I have survived Hurricane Irma. I spent the evening leading up to the storm at my friend Erin's house where we killed time and played board games with the neighbors. We prepared dinner just in time for the power to go out. The wind whipped the trees around her house but other than the power nothing seemed to happen.
The storm passed through and to the north in the night. We awoke to no power still and very limited information since the cellular internet was very spotty. We killed more time playing board games and taking a walk around her neighborhood. The mandatory curfew was lifted at 11am and so I ventured back to my house.
My house survived unscathed but also did not have power. I decided to follow what my neighbors were doing and started to clear the debris from my yard. An hour and a blister later I had piled up most of the larger debris on my driveway but was just too worn out to continue. I also helped a neighboring family (that I just met) temporarily fix their fence. I took a cold shower (even though I still had some hot water left in the water heater) and just relaxed for a while and checked in on friends and relatives. Erin then came over to my house where we continued to play board games, ate some hotdogs, and then made a pilgrimage to 7-Eleven as it was open and had power (therefore A/C and cold drinks). She returned home as she wanted to be in her house before it got dark. I played games on my phone and consumed some podcasts that I had already on my phone before passing out.
This morning I awoke very early for me, still without power, and just played on my phone for a bit. I noticed that the Townhouse Restaurant, one of downtown Oviedo's gems, was going to be open at 6am. I also noticed from the Duke Energy website that they power was supposed to be turned back on around 6am. So I took another quick shower but indulged in the remaining hot water and headed to breakfast. After breakfast I drove around a bit but when I returned to my house the power was on.
Therefore my Hurricane Irma story ends.
