I wanna hide with you in the rain
In the eye of a hurricane
I wanna call it for what it is
And give you everything I’ve got to give
‘Til there’s nothing left
‘Til there’s nothing left
Hey friends! Well … we made it!
Today’s post is all about preparing for and riding out Hurricane Sally. For those of you who aren’t local or may be new here (welcome!), I live in the Mobile Bay area (hence the blog name :)). Sally made a direct hit on our area last week. The storm wasn’t even really on our radar until a couple days before it made landfall. I don’t recall hearing about it until Sunday and it made landfall in the wee hours of Wednesday morning (i.e., Tuesday night).
There was another big factor at play in my life the week of the storm and that was the extended business tax deadline on Tuesday. Because a tax deadline and a hurricane aren’t stressful enough in their own right, let’s go ahead and combine them and see what happens. How lovely. Thank you for that, 2020.
So on Sunday, we learned that there was a slow moving tropical system in the Gulf named Sally. It was originally projected to make landfall in Louisiana and we were basically expecting it to be a large rain event. However, throughout the day on both Sunday and Monday, the track continually shifted further and further to the east. Before we knew it, it looked like Sally was coming right at us. While it was still a tropical storm at this point, it was forecasted to make landfall as a hurricane.
Monday was a LONG day! I was at work until close to 7 p.m. Deadlines are hectic as it is and when you throw a hurricane into the mix, things get really chaotic. We were frantically trying to tie up all of our loose ends on Monday before the deadline on Tuesday. A lot of people think that the process is over as soon as a tax return is finished being prepared, but in actuality there are still quite a few steps that have to take place before the process is complete. The return has to be billed, the customer has to pay their bill (we don’t like working for free), the customer has to sign their e-file forms, those forms have to be returned to us and then we submit the tax return. It’s a lot of steps, a lot of back and forth and a lot of … stress. By the time I got home from work, I was DONE.
Check out our sunset Monday night! The calm before the storm …
My brain was having a hard time comprehending what was about to happen. I went back and forth and back and forth some more about where I was going to stay during the storm. I begrudgingly packed a bag on Monday night just in case I couldn’t get back home on Tuesday after work. Richard was going to be at the fire station for the 24 hours leading up to and immediately after landfall.
I wanted to be at home, but I also wanted to be with my mom and dad. Their house is right on the Bay and with the path shifting more and more towards us, I didn’t feel comfortable with anyone staying there. The house is over 100 years old and needs major repairs as it is. The house definitely has good bones, but bones do break sometimes and I really didn’t want any of us to be there if they did. Ultimately Mom and Dad decided to go north and I decided to stay at home on the farm in the shop that Richard built this past spring. Our house is on “stilts,” which is very strange considering that we sit at an elevation of over 100 ft. with no chance of flooding, but either which way, the shop was my best option (especially because I knew that it was built really well :)).
Thankfully Richard was on it as far as the preparations go. He’s a coastal engineer and apparently those guys know a thing or two about hurricanes. He understood the uncertainty in the forecast all along and had a mindset of “prepare for the worst.” Here are a few things that he did to prepare:
- He used ratchet straps to tie down any loose things that needed to secured to minimize damage.
- He filled up enough containers with water to last us for 72 hours (based on an estimate of needing 15 gallons per day). We would be without water in the event that we lost power because we are on a well. We also probably need more water than most people because of the animals.
- He got the generator out, tested it, hooked it up and made sure that we also had enough fuel to last us for 72 hours. Based on our location, we felt like would have access to fuel at that point.
- He also put a tarp on our already leaky roof in order to hopefully minimize any further water damage.
Even though my brain couldn’t comprehend what was going on Monday night, it woke up before 3 a.m. Tuesday morning fully aware of what was happening. I knew there was no going back to sleep at this point, so I just went with it. I got up, made coffee, went for a run, showered and got to work by 6. The conditions were forecasted to deteriorate as the hours went by on Tuesday, so we planned to leave the office by mid-morning. As it turns out, Sally was a very slow moving storm (she slowed her Mustang WAY down (gotta love a good Sally pun at this point)) and we had a bit longer than anticipated.
Richard left for the station late Tuesday afternoon. As he left, I said, “This is it. It’s go time.” I was a tad nervous about riding this thing out alone, but I felt oddly at peace. I had Brooks with me and I was super thankful for his canine companionship. I checked the rain gauge a few times and watched the news, but otherwise there wasn’t really much I could do at that point. As a side note, you know you are married to an engineer when he asks you to take data measurements in the midst of a natural disaster and you know you are an accountant when your data loving heart is completely on board! I was actually thankful to have the rain gauge “task” as something to do. In a weird way, it gave me a purpose in a situation where you otherwise feel completely useless and helpless.
