Duke Energy services my area up here. They did a good job of restoring power for me in several locations. The ranch in Arcadia got hit hard and we had power back in 5 or 6 days. 4 or 5 days here in Sebring. One of the houses on the ranch, where the foreman lives got messed up pretty badly. The one I live in had very little damage. We think we had wind gusts up around 140 MPH.

Hospitals, police, fire and emergency facilities, water and sanitary authorities, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, etc should and do come first to get power restored.

The next step is to restore power to the largest amount of people. In other words, if 200 thousand people have lost power due to a few simple faults, the power companies will go there first. This is logical for both the power company and the client.

It is obviously heartbreaking to see people's homes destroyed in hurricanes and forest fires. I also think people should be able to build wherever they want to. I don't think the rest of us should have to pay to have their property repaired or risk our lives to rescue them when they were told to evacuate. And obviously, there are exceptions to everything.

This is sort of like the people who buy a house near the end of an airport runway and then try their best to stop the aircraft noise.

People should be prepared for hurricanes who live where they occur. What irritates me is people calling FEMA on their $1300 cell phones asking for a generator who have been living in a hurricane/flood zone for years.

We are pretty well prepared with several generators, a well, a septic system, fuel/drinking water, and enough food to feed us and all our neighbors. Plus I really can shoot deer off the front porch but I would have to be starving to do that. I just don't like killing animals. I can if I need to and every year around Thanksgiving I kill a pig and roast it. Even that is beginning to make me feel a bit uncomfortable.

Even now we are still helping the people who live around us...that's just what ranchers and country people do, even in today's world.

The roofers are working near me and the Tejana music is alive and well.

Billy

“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig?
“Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”