Frances Advisories

[PanAmMIA]

according to Bellsouth,I won't have a phone until October.I have to shut down my home business and I stand to lose A LOT of money.I think I have the right to be upset.

Of course you have every right to be upset, without the expectation of posting your frustration on this or any other message board, and getting flamed in the process. It's disgusting and shameful. If I read what you're saying correctly it's not only FEMA but other authorities also, and no doubt you're correct. Before Frances was an issue, one of the local news stations here in Baltimore showed a group of AmeriCorps kids waiting at BWI to assist with the efforts in Florida. One of the reasons for AmeriCorps involvement was, as quoted in the piece, that there is not enough National Guard members available to help because of deployments elsewhere. How anyone epects a group of 18-21 year olds to be able to provide the same assistance, with the same level of expertise as the NG troops possess, is beyond my comprehension. Though this gets into the realm of politics as it affects national disasters sooner or later this story will get told.
As a quick aside, I provided contact information for FEMA to my mother in Ocala, who suffered minor damage (shingles blown off, chimney collapse, etc) compared to fellow Floridians in in Broward, PB, Martin, St. Lucie, and other counties. She contacted FEMA to see what was available for short term assistance, and was told that despite a general disaster declaration for Florida, Marion County was not included, and to call back later.
I believe that the magnitude of damage from Frances will take weeks to be tallied and it's a shame that not only Federal officials, but State officials, seemed to take planning for such events with the same aplomb they did the war in Iraq.
Good luck in your quest for recovery. As it pertains to your telephone service, perhaps you could have your regular telephone calls forwarded to a cell phone until BellSouth service is restored. Remember, it's all a tax deduction
Mike

[SemCtyDPS]

Well I've been working 12 to 16 hour days since the storm and only seen my family once a few times. Since I'm part of that rescue effort I don't consider it a joke at all. FEMA is doing a great job and so are the thousands of workers that have come into the state to help us.

[chadtm80]

according to Bellsouth,I won't have a phone until October.I have to shut down my home business and I stand to lose A LOT of money.I think I have the right to be upset.

I am willing to bet they didnt say that

[greeng13]

Mike is correct in my view...and many of the other posts as well...why not just get a cell phone? (or even a laptop with a wireless connection might be helpful)....

out of curiosity is your whole area out of phone service until october or just you?

[PanAmMIA]

Mike is correct in my view...and many of the other posts as well...why not just get a cell phone? (or even a laptop with a wireless connection might be helpful)....

out of curiosity is your whole area out of phone service until october or just you?

Another quick aside, mom's regular phone was out, and remains out, and this is in Ocala, not exectly one of the main areas affected. Luckily the cell phone still works and because of that some of the repairs needed are already in process, though I can't help but think perhaps she might have waited until the effects of Ivan are known. Oh well, that's a Jewish mother for you
Mike

[TropicalJen]

DId I miss it but if your phone service is out you must have cable connection, if you have cable connection, alot of these companies are providing phone service as well, I have bright house for cable/phone, perhaps you can explore that option.

[SeaBrz_FL]

I wish everyone had the opportunity that I had on Monday to sit in a 3rd floor window overlooking I-95 in Central Florida and watch convoy after convoy of utility trucks, gas tankers, military vehicles, and supply trucks rush southward from our friends in north Florida and other states.

A power crew from Jax restored our hotel power. A National Guard unit from Georgia is helping with the traffic problems from downed lights. On every corner of every street in my community there are power, phone, cable, and debris removal crews with out of state tags and signs on their trucks.

I haven't posted in a while, but I want to THANK everyone who is in Florida helping and also those still at home that may be facing hardships with their family members and local trucks down here.

(clap, clap, clap) THANKS!

[jwelch5]

Hateful,

When we choose to live in hurricane prone areas, we accept that during certain months of the year, life might not be perfect. We plan ahead for that, save money, and realize that business interruptions might occur. This is a concious choice that you made to live where you live. I hope that things work out for the best, but please do not blame everyone else in the world for your problems.

J.

[Aimless]

A friend in Deltona lost her phone service...she wasn't certain if it was because she had a cordless phone or if it was the actual phone line. When her power was restored ( yeah!) she realized the phone line was complettely dead. She called her phone company ( Sprint ,I think) and yes, they told her it would be repaired between the next day and September 30th. True, they did say that...HOWEVER...her phone was reconnected today...so ... who knows.

[SeaBrz_FL]

Hateful -- Where are you in FL? I have a friend that works for BellSouth. She says that Business Account subscribers are getting top priority. I may be able to help if you are in East Central FL.

[Steve Cosby]

according to Bellsouth,I won't have a phone until October.I have to shut down my home business and I stand to lose A LOT of money.I think I have the right to be upset.

Your choice of locations bub.

[SouthFLTropics]

Hello everyone, just thought I'd drop a line and let everyone know that myself and my family are fine after Frances paid us a direct hit. We have our phone back but are going on day six without power. I am posting this from a relatives home where they have received power and internet service. We suffered some minor shingle loss on our home but all things considered we were lucky. I have seen alot of the damage across Martin and St. Lucie county first hand and there are alot of people that are totally devastated. Suffering with no power at home is bad but it could have been alot worse for myself and my family. Now we are carefully watching Ivan and hoping that it will weaken substantially. He is landlocked now and it's only a question of who it will hit at this point. We were at ground zero for Frances and we don't need it and neither does the west coast who was ground zero for Charley. It seems that there won't be a single spot in Florida that hasn't been affected by a storm this season.

Getting by in St. Lucie County, Florida
SouthFLTropics

[HurricaneQueen]

Welcome back! I hope your utilities are restored soon. Living with out the basics can be a real nightmare. Fortunately your damage was minor. Keep us posted.

[dhweather]

The NFL season opener is on, Indianapolis at New England,
and it's raining "leftover from Frances"