She asked if I could post a message for her. She said "We are safe. Sustained heavy damage but house is habitable. No power no pho".

Thanks Outlooker!!! I've been wondering about Abby. Let her know we miss her and glad she is safe.

I will, if I can get ahold of her. :) I guess things are a bit hectic down that way.

Outlooker - I am also grateful for your post. I'm glad to know Abby and her family are safe. If you do get ahold of her, please inquire about her mom - would appreciate an update - she was in the hospital prior to the storm.

Thanks for the news regarding Abby. Very glad she's ok.

She asked if I could post a message for her. She said "We are safe. Sustained heavy damage but house is habitable. No power no pho". ++++++++ Thats good news. I am still without power 2 months later. :(

Hi All, I hear from Abby through Text Messaging. lol I wondered how she was doing that, I thought maybe someone got power hooked up to a library or somewhere. The latest is that she is in good spirits and she says the power will be back on in about 3 weeks. I asked if her parents are on oxygen or anything like that.. perhaps she could use that to get power quicker. Down here in Phoenix they mark our electrical boxes and put it on the computer who has oxygen or medical equipment necessary for survival and they come out and hit those places first. She also tells me to make sure everyone knows she says hi and thanks for the well wishes.

Hello! Abby and I keep in touch via e-mail, and, as I hadn't heard from her since Wilma hit, I started getting a little worried! So glad I remembered, she posted here on ABC message board! Thank you, Outlooker, for passing the message on! Hmmm you two are text messaging, lol, well, can't one charge their cellphone by using a car battery? No need for power, library or anything else, except the old sadan outside, LOL! Unless of course, you two are text messaging another way, but I've always thought text messaging was done on cellphones! (No, I'm not familiar with them either, lol)! However, thank you once again! Take care!

Abby has access to a generator now and can recharge her batteries that way. She is actually text messaging me. lol I'm not sure how she is doing it. You're welcome. :)

Thanks Outlooker for the update. I was worried about Abby and I'm gld to hear shes ok. I had been wondering how she fared. Keep us updated.

You're welcome

Outlooker, thank you for being my window to the outside world. And thank you all for your good wishes. Florida Mom, my Mom was released from the hospital today. She had quite an ordeal in the hospital - they lost power and their generators failed. We came home to a wonderful gift - we have power!!!!!!!!! Navyvet, I'm so sorry you don't have power yet. I wish I could send you my electricity. Zoollee! What a treat to find you here! You are absolutely right - I was sending those text messages via cell phone. I discovered that even when the phone has no signal and can't make or receive a call, it is still capable of sending and receiving text messages. What a treat it is to now have a real keyboard to type into - the numeric keypad on my cell phone is tough to type words into. Now that I have power back I promise I will write. I have so much to tell all of you, but here I am finally at my computer and I can't put it all into words. I will write more later after I've put my thoughts together. What a week it has been!

ABBY!!!! *hugs* Welcome back to cyberspace! What a wonderful surprise! I dreaded the thought of waiting those three weeks to hear from you again, so, I'm thrilled to bits you have your power on already! It must have been very frightening for your mum, in hospital! Frightening I'd say, for everyone concerned! I do wish her a speedy recovery! LOL@you sitting in front of your computer and, not being able to put everything that has happened, into words! Actually, I can't blame you, you've been through alot this past week, I'm sure you'll come round though, and, I'll be looking forward to hearing all about it! Take Care!

Glad to see ya back, Abby. :)

Abby, Its sooo good to see you on here. I started to miss ur rebuttles with the stupid posters. Im glad to hear your mom is ok and ur house has power. Hope all is well.

Thank you, kmsadrk. It's funny, when I finally got the computer up and running last night, honest to God I had no words. I'm not usually one to be at a loss for words. Today it is raining for the first time since the hurricane, and there is so much water coming into my house I can't collect it all with buckets. There is not a tarp to be found in Palm Beach County, but I have signed up for something called "Operation Blue Roof," and they said they would provide me with a tarp. I hope they get to me soon!! All in all, I'm just so grateful that my house is standing and that my loved ones are safe. I'll deal with the water and I'm still smiling. :D

Abby!!! Glad to see you back. Be careful with the water in your house. I heard it was supposed to rain down there today. Best wishes to you and your family as you recover!

There is not a tarp to be found in Palm Beach County, but I have signed up for something called "Operation Blue Roof," and they said they would provide me with a tarp. I hope they get to me soon!! +++++++++ Blue Roofs -It took them a while to get to my house probably about 2 1/2 -3 weeks. The inside of my house was soooo screwed up it didnt matter to me how long they took. The electricity is coming along at my house. I have had 2 estimates for changing out the circuit breaker box / putting an RV plug in a new circuit breaker bix and changing 42 sockets. My first estimate was $6200.00 my second estimate was $1500-$1700. Which one should I go with ? :)

Navyvet, I've said this before, but it's worth saying again. You have handled this situation with such grace and good cheer, I really admire you. I thought of you often this past week. Every time I got frustrated or angry I reminded myself of how well you have handled a far worse situation. Thinking of you kept me smiling and calm. Boy did it rain today! And it poured in my house. The ceiling in my den and my dining room just caved in and came crashing down over everything. What a mess! It poured on my computer, which we hastily relocated. The keyboard and the mouse are fried - fortunately my son had some spares on hand. That's a pretty wide variation in price for the electrical work on your house. Are both bids for exactly the same work? Are both contractors competent and licensed? I'd be inclined to pick the less expensive one, but I'd want to be sure that the work would be equivalent. Does insurance cover the job?

Navyvet, I've said this before, but it's worth saying again. You have handled this situation with such grace and good cheer, I really admire you. I thought of you often this past week. Every time I got frustrated or angry I reminded myself of how well you have handled a far worse situation. Thinking of you kept me smiling and calm. ++++++++ I just take everything in stride. I am soooo busy most of the time I dont have time to think of negative thnigs. I had a nice house before the storm and it will be even nicer when I get it redone. I dont get frustrated , everybody is in the same boat as I am. I am also taking online college courses at UMASS and those classes are the only thing that I get frustrated with but it keeps my mind occupied for at least 5-6 hours a day. I will be honest with you, my insurance company was very fair with me I received right under 20K to fix my roof, fence, patio cover , deck and to have 2 trees taken down ( I did that myself and still have both arms and legs:) ) I have not seen my flood adjuster yet. All my neighbors have already received their settlement checks and ALL are over the 100K mark. Most of us were waiting to see if FEMA was going to make up raise our houses ( we are 9ft above sea level) and we dont have to so the recontructing shall begin. Flood insurance will cover the electrical problems because it was water that destroyed it. I was teasing about which electrician to pick , I just wanted to show another case of price gouging . Did you actually stay during Wilma ?