Ivan did hit my home and the damage is horrific beyond description in my neighborhood; in fact just 400 yards south of me eight are confirmed dead, fourteen still, missing, fifty-eight housed completely missing and nearly one hundred other houses in the sub division went under water. We did not stay and luck was with us at this house; a three-week-old roof saved most damage to the house. My RV was declared a total loss; the new mini barn is a twisted pile of rubble and the sophit on the house was sucked off. All in all, we had very minor damage compared to most around us.

Ivan has provided much material for future BLOG post's but for now it is time to help those around me dig out and help them try and get life back into some semblance of order. Too tired to make a proper link but a Goggle search of Pensacola News Journal will provide hundreds of photos of what has taken place. After viewing many of the photos I can only say they don't come close to what the first eye view reveals. Photos of Grand Lagoon are my sub-division and Perdido Key the area I live.

What is important here is that my family is all-safe and that life goes on. I would also be remiss not to mention that our good friends Randy and Jojo have driven up here from South Florida to help all of my family and many of my friends dig out in removing trees, debris and such with their BOB CAT and other equipment; all this after they have been at it for five weeks for the folks in Punta Gorda. They are examples of the best in humanity.