I'm sure that by now
you've all seen the pictures of the devastation caused by Hurricane
Michael. The Gulf Coast of Florida was where the storm made
landfall. Particularly hardest hit was Panama City and the town of
Mexico Beach, the latter of which was literally obliterated.
My friend Matt's mother,
Carole lives in the town of Lynn Haven, just north of Panama City,
almost directly under where the eye passed. Her house was not built
to withstand 150+ mph winds. We begged to her to come to Pensacola,
but she unwisely decided to shelter-in-place.
Carole takes in a lot of dogs and cats that are awaiting adoption,
and it would have been difficult to bring them all anywhere. So she
stayed, along with some others who lived in even more vulnerable
locations and came over to her house to ride out the storm.
Miraculously, the house
stood. Carole lost nearly all of the shingles on her roof, along
with the siding on one side of the house. A backyard tree had fallen
on the house but thankfully did not compromise the structural
integrity of the roof. Of course she lost power and water.
After the storm. Matt
went down from Atlanta with a chainsaw and some plastic tarps. He
cut down the tree and did what he could to minimize any water damage
if it rains before repairs can be made.
As I've mentioned, we here
on the Gulf Coast have gotten pretty good at responding to disasters
of this nature. This time was a prime example. Emergency and relief
services were in place well in advance of the hurricane's arrival,
ready to leap into action. Trucks and bulldozers were out getting
the roads cleared almost immediately. Crews began repairing power
lines. Churches and shelters began distributing hot meals. It's
nice to be able to get something to eat without having to cook when
you've been cleaning up your property all day and are exhausted. And
truly, getting everything back to normal is as daunting a task as you
can imagine.
Gulf Power published an
estimate of when affected areas might have their electrical power
restored. Lynn Haven, where Carole lives was in a big area marked
“TBD”...to be determined. They said it could be months,
depending on the damage to the infrastructure (substations, etc.)
Within a couple of days,
Carole happily reported that her water was back on. They could take
(albeit cold) showers again. Huzzah! And then, not even seven days
after the storm had passed, her electricity incredibly came back on.
We could almost hear the cheering 80 miles away here in Pensacola.
You have to be impressed
at the effort that everyone from government agencies to big
corporations to churches to regular individuals put into making
things right after such a devastating event. You read about the
stories and see them on TV. It is truly heartwarming to know that so
many people care and will go the extra mile to help those in need. Makes you proud to be an American.
Matt and I were talking
the other day. ”You know,” said from the
comfort of his house in the hurricane-free zone of Atlanta, Georgia,
”if that storm had hit Pensacola it would have been worse
than Ivan.”
He was referring to
Hurricane Ivan, a Category 3 storm that hit us in 2004. Ivan was
awful for Pensacola. We were both here for it. The destruction was
shocking. It took a looooong time...five years at least...to recover
from it. And yes, Michael would have been worse. I did not leave
for Ivan. I should have. I didn't get any damage but I was very,
very lucky.
I live in a strong brick
house with a relatively new roof – and I'm about eight feet above
my street and 100 feet or so above sea-level. Even so, we were
watching the storm track with anxiety. I would have left if Michael
hadn't made it's last-second curve to the northeast and spared us –
as all the weather forecasters were promising.
But it's easy for me: Single, no kids and no pets.
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