I am now officially a hurricane survivor! I want a t-shirt to commemorate the fact that Hurricane Irene was strong but I was stronger.
As many of you probably know, my mother in law passed away last week. My husband stood by her side with his siblings and father as she took her last breath and I am so glad that he was there for his father in the days following her passing as they prepared for the funeral services and took care of other necessary business. As much as I missed him, I know that he was where he needed to be.
In the days leading up to Irene's visit, mom (who is staying with me currently for an extended visit) and I readied ourselves not so much for the storm itself but the days after she passed over us. Tales of weeks without power from Hurricane Isabel in 2003 urged us to store drinking water for us and the pets, nonperishable foods and even extra cat litter. I have to say that my mother is the queen of preparedness and I learned a great deal from her about being ready for anything. Thursday, two days before the storm, we booked my husband on a flight home for the next day. I was so glad that he was going to be with us for our first real hurricane!
Since moving to the coast, I have experienced tropical storms and nor'easters but never a real live, official hurricane. I would be lying if I didn't admit that I was nervous. We have an old, worn out roof and not yet enough money to replace it as well as a rickety old fence that I was certain would go down flat in hurricane force winds.
So, I prepared the house as best I could. With the help of my wonderful neighbors, I battened down the hatches- locking away lawn furniture, the grill, a mess of toys and other possible projectiles just waiting for 80mph winds to toss them around like nobody's business.
On the friday before the storm, the day my husband was set to return, the weatherman reported a change- the storm was moving ahead of schedule! An hour later, my husband's flight was cancelled.
Until that time I was doing all right. I was holding my nerves in check and just doing the things that needed doing. When I got that message, everything changed.
It was the straw that broke the camel's back.
After all the preparations that led up to my sister's wedding and the planning that led up to the hurricane, I was emotionally roasted. If you could have stuck a fork in me I would have gone up in steam like the turkey in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. To find out that my husband, the one I depend upon in trying times, was not going to be present for something like a hurricane was overwhelming.
I became even more obssessed with the weather reports, prehurricane coverage and pleading with God to spare our home from major damage.
By the middle of that night, the winds had moved in. Vinyl siding has an eerie way of creaking and whining in the wind so by four in the morning I was wide awake tracking tornado warnings. Rain fell in a steady, repeating pattern of downpour and light mist with the occasional torrential drenching to spice things up.
The dog refused to go outside and relieve herself unless someone was with her so I stood in my backyard barefoot, protected only by a light rain jacket every two hours as my elderly pup sniffed the soaked lawn for a place to go.
Every so often there was a lull in the storm where the winds calmed down just enough and the rains held back just enough to make it safe for me to step outside and assess damages. Each time we had that short burst of calm I would run out front and check the fences, the roof and the cars. Then I ran through the house and made a check of the back roof and the deck. After eight hours of near constant wind and rain we lost our first major limb in a tree in front of the house. After twelve hours a few of the shingles began to flap in the breeze and I was certain we were going to sustain some serious roof damage before all was said and done.
Eighteen hours after Huricane Irene began her assauly on our humble home, a window screen bent completely in half and hung perpendicular to the house.
By Sunday morning the rains had gone, the winds were nothing more than a pleasant breeze and the sun shone bright in a clear, blue sky.
The Outer Banks in North Carolina had flooded, parts of south eastern Virginia were under water and power was out all over the mid- atlantic.
We had one broken limb, a bent screen and the boys collected one hundred and ten sticks from the front lawn. The power blinked out a few times but never cut off completely and the entire roof was still intact. All along our cul-de-sac the story was the same. A few broken limbs, part of a fence that had fallen over and tons of leaves on the ground. But that was it.
We had survived Hurricane Irene virtually unscathed and everyone we knew and loved were safe.
My little sister and her family lost power and had a run in with some flood waters in their basement. They spent a couple of days with us at our house. We had a huge cookout, tons of family bonding and the opportunity to show love and support to each other. It was a great time for all.
Two days later, my husband found his way home and life has slowly returned to a more normal speed. I truely hope it is a very long time before I have to live through a hurricane again. I am proud that I was able to protect my home and family and grateful for all of the help that others gave me in the process. It was the sort of experience that teaches one alot about themselves and I, for one, learned some surprising things. I am much stronger than I ever thought, capable of survival not only for myself but the ones I love and that all the worrying in the world won't change what is meant to be.
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