Florida has indeed sustained incredible economic losses, but little loss of life. Tropical storm Jeanne, however, killed over 500 people in the islands. I live about five miles from Harpy, and had no damages at all. A small twister pulled 50'laurel oak right out of the ground and laid it down behind my place. Took out the power lines to the building, but didn't touch the building at all. The city had it back up (the power, that is) within three hours. The folks at the university say that "statisticly," the worst of it is over for FL. We'll likely get some more rain over the next two months, but very low probability of another hit. "Possibility, however, is another thing altogether. We had a show at our local watering hole the weekend between Frances and Ivan. The state climatologist came to the show and declared it "the official state hurricane party." Between Bonny & Charley & Frances then behind us, and Ivan heading our way, folks just didn't seem receptive to a "Half Way to St Paddy's Day" bash. We had a skit by the "Joycean Players", three solos, a duet, and my band "Paddy Go Easy." It was a small crowd, but the house was very happy - they reported it was the best drinking crowd they had for a long time.
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