Before Hurricane Irma · · PAGE 45.

September 7, 2017:  The story of Hurricane Irma begins with the BEFORE the storm photos for comparison with the AFTER photos.  My stepson traded his boat and trailer for a barbeque smoker on wheels.  This thing makes him happy and it will not blow away in the storm.

It is very heavy compared to the little fishing boat he had before the trade.

It is well secured with an anchor bolt and heavy chain.

As for the bottle brush tree, will it survive this hurricane upright?  This view is looking south from the driveway.

What will become of the trees on the EAST side of the house?

This view looks toward the old golf course.  All the cars will be parked up at the end of the street beyond the "tree fall" zone.  We will buy a chain saw just in case we have to cut a path to get the cars out after the storm is over.

The gutters and downspouts are clear of leaves and ready for the heavy rains to come when the hurricane approaches.  I have also cleaned out the leaves and bird nests from the storm shutters and had to lubricate two of the lock mechanisms to get them working easily.  The lawn has also been recently cut.

The philodendrons up front are upright and have been trimmed of low-hanging leaves.  The hibiscus has also been trimmed down below the gutter level.

I removed the ferns and other "weeds" from around the large tree near the southwest corner of the lot.

I have also pruned the drooping palm fronds from the tree near the southwest corner of the house.

The west side of the house view and the large oak trees in the back yard are seen here.

The view from the old golf course putting green.

The trees are heavy with the Spanish moss.  The rain and wind will bring down a lot of limbs due to the increased weight of WET Spanish moss.

A view from the East side of the house also showing moss in the trees.

Looking upward at the moss from the East side of the house.

The view looking west from the access road.

And finally, the view looking south down the access road.