Irma aftermath: dispatches from Daytona Beach

The rains have passed and the wind has stopped howling. The clean up is in earnest.

I'd just like to take a moment to notice the beauty of the aftermath of something like this: people helping each other. Neighbors helping clean the debris from each other's yards and fix each other's roofs. Sharing food, water, power..... grilling out and even having libations and a few laughs. I love seeing the basic goodness and empathy of humanity.

Our situation right now is one of general hardship. No power. Very few places have fuel. If you can find a place for a warm meal or fuel you better have cash. Entire neighborhoods are either ripped apart or underwater. A large portion of people are on wells so lacking power they don't have water. I don't have power but i have a community well that has a generator so i have access to water.

Armies of tree cutters and electric workers are out in force doing their best to restore power. Street lights are still not functioning so every place is now considered a "4 way" stop. Lots of roads are under water or have trees and power lines on them; some are impassable.

It'll take months to get cleaned up from this but i think we fared well considering the hellish conditions we were slammed with for hours on end from the monster known as Irma.