It would be impossible to pick out a single video or photograph that sums up Irma, which dropped from a hurricane to a tropical storm by the time it smacked Lake County, Fla., one year ago today.
Would it show downed trees and power lines, flooding in Astor, empty grocery store shelves, cars lined up for gas, people in shelters or Umatilla ripped by a twister?
It could be a big sign that says "Whew!" And it could be filed under "Lessons Learned."
Thomas Carpenter knows how bad it could have been. As the director of Lake County's Emergency Operations Center, he spends his time looking over his shoulder and looking ahead.
Lake County has a built-in challenge, with 50,000 mobile homes.
"People need to be safe," he said, and mobile homes are not the safest place, especially the older ones, but there are 50,000 mobile homes here. "That would mean that 75,000 to 100,000 people need to find shelter someplace else.
"We just don't have the room," he said.
Lake has 28 shelters, and the schools are great about opening their doors, Carpenter said. "But I tell people you're only going to have 20 square feet of space. You're better off finding someplace more comfortable. I joke and say, 'If you're having problems with your family, this may be the time to make amends."
About 4,200 people sought shelter during last year's storm, including some new Floridians who left their conventionally built homes.
"You don't need to leave," he told them.
Evacuation is not always the best plan either. "Our mantra for the past few years has been to evacuate tens of miles, not hundreds of miles, but with Irma, as big and as powerful as it was, and with shifts in the forecast ... we saw a lot of folks, and at the same time, a lot of folks in Florida were watching what was going on in Texas with Harvey."
About 3 million residents fled South Florida — unnecessarily, as it turns out — turning highways into parking lots and causing a gasoline shortage. Long lines formed at convenience stores, including one in Tavares, where drivers got into a fist fight.
Houston, he pointed out, can't deal well with flooding, so it's a different situation. However, Florida has had a lot of rain recently.
Astor, on the St. Johns River, is currently at the "action stage," which is just below the flooding stage.
"It's at the point where people should start paying attention," said Peggy Glitto, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Some low-lying yards and streets are showing signs of minor flooding.
"Fortunately, the people in Astor are familiar with this," Carpenter said. Astor residents didn't even leave their homes to go to a shelter in Grand Island when the river rose 4.43 feet above normal. The record was 4.62 in 1933. It took weeks for the water to recede.
But a major storm that might hit the area directly or stall nearby and dump a lot of rainfall would be a major problem.
"There's nowhere for the water to go," Carpenter said. "That's the way it is all over Central Florida."
Like Carpenter, Leesburg City Manager Al Minner always thinks in terms of improving communication.
The city sells electricity to 25,000 customers. About 16,000 of those customers lost power during the storm, but the city was about to restore power within 72 hours.
"All in all, we did really well," Minner said.
One thing he wants to do, however, is to improve communication with one of its electric providers, Duke Energy.
Duke Energy is now focused on the Carolinas, where the majority of its customers live, and where Hurricane Florence could make landfall by Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Other storms are also brewing in the Atlantic.
Despite the extreme difficulties of maintaining lines of communication during a major storm, Leesburg did step in and help residents of the Country Life Mobile Home Park on County Road 33, when its generator failed and its lift station could not prevent a major spill of raw sewage.
"It was private property, but they stepped up," Carpenter said.
Then, there is FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Administration, which has gotten a lot of criticism in the years following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
FEMA said in June that it had paid $36 million to businesses and individuals in the county for Irma damages, but the county government was still looking for $7 million to $8 million.
Asked how much the Leesburg city government received, Minner laughed and said, "Not a penny."
The city had enough reserves to handle the expenses.
It had an effect in the county, however, when county commissioners had to turn down the sheriff's $9.8 million budget hike request. He wanted to hire 28 more deputies.
Like Leesburg, the county had not received any of the money it expected to get from FEMA.
Homeowners and businesses are still recovering, mostly from roof damage, said Carey Baker, Lake's property appraiser.
"Legitimate roofers like us are about a year behind," said Cheryl Reisman, part owner of Eustis Roofing Co.
Law enforcement officers have arrested some unlicensed contractors for scamming homeowners.
The longtime Eustis company deploys six crews a day and faces a backlog of about 460 jobs, she said.
"We don't have people living under a leaking roof," she said, nor does she recommend a blue tarp as a long-term solution. Her crews make temporary repairs, then come back for the finished job.
Like everyone else, she says planning is everything.
Don't wait until your roof needs to be replaced to have it inspected, she said. Tree branches, even squirrels can damage your roof, she said.
Planning is good but nature is unpredictable and can be deadly.
The Ground Hog Dog Day tornadoes of 2007 appeared suddenly, like a thief in the night in Lady Lake and Lack Mack, exploded as EF-3 storms, killed 21 people and disappeared within minutes. More than 365 homes were damaged, 165 destroyed.
It was the equivalent of two Category 4 hurricanes, Carpenter said.
Irma, by comparison, destroyed 10 houses, and no one died.
