An eight foot storm surge slammed Clearwater Beach along the gulf coast line as part of Hurricane Helene - a lot of devastation to people’s properties, cars, boats, etc. The water and sand washed ashore and covered most roadways, got into structures - just a generally big mess. I know quite a few Phillies fans stay on the beaches for spring training - folks are resilient here - it’s likely that in most cases things will be somewhat back to normal when ya all arrive. This is the second hurricane in just three months time (Hurricane Debbie was in July) to cause havoc for Clearwater Beach. This one though had record setting storm surge up and down the coast - the storms here are very violent - in the most recent couple of years even the “regular” thunder storms we have are more extreme than what we’ve previously experienced in the ten years we’ve had a residence in the area.
Our house is more inland and is situated 50 feet above sea level but there’s always the threat of damage in these storms regardless. We have just a little bit of cleanup to do this time in our yard, I started yesterday - it’s freaking hot - within 20 minutes I was completely soaked with sweat. Kudos to the public cleanup crews and power line restoration folks who continue to work tirelessly to restore power - still about 80,000 without power ( mostly out on the beaches) as of this writing. The emergency response teams here are excellent as well - it always boggles my mind how people put themselves (and others) in harms way and then need rescue - before each storm occurs schools are turned into shelters - we have an evacuation zone plan here - those closest to the water and in low lying areas are generally termed “zone A”. They were told that evacuation before the storm was mandatory and that shelters were open but yet many didn’t - mind boggling.
Living on the water front is certainly great in good weather - not so much in bad - we bought our place more inland because it’s in a non-evacuation zone - deemed to be safe from the extreme elements - still scary to experience these storms though.
As far as I know Carpenter Complex and BayCare BallPark are fine - there was some damage from Hurricane Debbie yet to be fixed - winds knocked over the two large pitch clocks mounted on the outfield fences of Ashburn and Roberts fields. When fans return for the spring there will be a new even larger scoreboard at the stadium (in right field this time) with the old one removed - construction is ongoing for that.
In regard to baseball the rehab players were back at it on Saturday along with a few that are here prepping for the Arizona Fall League. Pitchers Guisseppe Velasquez, Tristan Garnett and Andrew Painter threw side sessions. All else was quiet.
Just a quick note is all to let ya know most of us are ok here in the CW area - Eagles fans have arrived as well for today’s game against the Buccaneers. I’m sure many had planned to stay out on the beach - that’s not happening due to the devastation. No one should ever discount the impact of these storms - this one even reached into the western Carolina mountains and crushed that area - crazy stuff. A lot of hard work ahead for many to recover what was lost - condolences to those who lost family members in this - there were multiple fatalities throughout Helene’s path.
I often state that baseball mirrors life - not so much the case for us the past couple days - I can’t get real concerned that the Phillies lost two games in Washington - just doesn’t seem that important - maybe that’s the mirror - things will pick up again - ebbs and flows - some worse than others - just sayin.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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