Liberty Begins At Home

Stay tuned to the end of the post for more on how to help people in Augusta 🙏

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The morning was quiet. Except for the droning of a generator at a neighbor’s house who was better prepared. 

It’s been two days since Hurricane Helene rocked Augusta, Georgia. I sit back and reflect on how we got here.

Most named storms that make it to this area dissipate to a tropical storm or below. We’re too far inland, which made it a winning attraction when we first moved here. On the road from here to Savannah, there is a billboard spray-painted with “What You Got Irma?” leftover from the major 2017 hurricane that blew through this area with little effect.

The bigger risk from tropical weather comes from saturating rains and 40 mph winds that knock over a few Georgia pines. These trees have tall profiles and make shallow roots in the red clay. 

But for this storm, the 14” of rain that has dumped since the day before didn’t help. The radar showed a section of yellow fading into red 30 miles deep that stayed over our house for an hour and a half. This was the first time an actual hurricane made it this far inland.

Our insurance company called it “unprecedented”.

The eyewall of a Category 2 hurricane came through our town with gusts over 100 mph. Trees didn’t just fall over in this storm. Many snapped in half.

We were seven people huddled in a closet trying to keep kids asleep with the storm blowing around us. Never before had wind physically shaken the house. We heard the ominous creaks of roots snapping loose from the soil, then a crash. Mysterious bangs came from something hitting our house. A transformer gave up and erupted in the distance as power poles were ripped apart. 

Then our three-year-old passes gas and no one can stay asleep. Let alone keep a straight face. He punctuates the newfound attention by mauling his mother.

Being Prepared…or not

Helene was forecast to veer west toward Atlanta. It caught most residents unprepared, including us.

I just went to Costco the night before. My oldest was supposed to go on a high adventure campout/competition with her American Heritage Girls troop. Instead of dry goods and cash from the ATM, I stocked up on the meat and eggs she was assigned to bring.

At the very least, I had a full tank of gas. And no lines to fight for it.

When I got home, I had enough foresight to drop the temperature a few degrees overnight. When the power cut off at 5 AM the next morning, the house was able to stay at a comfortable 70°F until the late afternoon without having to open windows.

The water we prepared in Ziploc bags for the campout never fully froze. But they did help keep the temperature down longer.

We were blessed to have no damage to our house. Many of our neighbors and friends in the wider community had several downed trees. Some couldn’t even leave their homes.

Venturing Out

The plant lost power at 5:30 AM. I head in at 8, to my family’s dismay. 

I underestimate what lay ahead of me when I survey the front of our house. Sure, there’s damage to the trees in neighbors’ front yards. And seeing brand new playgrounds at the bottom of the hill torn in half, engulfed in leaves, was more than damage usual. 

But as I talk to an incoming driver on how to get to work, I still don’t think much of his warning. I turn left on my normal route.

Then my tires bump over the first downed power line.

The metal transmission line pole at the bottom of the hill is bent backwards. This was not a typical storm.

Over the next hill, a delivery truck is stopped between both lanes of traffic with its hazard lights on. A power line rests over the cab.

I finally make it to the interstate. Here, I weave between trees that have fallen from both sides of the I-20 as I make my way westward. Those convoy exercises from Ft. McCoy all those years ago come back to me. At least training IEDs aren’t exploding at me this time.

Thankfully, most everything is intact at the plant. I explore in the dark as people continue to trickle in. One had been trying to navigate from a town south of here. Downed trees and blocked roads sent him on detours in the dark for nearly four hours.

I come home not thinking to pick up anything while I’m out. The severity of what just happened still hasn’t sunk in. I only want to avoid everyone on these wire-strewn roads who are out looking for lunch and cramming into gas stations. 

We don’t have everything we need to ride this out. But at least we have a little time to get our family’s heads around how to make it through.

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Interested in helping other victims of Hurricane Helene in Augusta? Many areas are still without power or easy access to food. 

I’m sponsoring a fundraiser for Golden Harvest Food Bank. Make your contribution today to get these good people back on their feet.

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There’s more adventure to come. See what happens on Day 2.