Over here most of the snow birds have returned, you know, the part time residents who are clueless about how nice it is without the stores being packed with people buying Depends, cheap wine and beer, and the variety of other things our Sr Citizens imbibe upon. You can tell em because they are the ones slowing down to look at damaged buildings and blue roofs or the areas where buildings used to be.. or gawking at the new signs. My favorite thing to do is explain to them how loud the wind was, how much debris was around and how there were NO signs, lights, power, etc., how we cooked on grills, ate food as it thawed and lived in SWFL in 98 degree temperature in mid summer with no AC! Anyway, enough of that...
The area is..well.. lets say I'm calling our local economy 'a business a day goes away'. We're able to get right onto and down the beach without sitting in traffice 45m...60m...90m....120m! as is normal for this time of year. The same for leaving the beach to come home. The tourist traffic which drives the economy around here during the winter time is practically nothing.
In speaking with folks here (hmm, Colin can you imagine me ever not talking to people?!) I've been informed that there is still a huge shortage of roofing materials, aluminum for those ever so faddish pool enclosures, and more than anything a shortage in people who are skilled in these trades to keep up with the demand which is there.
I seriously doubt that the damages will be repaired by next hurricane season. If the next 10-20 are as the "experts" predict it to be, there will be a lot more of this to come. I'll say it once and probably a lot more - I'm glad I'm stepping out of technology as my primary source to look to for income and am going to align myself more with what makes the local market function.
