I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to those compassionate people who haave wished Ivan upon themselves rather than have it hit Florida as the third in a month. I live in South Orlando. My house was in the eye of Charley and in the northeast quadrant of Frances. We lost a tree and the roof from our carport. The debris from Charley was just picked up last night, so the majority of my neighborhood still had Charley debris during Frances. We were without power for 5 days in Charley and 1 in Frances. I am listing this not for pity, but to show that compared to others around the state, I did fairly well. God was watching out for us.

Being through these storms has allowed me to witness a community uniting in destruction, not in a micro sense, but as a macrocommunity encompassing all of Central Florida. Neighbor helping neighbor.

I speak for the citizens of Florida when I say that we don't wish Ivan or any other severe storm on anybody else. We would like to see it simply flounder in open water. But it does mean a lot to read of the compassion that residents of other hurricane prone states have towards Florida.

Please continue to keep those of us in storm-affected areas of Florida in your prayers and thoughts as we clean up from Charley and Frances (and perhaps prepare for Ivan).

God Bless