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Hello IRON, I'm very happy to be strolling through the forums and Discord once again. Its been a long time since ive truly reconnected with you guys. This community has always been something that i love and value and i dont think i will ever depart from it permanently. Lately im sure you've all seen the news on hurricane Michael and its effects on the Gulf Coast of Florida, which is directly where i live. This isnt a sympathy post whatsoever, i just wanted to give you guys an update on what ive been up to and what brings me back!
(PICS BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SKIP THIS DULL ASS STORY)
About 6 months ago, i was signed onto the LLC of my family business, making me a part owner. This new position brought about loads of work and i stayed busier than ever. For anyone who doesnt know, im a martial arts instructor and thats what our business is. Ive been working in Panama City for about 4 years now. Developing relationships with the people i teach and preserving the art of Korean Taekwondo.
This is the primary reason that ive been away from IRON and CN for so long. I was enjoying what i had helped build.
Now our dojo is about 25 miles inland from Panama City beach, so we are no stranger to thunderstorms and water damage to our facility. But man..nothing could have prepared our building for Michael.
Tuesday night, October 9th, Michael was predicted to hit our area as a Category 3 hurricane. Nothing major, we're Floridians. Thats foreplay. I went to sleep around 3am and woke up two hours later at 5am to my father pounding on my door. Michael had jumped to a Cat 4, and was only 5mph away from being a Cat 5. Needless to say, we evacuated as fast as we could. We hit several obstacles, that would make this post 10x longer if i were to explain. But long story short, we made it to Jacksonville alive. And we watched the news as the hurricane came through our city.
You may have seen on the news that President Trump was in an area in Florida called Lynn Haven. This is the area that was hit the hardest by hurricane Michael, this was where i live(d). Our dojo was completely obliterated. As was every other business not made from concrete. The storm birthed several tornadoes on its landfall, and one hit our business directly. The entire city looked apocalyptic after the storm was gone. We came back to the city to help some friends and family, and on the 13th we returned to Georgia to my families house.
The damage done by the storm was heartbreaking. Not just to me and my family, but to the people we loved and the city we built on. The death toll is still rising...
So i am here in a little city called Adel where i grew up as a child. And i plan to work in this area and in Atlanta until we have the funds to return to the panhandle. FEMA and insurance isnt exactly pulling through for us, but our organization set up a GoFundMe for us that is going to help us out.
So there you have it! Thats whats been happening recently. Now that i have more free time i plan to return to IRON and CN. Again, this is not a sympathy post. Im very optimistic about what the future holds! Just please continue to keep the panhandle, and my family in your thoughts and prayers. Cheers <3
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