The Wind Began To Switch, The House To Pitch, And Suddenly The Hinges Started To Unhitch

We had a bit of a windy day yesterday. I gave up trying to sleep at 4 AM Thursday morning. There was a wind storm going on outside and a hacking storm going on in my lungs. I decided to spend the rest of my sleeping hours on the couch in the kitchen watching TV. As soon as I walked out of my room, this was the first sign of the storm I saw.

Our entire front porch was full of tumble weeds. As I sat on the couch, it was too dark to see what was going on, but I kept hearing big things hit the side of the house. I had never heard the wind blow with such ferocity. And we get some pretty good wind storms in these parts.

Around 6 AM Steve and the kids (except for Addy who managed to sleep soundly for another hour or so) gave up trying to sleep. So we sat and watched as the sun started to rise and bring into our view the scene around us. Thankfully, the chicken coop still seemed to be intact.

We saw that the flashing had come off of our fireplace. And there were shingles all over the yard. Thankfully that is the extent of the major damage we suffered. We were very blessed. The very first picture in this post is what remains of my mother's deck that was attached to her house before her huge pine tree fell on it. The front right corner of the picture is of the lower part of the deck. The tree is across the upper part of the deck and awning. Also under the tree is her beautiful brand new grill she got for her Birthday in August.

I started typing this post on Friday. It is now Sunday night and we have another wind storm coming our way. Back to the story of Thursday...

It is reported that in some places the wind reached 102 miles an hour. It started blowing sometime before 4am and didn't stop until after 12 noon. I think everyone in our neighborhood that had a shed no longer has one. During the storm we watched our big huge window in our kitchen flex the entire time. Flex in, flex out. Flex in, flex out. I am so thankful it is flexible. At one point we were standing at a window looking at the field across the street from us as a big blue porta potty made its way toward us. Thankfully it stopped way before it got to our house. Our power was out all day. My mom's power went out before ours on Thursday and it just came back on a few hours ago (Sunday afternoon). Here are just a few pictures Zac took around the neighborhood. I have been sick and really haven't left the house except to go to the doctor but I hear this is pretty much the scene all over our county.

I don't think there was one vinyl fence that was undamaged in our neighborhood.

We have a ton of commercial and residential building going on around us so there was trash from construction everywhere

These are condo's being built. The whole middle section of this building collapsed.

There are big beautiful trees down everywhere.

Since I am sick and the kids are getting sick, we have been holed up in our house all weekend. And our satellite TV isn't working so we can't watch the news. But from what I hear the governor has called in the National Guard and has declared a state of emergency. Like I said before, we have another wind storm that is just starting now. It is supposed to last until 11am tomorrow. It isn't supposed to be as bad as the last storm, but everyone was worried because of all the debris from the last storm. My mom said at her church today her Stake President had all the wards go for Sacrament Meeting only and then told them to go home and secure all the homes in their wards and then all the homes in their city. My mom and Lauren and Lauren's dog Eli are staying with us tonight. They said on their way over here it was the same sight in our neighborhood as it was in their neighborhood. Everyone was out with trailers cleaning up all the mess. Steve said that he saw online that there was a huge line of trucks and trailers making their way to the dump today.

There are a few feelings I have about this whole situation. First and foremost I am thankful that no one was seriously injured. My mom was sitting on her couch in front of her sliding glass window as the tree fell right in front of her on her deck. Just a foot more in the wrong direction and the tree would have gone through her house and she would have been hurt.

I also think this is a great test of our emergency preparedness. I think for the most part, we were prepared, but there are some things we certainly need to work on. This helped make those things clear to us. I believe we are living in the last days and this destruction we are seeing all over is only the beginning. There is more to come and I am sure it will be worse. I want to be prepared to see my family as safely through it as possible.

Also, it SUCKS being sick through the whole thing. Like really, really sucks. It has been hard for me. I have hated it. I hate being the one people have to check on. I have the bestest neighbors and friends in the whole world and they have been bringing in meals to us through this whole thing. But it makes me feel like a loser that when there are much more important and pressing things they could be doing, they are worrying about me and my family. It makes me feel bad that the whole neighborhood was out working together today and we were all snug in our house coughing our lungs up and wasting away with fevers. I am so thankful we live in such a fantastic place where people can be counted on to come together and help and serve each other.

But it made me realize that as grateful as I was for the service given to me and my family, I don't want to be in this position the next time. I need to take better care of myself and keep myself healthy in my old age (I'm gettin' up there and I add another year soon) so that I am able bodied and when a real disaster with real consequences (I'm not trying to down play this latest one, I just think there will be worse to come) is upon us, It doesn't have to go down like this last one. I want to be the person out there helping others. I don't want to be stuck inside my house waiting for someone to come and help me.

Thank you to everyone who did think of us and checked in on us and who brought in delicious meals when you had much more important things to do. I love you all. We live in the best neighborhood ever. And now the wind is really starting to pick up outside so I think I will turn the computer off.

The wind began to switch, the house to pitch, and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch. Just then, the Witch, to satisfy an itch, went flying on her broomstick thumbing for a hitch. And oh what happened then was rich. The house began to pitch, the kitchen took a slitch. It landed on the wicked witch in the middle of a ditch. Which was not a healthy situation for the wicked witch.......