After the power went out...

Please disregard the spookiness of all previous posts. They don't hold a candle to what happened after the storm really hit. I'm not sure I can even explain what it feels like to know that you are totally isolated from the outside world and that you have no control over your life. I guess storms like this really test whether you trust the Lord or not. I think I mostly do - or else I wouldn't have slept.

We lost power just before midnight. We all bedded down in the living room because that is the room that is safest from falling trees.

I woke up at 2:30 when something hit the roof and side of the house. As I peered outside the wind was really blowing and making the trees dance. The rain was coming down in sheets.

At 4:00 I woke again because I kept hearing dripping. The wind was unlike anything I've ever heard - different than the straight-line winds and tornados we used to have in Oklahoma. As I looked at the trees, the tops seemed to be swirling around and around. The dripping was from water being blown horizontally against the north side of the house. All the windows, doors and vents were leaking water. I placed towels against all areas of weakness and tried to sleep through all the cracks and thumps and wind.

I woke again at 6:30 and it was still going strong.

When we awoke at 7:50, this is what we saw: lots of plant debris, lots of downed limbs, and my poor bean plants were shredded. My garden plants were mostly uprooted and the trellis on the corner is lying flat - bent over at ground level. The house to the east had 5-6 HUGE branches down. We'll have to get the chainsaw out for those. It was still raining and blowing so we ate breakfast and turned on the radio to hear the news. Evidently 4 million are without power and one of 3 pumping stations is out so water pressure is minimal. Reports indicate that full functionality may take 4 weeks. But we are safe and our home and vehicles were not damaged, so we feel very blessed.