Assessing the Damage

We woke up Monday morning and cautiously walked outside.  Unbelievably, more trees had fallen in the night.  Those “weaker” winds were the final blow for many trees and power lines.  I’m afraid to think of what stronger winds would have done.  At this point, we had no power, and no cell reception.  We were no longer receiving updates from anyone, so we had no idea what the storm was doing, who was affected, or anything.  All we knew was our current reality.  Large, mature trees came crashing to the ground that night, blocking roads, falling on roofs, and destroying electric poles.  95% of our county was without power.  In fact, we would find out later that nearly 1/3 of Florida was without power.  Millions of people had little no access to outside information, and many were blocked in their homes or neighborhoods. There were well over 100 water line breaks around the county as well. 

We took a brief assessment of our property, and found that sure enough, our home had survived the backside as well.  We still were not even missing a single shingle.  All of our trees that fell, fell away from our home.  

My van, although littered with leaves and sticks, was untouched by the large branches that I felt certain would fall upon it.  Our lives were spared, and so was our property.  We lost more of our trees, but that was ok…they were just trees. 

  The yard was full of debris, and we thought it would take weeks to get cleaned up, but that was small compared to what others were facing that morning.  We hopped in the car to check on some others.

Remarkably, our street flooding was gone too.  We drove back to my parent’s house, where a large pine tree fell across the road, blocking it off, and onto their electrical wires.  

We found a way around it through some driveways and saw power poles snapped in two and dangling in the air.  My parents have 2 ½ acres with tons of pine trees and other plants as well.  It was flooded and lots of trees and limbs were down.  It was to be expected.  But, their home was safe as well.

We drove through a near by neighborhood and check on some friends houses as well. It was the same scene over and over….huge, beautiful trees, fallen across roads, leaning on homes, blocking driveways, etc.  There was no denying that a powerful storm blew through the day before.  However, we also saw homes that appeared to be pretty well in tact.  We did not see roofs blown off, or trees smashed through the homes (although that did happen in some areas).  We saw pool cages blown apart or smashed by trees, but the houses seems to be in fairly good condition.

Next stop was to check on the shop.  Driving through town was messy and tricky.  Since there was no power, none of the stop lights worked.  The lights dangled from their wires, or were smashed on the ground. 

  Trees lay across main roadways, and rain was still drizzling through the air.  We continued to see downed power lines, and poles snapped in half.

The shop was in good condition.  A bit of water got in through the windows and the floors were a little wet, but there was no damage to the equipment or offices beyond that.  We did find a main water break just outside one of the office locations.

We continued driving through town and had to check on the pier.  Surprisingly, it was still standing, although we have now heard that it did incur damage and will need to be fixed. 

From here on out…I have no idea what happened on what days…so we’ll go with a synopsis of what I do remember.

Once home, you kind of just wander around, wondering what to do first.  After seeing the town such a mess, and your home a mess…it’s hard to know where to start.  I think I spent the rest of the day wandering, and trying to take it all in. 

The kids had a photo shoot on their climbing tree that feel (well, half of it fell). 

I remember standing in the back yard, holding a rake, and wanting to cry.  How were we going to cut up these trees?  Do I have to bundle the limbs?  I don’t have enough trash cans.  This will take weeks.  We don’t even have a chainsaw.  What about everyone else?  Didn’t we stay to help?  Maybe we should find someone to help and leave our stuff for another time.  What should we do?  Maybe a nap would be a good place to start? 

I just had so many questions, and no answers.  I felt overwhelmed, and uncertain of how to process everything we had seen and experienced.

I heard Jeremy around the corner, battling with a generator and chainsaw we were borrowing, neither worked.  He left to get something from a friend, and a few minutes later I heard a chainsaw and then a whole team of people walked into my yard.  It was our neighbor and their friends!  In less than 2 hours, they had cut up our large downed trees and helped us drag the branches to the side of the road.  It was welcome relief, and helped me to clear my head. 

Our friends, Dan, Shanine, and their cute daughter Selah, stopped by to check in on us and help us get the generator running.  Dan and Jeremy spent hours cleaning and rebuilding the carburetor, while us girls hung out.  I made them a fancy dinner on the grill.  Just kidding, it wasn't fancy, but it was good.  I was already thankful for that pre-cooked meat I had!

The absolute worst part of, to me, or hurricane recovery living, was the lack of AC at night.We had a generator, but it only worked for a few hours before it gave in.  We knew the days would be hot, there was no surprise there.  But, the nights…oh the nights were absolutely miserable.  I don’t think I can fully explain what it feels like to lay in bed, without a breeze or a faint whisper of movements and sweat through your sheets.  It was at night when I struggled the most.  I would have mini panic attacks, and fear that I could only take one more breath in life.  The heat was so heavy, and the stillness was so overwhelming, that I truly thought I may suffocate.  Those first few nights, there was no relief.  No breeze.  No sleep.  It was truly awful. 

Once the dawn broke, I couldn’t wait to get outside and breathe again.  Looking back, I should have just take a pillow to the back patio and slept out there.  I think it was a bit cooler than in the house (which was probably easily in the 90s), and there may have been a breeze to catch as well.  But, for some reason, you just feel paralyzed, waiting for the night to be over. 

Day three began.  Our yard was mostly cleaned up...now, we were hoping to find ways to help and serve others.  However, we quickly realized we were not prepared with the right tools.  This is where we saw the Lord, yet again, move in unexpected ways...