Ivan: One year ago today

[bsmart]

Share your Hurricane Ivan related stories, and how things have changed since the terrible slammed ashore one year ago today.

 

[ktmeadows]

I was in Southern Alabama right after Ivan hit there; a lot of areas hit very hard! With no dunes to offer protection, Dauphin Island took a terrible beating! Here's a couple of photos taken on Sep 17, 2004. The photo of the sand blown across the beach road (our equivalent of 30-A) looks like our streets in the Midwest after a January snowstorm! Many of the homes were destroyed; many fell into the water. Beach homes that once had homes blocking part of their view of the gulf became "beachfront property" in the blink of an eye. Of course, I'd be sweating it if I owned one of them, because chances are they may be next!

Of course, worse yet was the devestation in many other areas of southern Alabama...many poor towns such as Atmore, Brewton....the scene reminded me a bit of New Orleans today. So many poor folks who had nothing to begin with...then Ivan hit and left them with nothing. Taking a drive through these towns a few days after Ivan made me so greatful for all that I have, and made me want to reach out to these people.....watching them stand in lines for assistance was heartbreaking. I can only begin to imagine what the victims of Katrina are going through.

 

[Miss Kitty]

Wow bsmart...never thought I'd forget this date. I found this board a couple of days before Ivan hit, as I am sure many of us did. I had to travel up to Columbia, MO for Parents Weekend during this storm and luckily found the computer room at the hotel and spent every moment possible glued to Kurt, SJ and all the others I now know as my fellow SoWal brothers and sisters! I remember the feeling when the locals lost their power and the others on the board were so concerned about them and also so helpful to one another. God Bless America and SoWal.com!

 

[bsmart]

On this date last year, as the remnants of Ivan moved into northern AL, many supercell thunderstorms developed in middle and north GA, and pinwheeled around all afternoon. At the time I was in class at UGA, and a tornado warning came out for Athens-Clarke County. The room I was in had no windows, I did not know anything was going on until a person came into the classroom and told us that there was a tornado warning, and we needed to move to the basement of the building fast. So we went, and I caught a glimpse of the storm out the window as we headed down three flights of stairs. It was dark as night outside when it was 2:30 in the afternoon. I love storms, but this one kind of caused my adrenaline to start pumping. About 100 people in all, we ended up staying in this basement for well over an hour, because a second storm moved into the area and also prompted a tornado warning. All in all, I was upset that I was stuck in a basement with no windows, unable to see what was going on outside.

 

[Paula]

Ivan was my first hurricane since owning in South Walton. I feel lucky that I remember what the beaches look like for about a year before Ivan. They were indeed amazing (and still are but in a different way). I was glued to the TV for days, as if watching tV would make any difference. There was nothing I could do. But I did fly down to the cottages a few days after Ivan. I was relieved our places were fine, and I patched and painted all the window frames after having had them boarded up (can't decide whether I'll do it again this year, since it may end up being a yearly activity and I'm not sure it's worth it). The bushes were "burned" but otherwise OK. I drove around and checked people's property (who couldn't be there and asked me to check) and took photos of people's property so they could put their minds at ease. I was quite taken by the good will along 30A, and Criolla's free picnic for guests, especially the service workers who worked so hard to get services back quickly. I did my best to support the local restaurants by eating out becaue they lost much of their fall business. I LOVED the shells on the beach -- I have them here in Michigan and can look at them as I type this. They were plentiful and beautiful.

Mostly, I remember how relieved I was to see the beach. I had read on this board that "the beach at Seacrest is gone". Now, I took that literally and expected to see only water and no beach at all to walk on. I waited a few days after getting to SoWal, and then took a walk to our beach access (with a glass of wine). As damaged as it was, I was overjoyed (I started to cry) to see that we indeed still had a beach! I really thought I'd just see cliffs and water. What a relief. So, I guess when people say "the beach is gone", they must mean "top top layer of fluffy white sand is gone."

 

[Beach Runner]

Wow! I'll never forget how sad we were after boarding up. It was so dark and creepy inside the house. When we drove away, we cried because we had worked so hard all of our lives to be able to afford (well, sort of - LOL) a home in this paradise, and we didn't know if we'd ever see our home again.

 

[Smiling JOe]

My memory is the same stressful feeling that I have during all of these other storms. They all run together. Tonight while sitting under the Moon, I was talking to RiverOtter and could not remember "Katrina's" name. To me the names just get jumbled in with other generic info, much like trying to recall a particular football play from a particular game. The die-hard fans seem to recall each play like the back of their hand after watching it a few times on VHS. I cannot even recall who played who last week.

 

[njackie]

I stayed with Jim Cantore on TV here in Osage Beach MO all night long and in the morning or early afternoon when Kurt came back on my computer I cried because I knew our places were still standing! We were able to come the first of October and my daughter-in-law walked with me to where this dog statue was on Seagrove Beach down from our condos and once again I cried. I had this need to touch this crazy dog statue. It signified in some crazy way that we had survived and my middle grandson, who had never seen the beach did not even know that something so horrendous had happened. He just saw the wonderful beach, he did not know the sand was supposed to be fluffy soft and white. (He did get to experience that in June! Thank YOU GOD!) No matter the prices on 30A, or what we have gained or lost, so much of us is there!

 

[kathydwells]

My memory is the same stressful feeling that I have during all of these other storms. They all run together. Tonight while sitting under the Moon, I was talking to RiverOtter and could not remember "Katrina's" name. To me the names just get jumbled in with other generic info, much like trying to recall a particular football play from a particular game. The die-hard fans seem to recall each play like the back of their hand after watching it a few times on VHS. I cannot even recall who played who last week.

Alabama played Southern Miss and won!

 

[TooFarTampa]

We had quite a bit of damage from Ivan. We had roof repairs that were being done but had not been finished when the storm hit. In addition, someone (maybe those working on our house?) left the french doors improperly secured on the third floor, and they blew open. Water was EVERYWHERE. We had about 27K worth of damage, and that was just for cleanup, flooring, drywall, doors, etc. And it took three months to repair. It took four months for an adjuster to even come see us! Citizens was a nightmare to deal with. I'm just so, so glad it was a second home and not our primary residence.

The year that has passed since Ivan has been about the most stress-filled 12 months of my life, for a ton of reasons, and even though it's not logical I'm hoping this anniversary means things are going to settle down a bit for us. Because I can point directly to Ivan as the beginning.