What's happening after Irma
First things first - Sherri-Lynn and Abby are safe.
They stayed at the Ronald McDonald House throughout the storm. They heard a lot of wind and rain, and lost power early Tuesday morning. There is no water in the House, except for a little from the rain. Water flooded into the neighborhood with the St. John's river rising several feet and flooding nearby houses and the downtown. The city had expected water to rise a little more, which would have come into Ronald McDonald House, but it seems to have peaked with the high tide at about 2:00 pm Florida time. The water has started to recede, but many homes and businesses have 2 or 3 feet of water in them and the city has been evacuating people with boats and fire trucks.
Ronald McDonald House is in an evacuation area, but the House's foundation was built up before they started building, so water did not come in there, although it was getting close. Sherri-Lynn parked the rental car on the 2nd storey of the parkade at Nemours Children's Specialty Care (Children's clinic) across the street, so it should be safe. The staff staying at the House also had their families there, and Sherri-Lynn felt it was best to stay where they had food, water, and company while being relatively close to the treatment center. She thinks they should be able to be out picking garbage in the yard later tomorrow.
As the hurricane went over land it started losing power pretty quickly. By the time it passed 80 miles west of Jacksonville it was a Category 1 storm dropping to a Tropical Storm. The worst hit at about 3:00 am, and Sherri-Lynn and Abby slept through it as it was pitch black and they were sleeping in the interior living room instead of in the bedroom against the exterior walls.
Jacksonville had 70 miles/hour winds and a lot of rain for several hours. The flooding comes from so much rain in the Florida interior, and wind pushing the ocean up in the riverways. This was the storm surge, and it hit Jacksonville which is 17 miles from the ocean, but has a very large river coming from that direction.
Fortunately most of Jacksonville has not been damaged like the downtown area, as only the low lying areas or neighborhoods next to rivers and creeks suffered from flooding. Trees, signs and roofs were thrown around in much of the city, but not nearly as badly as places earlier in the hurricane.
The UF Proton Therapy Center will probably not be open on Tuesday. Electricity needs to be restored, and the roads need to be safe for staff and patients to drive in. Abby only has 4 treatments left and this will delay the end date by a couple of days. Hopefully we can be together late next week.
Now that the storm has gone the temperature is at about 26 degrees Celsius and 71% humidity. The humidity will drop to 65% tomorrow but the temperature will be around 31 degrees. I think they will be thankful to come home to a cool Canadian autumn.
The following are a few pictures that Sherri-Lynn texted me. With no power or wifi she is trying to conserve her phone so I am posting them instead of her.
The link below goes to a local tv station's coverage of the flooding events in Jacksonville today. https://www.news4jax.com/weather/hurricane-irma/the-latest-possible-tornado-rips-through-st-augustine
They stayed at the Ronald McDonald House throughout the storm. They heard a lot of wind and rain, and lost power early Tuesday morning. There is no water in the House, except for a little from the rain. Water flooded into the neighborhood with the St. John's river rising several feet and flooding nearby houses and the downtown. The city had expected water to rise a little more, which would have come into Ronald McDonald House, but it seems to have peaked with the high tide at about 2:00 pm Florida time. The water has started to recede, but many homes and businesses have 2 or 3 feet of water in them and the city has been evacuating people with boats and fire trucks.
Ronald McDonald House is in an evacuation area, but the House's foundation was built up before they started building, so water did not come in there, although it was getting close. Sherri-Lynn parked the rental car on the 2nd storey of the parkade at Nemours Children's Specialty Care (Children's clinic) across the street, so it should be safe. The staff staying at the House also had their families there, and Sherri-Lynn felt it was best to stay where they had food, water, and company while being relatively close to the treatment center. She thinks they should be able to be out picking garbage in the yard later tomorrow.
As the hurricane went over land it started losing power pretty quickly. By the time it passed 80 miles west of Jacksonville it was a Category 1 storm dropping to a Tropical Storm. The worst hit at about 3:00 am, and Sherri-Lynn and Abby slept through it as it was pitch black and they were sleeping in the interior living room instead of in the bedroom against the exterior walls.
Jacksonville had 70 miles/hour winds and a lot of rain for several hours. The flooding comes from so much rain in the Florida interior, and wind pushing the ocean up in the riverways. This was the storm surge, and it hit Jacksonville which is 17 miles from the ocean, but has a very large river coming from that direction.
Fortunately most of Jacksonville has not been damaged like the downtown area, as only the low lying areas or neighborhoods next to rivers and creeks suffered from flooding. Trees, signs and roofs were thrown around in much of the city, but not nearly as badly as places earlier in the hurricane.
The UF Proton Therapy Center will probably not be open on Tuesday. Electricity needs to be restored, and the roads need to be safe for staff and patients to drive in. Abby only has 4 treatments left and this will delay the end date by a couple of days. Hopefully we can be together late next week.
Now that the storm has gone the temperature is at about 26 degrees Celsius and 71% humidity. The humidity will drop to 65% tomorrow but the temperature will be around 31 degrees. I think they will be thankful to come home to a cool Canadian autumn.
The following are a few pictures that Sherri-Lynn texted me. With no power or wifi she is trying to conserve her phone so I am posting them instead of her.
The view of the street outside their window. The river is on the other side of the white apartment building.
Rescuers helping people on the street in front of the House.
Pictures showing the water is starting to recede.
Sherri-Lynn and Abby are grateful to have somewhere that was safe to stay.
The link below goes to a local tv station's coverage of the flooding events in Jacksonville today. https://www.news4jax.com/weather/hurricane-irma/the-latest-possible-tornado-rips-through-st-augustine
Unreal. Am so glad they are safe. I would hate to have to go through that. We are very lucky here in Canada.
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