I live in the Tampa Bay area. This past week was harrowing for many of us, and here is my official, first-hand account:

TL;DR version: Storm happened. I'm not dead. Tampa is now 97-0 versus Hurricane Seasons. Suck it!

SPOILER:

This begins a few weeks ago, when I got a call that my brother died. We think. It was an apartment fire and the ONE AND ONLY CORONER in Wayne county, Michigan was on vacation. (Wayne county includes Detroit & has 2.3 MILLION RESIDENTS) This matters in a bit.

Once the arrangements are made I--the only southerner in the family



--book a flight. Downside, there's a hurricane a'comin'. At this point not sure where it's headed, but brother still dead. I leave the woman & little ones behind to fend for themselves.

THURSDAY: Storm is still tracking to miss my home. Get on plane that points north.

FRIDAY: Looking likely storm is hitting us. Ever spend 3 hours in mental hell? That was my Friday night. I am now 1200 miles away from home & thinking woman and kids may die. WHILE AT A MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR MY BROTHER.

**Pro tip: if you every get the chance to go to a memorial service when your family is in mortal danger. Don't.**

Now the service begins--except the deceased isn't there.

As it was a fire, the body was burned enough that it could only be confirmed via DNA. Apparently the only guy who can friggin' do it is on vacation. We can't have him cremated since it's not legally him yet. So we have an empty box at the service. Think on that for a moment: we are having a service for someone who isn't legally dead and the remains aren't there.

The whole time my mind is on Florida, and what doesn't help is that everyone asks me what is going on. And I mean



Hey, so what's going on in Florida? Is your family getting out? Think you'll have a house after tomorrow?

FOR 3 HOURS.

I finally leave to get my flight changed. Straight to airport and they are very helpful. I'm now on the very last flight tomorrow before the close Tampa Intern'l.

I call the wife & she VERY firmly says not to come back. Gas stations are all closed so it's a waste of gas to come get me. In anguish I relent and stay up north.

SATURDAY: Storm is hitting our house in less than 24 hours. Flight I'm supposed to be on leaves, without me on it.

I spend the day in MORE mental hell not being able to help, or even call as doing so wastes time for them and they have a ton of sh*t to get done before fleeing. They grab as much important stuff as possible and head to wife's grandpa's house in North Carolina.

SUNDAY: I go back to airport to get a flight to NC. My love to Delta--I switched trips twice and they never charged me for it. After about 10 minutes the lady hands me my new flight info; thinking it will be the next day. My flight takes off in 3 hours.

Detroit is notorious for long TSA lines. Last time I was there I arrived 2 hours early and they had to hold the plane for me. I now have to run back to the house, shower, pack & get back. Which I do.



Next challenge. There isn't a direct from DET to NC, so I get a layover in Atlanta. A 25 minute layover. In the nation's busiest airport. Which I've never been to and don't know the layout.

25 mins is barley enough time to find my new flight let alone meet with JustJ, give him a high-five and run off yelling "Falcons suck!"

If I miss this flight I'm sleeping in the airport. Did I make it?




Proof I was in the ATL:


Finally after 4 days, of mental anguish I'm reunited with the family; now in North Carolina. Grandpa's house is small, and there are now 8 people (my fam, niece & in-laws, and a load of pets, too) crammed into it. On the drive back I ask the woman where she & I are sleeping.

She tells me, "The cats are freaking out so I thought we could sleep with them--in the barn."

No really. After all that I'm sleeping in a friggin' barn. Which at this point, I don't care. Bonus: banged one out in a barn.



Drive home was another hell. What should be a 9 hour drive was 17 hours long since EVERYONE WAS TRYING TO GET BACK.

After all that I survey the damage. Here is a pic of the worst of it. Warning, very grapic.



At one point the power did go out, and the food in the fridge is spoiled; but when I got back home we had both power & water. I realize some people did lose everything, so I'm blessed, but holy sweet flipping angels of the apocolypse--I'm staying home next time.

FRIST!
Glad ur not died.

Ok, read now. Really sorry to hear about your brother.

5 star story

i think there's only one coroner for every county in the country. he's just the top government guy for official dead people in that area he's not the only guy that handles dead people.

1. Thanks for the kindness.
2. I totally get that this is the most un-4L style but I needed to vent & some of y'all was wondering what happened.
3. Feel free to help me overcome all this by posting pics of snail porn. (We need thread savers dammit!)

DOUBLE FRIST!

That mailbox was asking for it imo.

Why were you all panicky about your family in Florida. Weren't they up in NC?

If they weren't why weren't they? Get them to fly/drive out.

Husbanding and fathering changes the game...

And AL is a pro.

When I made plans to leave Irma wasn't supposed to hit my area; so they were still in Tampa. On the second day after I left is when we hit panic mode.

Had I known before the flight, I would have stayed.

They left for NC Saturday night--Irma hit us 24 hours later. They were gone in time.

I knew my wife could (and did) handle it. Not being there was just frustrating.

Excellent TR, and excellent news (except for the brother part--sorry about that).
The proof of ATL pic is broken, so I will have to take you at your word on that (this one time).
I lost a 12' Leland Cypress in the front yard.

Glad you got through it all in relatively solid form.

Never forget.

:'(