" Across the state in Naples, just north of where the hurricane made
landfall early Monday, ice and water distribution appeared to be going more
smoothly. At one station, members of several National Guard units were
operating with assembly line precision. By 9 a.m., hundreds of cars, from
Mercedes Benzes to jalopies, had lined up on a road leading into the parking
lot of Barron Collier High School. "


"The storm clogged the streets of Naples, one of the wealthiest cities in
the country, with fallen shrubs and trees. But even as the wind was dying
down Monday afternoon, yellow frontloaders were pushing and shoving and
lifting away debris, and by Tuesday afternoon the main streets and most
residential byways were clear.

Floodwater that had risen knee-high in some parts of Naples also was all but
gone by Tuesday afternoon, as it was in Miami's downtown banking district."

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I left Naples on Saturday because we were under a mandatory evacuation, and
I was worried about the 9-17 foot storm surge they were predicting. I went
to Sunrise (West of Ft. Lauderdale) to ride it out in a hotel. In
retrospect, running east was not the best choice. The eye passed right over
our heads a few hours after it crossed Naples. We lost power about 5 or 6
am in the hotel in Sunrise. By 1 pm, the worst part of the storm had
passed, and I drove across the alley to Naples.

Before I went over there, I bought a cargo rack that slides into the hitch
of my Sequoia. I filled a 72 qt. cooler full of bottled water and 5 bags of
ice, and I stacked two 5-gallon gas cans on either end, knowing that getting
gas could be a problem. We were loaded down with lanterns, flashlights,
batteries, some food, and all of my important documents.

When we reached the east coast, I asked for a room on a lower floor facing
north, so we'd be out of the brunt of the wind.

I knew the storm could be heading over there, but I also knew that I didn't
want to stay in Naples if they were going to get a big storm surge.



After the storm passed, I got back to my house, which didn't have power. I
had anticipated that, so I brought my tool kit with me so that I could
remove the electric storm shutter from the front door and gain entry to the
house. ONce in, I started the generator, and kept it filled with the
5-gallon cans that I had stockpiled.

All went smoothly (as planned), and I didn't have to count of FEMA for
anything. Had I been completely flooded out, things may have come out
differently. But flooding wasn't a problem on the other coast either, and
they still ended up with problems.