SOAKING IT UP WITH FAYE

Ten years have quickly passed since the double hurricanes struck Vero Beach only 3 weeks apart. The local newspaper has been filled with stories and photos of this tragic anniversary. Those sickeningly awful memories remain as vivid to me as if they occurred yesterday. The aftermath with its sweltering heat, lack of electricity and the expensive damage to my house was actually worse than the storms.

Reading some of the accounts, I felt way more fortunate than others. But a few of these people should have known better. Twenty years ago, a boyfriend in the Maritime Industry told me, “Anyone with a brain should not build or live on a barrier island.” Had these hurricanes been a category 4 or 5 there would have been nothing left, probably not even an island!

The 1^st hurricane, Frances struck shortly after sunrise over the Labor Day weekend. Jeanne slammed us next on Sept. 23 striking during the later evening hours. I’ve already blogged about these.

Now, I’m going to recall a tropical storm that remains equally memorable, at least to me. This occurred in 2008, a mid-term election year similar to this one. In fact a candidate’s sign was under my giant oak.

Tropical Storm Faye arrived late in August. Since it was not a hurricane, I was spared having to get my house boarded. This was a big relief! No one expected more than a day of heavy rain.

During the wee A.M. hours I was awakened by wet, cold drops hitting my body. Rainwater was blowing in thru the CLOSED picture window near my bed. -- This window had been freshly calked just the year before. My carpet and furniture were getting soaked!

In desperation, I ran downstairs to the garage for a roll of duct tape. I hurriedly applied it around the top of the window where the water was flying in. Sweat and rainwater comingled. By the time I was finished, my nightgown and I were drenched. But I had stopped the leaking! Now I grabbed as many towels as possible to blot my carpet & furniture.

Later, people told me that duct-taping my window would damage it, and was the worst thing I could have done. – I suppose I should have just let the storm ruin my carpet & furniture! Plus I managed to keep mold away!

Faye turned out to be 3 days of NON-STOP heavy rain. It was a monsoon! To my great surprise and relief, the electricity never went out, not once! It was far more bearable than with the hurricanes; I still enjoyed air-conditioning, TV, and hot food. However, I was between computers, then.

I just cocooned and found myself enjoying every minute of it. I drank cups of mocho (strong coffee with 2 scoops of hot chocolate) as I read, or watched old movies on TCM. All of this felt like a serene, little vacation from reality. The constant pounding rain outside and the sublime comfort inside had an ethereal dreamlike quality about it.

My newspaper still arrived every day, although wet. And the mail arrived, too. My long, hooded, plastic raincoat was always kept nearby. The water came up high over my ankles around the mailbox.

Before this monsoon was over, my back yard had transformed into a pond. And the street in front of my house was now a canal. A neighbor actually pulled a live and flapping foot-long fish out of the street near his box! Thankfully, I did not have to drive anywhere. My car is built low to the ground. It would have been ruined!

Days later, the water still lingered, but receded enough so that I could grocery shop and run errands. Life was back to usual, now. Reality soon kicked-in! Come spring, I along with nearly everyone in my neighborhood was busily getting estimates from contractors. Lots of rotting wood needed to be replaced and freshly painted. My windows required another calking as well. My sublime little vacation at home turned into a costly one.