Saturday April 30--Adjusting to the “New Normal”
Originally my calendar for today was full. We had six grandchildren involved in soccer games, two grandsons scheduled to play baseball, and were involved in the support for a local road race. All had been cancelled, of course.
By this time all of the items in the house that were on battery backup had quit on us. We have almost (almost!) stopped walking into a room and instinctively flipping the light switch without thinking. We are now thinking that cereal or a granola bar is a tasty breakfast, and our news comes to us from a local radio station through a battery radio. Occasionally, when we have the generator on we hook the power up to the TV and get some news and updates. A few of the restaurants have begun to cook food and give it away to keep it from spoiling. The local authorities have asked the school officials to keep schools closed until at least Wednesday, in hopes of having some power restored by that time.
Communication is still a major problem. With no power there is no way to get messages out to the public. We have no e-mail or Facebook posts or even phone trees to let parents know if school will be in or out on Monday. The same is true when it comes to giving information about worship services for Sunday. However, as the day progressed, we were blessed with sporadic cell phone coverage. That is a good sign. Brad told us that our worship service would be a brief service at 9 AM tomorrow. No evening service due to the curfews.
Destruction is everywhere in our area. I don't even remember where I took this picture!
Originally my calendar for today was full. We had six grandchildren involved in soccer games, two grandsons scheduled to play baseball, and were involved in the support for a local road race. All had been cancelled, of course.
By this time all of the items in the house that were on battery backup had quit on us. We have almost (almost!) stopped walking into a room and instinctively flipping the light switch without thinking. We are now thinking that cereal or a granola bar is a tasty breakfast, and our news comes to us from a local radio station through a battery radio. Occasionally, when we have the generator on we hook the power up to the TV and get some news and updates. A few of the restaurants have begun to cook food and give it away to keep it from spoiling. The local authorities have asked the school officials to keep schools closed until at least Wednesday, in hopes of having some power restored by that time.
Communication is still a major problem. With no power there is no way to get messages out to the public. We have no e-mail or Facebook posts or even phone trees to let parents know if school will be in or out on Monday. The same is true when it comes to giving information about worship services for Sunday. However, as the day progressed, we were blessed with sporadic cell phone coverage. That is a good sign. Brad told us that our worship service would be a brief service at 9 AM tomorrow. No evening service due to the curfews.
Destruction is everywhere in our area. I don't even remember where I took this picture!We started our day by checking on Shirley, who seemed to have enough help at the time. Then we went to Daniel and Rebecca’s house, which was located in a subdivision less than a mile from our house. However, their subdivision was totally demolished in the storm. We had not heard about Daniel and Rebecca’s grief until late yesterday, so we went to help them today. The agent who had sold all of the houses in the subdivision had set up a tent and was directing people to the houses of their friends, providing food and water to workers, helping direct traffic, and providing whatever assistance she could give. Daniel and Rebecca and baby Preston were not home when the storms hit, which was very fortunate since the tornado literally tore their house in half, separating the kitchen area from the rest of the house. They had gone through whatever they could salvage yesterday, and today were trying to locate important papers. We helped them look, but did not come up with anything of use.
As we returned to Shirley’s house we spotted part of the WAFF weather radar system that had blown away during the tornado. Part of it was in someone’s yard less than a mile from our house. We talked to several ladies, and they told us that part of it had been located in a tree just down the road from our house, and part of it at East Limestone High School, a couple of miles east of us. At least we know now where it ended up!
We returned to Shirley’s area, and by early afternoon they were finishing up the last of the salvageable items, burning old papers, wood, and some furniture. The volunteer fire department came by again and supplied us with sandwiches, chips, drinks, and bananas. The bananas were a big hit…something different, and fresh. The next time the volunteer fire department comes by our house and asks for a donation, they can count us in! There are so many people out helping others that it is amazing. No one who is working has to stop and hunt up food. Often small wagons deliver it to your site, and they are constantly grilling hamburgers at the volunteer fire station and giving them out to anyone who needs food.
As we returned to Shirley’s house we spotted part of the WAFF weather radar system that had blown away during the tornado. Part of it was in someone’s yard less than a mile from our house. We talked to several ladies, and they told us that part of it had been located in a tree just down the road from our house, and part of it at East Limestone High School, a couple of miles east of us. At least we know now where it ended up!
We returned to Shirley’s area, and by early afternoon they were finishing up the last of the salvageable items, burning old papers, wood, and some furniture. The volunteer fire department came by again and supplied us with sandwiches, chips, drinks, and bananas. The bananas were a big hit…something different, and fresh. The next time the volunteer fire department comes by our house and asks for a donation, they can count us in! There are so many people out helping others that it is amazing. No one who is working has to stop and hunt up food. Often small wagons deliver it to your site, and they are constantly grilling hamburgers at the volunteer fire station and giving them out to anyone who needs food.
Local police and the National Guard are stationed at the end of our road checking us each time we enter storm-damage area. It is so nice to have them protecting our property and the property of others. We would love to have our power back on, but we are so thankful that we are safe and have no damage to speak of that we can hardly complain.
I will get a hot shower and shampoo my hair at Barbara Jo and Norm’s house in a little while. What a treat that will be! Hopefully, I can post this while I am there enjoying their electricity!
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