Remembering Hurricane Michael

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY... Wednesday, October 10th 2018

We live 40 miles from the coast and were amazed at the magnitude of this storm! It struck sometime after noon and thankfully, lasted only 3-4 hours. Any longer and we might have lost our house. We live in a mobile home, and at one point during this Category 5 storm, the center ridge flashing must have flipped up and water poured in between the two halves of the doublewide. Our saving grace was that the wind was blowing from the north against the end of the trailer rather than the face. I question how much longer our home could have withstood the winds. My heart aches for the people of the Bahamas. I could not imagine the sheer terror they went through! The intensity of this storm was terrifying. So grateful that Hurricane Michael happened during the day! 

At one point we tried to rest - I wanted to go to sleep and wake up when it was over, but not a chance; the howling wind, the pelting rain and the sounds of debris crashing were too frightening to be able to rest in a dark room, so we went and waited it out in the living room.

 

 We didn't see it go, but there used to be a greenhouse covering the tables outside this window.

We found it days later across the property, bent up into a ball.

Debris was everywhere!

   When the storm died down we went outside to survey the damage.  Though the destruction was all around and overwhelming, the reflection that we were alive and safe, with a home intact gave us an incredible sense of relief and, surprisingly, peace. 

   We hadn't walked very far when we decided to go and check on our neighbors one farm over down the street. 

 

 

 The loss of many of the magnificent trees on their property was heartbreaking!

Our friends also live in a mobile home and they related their experience during the hurricane.... They would hear a loud "CRACK"  and yell, "TREE" praying all the while it wouldn't land on the house.  You can see how close these huge trees were to her home and shed! There is  no  doubt in my mind that the hand of God was over both of us that day!