I hate it when storms blow through at night. We lost power at 7:30 or so, and the peak wind from Milton arrived at our location (about 100 miles north of the landfall area) around midnight. We could hear trees falling and debris raining down on the roof all night, which was unnerving.
At first light, I let the dogs out. The poor creatures had been crossing their legs and really needed to pee! But there were obstacles on the stairs:
That didn’t slow Badger and Pete down — they wriggled under the debris and sought relief in the muddy, branch- and leaf-strewn yard. Then Bill cleared the stairs with the aid of a chainsaw.
It was a big-ass tree, and we’re really fortunate it didn’t cause structural damage, including to our well, which big trunks landed to the left and right of.
But mah bananas!
The river came up more than a foot overnight. Unfortunately, it’ll keep on rising. I don’t think it will flood our downstairs, which is an enclosed game room and storage area. But we’re probably gonna have to move shit outta the way just in case. Ugh.
Pete is superintending the debris clearing:
Meanwhile, I’m trying to mop the standing water off the porch. I told Bill I’d go fetch the shop-vac from downstairs for the task, but he reminded me it would require electricity. Duh!
Anyhoo, we’re feeling lucky. It could have been a lot worse. Our friends and family in the immediate impact zone are all okay. I hope the same is true of the Floridians who comment here. Let us know when you can.
As a bonus, Milton sucked all the humidity out to sea, and the weather is beautiful! It’s downright chilly, in fact; I had to put on socks and flannel!
Hopefully this means we’ve seen the last of hurricanes in 2024. Open thread!
Mel
Betty, I’m so glad that you and yours are okay. We’ve been thinking of you guys.
Baud
Weather after a big storm is usually pretty nice. Glad to hear y’all are safe.
lowtechcyclist
My brother-in-law’s comment after seeing the debris in FIL’s yard in Plant City: “We’re gonna need a bigger rake.” Actually, he’ll need a bigger chainsaw first, but good use of the line anyway.
FIL’s house appears unharmed, though we won’t know for sure until someone inspects the roof. But no water got in the house, and he still has power.
WaterGirl
Light is better than dark. So glad you guys made it through relatively unscathed.
scav
A moment of silence for the bananas and then, Hazzah! for the aim of the trees.
Steve LaBonne
That’s plenty bad enough. Thankful you’re OK.
p.a.
Glad things aren’t worse than that at the homestead! I did a double take at the well photo: the 2 tree trunks immediately to the right look like partial human legs wearing camo.😱
Open thread so, given the blog’s apparent demographics (#includingme!) :
Social Security COLA Set at 2.5% for 2025
HumboldtBlue
House is still there, dogs are good, Bill is good, Betty is good.
I’m good.
Salty Sam
So glad to hear y’all made it through with minimal damage!
You can maybe save those bananas! Cut them off the tree- leave the stalk as long as possible, and hang it up in a shady spot somewhere. We harvested ‘Nanners in Puerto Rico, and once they reached the size of yours, they would ripen off the tree just fine.
The whole bunch will ripen all at once- that always leaves you with the problem of “WTF do I do with all these ripe bananas!?!”
oldgold
Betty, now you know why Edward G. Robinson’s tough guy character was so damn antsy.
Frankensteinbeck
With the whole ‘commercial bananas are clones that can’t produce seeds’ I am fascinated by the presence of this banana tree. How did it get planted?
Joy in FL
I’m glad you’re ok and damage is outside and manageable.
In west Pasco county, about 4 miles east of the Gulf, my place is ok. One section of fence in the backyard is tilting inward, but that will easily be taken care of in a couple weeks.
I don’t have electricity like thousands of us in this area, but as Betty said, the cool air feels really good right now.
Chief Oshkosh
@Salty Sam:
Daiquiris?
Old School
Hooray for limited destruction!
Here’s hoping other jackals discover the same thing on their return.
Kosh III
Socks, oooooo you poor thing LOL
Seriously, I’m glad y’all and the house are ok. Hang in there.
Juju.
