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Please excuse me for using this forum to inform members of MAPS-L why they
have not been receiving replys from me to their messages.  There were so many
people on the List-Serve that inquired about our damage from the Hurricane
that I would have an extremely difficult time responding to them individually.
 
Those of us at the University of Florida were extemely fortunate to have missed
most of the damage from Hurricane Opal.  At the last minute the storm tightened
up and as the Eye of the Storm decreased it pulled in most of the distructive
feeder bands which were aimed directly at us.  We had high winds and rains with
wind gusts over 60 mph. The major damage was to roofs, downed trees/electrical
lines and flooding from the remaining feeder bands.  Compared to the panhandle
area of Florida we were extremely lucky.  The distruction there is unbelievable
with few buildings in the area avoiding major damage. It will be awhile be-
fore the full damage of the storm can be accessed as some populated barrier
islands have not yet been searched.  Many breach areas far from the storm's
center received storm surges of 12-20 feet which is extremely unusual in
Florida and it did extensive flooding and erosion.
 
As to why no one has been able to reach me by EMAIL, it was due to coincidence.
The University of Florida was enhancing it's computer network and we were off
line for a few days.  Thank heavens the Library on-line catalog was affected
for less time than those of us on PC's.  I am now replying to all the messages
that were warehoused.  If you have sent a message and do not receive an answer
during the next several days, would you please resend the message?  It is
possible some messages were lost.
 
Also for those aware of the Map & Imagery Library's leaking roof problems, we
again were extremely lucky that the the first stage repairs held and the
second stage did not begin until the day after the torrential rains.
 
Thank you all for your kind inquiries and best wishes.  We really appreciated
them.  Thank you to the LIST members for your tolerence of a personal message.
 
HelenJane Armstrong, Map & Imagery Library University of FLorida