Irene: A Week Later…

Time flies. This time last week, a lot of us here in Eastern NC were watching Hurricane Irene make her approach to our shores, not entirely certain where she would hit and how hard–despite the best forecasts. Last Friday, my daughter and I gathered fallen branches from our yard (we have a pecan tree that sheds them with even moderate storms) and put them somewhere where they weren’t likely to become projectiles in hurricane force winds. I cleared off the porch. My wife brought home supplies from the store. We gathered in the house, prayed, and went to bed, not knowing what the morning would bring.

I awoke at 7:30 Saturday morning. The winds were only just beginning to kick up, but they were certainly strong. The rain was heavy, but I’d seen worse. Better yet, we still had power. I debated whether I should put the kettle on for a cup of tea, or brush my teeth first. Ten minutes later, after deciding to brush my teeth, the power went out. It would be more than 24 hours before I would get that cup of tea. I’m from England; that hurt.

It was close to 36 hours before we would have power again in the house. In that time, I got a lot of reading done. My kids learned to do without the television, the Wii, and the computer. They discovered their regular toys, and cards–playing cards. There were games of Go Fish, Crazy 8s, and Oh Heck (as we call it), and we all participated at one point or another.

Church activities were cancelled on Sunday, so we had a chance to assess the aftermath. We had some trees lose limbs, but none came down on the house. We also suffered a few minor issues (small leaks, and the like), but essentially the property was unscathed. I expected the yard to be waterlogged, but the sun was already drying up the ground. My wife took the kids out to the store, and went by the church to get me some hot water (the church still had power, and I really needed that cuppa!).  In the evening, one of our pastors invited us over for supper. They had power, and wanted to share hot food and air conditioning (as well as good fellowship). On the way out, we saw those that had not faired quite as well as we had.  Trees completely uprooted, power lines down, vinyl siding torn off, branches on roofs. I’m not sure why–do we ever know why?–we were blessed, but I felt it. I was also surprised at how quickly the roads had been cleared. Earlier that day, my wife had to turn back on a major road because of a tree that was blocking the way. That tree was now in pieces by the side of the road.

We returned home later that evening to see the porch light on. I heard reports that most in our area that had lost power were now reconnected to the grid. There were some that were still without, and we prayed that they wouldn’t be without for long. Our short experience showed how much our lives depend upon electricity, especially as we have become so dependent upon computers for information and communication, as well as entertainment. I felt isolated not being able to go online, check the news, read and send e-mail, and log in to Facebook. It’s easy to bemoan this and long for the days when communities were closer, and we weren’t so reliant upon digital devices. But like it or not, this is the 21st century. We just need to figure out a way to live it with longer battery life. Yet it’s good to have these reminders every now and again that even without these things, we can still function, communicate, and entertain ourselves.

Lessons learned: 1) count your blessings; 2) always have a stock of candles; 3) put the kettle on while you still have power.