[StarfishKey]

Please post your info here about the state or experiences of any of the islands during and post-storm. Please be clear if you're just posting guesses or unverified 3rd-hand information, because this info is critical for people and needs to be accurate. If you're not sure, go ahead and post, but say so that you're not really sure what you're talking about.

Post anything you know about destruction, effects, and recovery efforts. Try to be as specific about locations as possible. A lot of people need information, and it is hard to come by in a 100-mile stretch of islands that is isolated, not well known, and has no TV station or really strong news source even in the best of circumstances. And yes, I am very familiar with the local newspapers, and I include them in that pointed remark - Citizen, go %$$^ yourselves, since you posted all of one article about the storm, like 1 day before mandatory evacuation, doing nothing at all to help prepare your people for the most catastrophic event of many of their lives. Some journalistic integrity.

This is verifiable damage on Southern Key Largo, Snapper's decimated:
https://twitter.com/CNN/status/907025993914658817


Best wishes to all, particularly on Cudjoe Key and surrounding Lower Keys!

[elcajones]

Is there anyone in the Keys that could give us an update?

[StarfishKey]

Originally Posted by elcajones

Is there anyone in the Keys that could give us an update?

I know a number of people who stayed on the islands, some of whom are first responders. But I have not heard from anyone since the worst of the storm. That could be because they are not alive or not well. It could be because they are helping others. Or it could be because they have no power or internet and simply can't contact anyone. Hoping for reasonably safe conditions in the aftermath, which could be very bad depending on how much destruction there was. All I know is that an airborne "humanitarian crisis" relief mission has been sent to the Keys (where exactly, I'm not sure), and that the military is apparently organizing "disaster mortuary teams." That all seems reasonable, given the conditions some islands faced, and the fact that many people chose to stay. So I hope I will hear more news today from SOMEBODY. Have to be patient, because I know it's not easy to contact people in these conditions, even if one is fine.

[jghorton]

My son-in-law and other first-responders flew down yesterday on a military cargo craft, but, had to turn around because there was no clear runway to land on. Apparently the runway has been cleared and they are flying back in today.

My guess is that we are not hearing from people who stayed behind, because cell service is probably out, along with land lines. I also heard that a part of the bridge from the mainland was out, more or less stranding everyone in the lower keys.

[Greatgzu1]

***waves at friend StarFishKey****

just saw on CNN that there is no cell service and no electricity in the Keys right now...damage is not as bad as once thought but serious enough....

[jjrose]

The weather channel has some images from the Keys.
https://weather.com/storms/hurricane...itarian-crisis

[StarfishKey]

So I have at least 6 people in the Keys that were unaccounted for. I heard from 1 today. She is fine, using a car charger on a stockpile of gas for her cellphone battery. I don't think they actually have a generator. I kept texts with her limited so as not to use up anything. Two of the people in her group are very medically vulnerable, so I don't get why they didn't evacuate. But that was not my choice to make.

One of the officials I'm in touch with says his house is fine. There is debris all over the roads, and for now they deem them impassable by the general public. Cars, boats, trees etc. all in the streets. He says I should expect days before reentry is allowed to the county.

Apparently the bridges have all been inspected from the 18-mile Stretch at the top, to MM16, and thankfully all are fine. The lower bridges have not been inspected yet. Power and access to fresh water are a serious problem.

The best I can gather is that building damage is very hit and miss. Some properties are totaled, some with no damage at all. So far, there is not even a clear pattern. Some were below flood and seem fine, some above and yet wrecked. Bayside and Oceanside, doesn't seem to be clear that it matters, which is odd. I'm hoping that for those houses that are generally ok, no fires break out, and that electricity will be restored and people able to get back in before mold sets in.

I am wondering what this did to the scorpion population...?


I am certainly expecting that Cudjoe and Big Pine fared much worse...

[chopchop0]

Us1 underwater at points, 10K may need evacuation

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn...rma/index.html

[Miss Hepburn]

I just saw Duval St with some water...what? And Ernest's house untouched...what?
This was a huge storm...i don't get it....the roof of Sloppy Joe's should have been in the ocean!
Does the A & B Lobster House on Front St still exist...with all the windows that would be a MESS!
Thanks...made a lot of $$ there back in the day!

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

I just saw Duval St with some water...what? And Ernest's house untouched...what?
This was a huge storm...i don't get it....the roof of Sloppy Joe's should have been in the ocean!

Key West was on the "better" west side of the eye, simple as that.