Well I'm finally back on line after we lost power on Friday morning around 8 ish and it was restored last evening around 8'ish. What a storm of the century here in certain parts of the country and especially here in the mountains of N.C. in Alleghany County. All I can say is we were blessed despite the inconvenience of no power but the devastation in other areas is heart breaking to say the least. I'll stay with how we were impacted with never believing we would lose electricity at first and how we coped.
Friday morning found us with heavy rain that started on Thursday and it never stopped all through the night with a final tally of some where around 16 inches. We had the white water stream rushing down through the backwoods area into the dry gully from the top of the mountain. At times the noise on the roof from the rain was that of a tornado. The winds on Friday morning was very strong and at times gusting so strong the trees around the cabin were bending when suddenly the lights flickered and the cabin went dark. I figured a tree had fallen on a line and didn't think that wouldn't take long to fix; little did I know that would change over the next day and half as we sat in the dark with only flash lights and candles. What an eerie feeling as the day grew long with incessant poring rain and wind. We sat by a window for light and played cards a different times through out the day and watched a huge oak tree that was just down below the cabin swaying in the wind, suddenly crack and then topple down into the gully, wow were we ever lucky in went down away from the cabin.
We ate sparingly with no way to heat anything as the deck was being inundated with rain and high winds which is where the grill was located, plus we were starting to become concerned about spoilage of our contents in the fridge which we had just loaded up, thinking friends were coming for a couple of weeks. When we lost power Nancy also lost wifi and internet with her phone so our contacts to the outside were limited as she did make contact while sitting in the truck. Another inconvenience but nothing drastic as we were safe, dry and warm. Little did we know what was happening to others in the area with more severe damage. We did get together with the Nymark's who were in touch with their son near us in Florida and his house was flooded as they left their place to move into Steve and Sheri's house near our daughter's house in Seminole which was high and dry and retained power. Our house in Seminole sustained some tree limbs damage and was without power for several days, but no real structure damage.
We managed to entertain one another and the Nymark's who came for meals and cards after eating food prepared on the grill and that was another inconvenience, plus the was dirty dishes which bugged Nancy, little did we know that was nothing compared to others and later were thankful it was just another inconvenience. I heated rain water on the grill and took care of that issue as well as used rain water from my overflowing rain barrel to use as water for a flush in the commode. Our new neighbor who came back and forth several times over those 2 days to check us and others in our neighbor hood was another real blessing especially to one older fellow on was on oxygen. He made available a solar generator for him as his battery was losing power. He had a propane generator so he had power and fresh water and eventually filled up several containers of fresh water for our use. He was a great blessing for everyone here with his powerful ATV that navigated the washed out roads and driveways plus the heavy rains.
We did get out of the cabin yesterday after the rain stopped and we started to dry out, so off to town for fresh water, ice and candles and batteries. We found some but was limited as we were thinking days with out power, but last night after a supper cooked on the grill which was thawed out steaks, broccoli and taters cooked in aluminum foil we ate by candle light it was delicious to say the least. The Nymark's were here and we once again playing hand, knee and foot by candle light and the gals barely won a fourth time in a row when the lights suddenly came on and we felt blessed that we could shower and get in touch with the outside world. We got word the power at church had been restored also and was available to many who still had no power and that showers could be had as well as electronics could be restored and charged as well with a service to Praise GOD. Well not thinking we would have power which changed so quickly, enlightened our souls that we would be spared another day without power and all the inconveniences. We quickly gave thanks and decided we would attend the service.
It was so nice to have a shower after a couple of days and little did we know of what devastation this storm did to other parts of the county, that we almost felt guilty complaining of our inconveniences, LATER
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