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myrna · 09-21-2004, 08:21 PM

Anyone have info on status of roads into Century, Fl. Relatives got one brief cell phone call to us yesterday but apparently cell towers not working or not yet reliable. Need to leave KC area to help. Wondering about gas/water/ road conditions, etc on the way. We know relatives have over 50 trees down, and lots of damage and no water, electric, phone, etc. Son-in-law wanted to fly but unable to make connections. He is a commercial electrician. I am sure his parents will be glad to see him so he can re-install service for them. Thought about taking the Airstream but hate to get where we can't get around.

74Argosy24MH · 09-22-2004, 05:57 AM

I would call the local police and see if they will even let you in the area. My brother works in construction, his boss owns a house in FL and asked him to come down and help with the clean up. After driving from MI he was told to leave or he would be arrested. Apparently they are afraid the scammers will descend in droves and aren't allowing anyone out of state into the area. It could be just that area, but it was a long drive to be turned around and sent home.

RivetED · 09-22-2004, 01:58 PM

Besides police you might be able to get some info from agencies like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, & major church groups with volunteers in the area.

myrna · 09-23-2004, 10:41 AM

We got another call from relatives. Power was to be turned on yesterday afternoon. Power company said due to emergency they would restore power even though normally they wouldn't. They still need help with clean up but want us to wait awhile. Roads are one lane. Cell phone works only in one area of their property. They can call out but we can't call in yet. They said there is no fresh produce available locally. Getting gasoline is still a problem for them. Hopefully, phone service will come to them soon.

59toaster · 09-23-2004, 11:12 AM

Somebody I know off another Forum had to go From Valdosta GA to TX and had to take a 100 Mile detour to avoid that area and I-10. Reall mess/ Glad to hear they are getting back to normal.

I work for Cingular and the Field Guy for my area is a friend. He was in South FL from Frances last week and Had to turn around and end up In Birmingham this week. Just got back to Atlanta.

Real mess down there he was tilling me this morning. All the GA COW's (Cellsite On Wheels) were Sent to FL the week before. Some of the local towers down there Are coming back on line and the Cows are being sent over to AL and FL pan handle as they free up. Problem is so many towers were actually blown down in both areas that they are running wide open trying to get back online. Building the actual towr is a major undertaking and only a few companies that do it. They are hammered.

All the resources that Cingular has from Houston up to Nashville over to Myrtle Beech have been sent to those two areas. Now Ivan is back headed for TX now and Jeanne is headed for FL and going to run up the coast all the way up.

Cingular prides itself on its ability to recover from this sort of thing but they can't keep up with this many hit this close together.

myrna · 09-23-2004, 11:30 AM

Our son-in-law is an out of work commercial electrician due to no work in KC. Last year he worked on a lot of cell towers all over the country. He will be going to Florida as soon as his folks are ready for him. He is still way down on the local unions list for work.

We have Cingular Nationwide service which is really nice for emergencies like this. They are paying though the nose for their service. But at least they have something.