Fort Zach park ranger Ed Cunningham. Photo taken in early 2017 before Hurricane Irma.

Nothing like imagining Ed Cunningham and Richard Matson wandering around Key West looking for ice so they can make a vodka martini. But that’s the headline from “my boys” as they camp-a-cane in The Meadows today.

Although I knew he was OK because there’d been several “sightings” earlier in the week, today is the first chance Ed and I could share the post-Hurricane Irma details.

Ed is a forester by training, a utility forestry specialist by trade, a storm project manager and now a park ranger at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. Nothing makes him happier than hugging trees — and collecting cats. Everyone thinks the cats are mine. Not so. Just Molly is mine. Sarah, Jersey, Livvy and Michael all prefer climbing over Ed and he’s pretty partial to them.

He said to tell you that he’s got photos and videos during and after the storm and will post them as soon as he gets a decent internet connection. I told him y’all really only cared about seeing a picture of him and the Cat 5s. He’ll try. In the meantime, here are the two Facebook Page posts from earlier this afternoon. Lots of good updates and info.

Ed Cunningham reports from Key West at 2:21 p.m., Wednesday, 9-13-17: If you’re just tuning in, my husband and our Cat 5s remained in Key West for the storm. Our house is in the 1300 block of Olivia. Here’s what he knows:

• 1. The city has set up a temporary cell tower right behind new City Hall on White Street. Folks are beginning to gather there so they can make calls. Service reception was decent, though not great. Cell service elsewhere on island is spotty at best, and the city tower doesn’t extend very far.
  2. ICE. Oh, my they’d stand in line for ice. But they’re having a hard time getting info about where it’s available, and when they do, it’s usually gone.
  3. We out here know a LOT more about what’s happening than the on-island folks. They get info from 104.1 and that’s it. So, all the things we know about electric, water, clean-up, damage, etc., they really don’t know. For instance, WE know that the water from the taps that they’re getting a couple times a day is “non-potable.” They don’t. So, as Ed said, “oh, well, I’ve been drinking it for days and I’m not dead yet.”
  4. It’s miserably hot and humid. But they’re making the best of it. Ed was with our neighbor across the street when he called from city hall tower. I asked what they needed most: Ice and some vodka. So, they’re keeping a sense of humor about it all.
  5. The Cat 5s have returned to normal. Somewhat traumatized by the power of the storm (and they, too are hot. Lounging around like, well, cats), but they’re back to being regular cats.
  6. Ed has been cleaning up debris and trees from our property and around the neighborhood. He spent his entire career doing storm duty for major public electric companies and he’s a forester, so he knows what he’s doing.
  7. I asked if he thought I should file paperwork for FEMA and our various insurances. He said, “Sure. We’ve got a broken flower pot.”

• 3:20 p.m., Wednesday, 9-13-17: Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. Ed Cunningham, who is a park ranger at Fort Zach, was almost in tears as he told me about the damage at Fort Zach. He rode over today on his bike. About a third of the Australian pines are down and most of the rest of the trees are gone or stripped bare. The new guard shack/entrance is fine. He could not get down to the beach because downed trees have the road closed. There ARE folks working on clean up, but as Ed said, it’s going to be a long, hard haul.