L'Acadie Inn & RV Park's Fan Box

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Minimal damage, everyone safe

We were able to sleep in our house last night since the power returned yesterday afternoon. All the children except Nickel did fine. Nickel seems to have come down with a sinus infection and is not too happy with it. I'm sure the heat didn't help. The experience is not one I want to repeat again. I think everything would have been fine without five anxious children and no electricity. Here's what happened.

We moved into the hotel rooms on Sunday since we weren't sure exactly when Gustav was going to hit land and what kind of weather we might be facing. The children were all excited with an adventure. Everything was pretty calm with a decent wind coming off the prairie, but nothing too harsh.

Monday morning the wind had picked up, and by noon things were starting to get a little hairy. We stood in the corridor and watched as sheets of rain came by horizontally. The wind threw debris everywhere and howled and moaned like some invisible monster. By about 4 pm, Monday afternoon, the transformer blew and the power went out. Occasionally, we heard a crack from trees going down. As we listened to the radio, we realized that the eye passed to the east of us, so we didn't get the worst part of the storm. Winds were in the range of 80-90 mph for us. Things began calming down by about 8 pm which was a huge relief. No one wants to be in a hurricane at night. At least during the day, you can see what is happening. I came to a big realization. The reporters you see fighting wind and rain and drama on tv are only in the 30-40 mph winds before the main part hits. The wind was so strong, it looked like it would pick up the vehicles at any moment and put them in the soybean field across the street.

We started getting reports that Opelousas to Baton Rouge got hit pretty hard. Lance's little brother is in B.R. and so were two of my sisters. They will probably be without power for two weeks or so. Monday night, after the eye passed was when the tornadoes came through about 2:30-3:30 am. We didn't get any more damage, just more limbs. The lightning and thunder were pretty fierce for a while. What is amazing to me is that the people who evacuated to the North-- Alexandria up to Monroe got quite a bit of damage and no power too. My sister said that her high school in Opelousas lost their roof and some of the walls were collapsing from rain water. Her school will be closed indefinitely along with a couple of others in Opelousas, Leonville and Arnaudville. As we talk to more people in Eunice, it seems most, like us, only have limbs, roof & fence damage, along with power outages. There are downed trees throughout our area and curfews are still in effect. We have a friend who sent his wife and kids to evacuate. He ended up with a tree through his house. He says he's not staying next time either and wished he hadn't this time.

Hotel rooms are currently scarce to non-existent. Traffic is horrendous on the main thoroughfares with people trying to get back home. Gas and groceries are just starting to be more available as opposed to an 1 1/2 hour wait. Everyone is definitely relieved to see how well things are moving. I'll try to post some pictures and video in the next few days. Lance refuses to take down the plywood until we know more about Ike. I don't blame him. We've started the clean-up. It's a debate on whether or not to file insurance claims. Lance says our insurance rates are going up regardless. And it's definitely disappointing not to be able to watch the Tigers play this weekend, but I guess we understand. Hopefully, we'll be able to see them play next weekend.

My mom and dad are still without power. It seems the stress was a little too much for Dad. He had to go to the emergency room. The doctor thinks it's atrial fibrilation, but they can't seem to get a cardiologist. At least he's somewhat comfortable in the hospital since they have power and he's getting regular meals and hydration.

Thank you all for your prayers! They worked!

Go Away Ike!

Kelly

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