In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
Jul. 23rd, 2003 10:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chestnutcurlsAt 6:45 am yesterday, everything was fine in Memphis. At 7:15 am, the city was a total disaster area.
Here's what happened. Kathy and I woke up yesterday with queasy stomachs. At 6:30, we started doing Pilates as usual. We were halfway through the video when we decided to stop because we felt so bad. Also, it was awfully dark and stormy-looking outside and we thought we ought to check on it. We turned on Channel 5 and saw that there was a big storm on its way across the river. But that was all it was- a thunderstorm. We weren't too worried.
A few minutes later, the station went to the High 5 camera on top of the building, overlooking Union Avenue. You could see the storm coming down Union- a solid wall of wind and rain. A transformer exploded. Everything on Union went dark. The storm reached the camera, everything was white, and then the station (one of the highest-wattage stations in the country) went dead. We looked outside. It was completely dark. The power went out. We noticed that Gandalf, who had been acting comfortingly fine before, was now hiding under Kathy's bed. Shana and Lawson know what that means. :P
Everything started happening very fast. The wind was blowing like crazy. We sprang into action. Kathy had to haul Gandalf out from under the bed by his tail. We ran into the stairwell- and the front door to the building was open. I quickly shut it, and two seconds later, we heard the loudest, scariest crash I have ever heard in my life. I started panicking. I banged on my neighbor, Amy's, door. After a few seconds, she came to let us in- and there was a tree in her living room. Glass was everywhere. We ran into the hallway and barricaded ourselves there. We knew the storm was only supposed to last fifteen minutes, so after that time had passed, we felt okay venturing out. The tree had broken Amy's living room and bedroom windows. We were afraid to go upstairs since we didn't know what we would find. "We have renter's insurance," I told Kathy. "Good job," she said.
Finally we went back upstairs and found our apartment completely undamaged, except for a window screen that blew off. Our cars, also, were okay. It was a miracle. The balcony-type railing over the porch was laying in the courtyard along with tree branches and large quantities of someone's roof. After calling everyone and making sure everyone was okay, we went back out to survey the damage. It was unbelievable, like the aftermath of a hurricane. For instance, a 200-year-old oak was completely uprooted next to our complex and had partially fallen on someone's house.
So we've been at home ever since, without power, but now I'm with Kathy at the university because they're basically the only place in town with electricity. My work is closed for the second day in a row because they haven't gotten their power back either. It might be out through the end of the week. Everyone is comparing this damage to the ice storm of 1994, but I think it's worse. I've never seen anything like this. It happened so fast and there was no warning. They still haven't figured out whether it was a tornado, or straightline winds, or what.
But we're okay and our families are okay, and I am very, very thankful to God for protecting us, because His hand was on us the whole time. I haven't heard from some of you other Memphis people, though. Kerry? Robin? Helen? Melissa? Everybody okay?
Here's what happened. Kathy and I woke up yesterday with queasy stomachs. At 6:30, we started doing Pilates as usual. We were halfway through the video when we decided to stop because we felt so bad. Also, it was awfully dark and stormy-looking outside and we thought we ought to check on it. We turned on Channel 5 and saw that there was a big storm on its way across the river. But that was all it was- a thunderstorm. We weren't too worried.
A few minutes later, the station went to the High 5 camera on top of the building, overlooking Union Avenue. You could see the storm coming down Union- a solid wall of wind and rain. A transformer exploded. Everything on Union went dark. The storm reached the camera, everything was white, and then the station (one of the highest-wattage stations in the country) went dead. We looked outside. It was completely dark. The power went out. We noticed that Gandalf, who had been acting comfortingly fine before, was now hiding under Kathy's bed. Shana and Lawson know what that means. :P
Everything started happening very fast. The wind was blowing like crazy. We sprang into action. Kathy had to haul Gandalf out from under the bed by his tail. We ran into the stairwell- and the front door to the building was open. I quickly shut it, and two seconds later, we heard the loudest, scariest crash I have ever heard in my life. I started panicking. I banged on my neighbor, Amy's, door. After a few seconds, she came to let us in- and there was a tree in her living room. Glass was everywhere. We ran into the hallway and barricaded ourselves there. We knew the storm was only supposed to last fifteen minutes, so after that time had passed, we felt okay venturing out. The tree had broken Amy's living room and bedroom windows. We were afraid to go upstairs since we didn't know what we would find. "We have renter's insurance," I told Kathy. "Good job," she said.
Finally we went back upstairs and found our apartment completely undamaged, except for a window screen that blew off. Our cars, also, were okay. It was a miracle. The balcony-type railing over the porch was laying in the courtyard along with tree branches and large quantities of someone's roof. After calling everyone and making sure everyone was okay, we went back out to survey the damage. It was unbelievable, like the aftermath of a hurricane. For instance, a 200-year-old oak was completely uprooted next to our complex and had partially fallen on someone's house.
So we've been at home ever since, without power, but now I'm with Kathy at the university because they're basically the only place in town with electricity. My work is closed for the second day in a row because they haven't gotten their power back either. It might be out through the end of the week. Everyone is comparing this damage to the ice storm of 1994, but I think it's worse. I've never seen anything like this. It happened so fast and there was no warning. They still haven't figured out whether it was a tornado, or straightline winds, or what.
But we're okay and our families are okay, and I am very, very thankful to God for protecting us, because His hand was on us the whole time. I haven't heard from some of you other Memphis people, though. Kerry? Robin? Helen? Melissa? Everybody okay?
