It's been rough, but I am OK.
This is my first opportunity to get to a net connected computer.
As you know, the storm surge flooded areas that have
never seen water before. I ended up chest high in the water and had put my little dogs on a shelf by the door. I had decided that the moment the water hit their feet we were going for the deck out front (which was floating as well as any nicely designed raft
) because the shelf was a couple inches below the fence that the deck would have floated over and no longer be an option. The water actually partially submerged the shelf they were standing on but thankfully stopped 1/2 inch from their feet. The water inside the house dropped several inches within a few minutes and I realized the water outside had fallen down a good bit fast, so I got the door open and water flowed out (along with half my living room
).
I then ran through waist deep water to my sister's house next door (she works at a nursing home so she was there for the storm) and I got in and rescued her dogs (who had been floating on the bed). The only pet we lost was her rabbit. As bad as that all that may sound, where I
almost went for the storm turned out much worse. My aunt's house is a good way north of me and always been my "safe-house" for storms. She and my grandmother ended up chin high in the water and the only reason they are here today is because my cousin who lives around the corner had a new boat and was able to rescue them. My mother's house has an upstairs, so they were safe there. The water went 9 feet feet into her house and her neighborhood is considered even less of a flood risk than mine (neither got water in Betsy or Camille). We all lost our cars except my brother-in-law, he works at another nursing home and had his truck there.
The one benefit of my having stayed here is right after the surge was I was able to get the water out quickly which helped reduce the structure damage substantially. I stayed a few nights at the nursing home with my sister but I was only getting maybe an hour a day to work on cleanup when my brother-in-law got breaks from work. My place is a duplex with rental side that had recently been vacated so I cleared a small room in it to work out of while I sift through the debris on my living side (it had roof damage, so it's a bigger mess). It's quite depressing to drag out 24 years of life and memories and dump it in a pile beside the street but although I may have lost all my stuff I know I am
quite fortunate... the neighborhoods 2 blocks to the south of me have no homes standing to put stuff in
Most of the stores are still closed, Lowes and Walmart are open and I've been able to get a ride a couple of times and get a few essential things. Walmart didn't have a single broom or mop and almost no cleaning supplies but in amazing timing a church bus came around maybe an hour after we returned from Walmart giving out a bucket
full of cleaning supplies plus a mop & broom.
People have been great with supplying ice, water & MREs. Most of the traffic lights are still out, there's very few places to get gas.
I have a bunch of stuff to do before dark, I'll get back on later tonight and chat with you guys and fill you in more on the last couple weeks.