Hendry Storm Reports

There was no substantial damage in the area, but many trees limbs and palm
fronds scattered everywhere, and power lines down. In the Port LaBelle
area, electric didn't even go out until a few momemtary interruptions at 9
a.m. Sunday Morning. Satellite TV was on all during the storm. Not much
rain, but heavy winds. But in the more northwestern areas electric was out.
Phone lines were jammed and out of service Sunday morning as everyone tried
to call into the area to check on relatives and friends.
The Emergency Operations Center in LaBelle relied at times on amateur radio
operators to relay messages between Clewiston and LaBelle, and between
various shelters. As phone lines went dead, including cell phones, amateur
radio volunteer Walt Weiland relayed a message from the Hendry operations
center to Glades County's emergency center through a radio link in Lee
county. Glades county's phone were out as well.
In Buckhead Ridge, in the northernmost section of Glades county, damage to
mobile homes was more extensive due to the Hurricane passing on the
northern edge of Lake Okeechobee. Electric and phone have been out there.
The Hendry Sheriff's office sent a supply of food to Buckhead residents on
Monday.
Here's a typical storm report from a Pioneer Plantation (central Hendry
county) resident:
"We are still OK. We continued to get some rain and high wind during the night.
I was awake several times during the night monitoring the storm and county
network. At 0430 we had very high winds made a lot of noise going through
the trees. We have some minor branches down. It's still light rain and wind
at this time. We only had power blinks,
Thank you Glades Electric Coop. for being so proactive in maintaining
lines and tree trimming. We never lost Directv (satellite) so we were able
to view all the West Palm Beach stations coverage on Frances. We also
never lost Direcway (satellite Internet service) so we were able to monitor
web news and live Florida radar..."