It’s nice to know you are all ok. You might want to consider getting a cover for your well. I have one that’s called a garden stone well cover, but it’s more like a fake bowlder. I’ve had trees fall close enough that the fake bowlder did protect the well. It also helps insulate the well when it gets colder. I live in eastern NC and we usually have a few days each year when it gets cold enough for the well switch to freeze. I know that’s not an issue for you where you are, but your well needs protection from tree debris.
Chief Oshkosh
@Joy in FL: Good to hear! Thanks for the update.
Juju.
@Chief Oshkosh: Banana nut bread, or banana cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting?
Almost Retired
Glad you weathered the storm, figuratively and literally.
My wife’s sister and BIL are new Floridians who chose to stay put with their generator and pile of food, despite being hurricane noobs. The eye went right over their home east of Bradenton. They got lucky.
I dont understand the mentality. If we got 48 hours notice here in Los Angeles before an earthquake, I’d be in Phoenix by sundown. Or, perhaps, only 5 miles from home stuck in traffic. So never mind.
Betty Cracker
@Frankensteinbeck: Bill planted it. Not sure where he acquired the seedling. Banana trees are pretty common down here, so it must not be too difficult to find them.
@Juju.: Good point — thanks!
Chacal Charles Calthrop
So glad to hear it! Let me chime in and also thank you for the update.
Here’s a bad joke for everyone: when can you go to the hardware store and get a machete, an ax, a chainsaw, rope, tarp, shovel, supplies for stain removal, and no-one asks any questions as to what your’e up to?
when there’s a hurricane coming.
BigJimSlade
Glad you’re ok!
eclare
So glad to hear that you and the fam made it through OK, although I’m sure cleanup sucks, along with the lack of electricity. Will you have to haul the debris out yourself, or will the county do it?
Thanks for checking in!
dr. bloor
Is Pete trying to clear the big sticks out of the way or bring them indoors?
CaseyL
Thanks for the update, Betty! I’m glad to hear your household is mostly unscathed.
Ditto for the other Florida jackals: I hope that any damage is minimal.
Losing power is a big time PITA, but at least this didn’t happen during high summer and y’all won’t just melt in the heat.
Geminid
Looks like Bill and his friend did a good job with your stairs. That’s solid, sturdy work.
dr. bloor
I like this. “E pluribus unum” was getting a little tired.
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: Did your neighbors make it?
Layer8Problem
@Juju.: Banana chocolate shakes, and many of them. Between daiquiris of course.
@Betty Cracker: And very glad you all are in good order.
Betty Cracker
@Geminid: They did, and it turns out they decided to leave after all at the last minute.
Lyrebird
@scav: I second both!
And I do like fried green bananas.
And we should ALL be learning to cook some Haitian food to push back on the haters, right?
Not sure what to do with unripe bananas on the grill though.
Hope your power is back soon, and I thank that Spaghetti Monster that the trunks did not take out roof or well.
Kay
Bananas! So jealous.
Bananas are herbs, which is wild.
dexwood
@HumboldtBlue:
I’ll be the echo to your comment.
Geminid
@Kay: And Locusts and Redbuds are legumes. Natives used to eat Redbud pods.
Kay
@Geminid:
I did not know that!
I love redbuds. My favorite small tree.
Bill Arnold
Sprawling, long, and often funny rant by (writer) Cat Valente. Mostly about the media in the USA and its (continuing) grotesque track record, but also about mean daddy: “There is just something dark and awful here, deep down, that wants a mean daddy.”
Wait Til Daddy Gets Home: America’s Sad, Craven, Masochistic Relationship with the Republican Party – America is an abused child trapped in its government’s horrible household (Catherynne M. Valente, Oct 08, 2024)
trollhattan
👍👍👍
Relieved to learn family Cracker and chez Cracker are safe and mostly good, post-storm. Pic 3 warrants a Day-oh! and visit from the tallyman. “In Soviet Florida, banana come to you.”
