What a humbling experience it is to have a moment of time where life goes into chaos. It can be a short period of time but can really frustrate you and truely make you appreciate what you have.
Hurricane Helene
This past week was one of those moments in time. Here in the piedmont of North Carolina it was supposed to be a relatively normal fall Friday. We knew the tropical storm that started as Hurricane Helene was going to be moving in with some rain. We had no idea what it would turn into.
So overnight the day before a rain system had come through the area with some significant rainfall. Just a few inches, but nothing all too bad.
Well Friday morning started with the actual arrival of Helene. Suddenly the the fury started. Heavy rains, steady wind, and frequent wind gusts. Sitting in the living room watching the news waiting for the bulk of the storm to pass and the flash flood warning to expire before heading to work. Then all of a sudden click, no power
Time to set up the generator
So we are used to losing power frequently in the neighborhood so I have everything set up to deploy quickly to get the generator started before going to work. The family is home for the day so they can shut it off in the next 4 or 5 hours when power is restored, so off to work.
Definitely not what I was expecting to see on this commute
The rain was gone and visibility is good since it’s daylight. So quickly realized there are much more power outages than I expected. It seemed every road I was on I had to maneuver around multiple trees in the roadway.
Instead of listening to the radio on the drive, I started listening to my fire pager on the county setting to hear how bad it actually was. There seemed to be less than 1 min between calls for service somewhere in the county for trees down on the road or houses.
At work, but generator power
So all power is out near work so the building is running on generator power. No big deal especially since it was only going to be me and my speech therapist with the rest of the crew postponing until tomorrow.
Residents are happy to have therapy today since it’s limited lighting and the cable is not working. Might as well do something! Otherwise just laying in bed with nothing to do.
Slowly the true picture locally comes into focus
So by the time the workday is over it seems the entire county is without power. We’ll need to try and get dinner…..Hopefully find power and the ability to use bank card to pay for it!
So finally find some pizza and their card machine is working! Well at least we have dinner……wait double the order just in case.
Power should be back tomorrow at least
So Saturday comes and goes with yard cleanup and cutting up a tree that fell through the fence. Not too bad only a panel to be replaced. And tree becomes neighbor’s firewood.
So it’s getting late and still no power. Now go to wash hands and no water pressure. Community well not working now. So now no power AND no water. Off to the firehouse for family showers.
Power will be back tomorrow
So Sunday morning rolls around and start to really hear the devastation out in the western part of North Carolina. Starts to humble you when you see how much worse it is for some neighbors in the state.
So still no power or reliable water. Luckily parts of the city had power so able to get some food and bottles of water. Update from the power company estimates by 11:45 PM power should be restored. Then later another message, extensive damage and power estimate is tomorrow at 11:45 PM.
So now we are on the fourth bottle of propane. Now it’s getting frustrating. No power and no running water, now a water boil advisory so really no water.
So the joy of the text
Finally about 1:00 in the afternoon on Tuesday I get the text, repairs are completed. We have power! But still boil advisory so limited water. Luckily the well was cleared on Wednesday. Back to “regular life”
Really puts life in perspective
So as frustrated as it was for myself and my family, we needed to continue to remind ourselves that we were lucky. We have each other. The only damage was to the fence. We were able to find what we needed. We also found that our circle of friends have gotten larger from the amounts of offers for help from those that had power. I am greatfull that our ordeal was over. I was able to go to work, feed my family, and keep them safe.
My heart truely goes out to those that are still suffering. There are lots of people that not only had, but continue to have significantly worse experience than myself through the aftermath of this storm. People have lost love ones, houses, jobs, cars, and a sense of their needs not being met.
Not my typical blog post
So sorry for going away from my usual blog. I just felt that this needed to be documented. I felt this was a great way to share our story. A great way to document history for us. It was also a great way to make sure the experience will not be forgotten. Mother Nature can pack a punch. Not often would you think a single Hurricane (that was no longer a hurricane) could have such a tremendous destructive effect so far inland from the coast. Well thank you for reading my story. I promise that next week will be back to therapy. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, your humble writer.
