Finally...

I can't get off the 'puter today and not say that, looking back to five years ago right now, I am millions of times better off. This very morning, five years ago, I was exhausted, wet, desperate and scared out of my mind. I know that by 10 AM, the water was up and the wind was still blowing at over 80 mph, but the fact that we were up to our necks in sewage and salt water was keeping our minds off the prospect of losing the roof for the next several hours.

We had five trees on the house (one a 60' magnolia tree that crushed my deck and patio area), no power, phones or water, and the surge was rapidly approaching the house itself. Over the course of the next several hours, both my fridge and my freezer floated off the floor enough to overturn, meaning that what water and supplies we had in each was suddenly ruined. My water heater also floated up, but remained connected to the walls by the copper pipes, so that as it bobbed merrily on top of the flood water, it tore more and more of the drywall out of the walls. We would find out later that appliances such as washers, dryers, ovens and dishwashers all filled with this disgusting water and held it quite nicely for the next several days, allowing it to develop a smell that cannot be described in words (but was strong enough to make myself, Jambo and another friend vomit as we tried to get them out of the house).

We saw no one in our subdivision for the next day or two... and there wasn't a sound to be heard at night. Not just a lack of "people noise"... which there wasn't any of because no one had returned yet... but no bugs or birds either. Nothing but absolute quite for as long as you wanted to listen. Eventually, people came back, and there was the occasional National Guard APC rolling through to make sure all was as well as could be... but those first nights after the storm were surreal in a way I will never, ever forget.

Looking back, I can't but think that the first day must have been completed totally in shock. I recall the day, but it blurs together when I try and recall details. I know that within hours of the water receding, the carpets and furniture started to stink of mildew and mold... and as exhausted as we were, we started to pull everything out of the house and onto the front porch. It didn't help...

Yep... I can't express how glad I am that this particular memory is now five years behind me. I have a new home, a new job, and the most wonderful new family a man could ever hope for. Thank you, Lord.