Loading ...The first law of storms is: If Che is in the vicinity, head straight for her.
It was early Sunday morning, and I was dreaming of an incubus I once met. I was awakened by emergency sirens. Outside, the lightening was like strobe lights, and the rain was pouring. I got up and turned on the telly, to see if there was any news. The local station was showing a huge messy storm over the area, with hundreds of lightening strikes a minute. There was a tornado warning out for our county, and the announcer said “… and rotation has been spotted over…” WHAMMO! The lights went out. Where?! Where? Rotation over where?
Me, it turns out.
If it hadn’t been nearly 6am, with me half asleep, I would have gotten the flashlight upon waking just in case the lights went out. But I hadn’t done that, and I had to get up to stumble around the house in the dark, looking for the flashlight and mentally evoking a Mars shield for the house as I went. My mother soon appeared in the hallway - she had the flashlight.
About that time, I could feel a sudden pressure drop, and the whole house started to creak like it was bulging at the seams. Yikes! That is one creepy sound, I’m tellin’ ya. Then there was this loud howling, whooshing wind, and just a huge clamor outside.
I grabbed the cat carrier so I could get my cats out fast if I needed to, but I ended up spending the entire tornado chasing my cats. They just weren’t having the carrier. I suspect my cats really will be the death of me.
By the time I caught Cleto and shoved him in the carrier, the storm was pretty much over. There was no going back to sleep, so I read by the light of the flashlight until the sun came up.
At dawn, I went walking around the neighborhood and holy shit! The whole neighborhood was torn to pieces. Trees were uprooted and tossed around like twigs. Powerlines down everywhere. Cars crushes, roofs crushed. You could actually see the path the tornado took through our neighborhood, and my house was directly in the middle of that path, but the tornado seems to have just jumped over us. The only damage we had was on the periphery of the property, with some fences down and some branches down, and we’d lost a turbine off the roof.
All the streets were blocked by downed trees, downed telephone poles, downed powerlines and rubble. I was basically trapped in my neighborhood. Making matters worse, the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop had been devastated. Oh noes! trapped in my neighborhood with no doughnuts!
My neighbors were in surprisingly good spirits. I think everyone was just glad to be alive. A lot of people who owned chainsaws came out and started trying to clear some of the blockages from the road. People were pretty great, and really got together to help one another. Not only that, the city and the state responded as quickly as they could (I’ve heard the federal government’s still dragging its feet. Wow… what a surprise. For fucks sake, please don’t send in FEMA - now there’s a disaster).
Shelters were set up, and stations to hand out food, ice and necessities. Utility workers came in from Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina to help repair the downed lines. It was a huge job, but I seriously expected to be without power for about a week. They had it repaired in 4 days. Our neighborhood was the last to regain electricity, but we were also the hardest hit and the task really must have been phenomenal, so I think the utility guys did a great job.
Its been pretty crazy, but things are gradually getting back to normal. I never thought I’d be this happy to have the lights back. I’ve read more books in the past 4 days than I have all year. (Thanks for the books, Mojo!). It sounds great, but after a couple of days I really just wanted to surf for porn. I did get a bit of writing done (notebook and pencil) and even have an idea for a new story.
I also spent several days pissed of that Richard and Mojo hadn’t phoned me! I didn’t realize they weren’t able to get through. The phones were working locally. But I was very happy to hear from them when they called. It really cheered me up!
Cleto is slowly recovering. The storm really upset him and he spent days in hiding. On Sunday, he sat behind me on the sofa and wrapped his arms around my head, and wouldn’t let me go. I thought I was going to have to wear him as a hat. Bea, on the other hand, is fine. She’s seen it all before. She’ll prolly see it all again.
Still lots of work to do around here. Mostly cleaning out the freezers (we did lose a lot of food due to the power outages) now that the electric is back on. Shopping, stocking up, and lots and lots of laundry. Not looking forward to all that crap.
But I’m doing fine. For me, this was less of a disaster than it was a nuisance. I’m not even traumatized or anything (except by the name “Mother’s Day Storm of ‘08″
.
Buy me a beer!
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 8:36 pm and is filed under phenomenal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
I am so glad to hear that everything is returning to normal — or as much as can be, and that your house had a Mars shield that made the tornado jump over it.
I also am glad we got through when we called. I tried several times and it kept giving me strange messages “The phone number does not exist.” “The number cannot be completed as dialed.” Then last night Mojo said, “Have you tried Che today?” I said, “No. You can give it a shot, but it won’t work.”
Sure enough. It worked for him. Maybe he should have been dialing the first time. We could have talked to Che on Mother’s day. (in a bit of aptness, my mother was the one who told me the Mother’s Day storm had happened.) She is also the one who directed me to the website for the local news channel (tro de tro! A little local flavor for you, Che). We got to see much of the damage. I kept looking for pictures of Che’s neighborhood (Since they said it was one of the hardest hit) to see if I could see her house.
Che, no one took a picture of your house. Be the first one to submit a photograph! You get to make your own captions. Some of them were priceless. I especially like the woman who got a cone and shoved the hail stones in it so she could make a hail hat for her 6 year old daughter.
And good for all those Georgians, Alabamians, North and South Carolinians for letting the storm bring out the best in people. Always good to see.
Of course, we knew you would make it through alive. You have another few years until death day.
But I have to admit that when we couldn’t get through to you, I began to wonder if the tornado had picked up a ceiling fan and thrown in it right through you.
Hey, coulda been my shield, coulda been my Qur’an, coulda been dumb luck. Don’t care what it was, long as that thing missed me. 4e65ty
Those last letters were typed by Bea.
Oh and we’re expecting more storms today. S’always somethin’.
And speaking of the Qur’an, I got a religious joke fer ya.
You know what the problem with Southern Baptists is?
They don’t hold’em under the water long enough.
I actually laughed out loud at that religious joke.
I, myself, was held under water when I was a teenager. All the popular kids went to the Baptist Church, and I thought it was the proper political move. I had already been sprinkled at the Presbyterian church, so I thought double indemnity.
Ah, the follies of youth.
And congratulations on the new storms. It is just what you need!
Glad to have you back, Che! Thank gods you weren’t impaled by a ceiling fan. Or, more likely in your case, a church steeple.
Great Baptist joke. I laughed out loud just like Richard!
Enjoy your electricity and the resulting internet porn.
In the next storm, you’ll need to be able to collect your kittehs. The best way is an alien abduction device, I think.
unrelated: is blogathon the same weekend as the first annual jersey devil writer’s retreat?
is this a problem, or am i the only one still thinking about it?
if not, should i pack for torrential rains?
I thought the blogathon had been canceled this year, because of frykitty’s other obligations. Has she found someone else to organize it yet?
oh. well i guess it doesn’t matter then. huh.
i DO know i could use a writing weekend this weekend. i’m taking one whether anyone’s with me or not, but it’d be more fun with. *puppy dog eyes*
*grin*
I’d lurve to join you but I really need to catch up on work. If I get caught up enough on Saturday, I may can join you writing on Sunday.
probably just as well… yer kinda distracting. heh.
Do huh? Methinks yer the distracting one, missy.
Or maybe we is mutually distracting. Or summat.
mutually assured distraction? i like it.
*ka-BOOM!*