On the Porch
Onisha Ellis
Hurricane Helene skimmed the west coast of Florida before making landfall in the big bend area on September 26th. We were thankful that our family on Florida’s West coast didn’t experience any severe winds.
From our home in Western North Carolina we followed the progress of Helene as the storm made its way to inland Georgia. Here in the mountains rainfall totals from a cold front moving through were already at 10 inches, with more to come with Helene.
At some point after we went to bed, in the early morning hours I began receiving flash flood warnings on my phone. We don’t live near water, so I wasn’t concerned for us, but I was for the community. Our town is in a valley with lots of streams.
As we slept, Helene moved to a more eastward track. We woke up to light rain and mild wind gusts. Shortly after arising, our electricity went out. We have underground power so a tree or trees near a feeder line must have come down.
We were two days without power and three days without phones or internet. Fortunately, a friend in South Carolina didn’t lose any services and suggested we come stay with them. We emptied our freezers into ice chests, gathered up some clothes, loaded the car and with hearts full of gratitude drove to their home.
Once we drove south, we began to have intermittent cell service and I was able to let family and friends know that we were ok.
I checked social media and was horrified to find out about the devastation to the mountains east of us. To this day I am horrified at the death and destruction.
As I write this, I am watching 60 Minutes TV show. It doesn’t even come close to showing the horror. Prayers are appreciated. Donations to organizations like Samaritan’s Purse are still needed. A major need is propane heaters as it is now cold in the mountains and some are living in tents.
Following on the heels of Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton flared up in the Caribbean. There was quite a lot of fear about this storm as it rapidly developed into a category 5 hurricane and began a track to Florida’s West coast.
We have family on the West coast and a daughter on the East coast and the track was predicted to move onto land where the West coast family lives and exit on the East coast over where our daughter lives.
Our daughter would be going through the storm on her own, just herself and her dog, Ollie.
Our daughter did her storm preps and prepared to hunker down. I asked if she had hurricane snack foods and she didn’t have any! She worked up until the day of the storm and didn’t have the energy to fight the pre-storm crowds. Well that would not do!
I was able to place a Walmart delivery order that would arrive around 8:30 pm.
Hurricanes tend to spin up tornadoes. As Milton moved through the state, several large, damaging tornadoes touched down south of our daughter’s county. She had prepared for this by creating a “safe place” in her bathroom. She had books, blankets, pillows, candles and even treats for Ollie.
I barely slept the night Milton was crossing Florida. Would she lose power, are there tornadoes near her, what about her car, did anything hit it? I slept better during Helene.
When she called the next morning to say she was fine and had power, I sent up a thank you, God prayer.
The storm wasn’t finished but it would be moving out to sea soon. I was exhausted. Hurricane fatigue is real. Ask anyone who lived in Florida during 2004.
Old Things R New 