In August 1989, Hurricane Hugo smashed into South Carolina like a freight train. It rolled into historic Charleston and quickly scooted right up the middle of the state overnight. About 250 miles from the coast, I hoped school would be canceled, but also knew that in those days, they didn’t cancel school. With Hugo, they did call off school for one day because of the wild damage in our area. I was a senior in high school and that was the first hurricane I even recall making the news. I know hurricanes were a thing prior to that day, but I had other things on my mind, apparently.
On September 26, about 3 weeks ago, Hurricane Helene was knocking on the coastal door of Florida’s gulf coast. In the years since my senior year in high school, I’ve gotten used to living in the cone of uncertainty. Hurricanes get future-mapped and either from the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic, my part of South Carolina gets forecasted for some wind and heavy rains. We’re used to it. We do not prep for these storms as they either fizzle out quickly and we get sunny skies and a light breeze, or it just rains for a few days and we go about our business. As it rained all day that Thursday, September 26, we attended classes as usual and got updates about K-12 schools closing for Friday.
Schools close if a bluebird sneezes these days, so that wasn’t a big deal. A little later, our university announced they’d be closing for Friday as well. This was good news to Blue, who came by to tell me he was probably going to leave soon and go home for what was now a long weekend. I was happy about this because it meant I’d get to watch South Park that night with Blue and Violet. Our TV nights have been cut down since Blue went off to school. I hung out in the studio a while talking to students after class and by the time I got home, Blue was already there.
The three of us watched South Park and then spent a little extra time watching silly things on YouTube because none of us had to be up early. Or so we thought. After the kids went upstairs, I worked on a drawing until after midnight. Just before bed, I checked on the hurricane and noticed a big shift in the forecasted path of the storm. A shift that moved us more into the center of the cone of less uncertainty. I briefly wondered if we might lose power and wondered if I should have stopped on the way home and picked up some water, gas and groceries. But surely not. I mean, this is a Florida hurricane. These never impact us. I went to sleep.
Most of us woke up a few times overnight to the sound of wind battering the house. Around 5 am, I woke again to the sound of the power going out. I tried to sleep more but I kept hearing what sounded like things hitting the house. Loud things.
As the wind got even stronger and louder, I decided it was a good time to get up and see what was going on. I looked out and saw sideways rain, limbs down all over the yard and field, and saw a few pieces of the house blowing around in the yard. I walked out onto the front porch to take down the swing and hammock and in the few minutes I was there, I was soaked by the sideways rain. Since I was wet, I decided to walk around the house and survey the damage. More of the house was being peeled off and flying around. Several things had blown into the woods. Several huge trees were down in the woods. Nothing emergent, so I went inside, changed into dry clothes and had some French press coffee while we watched the two new rivers run across our property.
It had rained all day on Thursday and there were several new inches of rain since midnight. Our immediate area is not flood prone, so we were not worried about water unless it started coming in the roof. Luckily it didn’t and we don’t have any large trees close enough to the house to make us worry about that. For the next couple of hours, I moved from window to window looking out. Trees would fall. Things would blow by. All I could do was watch it happen.
The winds calmed when the center of the storm moved over our area. During this time, my thoughts turned to the power situation. In the 14 years we’ve lived here, we’ve only had good luck with power outages around us. In the worst snow/ice storm, we never lost power for more than a few hours. We have a tiny generator but we’ve literally never needed to take it out of the box. Just to be safe, we do keep some emergency water for drinking, cooking and washing hands. We have a well, so when the power goes out, we do not have running water. Again, we’ve only used that emergency stash once in winter and even then, only about one gallon before the power came back on.
The winds came back full force and I wondered if this might be a longer power outage. More trees fell and I started to imagine how many trees might be down in our area, trashing power lines and falling on homes. Text messages started coming in slowly indicating people we knew had trees on their homes and lots of people were without power.
I started planning as much as possible. It was still raining steadily as the winds started to die down. I put on my running clothes and decided to run now in the rain before it got too hot. I would also get a shower at the same time. The winds gusted a bit while I ran, but the run was basically uneventful. I washed off in one of the clear rivers of water rushing across the yard and wiped down before going inside.
Blue was up most of the night and decided to go back to bed when the winds calmed. Violet and I went out and cleared the limbs out of the yard and picked up shingles and other things that had blown around. We were going to need a new roof and some roof flashing, but otherwise, we had escaped damage to the house and cars.
Back inside, we could cook with our gas stovetop, but water was now a limited resource and we needed to keep the refrigerator and freezer closed as much as possible. News from outside had stopped with no power to run the internet and our cell service was all but non-existent. We had no idea how pleasant this was at the moment. We had no idea how bad it was in areas very close to us. With the curtains open, we used natural light to do the things we could do. We read and napped. Time went by pretty slowly. By nightfall, we were bored out of our minds. Not enough light to draw or read. Barely enough to play a few board games. We cooked some of the meat in the fridge that was already warming up. We were sort of glamping.
On Saturday, I rinsed off in a bucket after running and decided to skip coffee. Who knew how long we’d be without power, so I opted to save water wherever I could. G found a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle and we dumped it out on the dining room table. We worked on that a while before venturing out in the car to see what kind of condition the roads were in. We were scheduled to be in Charleston that weekend for a big cross country meet but the school canceled the trip. The family still wanted to go and now there was the promise of power out of town. I knew someone would have to stay with the dog, so I didn’t get my hopes up for any showers for me. The major highway was being cleared but so many large trees were down across the road. Many side roads were still blocked. There was no power anywhere, not even in town and all the stores were closed. We went back home to the puzzle.
