Post Charley stress

[Josephine96]

This question is mainly for Floridians or for maybe some of you others out there.

But are some of you having any post Charley stress..?

Me.. I may be experiencing some. Taking the bus through the same damage stricken areas just about every day is getting on my nerves.. It's been almost 6 full days since I have had any power. I also am getting pretty agitated because my clothes are starting to give off a slight odor.

{1 of the things I forgot to do was do my laundry before Charley hit}.. Plus where I'm living.. There's an obnoxious 12 year old kid who is home from school all week because of Charley.. He gets on my last nerve lots of times.. lol

Just thought I'd vent.. and ask if any of you have any post Charley stress

[cape_escape]

I am! Everyone I've taked to seems to be suffering too. I live in Cape Coral, and we really lucked out, but it's still very hard without electric and water and then to watch our neighbors 30 miles away still without so much as a house to go home to, onlyadds to the frustration! My son won't have school until (hopefully) next week, so he's stressed, which only adds to mine. Your not alone! Stress and fatigue is everywhere!

[Josephine96]

Yeah.. I can tell the stress is everywhere.. Plus it seems like no matter where you go.. People talk about Charley.. even I talk about it to everybody,

But I've been told since I was 1 of Charley's many direct victims it's OK to talk about it.. I even spent Monday night at my mom's place because I thought I needed a break from where I'm at..

She has everything back already.. TV, power, HOT water, you name it.. she's got it..

I also find myself constantly peaking at the "Charley ticker" at the bottom of our screens on TV here because it seems to have updated news on the aftermath all the time..

[Guest]

your son is stressed because he doesn't have school?lol. When Isabelle came through we had no school for two days and I was so happy. But the reason we had no school was because we had no power for two days... and we got it back quickly.

[Josephine96]

I wish I would have had my power back in 2 days lol

[bahamaswx]

Floyd had me off school for a week here. Didn't regain power for 2 weeks. =/

[Josephine96]

Oh lord please don't mention 2 weeks lol.. If I still have no lights by the 27th.. I think I'd be pulling my hairs out.. lol

[LaBreeze]

Been there, done that! I know what you folks are going through. I was without electricity for two and a half weeks after Hurricane Lili and no hot water either. 3/4 of my roof was missing and had to renovate my kitchen from water damage. Know that there are people thinking of you. My prayers are with you all. Hang in there - better days are coming!!

[Josephine96]

It gets so frustrating though at sunset every night when I see the peoples lights on 2 blocks away and I aint got my lights yet lol.. It gets annoying too

[cape_escape]

"It gets so frustrating though at sunset every night when I see the peoples lights on 2 blocks away and I aint got my lights yet lol.. It gets annoying too"

John... I know what you mean about the lights, we have been going through the same thing! We were surrounded by lights! We just got our electric back yesterday. We rode the storm out without so much as a flashlight, because we gave our batteries to my husband's dad to use, no fan, notta...it was rough with no fans in this Florida weather that's for sure! I just thank God that we still have a home and no one was hurt! There is a elderly gentleman whose been sitting on Country Club Blvd, in the rain, holding a sign that says "LCEC WHERE ARE YOU!"

My son hates the idea of not going to school right now, only because he has a new girlfriend there...lol God, I hope it doesn't take two weeks before he's back, he's driving me crazy!

[scogor]

I think that many of us that were spared the devastation only through the whims of nature and have any sense of humanity are "suffering" a touch of "survivors' guilt"--not an hour goes by that I don't look out my office window in downtown Sarasota and cringe at the thought that but for climatology and/or sheer dumb luck our lives just 40 or so miles up the coast from Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda and less than an hour's drive from Arcadia continue basically unchanged as if Charley never happened. I have been doing "triage" work checking on the mobile home parks I represent and helping displaced residents find housing, trying to facilitate the dissemination of loan programs to victims, etc. which I suppose helps with the "survivors' guilt" but--good lord!!--I simply can't imagine how my family and I would be functioning if Charley had come through Sarasota Bay rather than Charlotte Harbor. I'm thankful that my life was not overturned and changed forever but quite frankly disquieted by the utter randomness of last Friday's event. Don't we all wish we could turn the clock back one week and have our wish that Charley never happened become a reality?

[debbiet]

Post-storm stress is quite common. After Isabel, everyone kind of rallied around for the first week or so and then you could see and feel that we were just all "over it." No power for 2 weeks for some folks. We were fortunate and only were without for 8 days. Storm-talk continued regularly for at least 6 months (because everyone is still trying to get their homes back in order) and if Isabel is any indication, you'll still be talking about it and seeing the effects next year this time too. The damage doesn't just go away in a couple of weeks...its there forever sometimes...one of the saddest things to me is the tree damage.

