Torrents of rain and wind that battered our neighbor's giant pine tree resulting in hundreds of pine cones and broken branches striking the east side of our roof in a 6-hour barragge.
(We have an appointment with an insurance adjuster next week.)
We started up the generator when the rain slacked. (We'll be converting to a whole house backup system because starting a generator in the midst of a hurricane is not fun. Also, propane bottles are now in short supply just as gasoline is.)
Tuesday, Day 2. Centerpoint finally sent a text saying they were aware of our power outage. Duh.
Daughter, her husband, and their dog had already left their no-power home on the other side of the outlying Houston area and went up to our house in the country. We had to wait because Darling Hubby was scheduled for Jury Duty Thursday.
Another Centerpoint text said they'd be letting us know when our power would be restored. Then Hubby was able to reschedule Jury Duty so we loaded up the most valuable food in the freezer and fridge and headed to our house in the country.
Wednesday, Day 3. We did nothing except try to recover our energy. Hot weather without air conditioning saps one's energy. An afternoon text from Centerpoint said they would let us know when they had an estimate of when they'd complete an assessment of the problems.
Yes, they'd switched from estimating the date of power restoration to estimating the date of the completion of an assessment of the problem.
ACTION NEEDED
We realized that power probably wasn't going to be restored any time soon. We decided to go home clean, unplug the refrigerator, and leave it open. We left at 2:30. Stopped for gas at a country store, did 2 propane bottle exchanges, and drove on.
Coming into the Houston area was surreal. It resembled one of those post-apocalyptic movies. Nothing was open—no restaurants, gas stations, etc. No cars filled parking lots. Traffic lights east and west of the freeway were dead.
We had to do the four-way stop thing at intersections where traffic lights were out, but we made it home.
Temperature was over 100 inside the house.
Hubby stored the propane bottles in the garage.
I washed out the refrigerator and freezer, pullled it out from the cabinet, and unplugged it. I took time to mop up water that had accumulated behind the fridge from melted ice.
Since there had been no mail delivery since Saturday, there was nothing to collect. We watered the patio pot plants, roses, azaleas, and our little garden.
BACK TO THE COUNTRY
As we drove away, we recognized that everything will die if the power isn't restored soon so the sprinkler system can run.
We arrived home only to discover that the WiFi was off. An hour later, we learned that a major fiber optic cable between 2 small towns near us had been severed. WiFi was to be restored Thursday morning. That didn't happen.
Saturday, Day 6. Finally, we have WiFi again. This past week has been uncomfortable, inconvenient, and costly, but otherwise, everything is okay. It could have been so much worse, and for many it has been. My prayers are with those who lost so much more.
If you have some extra bucks, please donate to a verified fundraiser. You can donate to a specific family that has a verified GoFundMe account or to a verified non-profit organization by clicking GoFundMe Hurricane Beryl Help.
TAKEAWAY TRUTH
I always look at hurricanes and other disasters like that this way—if you, or someone you love, aren't injured, or aren't injured badly, then everything else is okay and surviveable.
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