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Hurricane wilma and sunbelle exotics

Hey, everyone. I spoke with Trent and Michelle Meeks (of Sunbelle Exotics) on the phone recently. They are doing fine, but may not have power for a while. The eye of the hurricane went right over them. The frame of the greenhouse remains, but most of the shade cloth was ripped away. As a result, some of their plants got sunburns. They were also shocked with the cold weather we got after the storm. Some plants were unpotted and were found in their yard. The growth point of "Big Momma", their giant bical, got torn up as well. Etc...

Despite this, they did pretty well. Pretty much all of their plants survived. Some are a little unsightly, but they should grow out of it.


I hope anyone else living in an affected area is doing well too. I you don't have power, it is on its way... eventually.

-Jonathan
 
I was wondering how they managed. It is a shame to hear about thier bical, that thing was a monster. Prayers are with them.
-Nick Z.
 
I have been wondering about our members from southern Fla. Has anybody heard from Lauderdale yet?
 
Big Mama! what? why god why! i loved her so...
 
I am fine Ozzy.  Thanks for asking.  I evacuated to my buddies horse farm in Ocala.  We had waaaay to much fun up there but it got down to 44 a couple of nights.
Power and water were restored to my condo Wed. afternoon and no damage to the apartment.  Two restaurants/bars are open across the street.  All of my friends are coming to my place for hot showers.
Cars in the above ground parking lot were blown into a big pile and one went over a four foot wall and landed in the basement entrance.
Fort Lauderdale got hammered.
My cable is out...bummer.
 
I'm glad you're ok. I knew Ft. Laugedale got hammered. It's really good that you have power and water so soon. The worse part is the weeks after the storm. I have gone weeks without water or power. It's not fun at all.
I hope your cable is turned back on soon. How can a person live without Jerry Springer or Rikki Lake? There will be riots soon if the people can their Jerry Springer, but as long as you have a bar open accross the street I guess it'll be ok.

I'm glad you and your apartment are ok.
 
I hope that everyone else is fine to and that there are no more big storms this year. You've had enough.
 
dam i swear what is it with all these hurricanes!
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[b said:
Quote[/b] (fc3srx713b @ Oct. 30 2005,12:25)]dam i swear what is it with all these hurricanes!
mad.gif
global warming=warmer seas=more and stronger hurricanes
 
  • #10
Strong hurricane seasons comes in cycles. Global warming only have effect on how strong the storms get, not how many are formed.
 
  • #11
Thanks Hamata for the accurate reporting! Yep! we're alive and well, if not a little battered. Still no electricity. We have a generous neighbor with a generator who provides us with power a few hours a day. Can't run anything that eats lots of juice, however-no hot water heaters or stoves. But the computer or TV are okay. Later, Michelle will post pics of the destruction.
The Sarracenia are fine. Just beat up. All the fine looking leuco traps...well...you'll see in a pic soon.
The greenhouse is one strong mutha. It was totally stripped of covering and shadecloth. We watched as 120 mph + winds made 12 foot 4x4 s flex like they were rubber. My big fear was the possibility of just one of them snapping, the integrity of the whole structure would be gone and thus the wind would systematically take the rest of it apart.
Within one day had new layer of plastic over the top and on the west and north sides to cut the cold dry wind from blowing across Neps like ampullarias, bicalcaratas and sumatranas. Overall, things are looking good, if not a bit sunburnt and a little dessicated. The big plants took the most wind damage. Big Mama's main vine is intact, but the upper-most leaves were torn. Interesting to see the effects of such adverse conditions to hit one after the next. All within 48 hours they were subjected to 120+ mph wind, 48 degree F night, 30 percent relative humidity, full blazing sun. Maybe we've stressed them enough to get some flowers!
Will post pics sometime soon.
 
  • #12
Well I'm glad to hear from some of our Floridians. I've been thinking about y'all. So much destruction everywhere in the gulf region.

I'm sorry you suffered the damage you did but I guess considering everything, that's not too bad. I hope all power is back on soon. I had to live for 13 days without power after hurricane Isabel...so I know how hard it is. It takes a looong time to fix all the poles, transformers, cables and stuff. There is an awful lot we take for granted, like a cold glass of water, until you don't have it any more.

Good luck to you with your greenhouse and plant recovery.
smile.gif
 
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