I'm Alive!!

[gulfcoastliberal]

I made it through hurricane Ivan in my condo situated on Pensacola Bay. Last Thursday morning, sheriff's officers advised me to evacuate but we didn't. Me, my girlfriend, a friend from work, and mary jane holed up in my building to ride it out. It's a concrete and steel structure, not some chintzy ass wood building. Anyway, it was intense: our ground level bayfront windows were destroyed, the concrete back deck and seawall destroyed, newly rebuilt pier destroyed, all kinds of water came in through sealed windows in both units I own, and the roof over the 2 penthouses (aka building roof) is in the front parking lot. Around 2am Thursday morning was the most intense period: the building swayed back and forth substantially; the bathtub full of water sloshed back and forth - this freaked us out a little bit, but other than that the building took it like a champ. The noise was incredible and awesome. The next morning, firefighters came through and made us leave - I'm homeless for a minimum of 3 weeks until an engineer determines if the foundation got undermined and power is restored. I have loads of pics that I took the morning after, but I'm at a public library with no CD drive so I can't upload them for you just yet. Friday I got the hell out of the destroyed shithole known as Pensacola and fled to grandma's house in Mississippi, which is just fine - they only got about 60 mph winds. I'll post a pic thread when I find a computer with a drive. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm ok.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. Holy Crap. I sat out a Cat 3 a while back, I can't imagine how

much more that would be.

Glad you all are okay.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

2. I am glad that you all made it through the hurricane safe :)

[Gildor Inglorion]

3. Hooray! That's good news.

We were scared to death here in south Mississippi (I'm about 30 miles from the coast), but the storm took an eastward turn and all we got was some wind. It actually did more damage in Gilmer County, Georgia, where I'm from originally, than it did here - heavy rains caused local flooding. Thank goodness you're sage, and I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures.
:bounce:

[Nite Owl]

4. Good tp hear that you are all ok

Hope you get some good news on the condo.

[Phillycat]

5. Thank goodness you are okay!

Stay safe and I'm (weirdly) fascinated to see the upcoming pictures!

[ewagner]

6. Glad you made it!

but as the old saying goes:

I admire your courage...but question your judgement

[Rick Myers]

7. Glad you are okay!!!

Welcome back!!!

[woofless]

8. How long will your "concrete and steel" condo last

when the water from storm surge that just destroyed your seawall begins to wash the sand from around the foundation of your condo? That place is not built on rock, it is built on sand. Next time they tell you to leave you probably should heed the call.

[gulfcoastliberal]

12. Foundation...

Reinforced concrete columns drilled into bedrock - not sand. The place was built in 1964 with the very best techniques and materials.

Guess you could say it's "rock-solid".

[sonias]

9. Glad to hear you are alive gulfcoastliberal!

So sorry to hear about your homeless situation. Did you lose your job or are they being flexible about your long commute? Anyway I wish you the best of luck in your recovery. Hang in there.

Next time, and there will be others in the Gulf Coast, please do evacuate.


Take care

Sonia

[Ripley]

10. Glad you are alive...

You idjit! What were you thinking?

Are you going to rebuild there if they have to condemn it?

[gulfcoastliberal]

11. Yeah...

They have awesome insurance on everything, so if they do condemn the building, we'll rebuild.

The foundation is composed of concrete columns drilled into bedrock - not sand.

[Ripley]

13. My cousin did the same thing.

In Myrtle Beach, SC after Hugo. Although her entire house was swept into the sea, they rebuilt almost exactly in the same place.

I understand. I envy yall living in Paradise. Until HELL COMES YOUR WAY!!!!!!!!!! :evilgrin:

Take care in the meantime.

[Jack_Dawson]

14. You're so lucky!

I really want to experience a hurricane. Did you record the sound? Please post.