Hungry Joe
Our nosebleed seats just past third base kept us a safe distance front the sorry, low-key spectacle on the field at Petco last night. After two brilliant games the Padres came out flat, not in the least inspired by the near-deafening roar (my Apple Watch gave me several decibel warnings) and rally-rag waving from us faithful San Diegans. The place got real quiet, real fast.
Oh, well. We’ll finish off the Dodgers in L.A. on Friday. Meantime I’ll start putting stamps the the 400 Postcards to Swing States (to Arizona and Montana) to be mailed 10/24. Also finished the last batch of 50 (to Arizona) for our local Indivisible group: stamped and mailed and on their way.
4D*hiker
Very good news! Thanks for update.
Gretchen
Son and his fiancée in Naples are fine. The restaurant where he works took a little water in the private dining room, but main dining room is fine so they will be able to reopen soon. They were closed for weeks when a previous hurricane flooded them – they’re right on Naples Bay – so it’s a relief that he will have work.
Geminid
@Kay: Some people use the tender Redbud pods in salads. I have not tried them myself.
J.
@Betty, glad you guys are okay, though sorry about your banana tree. Can it or the bananas be salvaged? Our neighborhood in Naples made it through the storm with minimal damage and minimal power and internet loss. As we walked around this morning, you wouldn’t even know there had been a hurricane or tropical storm. Amazing. Feeling very relieved and very grateful.
J.
@Gretchen: Does your son work at Nosh? (We love that place. One of our favorites.)
Bupalos
Thanks for the peeks into your place BC, warms my heart that it’s still intact.
Also (not necessarily in response to this post…) you should write short stories. Everyone who’s anyone who writes short stories well comes from a kind of heightened sense of place. And I feel like I can feel that you have that feel.
Bupalos
I think there are a couple million people who are going to be like “that’s the last time I listen to them when they say we should evacuate….”
This is the cruel calculus of global warming, even the stuff you dodge ends up loading the dice against you. The house always wins in the end, and the house in this case is spectacular destruction.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Relieved to hear you came through, Betty
Amalthea1
We weathered the storm well enough where I was (staying with family in town), although there’s no power and cell service is basically non- existent. My actual street seems to have made it through in much the same way. The surrounding area, though, seems to be in bad shape. There’s a bridge I drive over every day, where the river level will get high pretty quickly if we have a lot of rain, which we already had been getting all week. It was now actually flooded over the bridge, which is something no one has ever seen. It will most likely be over a week before power is restored. Trees on power lines and just trees down everywhere. I’m not looking forward to going back, if I’m honest.
Bupalos
@Hungry Joe: That place is wild. But baseball is baseball. The game where you’re generally better off “trying easier.”
Tony Jay
Great to hear you emerged from Milton’s Wrath mostly unscathed. Pity about the banana tree, but if all else fails you can use them to dislodge the concussed alligator now living on your roof.
zhena gogolia
Wow, amazing pictures. Glad you’re safe.
prostratedragon
Glad to hear you made it through. Hope the basement stays dry, or at least no more than damp. Also, hope you’ve got a big enough freezer for all those extra ripe bananas. They keep well that way for the above-mentioned treats.
Oh, and, Petey!😍
Death Panel Truck
It’s what dogs do best.
MazeDancer
So happy to hear you, Bill, and the pups are fine.
It is always sad to lose a tree. But thanks to this one for not taking a house out with it.
Madeleine
@Joy in FL: your report from Pasco—good news for you—is, I hope, also good news for my sister in SE Pasco. I haven’t heard yet.
AndI’m glad all’s well with you and yours, Betty.
Betty Cracker
@J.: Glad you’re okay! We will try to salvage the bananas.
@Bupalos: Thank you! I do love short stories.
@Amalthea1: I hope they get the power back on soon!
Juju
@Layer8Problem: Six banana cupcakes and a couple of banana daiquiris?