I’m a bit crazy when it comes to jigsaw puzzles. If I make the mistake of becoming invested in it, I can’t do anything else until the puzzle is finished. I see puzzle pieces when I close my eyes to sleep. This one was a Keith Haring puzzle so I was invested. I had just finished a drawing and couldn’t start on a new one until I had power for a saw. No phone, no internet. This puzzle was now my life. As I turned my focus to it more fully, the family packed a couple of bags and promised to restock water, gas and groceries while they drove out of the damage zone.
I honestly don’t remember much about the second half of Saturday. I was in the puzzle. I took Timmy out a few times and just before dark, I stopped puzzling long enough to cook the last of the thawing meat in the fridge. I also made some really nice sweet potato chips and burned my finger in the hot oil. I let my car charge my phone and running watch while I cooked. When the light dimmed in the windows, I settled in for what I knew would be a long, boring night. I lit all the candles and had enough light to play several hands of Solitaire, though I struggled to see the difference between the red cards and the black cards. At 8:30pm, I was in the middle of a hand and not doing well when there was a pop and the power came back on.
Here's where my story is different from almost everyone else’s that I know. I was only without power for two days.
I was shocked but I jumped up and started thinking as fast as I could. I rushed to do all the things I thought were most important, refilling water jugs, washing dishes, taking a hot shower and charging everything I could find. I knew there was a good chance the power might go away again, so I worked quickly. Cell service was still out but the internet was now working fine. After a shower and doing everything I could think to do as a precaution, I finished my hand of Solitaire (I lost) and I tried the TV. Netflix came right up and I had been waiting to watch the new Will Ferrell documentary, so my plans for the night had just changed for the better. Timmy and I enjoyed artificial light and the documentary before bed while the house cooled down as the air conditioner mercifully ran on high.
The power did go out and come back on about 5 times during the night, but once morning dawned, our power was steady. The grocery stores in town were closed so I was still depending on the family to bring back supplies. Here in the South, when a weather person whispers the word “snow”, milk and bread immediately disappear from all grocery shelves. We had already heard that the stores that could open had long lines, were cash only and were only allowing a few customers in at a time. I had no desire to be in that mess. I cleaned out the fridge and worked outside cutting grass and cleaning up the yard more. I also worked on that freaking puzzle when I ran the mower out of gas. When the family returned, I had just enough time to refill the gas and finish the grass before dark. We got to have another TV night and then I puzzled until 1am. I had most of it done at this point but I needed to sleep.
We got more updates from around the area now that we had internet access. This was when we learned just how bad it was around us. Asheville, just an hour away, was a horror show. All of the towns near us had extensive damage. The university canceled classes for a few days and we were told it would likely be all week. We checked on people and offered help, feeling a little guilty that we had power when so many around us were looking at another week or so before power would be restored. G works from home and with the internet working, she only missed the Friday of the storm. The rest of us settled in for a week of slightly odd vacation. A vacation that could begin right after I spent the morning finishing that ridiculous puzzle.
I’ll repeat, my story differs from most in our area. We were very lucky to have power and to not have to worry about getting food, water and keeping our batteries charged. Area officials asked people to stay home and off the roads so I decided the best way I could contribute to society during this time was to make the most of my studio time. I immediately started on a new drawing and had it finished in a couple of days with so much dedicated time. As soon as it was photographed and titled, I was outside cutting a new piece of wood for the next one. This was a very good, very productive time for me.
Violet’s school was canceled for the week. She still had to go to cross country practices in the evenings, but this was like a short little summer week of sleeping late and making a leisurely breakfast each morning for her. Blue was not only out for the week, but students who had stayed on campus were asked to leave if possible due to campus-wide power outages. He also enjoyed the staying up late and sleeping in. Not only did we have everyone home, but we also got to have our South Park and YouTube time together almost every night.
In 3 weeks, you’re going to have to get some groceries. Cross country practice is in a neighboring county and since it wasn't has hard hit, we managed to get some things before a practice and bring them home. When it was time for milk and other refrigerated items, I needed to pick up a sculpture from yet another county 2 hours away, so I took the ice chest and stocked up while I was out.
When the second week began, it looked like Violet would be returning to school but Blue and I were still uncertain. Violet had another Monday off before returning to regular schedule. Blue and I returned to virtual learning that Thursday and Friday which meant very little for us, really. He had a few assignments and had those done early. I did have to rework a lot of my plan for the month in my classes and answer several emails from students, but doing all that from home still allowed me to keep drawing and keep going to cross country practices. Blue went with us to a few practices and a meet. We even got Blue to watch a movie with us.
Over the course of the last few weeks, we had some moments of worry about our immediate needs, but we mostly had the luxury of feeling safe and comfortable. Many of our friends were without power for 10-12 days. Our time turned into a hurrication when we were mostly stuck at home with all our needs met. It was a treat to have an extended fall break with the kids and to have everyone safe and healthy. It was great to get so much creative work done at home and to get some good rest. I did, however, miss my students. We were just getting into the swing of things in the sculpture studio and many students were making real progress. It will be a bit of a bummer to start going to bed at a reasonable hour and start getting up in the dark again, but I’m excited to get back to my students and all the school things I’ve missed.
A few related but not featured items: Drawing all day allowed me the freedom to watch a few movies at night. If you're interested in that information, you'll have to talk to me. I also got to see the Northern lights, albeit through a phone camera, for the second time this year. There was also the comet but it was quite unspectacular from my view. I got to go to several XC practices and a meet that I would normally have to miss. Violet got "girls runner of the meet" at one of them. And, I got to hang out with Emily and Katherine on my trip out of town. I'm also happy to talk to you about the documentary.
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