It was shake-rattle and roll at the Chace's Sunday morning around 2:00 AM.. Up until then we had winds around 75mph..but then it went to 110... The day before Jeanne arrived, I had spent $1100 on some new stuff to protect windows from blowing in..During Francis, eight windows on our side of the building were blown in and the apartments ruined. It probably was a good investment..

During Francis, we moved to the Marriott in North Palm Beach..because of the expected storm surge.. Our parking lot is only 3 1/2 feet above sea level and a 9 ft surge was predicted..

For Jeanne we stayed home..We live in a condo, 5th floor with an apartment that overlooks Lake Worth Inland Waterway..Palm Beach is 1 1/2 mile across. From our balcony, the sea wall is about 35 feet.

We took our cars and put them in a high rise garage in down town West Palm Beach..then we sat around playing Monopoly..waiting for the first act..which was 5:30 PM when the electricity went out..

Hurricanes winds are counter clockwise..so with Jeanne going ashore about 30 miles north of us..initial winds were from the north and north west.. Once the eye went ashore, the winds gradually moved around to the west..then south west and finally fronm the south.. It was when the winds were from the south west that the 110 mph wind was blowing against our bedroom window.. The noise was deafening..and our building went into an almost harmonic shaking.,, It lasted about an hour and a half...

We were out of electricity for 2 days but were one of the lucky ones.. We live on Flagler Dr which parallels the inland waterway..but also is the Drive where the Good Samaratin Hospital is..plus all the Dr's clinics.. So there is some preferential treatment for this area..There were 2 1/2 million homes out of power by Sunday morning..Most of our electrical crews were up in Pensacola taking care of Ivan problems. Florida paid for electrical crews from California to be flown in..

One of current major problems is that south Florida is out of traffic lights..they were used up during Francis..and there are no spares to be had.. New ones will have to made..Schools are out primarily because of the traffic lights.. every intersection requires a four way stop..and it takes quite a while to go anyplace..Palm Beach is still closed to any traffic..and the beaches are no more.. Even Rush Limbaugh went to New York City for this one..he is right on high water mark in Palm Beach..

My Marine wife Joy, cooked four chickens ..three different ways..and then proceeded to feed all the old folks for a couple of days...we also had plenty of water..and the necessary amount of spirits to keep our spirits up..My daughter Cindy was with us most of the time..and she was a great help..

Worse part was missing football games on Sunday..but we did see the Redskins /Cowboys on Monday night. During Francis, our cable was out 7 days..

It is just inconceivable when you think about it..two major hurricanes..originating off the coast of Africa..with almost the whole western coast line and Gulf of Mexico to blow against... would strike south Florida..with the center of two eyes..passing over Sewells Point ..only a mile apart.. The odds of such a happening have been compared to winning the lottery every day for 500 years.

Anyway we are back in battery..just as if nothing happened.. It will be along time before the palm trees take back their tropical appearance.. I have described them as looking as if they were all circumcised, but Joy doesn' want me to say that..so I won't ...We are still waiting to see a pelican fly by..they are among the missing..

It is estimated that there are over 500 boats under water and out of sight in the inland waterway.. Looking across at Palm Beach, we can see 8 sailboats / yachts over 60 feet piled up on the shore line of Palm Beach..

Although it has been a rough month to live through, I know of no one who is leaving.. There may be a price for living in Paradise, and I think we just paid our dues..

Our next major issue in Palm Beach will be the voting procedures to take place in 4 weeks..we have all new electronic machines to replace the notorious :chad: ballots.. Further, Jimmy Carter and Jesse Jackson are due in to make sure all goes well..

I would not want to make known my political preference for the up coming election ..because if you are a White Anglo Saxon Protestant Episcopal, Far Right Wing Religious Consevative Marine, you probably wouldn't want people to know.. so I will keep it to myself..

Thanks to all of you who either called or sent e-mail about our welfare..we are grateful for that..

Semper Fidelis... God Bless.. Frank (Stub) and Joy Chace