Catastrophe

What usually is a big rainstorm quickly evolved into something we've never seen here in Augusta, Georgia. Helene was a category 4 hurricane that hit the panhandle of Florida and came up towards Georgia. By the time it got here it was still a category one hurricane. That's pretty impressive since we are 3 hours inland. The devastation that that storm has bestowed on this city is something I'd have ever imagined. It was a crisis of devastation for so many. It felt like an episode of the Walking Dead, but without the walking dead. 

The day after the hurricane hit, people were meakly coming out of their homes if they hadn't been directly impacted. If the storm had thrown a tree on their home or car, they were crying for help on social media for someone to aid them in getting out. The power was out and in some places, so was the water. All of a sudden, Augustans were thrust into the depths of primitive living. Only a few were prepared. The sights were surreal. The damage unthinkable. For the Thurmans, day 2 of this catastrophe was the first day of real work. The five of us, gathered up the rakes and chainsaw and went to cutting at the hardest hit of our properties...Holden drive. In all, there were 5 rentals with trees on them or through them. Add about 5 to that for roof damage and add about 30 to that for trees in yards and massive limb cleanup. It was a first for the kids. They'd never worked that long or that hard. I was proud that my kids were doing it with minimal complaining. On day 3, help came in the form of a worker and "Smurf", his helper. More work was done as I became master tractor operator. We moved so many trees and logs and limbs. The days start to run together because there was no weekend and there was only hard work to do. While I would hear stories of neighbor hoods pulling together and helping each other out, I was not a witness to that at all. We own the entire street of houses where we were working. It angered me that not one tenant offered to come out and help us work. We cleaned up their yards and their driveways, yet no one offered a hand. In fact, some spent their days just staring at us work as they sat on their front stoops. I saw the part of society that only exists to be served..what will you do for me next mentalitites. Thanksfully Monday came with a slew of our workers who were able to make it in. Some brought their own kids. Everyone worked hard. Everyone sweated. Although the first day of fall has come and gone, it has been a balmy 88 degrees most days. In Georgia humidity numbers, it feels like 95 degrees. Not fair at all. 

Food was scarce, no restaurants were open so it was also my duty to feed the troops each day. If anyone knows me, cooking isn't my forte. But I did venture to cook hamburgers one day and another day we had deli sandwiches. One day were down to PB&J sandwiches with no idea what I would prepare after that. But they all worked diligently. I appreciated everyone who showed up. I know I was paying them, but I was desperate for help....and they came. Day 5 was when I could tell people were getting restless. They had no power, the food had spoiled. They had no entertainment and obviously they weren't helping to move trees. I saw a bunch of runners and excercisers. People who just had to get out of the house. It was also the day we started hearing about the calvalry. Those linemen from Texas, Alabama, Maryland and who knows where else, coming to help put our power lines back up. I ventured out with my daughter to find that near the mall, there was a Burger King opening for the first time at 11 a.m. It was 10:59!!!! That day everyone got Whopper Jrs. for lunch and I didn't have to be creative! Today is day 10 and still some people don't have power. School has been postponed until after fall break giving the kids a solid 2.5 weeks off with virtually no responsiblity. Who can work on schoolwork without power? No one, because most everything is online. We found some people to start rebuilding the roofs. We found others to frame up some damage. Insurance companies were called and things are on the move. The city is waking up as there are no longer long lines to wait for gas like in the beginning. No single file shopping trips to Walmart for fear of looting. The ice and water were free flowing from different charities and city programs. Things were looking up. It is mostly all fixable.....mostly. There were some who didn't survive the storm. Some twins and their mother in Thomson. An elderly couple in bed in Beech Island, SC. A sweet lady we have talked with so many times at the club, Katherine McCall. Just like that, it was their time to go. That precariously placed fallen tree sent them to meet their maker. Its bad for most but for them and their families, it was the worst case scenario. I feel guilty having a best case scenario at my house. We had a whole house generator thanks to my overly prepared husband. We had gone to get food and when they said the water was getting cut off, we filled buckets and bottles with water. We didn't go one day without air conditioning. We watched movies each night thanks to our cell phone hot spots. We didn't really do without for too long. Why?

In a catastrophe, you feel guilty for having frozen food when everyone around you has to throw out hundreds of dollars of spoiled meals. If you have water, you feel bad that someone 3 streets over hasn't had a proper shower in a week. I guess that's natural. It was the reason I could work so hard to get those trees off houses. It was the reason we kept going day after day. We were ok at night. Safe and cool. We were ok. 

As we embark on week 2 of cleanup, we have to do shift our focus to rebuilding. At least we're good at that. We've been doing it for 21 years.