Hurricane Ike

A week or so ago I posted about hurricane Suzanna striking the inside of my house and how we don't normally have hurricanes in the mid west. Well. I was wrong again. Remnants of Hurricane Ike blew through our neighborhood yesterday afternoon.

Since I haven't been feeling all that superb, I called my boss yesterday around 11 to see if she would come in and let me go home early. My plans were to take about a 2 hour nap. Chuck and the girls were out at the farm so I was sure I would be able to get some sleep. However, that did not happen.

It took me a while to settle down, get comfortable and fall asleep. About a half hour into my nap, Chuck and the girls came home. They tried to be quiet and let me sleep. But bless their little souls, they just couldn't do it. Then, between 12:30 and 1 pm, Hurricane Ike started to blow in and Chuck was called out for power lines arcing (sparking because of tree limbs on them). I set the girls up in the living room to watch a movie and quiet time. I laid back down in bed but less then 15 minutes later the power went out.... nap time officially over...

We were in the forecast for sustained winds of 60 mph but there were reports of gusts up to 80. The girls and I sat on the front porch most of the afternoon and watched the wind blow. We kept our eye on one particular tree in the front yard that was close to blowing over... it was blowing away from the house so we were prospectively safe on the porch...

When the heavy winds would come up I would screech excitedly at the girls, "Watch now. Its gonna go. Its gonna go" The tree would get to a certain point that if the gust lasted just a second longer, I think it would have gone down. After a while I got bored watching the tree and turned my attention to the neighbors trees. But little Suze never took her eyes off that tree. When the wind blew stronger she would cheer, "It gonna go Mommy. It gonna go"

An hour or so into the storm... all wind, no rain... the neighbor behind us came around front to tell me the bunny cage was blown over. He had grabbed up Max and Ruby and put them in their little cage- so they were safe and contained. The girls followed me around back to check out the damage. The two neighbor guys helped me set the cage up right. Then the girls and I carried the little cage to the garage.

Back to the front porch to check on our tree.

A small limb had been twisted off, but the tree was still standing. We had just settled back in our seats when I noticed several birds sitting just to the side of the porch. Odd to see birds staying that close when humans are around- but after considering how hard the trees were blowing, I realized they didn't have any place else to go. The birds soon realized that our house wasn't safe either after Suzie jumped down and chased them. She wanted to catch one so she could pet it.

Over the next 3 hours we watched some more wind, talked with some neighbors, had some of our shingles blow off, and did I mention watch the wind blow? Early on in the wind storm a tree fell on a man in the State Park. He was transported to the hospital and died later due to his injuries- so that was talk with some of the neighbors.

The girls and I were getting a little stir crazy so we decided to venture out, "Lets go see if Daddy is back at the fire house yet" They cheered in response. From the time we left the front porch and got into my van, the neighbors tree finally cracked and fell to the ground... all that time watching and we missed it... when I pulled around I stopped in front of the neighbors. The guys across the street were heading over to check things out. They stood at my driver side window as we started to discuss the tree falling. Suddenly they looked up and jumped back. I hammered on my gas pedal, moving my van out of harms way. The rest of the neighbors tree came crashing down... after examining the tree, I don't think it would have hit the van, but it was a little scary at that particular moment...

So anyway- the afternoon began to wind down and so did the wind.... did I type that correct? Is 'wind' and 'wind' spelled the same way???... hmmm, I just checked and yes, they are spelled the same way. Oh well... Chuck came home and did a quick survey of the house. Other than the few shingles and lots of yard debris, every thing is fine... oh, and the bunny cage will need to be fixed... Chuck hooked the camper up to his generator so we could reheat some dinner in the microwave.

Greg dropped the boys off and they immediately got on their bikes to inspect the neighborhood. The girls watched a movie in the camper while Chuck and I played several hands of Rummy. Around 9pm.... dark, bored and nothing to do... Chuck shut off the generator and we all went to bed... except the boys- they stayed up playing their PsP in the dark... The girls asleep. The boys are being quiet.... Ahhhhhh..... I can finally go to sleep.

Comfortable and just starting to dose off we hear several trucks pull up. The energy company had finally arrived to start cutting up trees... For Crying Out Loud!.... With out much insulation in the camper we heard every little noise. But once they started up with the saws I headed for the house to get some much desired sleep. But sleep would not be granted

Josh and Caleb's dad called twice and I had to get up, walk out to the camper and let them know about school/ no school. Finally back in the house, settling in bed, warming up- the phone rang again... its 10:30! Do people not sleep?... It was one of Chucks customers needing some roof repair.... what can he do about it at this time of night?... I was polite... I understand people are with out power, have damage, and want to get it fixed asap... I told him I would leave Chuck the message. Ten til eleven I finally got to sleep.

But I was up at 4:45 to head out for work. I took a quick shower the night before with what little hot water we had left. Chuck called a bit ago and told me that he heard we may be out of power for up to 3 days... Two-thirds of our town has power... that stinks! So, Chuck and his dad are trying to connect the generator to the house so we can at least turn on a light or two and use the water heater

And Life just rolls on...