Goodnight Irene...and Good Riddance!

HI Everyone! First, let me thank you for all the prayers and thoughts. We made it through! Irene hit us with force (Thankfully with less wind speed than predicted) and all I can say is that I don't think I have ever heard wind like that..... ever.

I thought the sound of the wind might sound like howling or moaning like a winter wind through the bare trees, but no this sounded like the loudest humming one could ever hear. ....giant hornets.... is what describes it. The sound was unrelenting and ever present starting very late on Saturday and lasting all day Sunday.

                

                         Video I tried to take hours before Irene hit. It's bad I know, but it'll give you a sense of the humming I wrote about. during Irene it was so much louder.

                

   

                            

                   This one was taken when the wind had died down a bit. you can see the big trees in the distance being whipped around

The trees swayed violently and I tried to get video of the storm in full force,but whenever I felt brave enough to stick the camera out the window the wind would die down. We were very scared that one of our trees would come down, but it held it's own. All around you could hear the cracking of branches. The lights went out and then there was no TV news to drown out the waves of deafening humming. At times when the winds would die down a bit the leaves made the wind sound like ocean waves...very freaky.  Our kids slept down stairs and as my Mom slept in the guest room my husband and I slept in the living room on the couch and love seat. All night we took turns going down to the basement to check for flooding and thank God there was only a small wet spot on the wall.

After the power went out we had a very long day of just waiting around listening to our battery operated radio and later on we ate by candle light and played charades.           

                                           

                                            Sunday pasta a must no matter what!

The kids never once felt scared and I think that was a blessing. Today as we drove carefully around the neighborhood ( alot of traffic lights were still not working) many stores were  not open and every where you looked there was yellow tape signaling a dangerous spot where a tree was down.

Look at the size of the truck of this tree!

                                                                                      

        The sign reads Children in Area

We Thanked God that our neighbors and friends are all safe. Our family is Safe and we pray for those that were not so fortunate. My heart breaks for all those who have lost their homes, gotten hurt or who have lost family members to this Hurricane. I pray for them all.

 All I can say is that Everyone should have an emergency kit. Ours is just a Tupperware with Flashlight, Battery operated radio. extra batteries,  first aid kit ,water and some canned foods. Oh and don't forget a manual can opener!...I learned this one the hard way! Having the kit handy right there in the corner of the living room was very comforting and convenient especially when the lights went out. They say that using candles is dangerous because of the fire that could be caused by them, and so we were careful to only use them on the kitchen table.

Again, Thank You all for your sweet comments they warmed my heart!

                                           Blessings, Joanne

P.S. My computer is on it's last legs. We are trying hard to save it so I might not be able to post or comment for the next few days while we try to give it new life! :O(