What a difference a day makes! :) . . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

We were spared mid-week, when Hurricane Idalia decided not to wade ashore at the Nature Coast but instead, the Big Bend area of Florida, all of which goes to show:
Under the most rigorously calculated and precisely measured scientific parameters involving:
Barometric Pressure
Tides
Winds aloft
Temperature
Coastal Topography
Humidity
Magnetic course heading
Phase of the moon
Upper atmosphere steering currents
El Niño
La Niña
Ocean surface water temps and
Land temps

And in addition to using all the available resources of government agencies and land-based meteorological stations, predictive super-computers, AI computerized models, data sonobuoys, satellite imaging, Hurricane Hunter planes and Jim Cantores' opinion:

The Whirly-Girl will go where she damn'ed well pleases.

We were so fortunate to have been side-swiped and to only have loose vegetation strewn about the property.
But a day later with the rains gone, the concrete dried out and with liberal use of yard power tools, a potentially disastrous hurricane, isn't even a faint memory.

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Above pic shows leaves and twigs and branches and folded up patio furniture at left, and return to normalcy the following day at right.

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Gotta love those leaf blowers! 

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Pic shows before on top and after below.

Final pic shows Urchin displaced for hurricane preps at top and back in her berth apres Hurricane.
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For as trashed as the yard was, it only took 7 leaf bags to contain the effects of a near miss.

Now all I have to do is keep an eye on a suspicious looking Invest 95L, in the hopes I don't have to do this all over again in 2 weeks.
I remember in 2005, fighting Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, to the point of taking down and putting back up the Halloween decorations three times and finally becoming so frustrated with continually putting the metal storm panels up, that after Wilma, I left them in place until after Thanksgiving.

Charles Brennan 

[Wayne Howard]

I'm glad your clean up was easy.  OTOH, INvest 95L has me worried. Maybe I'm far enough in western Florida to miss out on the fun but like you've noted before they don't pay attention to the scientists.

[Captain Kidd]

Everything looks great! Glad you fared so well.

We were living in North Carolina when Dennis and Floyd hit - 1999. We lost five large trees at that time. Dennis soaked the ground (it hit us twice) and Floyd blew them over. Fortunately none of them hit anything to speak of. But it was a mess getting it all up. In fact we hired someone to do it.

[Riley Smith]

You didn't get into the chain saw quotient! I'd take leaf blowing every time! I use the lawn tractor and mulch most of that leafy debris up in my yard. Of course it's not great on your mower blades but usually it's at the end of the year and they're due to be replaced anyway. Just think, you don't even have to worry about a roof over your head! Win!!!