I'm back!!! Power at our offices, but NO power at home, trees EVERYWHERE, including a 50 foot Oak that came down on my fence and driveway. Neighbor 3 houses down has one through her house so I'm not worrying about my fence
My story is that I was racing in a regatta in Lake Ontario, due to fly back to Houston on Sunday, flight was cancelled, so I flew to New Orleans, rented a Durango, bought a 7000 Watt generator, 4 six gallon gas containers and food for a week, and drove home. The Angel Of Mercy coming with supplies!!
The drive was interesting, tons of damage along the way even into LA, humongous pine trees snapped in half, no billboards, no power, no gas stations open... It was amazing and inspiring to see the caravans of power and tree companies coming from all over the country on I-10, but it made the normal 5 hour drive an 8 hour drive.
I was so happy to be home (I had felt incredibly guilty being away)!!! I cried when I turned on the road to my neighborhood. It honestly looks like a war zone. There is so much debris piled up from the trees that went down. I've never seen anything like it. Then you see the trees resting on people's home or through them, and it seems like a blessing that your house is spared!!!
At the homefront, while I was gone, my 83 year old dad and his wife evacuated to my house. They waited out the hurricane with my husband and 16 year old son.
My husband deserves a medal - besides trying to prepare for the storm, boarding up windows, securing outside furniture and fixtures, etc., he had to deal with a medical emergency - my step mother had a grand mal seziure on Thursday night while they were eating at Pappadeax restaurant, so he spent Thursday night at the Emergency Room with my dad. So, Friday night rolls around, they have power until around 2 am, then it goes out and they are sitting in the dark in horrendous winds. My husband, who is a really BRAVE guy, said it was scary as all-get-out. Around 3 he heard a groan - bad noise
- he checked the house and there were no trees through the structure, it was that enormous oak, it completely took out our fence, covered our driveway, but miraculously missed both my car and my son's that were parked up by the garage. So, for about 3 days, my husband had ZERO sleep, and still managed to be a rock for all around him!!!
Morning came and he said it was incredible. Trees all over the roads blocking everything, live power lines down in people's yards, broken glass, carnage... But, the wonderful thing was how the neighbors came together, pooling resources, chain saws, generators, etc. and began the process of clearing streets and securing homes.
So, down at the bay, where my dad's house is... His house has about 4 feet of water, but seems salvageable. Not so his boats
He has a 45 foot power boat that is now up on the north jetty at our yacht club, and his sailboat is sunk in the harbor- oh well, that's what insurance is for
. He got some help pulling out the downstairs furniture and is planning on staying in the upstairs area, which is kind of set up like an apartment, they have water but no power.
Right now, the center point energy guys that my husband has flagged down have said it could be days (if not a week) before we get power at home. BUT - by the grace of God (NO LIE) an EXTREMELY unusual cold front has come through, so last night it was actually chilly in our house, this at a time when it is usually hot as heck all day and night. So, the Big Fella is looking out for us!!!
Sorry for the long post - pray for the cool weather to remain!!!
Forgive typeo's, I'm a little frazzled...
Hybrid Mode
