I’m writing this series to benefit Golden Harvest Food bank. This organization has boots on the ground in Augusta to help victims recover from Hurricane Helene.
Contribute here today to help these folks get back on their feet.
It’s Sunday again.
Last week, I was frantically searching for a generator and canned food. This week, it’s time to recharge.
We return to Mass today. There’s no air conditioning in the building, but that’s irrelevant when it’s 68 degrees outside. The priest addresses the elephant in the room as we accept a message of gratitude.
Strong Relationships
We catch up with friends afterwards. Our kids haven’t seen many of them in two weeks. It’s a great time to reconnect as they wander in groups or get the younger ones to chase them around.
The adults share their stories of navigating the wreckage to get back to work, what employers expect of them, and what was lost in the power outage. Fortunately, no one in the group seems to have significant damage to their houses.
But somehow, we are still the only ones in this circle without power.
Two of the families offer to take some of our daughters to their houses for playdates. A third offers to do a load of laundry for us at their house. The friendships we have built here are turning out to be quite the blessing.
I talk with my neighbor about the trees behind our houses. His conversation with the property owner ended poorly. There are 4-5 houses in our subdivision bordering his land and this neighbor has little interest in managing his trees. We talk about our shared fence and insurance claims along with all the other work he needs to take care of in his backyard.
He tells me how a contractor charged his daughter $19,000 to remove a single tree that fell on her carport.
Business in Town
My wife and I take our youngest kids to Costco. They don’t get to hang out with friends, so some ice cream is in order. We overhear conversations from other residents’ experiences in the food court.
There’s still a fair amount of grumbling over the randomness of how power came back on in some neighborhoods and not others. Overall, though, everyone there was grateful to make it through the storm unhurt and with their property intact.
I catch up with a clerk who’s developed a friendship with us. We mentioned we were able to get a generator when another clerk reminds us not everyone could.
In a country where a large share of the population can’t cover a $400 emergency, the $800+ generators that flooded our stores in the first days of the aftermath were out of reach.
I count my blessings again.
There are, of course, plenty of supplies on shelves now that demand has waned. I throw a 100’ extension cord kit into the cart in the hope we can operate some other appliances upstairs. This will be much safer than trying to piece one together from 8’ segments.
Slowly Recovering
On the way back from the store, we take another route home. The overhead wires I squeezed my Suburban under a week before are mostly tamed.
Crews brought back the elementary school on this road to allow students to restart Wednesday. There are still 4-5 crews working along a two-mile stretch. My son calls out and waves to the heroes in the line trucks working on the poles.
As we pass the school, one lane is blocked to through traffic. A traffic manager directs us through a different neighborhood to get home.
This one has more mature trees, some 60 to 100 years old. This meant much more damage. There is more progress on downed trees, to be sure. Logs line the streets awaiting an uncertain pickup date.
But many houses still have trees on their roofs. One house has an upstairs room that was completely smashed. The damage is so widespread that crews still can’t work on finer cleanup details this far in.
It’s hard to believe how different the experience was only a few blocks away from our house.
Comfort of Home
Our older children return just before dark. They’ve been fed, entertained, and exercised. They look a lot happier having spent the day with friends.
Now it’s time to see how much I can get out of these new extension cords. The kids gather around the computer in the kitchen to watch a DVD while I run the cord upstairs. There’s just enough to get to either the bedroom or the laundry room. Which means I won’t have to run the cord through a window.
I’m wary about running a load of laundry through the washing machine. I start a self-cleaning cycle instead. My fears are confirmed. The water that sat in the hose for the last ten days smells awful. Thank goodness we’re not throwing out clothes right now. I run another cleaning cycle with bleach so we have a clean washer ready for when the power returns.
The cord allows for one more luxury.
My wife has not been able to sleep upstairs in our bed since Helene. The warm, humid air upstairs has been stagnant every night without a breeze to clear it. Leaving the window open to try to cool the room lets in the droning of the generator out back.
The air mattress and couch downstairs aren’t quite the same. And temperatures drop significantly overnight, leaving us scrambling for blankets in the wee hours.
After more than a week of bad sleep, I plug in a fan and set it on a bucket next to the bed. The windows are closed. The room is cool.
And my wife finally gets a night of peace.
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. This group offers direct help in my area. Contribute today to get these good people back on their feet.
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