After several days of windy, rainy, tropical storm conditions, it’s finally sunny outside. Yes, Frances has slowly meandered it’s way out of the state that it has been trudging through for so long. Amy and I really wanted to drive down to Vero Beach where we both grew up and where both sets of our parents weathered the worst conditions of this massive hurricane. Fortunately everyone we’ve talked to down there is healthy and optimistic despite some house damage and an uncertain amount of time until power is restored. If we weren’t worried about getting stuck down there, we proabably would have driven down on Sunday, but now it’s looking like next weekend may be the best time to head down and help with repairs.
By the time she got to Gainesville, Frances was moving through a bit faster and was downgraded to a tropical storm, but still packed enough punch to tear out trees like this and knock out power to most Gainesville residents. I can hardly imagine what Vero Beach is looking like these days. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who were affected by this storm.