Ian cleanup

[Chum]

Me and sons #3 & #4 were down in Cape Coral for Sat/Sun Ian cleanup. Three drove his 63 Dart beater down which people seemed to enjoy. The cleanup was very well organized with groups having work orders before they left home. The Church set up 3 command centers, Cape Coral (for Ft.Myers), Port Charlotte (Sarasota) and Naples. Our stakes staged at the Cape Coral CC and (from what I can tell) all worked exclusively in Cape Coral.  I'm told our CC had well over 1k members (14 & up) and I expect the other two were at least that.  The area authority turned out to be an old stake president of ours.

The particular areas we were assigned were much more intact than what I expected (after Irma and Michael). Most places were open but lines were often long. Our crew numbered 14. We tarped roofs and removed trees at 12 or so homes. Maybe 4 houses took on a couple of inches of water.

I'm posting a couple of crew pics and some one of Sunday's sacrament service. I'd post more but there's an insanely small image upload limit (~200k total for the thread?!?). The guy up the tree is our 65yo group leader. 

 

Edited October 11, 2022 by Chum

[Tacenda]

8 hours ago, Chum said:

Me and sons #3 & #4 were down in Cape Coral for Sat/Sun Ian cleanup. Three drove his 63 Dart beater down which people seemed to enjoy. The cleanup was very well organized with groups having work orders before they left home. The Church set up 3 command centers, Cape Coral (for Ft.Myers), Port Charlotte (Sarasota) and Naples. Our stakes staged at the Cape Coral CC and (from what I can tell) all worked exclusively in Cape Coral.  I'm told our CC had well over 1k members (14 & up) and I expect the other two were at least that.  The area authority turned out to be an old stake president of ours.

The particular areas we were assigned were much more intact than what I expected (after Irma and Michael). Most places were open but lines were often long. Our crew numbered 14. We tarped roofs and removed trees at 12 or so homes. Maybe 4 houses took on a couple of inches of water.

I'm posting a couple of crew pics and some one of Sunday's sacrament service. I'd post more but there's an insanely small image upload limit (~200k total for the thread?!?). The guy up the tree is our 65yo group leader. 

 

LOVE to see the members go out like this to help. I heard the other day on a podcast coming from a member that the LDS trucks showed up even before Red Cross and some other outfits. 

[Rain]

We are unexpectedly helping.  Found out about a guy who lost his home and truck.  He is moving here temporarily.  Unfortunately, the people he is staying with are allergic to cats so we are keeping the cat for awhile.

It's perfect for us.  I love having pets around, but I don't want the medical, food, finding care when going on vacation and all the other responsibilities.  So we get to have a cat for awhile and all we have to do is feed him and scoop litter. 

[Chum]

1 hour ago, Tacenda said:

LOVE to see the members go out like this to help. I heard the other day on a podcast coming from a member that the LDS trucks showed up even before Red Cross and some other outfits. 

Agreed. And it's like the rare moment I don't have to fire up the obedience; I can just feel like I'm doing what Christ wants.

[Chum]

56 minutes ago, Rain said:

We are unexpectedly helping.  Found out about a guy who lost his home and truck.  He is moving here temporarily.  Unfortunately, the people he is staying with are allergic to cats so we are keeping the cat for awhile.

It's perfect for us.  I love having pets around, but I don't want the medical, food, finding care when going on vacation and all the other responsibilities.  So we get to have a cat for awhile and all we have to do is feed him and scoop litter. 

See now this is the best kind of blessing. It's like getting a Christmas present that someone got on sale. Everyone gets the gift. How sweet is that?

[Rain]

1 hour ago, Chum said:

See now this is the best kind of blessing. It's like getting a Christmas present that someone got on sale. Everyone gets the gift. How sweet is that?

I agree!

[rpn]

Chum, we are preparing for this week.  We are wondering if the homes are close together so a tractor to carry debris is not needed  or not.  It was really helpful in some recoveries, but it is expensive to bring if the distance debris has to be moved is limited.

[Chum]

13 minutes ago, rpn said:

Chum, we are preparing for this week.  We are wondering if the homes are close together so a tractor to carry debris is not needed  or not.  It was really helpful in some recoveries, but it is expensive to bring if the distance debris has to be moved is limited.

In the neighborhoods we saw in Cape Coral you'd have room for a tractor and it'd be helpful for the larger trees. We had to bypass a couple of houses because the trees were too massive or were laying up against the house/lanai. 

Do you know which command center your stake is assigned to?  Your ward or stake emergency response rep may be able to reach out to the command center rep and see when they can get their work orders. Those will have addresses that you can check out on Google maps.

Another option is to reach out to the command center rep directly and tell them what equip you want to bring down. Perhaps they'll want to more directly provision that equipment.

If nothing else works out let me know and I'll reach out to my ward. I know our Bishop and a number of others brought tractors down.

The below is from a clean up FAQ docx we got. The tiny attachment limits won't let me attach but here's the command center locations.

Ft Myers Area                         Sarasota Area                                     Naples Area

1928 Chiquita Blvd S               1303 Forrest Nelson Blvd                    4935 23rd Ct SW
Cape Coral, FL 33991              Port Charlotte, FL 33952                     Naples, FL 34116

 

Volunteer Check in Locations (Campsites)
Ft. Myers:           Lee County Sports Complex - 14100 6 mile Cypress Parkway, Fort Myers, FL 33912

Sarasota:             TBD – Info coming 10/6/22

Naples:                 TBD – Info coming 10/6/22

Edited October 11, 2022 by Chum