[baygirl_1]

I can certainly understand, y'all. After Frederic, we were without power for almost 2 and a half weeks! We passed the time by playing games like poker and Monopoly. A few days after the hurricane, my older sister managed to buy a portable TV that plugged into the car lighter. Our neighbors joined us and we set up lawn chairs in the front yard to watch TV. We were all in it together! It wasn't fun, but it was better with everyone together.
Now, there were also some really hard things: We became sick and tired of waiting in line for ice and the sound of chainsaws gave us headaches! It was so hot without A/C and the debris piles were huge! It took a long time for the city to haul all of that away.
I was a kid, but I still remember how frustrating it was and how hard it was for my parents. I hope I will never have to go through it again. And I hope all of you good folks going through it now will have that stress ending very soon.
Take care of yourselves!

[Typhoon_Willie]

Amen to that!

[caribepr]

A friend of mine on St. Croix wrote this song after Lenny. Thought some of you might enjoy the weird but true humor in a post hurricane stress song...

Wrong Way Lenny

You let your guard down, turn around, before you know it Lenny’s upon you
And now the only person making any money on the island
is Sonia

My house is a mess, my cat’s really stressed,
who’da guessed a hurricane would come from the West?
Guess it’s gonna be awhile before
we have another pina colada

We’re watching John Hope give us HOPE!
tells us that it’s not gonna harm us
Tell me what just flew across the parking lot
wasn’t a school bus...

My front yard’s a moat, Woody’s boat didn’t float.
Why the hell’s my hand keep reaching for the remote?
Remember how it was when just a push would make your toilet flush?

You huddle close with your friends and and
get with others nearby
Adreneline & rum a most excellent high,
The storm starts to fade, you soon realize
The powers gone, the curfews on, we’re outta supplies

Eighth day, no way, you feel the walls closing around you
Well unless of course they blew away and now there’s nothing left to surround you

Ain’t worked in over a week, my hair smells like feet,
I’m really getting tired of drinking everything neat
And the only person making money on the island is Sonia,
bracelets wrapped around the wrists of those of us who live in this asylum,
Yeah the only person making any money on the island is Sonia, sweet Sonia

Michael Justis

(Sonia makes the ever popular Crucian hook bracelet on St. Croix and put out a Wrong Way Lenny version - every hurricane that hits the island gets a bracelet)

Also found a good page about post hurricane info regarding clean up hazards etc. plus lots of other good info

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/index.asp

[cape_escape]

I can relate to the "guilt" feeling after the storm Just yesterday, I said to my husband that I feel bad that I looked out the window, of my air-conditined office, and smiled because the sun was up and Ft Myers was startng to look a bit normal again. I can't help but to think of our neigbors in Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Arcadia, and others, whom are still without water, walls, electric, and many even hope! I can't push the visions of the death and destruction out of my head! I hope it will get easier to again enjoy Florida without the thought of so much misery only 30 minutes from home!

[GrimReaper]

Josephine....here are some lessons I learned from "Andrew"....you will probably talk about Charley until you are sick of hearing yourself!! Don't sweat that, it is normal. Don't be afraid of seeing humor in the most bizarre circumstances... it is your right, after what you've been through! As an example..while cleaning up at a friends house, we saw a baby doll stuck up in a tree...and about peed our pants laughing, and making seemingly inappropriate comments. Others with us were appalled at our laughter and comments, however we weren't being disrespectful....we were working off stress in the best, most positive way... LAUGHING. Please keep your chin up, we are all praying for you...... and don't forget to let lose with a good belly laugh..... no matter where it comes from.....it will make you feel better!!

Love & Prayers,
Grim

[ColdWaterConch]

John, no offense, but you really should not be whining b/c your neighbors have elec and you don't. There are people that don't have four walls and roof, let alone elec.

After Andrew, we did not have elec for 46 DAYS. After about day 10, the stress leaves b/c the situation is so comical...so buck up, camper.

[ssmith]

We were somewhat Lucky

For 10 hours we were "trapped on an Island" due to flood waters.Power was out for 4 day,clean-up was to be done and life moved on..There wasn't much I could do and I understood that,it just took time to get life back to "normal".

OK I didn't get a "real" shower for a week,ate from cans and went to sleep at dusk..but I knew it would improve each day.

But I understand,lots of friends were "stressed out" because of the power outage,clean up needed and where the next bag of ice or meal was coming from.To this day I have Co-workers who are still dealing with damage to their homes from Issy or are rebuilding.

Like I told them,relax,get one job done at a time and the things you can't control don't worry about.

You know,the tide went down,the power came back on,the skies cleared and we cleaned up the mess.It took 7 months to get a contractor to replace the siding,I'm still pulling Classic Mustang Parts from the old shed that was wiped out and the shed looks like a smashed sardine can to this day.

But y'all in FLA are really in my thoughts,,I hope you can recover as quickly as we did due to the many fine folks who came to our aid who are now coming to yours.

You can be very proud of your Community,neighbors and yourself in the way you are dealing with this event.

[Guest]

i remember isabelle here. We got the North-Eastern part of it too. We were lucky , and only lost power for 2 days. Even here in DC, most people had to wait 3-4 days to get power back. That was an experience Ill never forget though. Me and my friends all slept over at each others houses and we played all the board games. But after 2 days, I found out why they can also be bored games lol.