Hurricanes

This was from the front of the house. This was a portion of the big tree that shaded the front yard. We were SO lucky the way it fell because it only took out a fence. If it had fallen a different way, it would have fallen on the house. The rest of the tree fell in 2005 after Hurricane Dennis.

This was the back of our driveway. This tree was huge and shaded the entire back of the lot.

This was the front of our house, heading into the driveway.

Hurricanes. Hate 'em. After living in what seemed like a bulls-eye for hurricanes for 8 years, I wish I could say I'd never have to deal with one again. We even got hit with Hurricane Isabelle while living in Virginia! As an experienced hurricane 'survivor?', I can say some are way over hyped, but some are pretty darn scary. Hurricane Ike, that's baring down on Houston, is one of those underrated scary ones. I know Nancy and the family live 90 miles from the coast, but this one is big and she lives in a place with lots and lots of trees. It's probably why they call it "The Woodlands"- clever! I'm sure they'll be without power for a little while and will experience some seriously scary winds and rain. Let's hope they all stay safe and there isn't too much damage.

This one concerns me because we've been through a few. It sickens my stomach and it's something you can NEVER get used to or properly prepare for. I lived in Naples for six years and had first hand experience with some tropical storms and Category 1 storms. The wind and rain are fast and furious. We were actually at school when one tropical storm came rolling in. We were loading kids on buses and when those big buses pulled away, the winds were literally knocking us off our feet. I was wetter than wet, falling down and our Principal's skirt flew up. At that point, I decided that if that was 'just' a tropical storm, I NEVER wanted to experience a full-on hurricane.

Fast forward to 2004. Pensacola, Florida WAS the bulls-eye for hurricanes during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. I was six months pregnant with Kailey and Category 4 Hurricane Ivan was heading toward a direct hit at Pensacola. We lived about a mile from the bay, which then lead out to the gulf. I had class on Monday night, when I returned home, Paul said, we've got to leave tonight. There's no gas, this storm is bad, we need to go. He thinks no hurricane is serious, so when he finally did, I knew we had to leave. We took pictures of everything, packed up what we could and pulled away having no idea what we'd find when we return. We headed to the safe refuge of Nancy and Matt's house in Houston. Little did we know that we'd be spending the next ten days there. Ivan hit and Ivan hit hard. I remember standing in the loft of their house, watching the weather channel, learning the news that Ivan had jogged a little to the east. I remember looking at Nancy and just crying. We knew it was not good.

Our friends headed back for a day and stopped by our home to check to see if it was still standing. Our tiny little brick house had withstood the storm, but almost all of our neighbors lost roofs and portions of houses among other things. (If you Google Earth Pensacola, it was obviously taken right after Ivan, as the entire city has blue roofs!) We did have a beautiful wooded lot, that had now been blown to a barren, dry, brown landscape. Pensacola was without all public utilities for nine days...yep, no electricity, water...sewage! Plus, supplies were very, very scarce. When we finally did return, it looked like a war zone. As someone wrote, Pensacola Beach was the new Beirut.

I wish this on no one. We were lucky and now have the perspective that it's just stuff. But it's still so scary. My point is, stay safe and let's hope that this scary storm will whither away into nothing before it does too much damage.