We Don't Like Ike

Friday night we were prepared for Ike's fury, the sliding glass door and one main window were boarded up and the other windows were taped and cardboarded. At 10pm I put some Stouffer's lasagna in the oven and we sat down to watch Baby's Mama for an hour and a half while dinner cooked. At 11:30pm, with 9 minutes left to cook the lasagna, the power went out. We were half way through the movie but at least we got to eat a hot meal. At around 2 am the tropical winds started. By 3:30 am they were up to 100 mph. I could hear the wind whistling through the windows and doors, the rain pelting the roof, and many unknown objects hitting the side of the house. My husband & I, along with our three furrkids, were safely tucked away in an interior closest of our 3rd floor apartment. In the closet hubby fell asleep on our makeshift bed, the animals had settled into there respective spots, and i claimed my corner in the back where I had my reading table, book and lightwedge all ready to go. I must have read at least 150 pages while I sat there listening to Ike reek havoc on our city. I could not sleep until 7:30 am the next morning when the winds had considerably died down. I would like to thank the man or woman that invented the battery operated fan. Without two of them babies I think we would have been miserable.


Saturday afternoon the storm had finally moved past us onto the next unlucky town. Feeling that it was now safe to go outdoors, we took a look around the apartment complex. Several large trees had been uprooted, most small trees were riped right out of the ground, some strewn into the bushes, broken limbs were scattered everywhere, shingles from the rooves had been torn to shreds and dispursed like confetti, the pool was littered with debris from the trees along with the shredded shingles and who knows what else, leaves & mud covered the drains, sidewalks, and sides of the apartments and all of this was just looking around our complex. The rest of the city we wouldn't see for a few days. Back inside the apartment, we lit candles and set up flashlights around the living room so we could play scrabble and backgammon. Then it was off to bed in the coolest room in the house, the closest we rode out the storm in, we brought the ice chest into the room and set it in the doorway of the closet and taped one of the battery operated fans to the lid, instant swamp cooler! Using blankets we blocked off the enterance to the closest to keep in the cool air. Being able to sleep comfortably without power, and especially a/c, is very challenging to someone who has hot flashes and is used to sleeping in a 65 degree room, but I have to say the "swamp cooler" really worked.


Sunday morning around 10 am we tried to venture out on the streets. We drove to hubby's job and looked at the damage. All and all it looked like it withstood the storm with just a couple of large bay doors ruined and some water inside on the floor of the facility. Leaving there we decided to go a different way home, shortly down the road we learned this was a bad decision as the roads were still flooded, so turning to go down another street we get stuck with no choice except to drive through the high water along the flooded feeder road. We were able to jump two wheels upon a curb as we went drove through the water. As soon as we were past the flooding we made our way back home the same way we started out. At home while we were having lunch and listening to the radio, we heard they were giving out ice just a couple of blocks from where we live. So we got in the car and drove to the designated place and proceeded to wait in the longest organized line with the other hundreds of cars for an hour and a half to recieve 40 lbs of much needed ice. (To anyone who volunteered to help those of us in need, I would like to take this time to say a very heartfelt thanks, without you caring and giving of your time some of us would have lost even more precious food.