Hurricane Florence - my experience

[Steve_in_C]

My pool came through Florence intact (exept for pool fence). Here's what I did:

Drained water down about 8"
Took pool to shock the morning of the hurricane,
Covered with mesh winter cover (against the advice of some)
During the storm - 15+ inches of rain, 48 hours of sustained 30-40 wind, including tropical storm force winds. Tree falls against pool, destroying part of pool fence. Branches landed on mesh cover.
After the storm - no power and no circulation or chlorine x 96 hours.
96 hours after the storm, power back on. Cut tree and removed branches from mesh cover. Removed cover.
FC~6, CYA~40. Water - slightly cloudy. No leaves at all. Pool water up to top of pool.
Drained down to mid skimmer level.
Took pool to shock again.
Ran DE filter x 6 hours. Water again TFP clear.
The mesh cover was not damaged but kept tree branches from touching my vinyl liner. However, the rain and wind put some fine contaminants in the pool that went through the mesh cover. This caused cloudiness that cleared easily with filtration.

Damaged portion of pool fence must be replaced.

 

[Flatag]

Glad you made it through. I had lost power for 7 days after Irma hit last year. Had plenty of chlorine to keep the pool from becoming a swamp. I lost 100 feet of fence and there was no fence sections to be found for months.

 

[kimkats]

Steve this a great follow up. Can I pick your brain please?

-what brand of mesh cover?
-How is it attached?
-Did you see how it reacted to the high winds?

I want to learn from your experience. It sounds like the cover WAS the way to go for you. There was another one that also used their cover and it stopped some branches also! I want to make sure I give the right advice so things go as well as they did for you!

Kim

 

[Steve_in_C]

My cover is a mesh cover purchased from Amazon "Yard Guard Deck Lock Rectangle Mesh Inground Swimming Pool Safety Cover." During the storm, the cover bounced like a trampoline. It is noted that my pool is partially buried and the deck will allow some wind to get up under it. This would not be the case for a cover secured to the concrete skirt around many inground pools. It is attached with "Wood Deck MA2-10 Brass Anchor for Pool Safety Cover" also from Amazon. The cover is adjusted tight and you have to take time to install with the tool.

 

[kimkats]

You are awesome! That is some great info for the future. THANKS!

Kim