Helene
9.26.2024
It didn't seem like it would be that bad, as the rain streaked the window panes and the wind blew the trees around our little apartment. I was sitting on the couch knitting, and was thankful I had the familiar pattern of knit two, perl two, to occupy my mind. At this point everything was “normal”. Bella was filling out mileage sheets for work, so her coworkers could get reimbursed. Jude, the little black cat, was curled up between us, dozing off. We entered into the fantasy world on the screen in front of us, swords clashing and horses galloping off into the distance.
At 10:30 or so, the power went out. We were expecting it. Candles were ready, flashlights were next to us. Our phones were charged. All of that was expected. We got ready for bed, washed our faces, brushed our teeth. In the morning we thought, we would check the outage reports on Duke Energy’s website for updates on restoration. Sleeping was easy. Without the hum of the refrigerator, or the electronic whir of the air conditioning, it felt peaceful. It felt similar to the fantasy world we were watching on television, with candles burning, wax dripping onto the table. I tried to fall asleep without a care in the world. I knew it would sort itself out in a few days. I had been through many storms in the past.
Except this was different. The wind howled throughout the night. I never witnessed rain like this before. It was not the calm rain I knew and loved. There was a river flowing on the street outside the ground level apartment, past my car. It was dirty, and the brown water was filled with sediment and green leaves and small sticks. The earth was so saturated the trees couldn’t hold on. The telephone pole outside our window fell and was only held up by the network of cables connecting it to the one still standing on either side.
We heard most of the trees fall between 6:00 am and 10:00 am. The sunlight tried to peak through but it was still very dark and grey. It was at this point that we knew it would be more than a few days before power was restored. Optimistically, I kept telling myself it would only be a few weeks. We’d go visit family out of town, and come back to apartments with power and water.
When the storm settled, and the sun came out again, we ventured outside to look at the damage. A tree had fallen across the street in front of my car. I was lucky. I remembered parking there last night, and almost parked exactly where that tree had fallen. On the other side of the house, another tree had blocked off the road wrapping around the building, climbing towards the top of the hill. We had one way out, but that was better off than others.
It didn't seem like it would be that bad, as the rain streaked the window panes and the wind blew the trees around our little apartment. I was sitting on the couch knitting, and was thankful I had the familiar pattern of knit two, perl two, to occupy my mind. At this point everything was “normal”. Bella was filling out mileage sheets for work, so her coworkers could get reimbursed. Jude, the little black cat, was curled up between us, dozing off. We entered into the fantasy world on the screen in front of us, swords clashing and horses galloping off into the distance.
At 10:30 or so, the power went out. We were expecting it. Candles were ready, flashlights were next to us. Our phones were charged. All of that was expected. We got ready for bed, washed our faces, brushed our teeth. In the morning we thought, we would check the outage reports on Duke Energy’s website for updates on restoration. Sleeping was easy. Without the hum of the refrigerator, or the electronic whir of the air conditioning, it felt peaceful. It felt similar to the fantasy world we were watching on television, with candles burning, wax dripping onto the table. I tried to fall asleep without a care in the world. I knew it would sort itself out in a few days. I had been through many storms in the past.
Except this was different. The wind howled throughout the night. I never witnessed rain like this before. It was not the calm rain I knew and loved. There was a river flowing on the street outside the ground level apartment, past my car. It was dirty, and the brown water was filled with sediment and green leaves and small sticks. The earth was so saturated the trees couldn’t hold on. The telephone pole outside our window fell and was only held up by the network of cables connecting it to the one still standing on either side.
We heard most of the trees fall between 6:00 am and 10:00 am. The sunlight tried to peak through but it was still very dark and grey. It was at this point that we knew it would be more than a few days before power was restored. Optimistically, I kept telling myself it would only be a few weeks. We’d go visit family out of town, and come back to apartments with power and water.
When the storm settled, and the sun came out again, we ventured outside to look at the damage. A tree had fallen across the street in front of my car. I was lucky. I remembered parking there last night, and almost parked exactly where that tree had fallen. On the other side of the house, another tree had blocked off the road wrapping around the building, climbing towards the top of the hill. We had one way out, but that was better off than others.