Gvg
@Frankensteinbeck: Most bananas are propagated by their suckers. Root offshoots. Bananas typically try to produce too many and to get more fruit, you should cut off most of the suckers and only allow about 3 to grow up and be the next years crop. The one that grows and fruits, will die after it fruits. Then you cut it back and let the biggest sucker get fruit. You can give away or replant the suckers that are cut off.
seed producing banana plant have several hard pecan sized seeds inside the fruit which makes them nearly useless to eat, and that is why the seedless ones when found were cultivated and preferred since ancient times. It’s not a modern new fad. I have been shown one once and it’s convincing. Of course the modern breeders had to find some of those ancient types to breed new bananas more recently when they wanted to pick traits instead of just find new ones once in awhile.
like a metaphor
@Frankensteinbeck: bananas propagate themselves by making offshoots. They are actually giant lillies. It takes about two years for it to bloom and make fruit. After fruiting, it dies. But by then, there are usually half a dozen pups growing up around it. I grow them here in Houston. When I have too many to eat, I give them to a friend who has a pet possum. That possum loves bananas.
WendyBinFL
Good to read your news, BettyC! As others have shared already, your stem of green bananas is in perfect shape to suspend, and the fruits should ripen nicely. And don’t mourn your tree. As Gvg and like a metaphor just explained above, bananas multiply through vegetative propagation, so all you need to do is trim away broken foliage and wait for suckers or “pups” to grow from the root stock. More pups for the Crackers!
like a metaphor
@Gvg: you got there before I did! When I lived in SF, I grew the purple-leafed Abyssynian banana. It got huge, and made purple fruit. Unfortunately, someone took them before I got to taste them.
KSinMA
So glad you’re all OK, Betty. Sorry about the mess!
The Pale Scot
@Salty Sam:
“WTF do I do with all these ripe bananas!?!”
Sautéed bananas, for breakfast, lunch and dinner
WendyBinFL
@like a metaphor: When we lived in Miami, we grew lady finger bananas. They were so cute, and delicious! Also had orange, lemon and pink grapefruit trees. Miss them!
like a metaphor
@WendyBinFL: I saw pink bananas at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. It had regular green leaves, but the fruit was Barbie pink. I really wanted to try one.
Anne Laurie
Betty & family being safe is the best news I’ve seen all week!
Gloria DryGarden
@like a metaphor: I’d heard about another banana small and white perhaps, that tastes like vanilla, if I remember right. How do your purple ones taste? In Denver, I can only dream of it, though our botanic gardens conservatory has a banana tree.
Betty, I’m sure glad you came through ok, that wood on your porch looks to be a complicated mess. I appreciated your descriptions of what is what like during the storm.
I second the info and ideas about bananas. They’ll grow back from offshoots; it’s an herbaceous plant. I did not know it was a lily!
You can freeze the bananas right in their peels, once they are ripe. And freeze all that extra banana nut bread you make, to get a jump on holiday baking. Some people like dehydrated bananas; I’m not so sure his great they are. My shop carries frozen chunks of banana dipped in melted chocolate, a sweet treat. Some people use banana to make nice cream, a nondairy ice cream thing. And I make a killer amazing gluten free carob banana pancake, that is really the most delicious thing ever.
if you like, bananas are also perfect in a smoothie with strawberries and whatever else you like in there.
Gloria DryGarden
@WendyBinFL: omg the smell of grapefruit blossoms! The best. Better than jasmine, enchantingly lovely.
WendyBinFL
@Gloria DryGarden: Orange, too. Orange Blossom Honey! Lots of sweetness tonight — power and water have been restored in our Sarasota neighborhood, so we’re heading home from Miami after breakfast. Yay!
WendyBinFL
@WendyBinFL: Thank you, President Biden!
Ken In Hogtown
Betty: so glad the falling trees gave all your structures a break! Love the bananas, and hope you do get to enjoy that huge bunch. Hogtown was unscathed. Helene was a lot more problematic here, and this was just rain and then wind that didn’t even move our pile of debris from Helene. Glad to have nothing happen, vs what we got with the last storm. Hope you have power, or sooner if not already! Go Gators!