I went to bed fairly early (shocking, I know (insert sarcasm here)), but I only slept in spurts of a couple hours at a time. I woke up before midnight and realized that we didn’t have power. I got the generator running (thanks to my handy, dandy instructions) and turned the news back on. Sally hadn’t made landfall yet and it seemed like the storm was actually weakening. Spoiler alert: it didn’t. I decided to turn the generator back off because I didn’t want to waste any of the fuel.
I slept for another couple of hours and woke up right as the storm made landfall in Baldwin County. We are a little bit further north, so things weren’t nearly as bad here as they were right on the coast, but it was getting scarily close. I texted Richard and he said that they had over 100 active 911 calls! They responded to as many calls as they could throughout the night, but as the worst of the storm got to us, they had to suspend all emergency response throughout the entire county. He was back at the station and only a couple miles away at this point. I was happy that he was at least close by.
Somehow in the midst of all of this, I managed to fall back asleep. I don’t even know how I did this, but I felt safe and I was also completely exhausted. I woke up a couple hours later, after the brunt of the storm had passed. We had over 91 mm of rain during those couple of hours! The road between our house and the fire station was covered in downed trees and power lines. There were over 30 trees down along about a half mile stretch of the main road.
After the fact, we know that Hurricane Sally made landfall in Gulf Shores, AL as a Category 2 Hurricane with winds of 105 mph. Our county has extensive structural damage because we were in the eyewall of a slow moving, yet STRONG Category 2 Hurricane for over 4 hours. The tremendous amount of rain combined with the high wind was quite disastrous.
Once it calmed down a little bit, Richard walked home from the fire station to check on me and to get his chainsaws and the tractor. The main priority at that point was to clear the roadways so other first responders and emergency vehicles to get through. While the worst of the storm had passed at this point, the conditions were still pretty bad. I was very emotional watching him ride away on the tractor. I was so proud very proud of him. Worried? Yes. Proud? One thousand times YES. I have a totally different understanding of the selflessness and sacrifice that first responders make on a daily basis after going through this experience.
After he left, I went out and checked on all the animals and did a quick damage assessment of the property. Thankfully all the animals were accounted for! It took me a while to find the ducks, but I honestly think they were having themselves a good little time in all that rain. We had several big limbs and debris, but only a couple trees down, which still seems quite miraculous. The damage and devastation around our county was extensive. Even now, a week later, I still am kind of at a loss for how to describe it.
One thing that definitely surprised me is how well we were able to eat throughout all of this. We had eggs most mornings and grilled out in the evenings. Nothing like a good storm to prompt you to clean out your fridge and freezer! We cooked steak, venison, chicken and I think a few other things I am forgetting at this point.
The rest of the week was primarily about cleanup. I picked up sticks and raked each day until my arms literally couldn’t rake anymore. Thankfully, Richard was able to cleanup the bigger stuff with the tractor. After about two days too many without cleaning ourselves up, we decided that we were going to have to figure out a way to bathe. Enter –> creek! Yep, we really did that.
On Friday, we were able to get a small window unit running, which was a huge blessing. It had started to get a little bit warm! We also got a pump hooked up to one of our water tanks so that we had “running water.” Granted, it wasn’t drinkable running water, but it sure beat manually filling the toilet up and washing your hands in a bucket. On Monday, we got a second generator, which enabled us to run the well pump. I was so ready to wash clothes and to take a warm shower! Basically each day we made a few small improvements to our situation. We were without power for over a week, but thankfully it was restored yesterday!
A week later, I still just feel super thankful that we made it through the storm with minimal damage. It’s been amazing seeing friends, neighbors and the community in general come together to help each other out as well. Everyone went through the same storm and is dealing with the same damage (whether emotional or physical), so it’s easy to empathize with what other people are feeling in the aftermath. It’s amazing how something so scary and devastating can make you stop and realize that you truly have all you ever needed and more.
I was sure by now, God you would have reached down
And wiped our tears away,
Stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
That it’s still raining
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear your whisper through the rain
I’m with you
And as your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
The God who gives and takes away
And I’ll praise you in this storm
And I will lift my hands
That you are who you are
No matter where I am
And every tear I’ve cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise you in this storm