles being hauled, ATVs, generators, bucket trucks, diggers, etc. The cabs are packed full of guys. I gave the lead truck driver a thumbs up…he’s pumped up folks…
Let’s hear it for Cracker Cowboys and Ranchers getting down and dirty….
Thank you Sundance for keeping all of us updated; this post is exceptional. So interesting and well written. I really respect all that you do for your community, your state, and your country. Take care of yourself, stay well, God Bless.
Is the lighthouse light still working? Or is it the structure still standing? But no light? Probably a dumb question but the light is important!
And let those island residents with boats alone…they will do just fine!
Sounds of Woodpecker calls and sump-pump alarms. How the heck did the woodpecker(s) survive????
Haven’t heard birds for days. No sand hill, sparrows, nothing. And all the osprey nests are gone.
They take a break for a reason. Just like here in Alaska, re-set takes time. Nature doesn’t follow ‘our’ time. They’ll resume when it’s appropriate.
Thank you for these updates. Our winter home in a Fort Myers retirement community got hit, the neighbors are untouched. My wife is frantic to inspect but we’re in Minnesota and I keep telling her that she’d only be adding to the local burden. Nobody needs homeless people going INTO a disaster area. Your updates bolster my argument: we’re warm and safe and dry; we have insurance; wait a month or two and we’ll see what happens. God bless you and yours.
saw pieces of my aunt’s house, and pieces of her neighbors houses,,,,and the place where my dad spent his last weekend before he went to heaven,,,,,as a family there is no bottom to our collective grief, please please be careful sundance, we don’t want to lose you too