Life returns to normal for some of us

[Momo]

Today is the first day since the tornadoes of April 27th that we have had all utilities back in working order. DH and I were lucky. Alot of people have been killed and suffered massive property damage. Several of our friends less than a mile away had bad property damage. Fortunately no one we knew well was injured, and most of them had insurance for their losses. So many were not so lucky though. These were not the typical small Alabama tornadoes we usually have. These were huge (up to a mile wide) strong storms wiping out everything in their paths.

 

I learned so much about myself and some of my friends. My Y2K preps paid off well. We had a generator which helped us save our freezer food. Having a gas water heater and stove gave me some ability to cook and offer warm showers to people (when we had water available). My big stockpile of tuna which I had been buying on sale was in great demand. The first few days folks were very happy to get some tuna and have some fresh eggs.

 

All in all we were so lucky. DH was supposed to be in the hospital for another surgery when the storms hit, but since he had bronchitis he was rescheduled. I am so glad he was here with me. I would have worried about him if he had been in the hospital. That area got hit harder than us and it would have been days before I could have gotten in touch with him.

 

The longest utility to get back was AT&T. They just got back in service last night!

 

It is nice to get back to a normal life again.

[sassenach]

I am so glad you are ok and your hubby was home. I have seen some incredible video of the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado, very close to and F5. I was so shocked and everyone affected, you are all in my heart these days. It's going to take a long time to recover. As the tornadoes moved Northeastward it affected many many areas. Mostly what we are seeing is its the individuals and church groups and such that have been more help and organizing transportation on individual basis, college students and such once searching was pretty much finished.

 

The rains came all the way up to my area far up in the northern most part of NY and Lake Champlain is flooded 3 ft over and storms, winds made it worse,the worst its ever been and there is some loss, but everyone here feels terrible for what you all have gone through, in the South.

 

The Mississippi and Ohio Rivers are inundated , flooding like the 1937 times if you haven't heard, so there is alot of emergency work all along it, its crested in Memphis and moving south, so I hope more folks will check in if they can on that whole area. So many losses. So much farm land in MO and AR, and further south. They are working hard in LA to coordinate evacuations and assistance in the Lake Ponchatrain ( sp is bad) area now, as it will be really tough on that region as they release water from the MS more.

 

 

I am so glad to hear you are ok and managing and that your home was spared.

 

for all of you affected.

[Amishway Homesteaders]

Thanks for the update.......................

May this be a lesson for us all-

You never know when and what COULD happen so being prepared for ANYTHING is the way to go!

 

I can't say it enough that the weather IS changing and even when you think THAT will NEVER happen here - it just might!

Be save my friends.

 

[jeanettecentaur]

Thank God you are all okay! I'm sure your shared preps were a great comfort to those who needed them.

 

Stay safe and enjoy the "normality!"

[themartianchick]

There has been a lot of unusual weather going around in the past two years. The unexpected weather is becoming a reality for a lot of folks. I think I posted something a few months ago about how we don't really get tornados in our area and yet we've had at least 4 minor ones in NY State in the past year.

 

The good thing about prepping is that most of the supplies that we prep can be used in more than one kind of emergency. However, once you consider yourself to be fully prepped to survive for x number of months or years for the likely events, it is important to look to some of the less likely things that can happen and prepare some sort of contingency plan.

 

Flooding is something that we are not prepared for. We have no bodies of water close by that could overflow their banks, yet a couple of weeks ago, we had a storm that caused flash floods that caught folks in their cars under overpasses and things. These kinds of things make you think...

 

We aren't prepared for an earthquake to devastate our home. Yet, we get minor shakes in New York. The last one that we had really shook me up because I was in my office and the building is brick. Images of every earthquake movie I've ever seen flashed through my mind. I still haven't found a good way to address that type of emergency, except parking our car in our other driveway to keep it from being crushed by our house! Of course that won't be too helpful since we probably wouldn't be able to go anywhere if there is rubble and debris in the street.

 

I can only imagine how difficult things are for the folks dealing with the tornado aftermath, the wildfires, earthquake aftermath, tsunami and the flooding.Last year, there was even that unpronounceable volcano in Iceland. The world is kinda scary right now and the only thing that I can do to help those people is to pray and to go through some things to see what we can donate.