Safe and Sound

OK, so the power just came back on tonight, after we spent the afternoon trying to get meals to seniors in the Century Village senior center. The hurricane blew out 4 windows in our apartment, although not the windows in my room. During the hurricane, I went to the bathroom with a blanket and pillows and fell asleep until after the eye passed by. Then the living room window blew in, and I realized I was the only one still here. So I called the girls in Apt 53, put the sofa upright in front of the open window, and ran over there through the storm.

After the storm, I decided that since other AmeriCorps workers were taking off for other parts, since Palm Beach county had 95% power outages, that I would go to my family's house in Anna Maria Island, by Tampa. Turns out they never lost power. Well, I invited a couple people to join me, thinking I'd be there until Sunday, but eventually 11 AmeriCorps workers crashed there. It turned out OK, although we were called back early to man hurricane relief things: my cache certainly seems to have increased by it. Everyone seems to have had a wonderful time, not having to worry about shelf-stable dinners, 7:00PM curfews, or bathing in cold water. So that was a hit; I was afraid everyone would be bored.

We have to work again tomorrow. My site never lost power, so I'll be back to work on Monday. I am impressed our power came on so quickly: they've made it sound that it would take about a month to get it back on.

I personally do not recommend hurricanes. It feels like the wind is specifically trying to kill you, pounding on the walls, rattling locked doors, even seeming to bubble up through the plumbing. It was surreal.