Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike came with a vengeance. During the storm, Charlie stayed up, just in case he needed to alert us to move to safety. The girls slept on an air mattress at the foot of our bed.


All during the storm, the wind blew so hard I thought our bedroom windows would surely break from the force of the debris being blown into the glass.



I would lie in bed, not able to sleep with the wind rushing past. I prayed for my family's safety, over and over again. I would at times creep into the den where Charlie was watching the news coverage. First at 2 AM, then again at 3 AM, then again at 3:45 AM and so on throughout the night. We lost power at 5:45 AM. The storm still raged. The children were up around 8 AM and the winds were still blowing. We watched the storm in the dark until the winds died down and then just rain came.

This is what my street looked like Saturday afternoon. Every home on my street had enormous limbs down. Three homes had large trees down. One tree crashed through the garage, flattening two cars. Another tree tumbled through a fence and onto the garage, leaving behind three or more gaping holes. Another tree was down, crossing the road and blocking our driveway. All in all, we were very blessed. Two streets over there were trees resting in homes and ceilings caving in.


The next few days were filled with yard work. We cut branches, picked up sticks and debris, and raked the remnants of vegetation. The conveniences of the electric blower were sorely missed as we had to do everything the old fashioned way. Charlie couldn't get his chain saw started. Everything took twice as long, but we felt better getting the yard cleaned up. Even the girls pitched in filling trash bags with all the debris. Charlie says I can really push a crew, but I had them all working and accomplishing a lot.


Here's Charlie standing beside his manly pile. It's twice that size now since he took advantage of the debris pick up and cut a jillion branches and bushes. He transplanted aspidistras from the backyard to replace the variegated pittosporums that had not weathered the storm in the front of the house. He is the hortaculture superman!




So we weathered the storm. We were without power through Wednesday, September 17th around 5 PM. For all the grief I've given Charlie all these years about his hurricane survival kit, I am so thankful he had it! Because of Charlie's preparations, we had battery operated lanterns and fans. We had flashlights and candles. We had a Coleman gas camp stove so we could cook decent food for our children. He even made a make shift oven out of foil and baked biscuits on the grill. I do not think I will ever be a candidate for Survivor. I am not interested in being hot or camping out like pioneers. I am grateful for the safety of my family and that my home did not withstand damage. I have learned that generators are a godsend and that electricity is my friend. Do I dare tell you that I know for a fact you can't use your Chi flat iron plugged into a generator? I didn't think so.

Hoping and praying that you are all safe from the storm, cleaning up, rebuilding and now with power.