Before I say how happy I am that Hurricane Alberto landed well below Houston, I want to tell you how traumatic the May Power Outage was for me.
First of all, I did not prepare for the storm like I usually do during hurricane season. I had very little food I could eat without cooking or refrigeration.
On Wednesday, I heard the storm blow through. For the damage it did, I swear it only lasted 30 minutes, but they said an hour. It tore the roof off several rows of apartments at my complex. Luckily, on my row, only my neighbors across the sidewalk had any damage.
You can see the infamous blue tarp covering the missing roof and a few of the missing singles. However, for this neighbor, the missing roof soaked not only their apartment but also the one below. You can also see where some of the grass was destroyed when the forklifts brought in dumpsters to completely strip both apartments down to the studs. They did move residents to empty apartments where they could.
The Heat became more unbearable as each day passed. On the first and second nights, I slept fitfully. The third night was so bad that I decided to abandon the ship on the fourth day.
Why did I wait so long? There was no electricity at my daughter's new house or my sister's house. My son was on vacation that weekend, and I could not reach him. He did not answer his phone or text. Later, he asked why I did not contact him sooner. I wanted to tear off his arm and beat him with it, as my mother used to say. (Wasn't that strange to say to someone, but it made us kids laugh).
On the second or third day, a Walmart near me had backup power, so like many others, I sat on the floor in Walmart and charged my insulin pump and phone.
On the fourth day, I was headed to a library they had opened as a cooling/charging zone. Thank you to the City of Houston. However, on the way to the library, I passed a hotel with a hand-painted "we are open" sign and pulled in. (The sign was to advertise the opening of a new hotel, but it was not open during the outage.)
When I pulled up, I saw a woman sitting on her phone in front of the hotel. I parked haphazardly in front of the hotel to talk to her, and when I got out, the little brain inside my keyfob fell out, and I could not start my car without it.
The day was so hot. My car was in the direct sun. I asked everybody who pulled up to help me look; no one could see it. I was getting sicker and sicker from the heat and worry. I tried to sit in the shade but was too nauseous to sit or lie. I thought I might be having a heat stroke. I gave up and called my sister to come get me, and I would just leave my car parked crazy in the parking lot. As I was gathering the items I wanted to take with me out of my car, I found the "brain" in the side pocket of my purse and canceled my sister. I still haven't figured out how it could have fallen in there.
Then I put the keyfob back together and started the car, I headed straight for home. I texted a big HELP to my son and DIL this time. I should have included her before because she checks her phone.
They called a little while later and were back from vacation. They came and got me, and apparently, I scared them to death. After Son told everyone how sick I was, I got several lectures from my daughter and son.
When I got to their house, all I wanted was to bathe and sleep. (I could only take cold sink baths during the outage.) However, Son made me lie on the couch so they could see me and watch a movie with them.
During this time, my insulin pump kept going off constantly because my sugar was so high. Also, remember that all the restaurants and fast food joints were closed with no power, and I didn't have very much to eat, but then you're not so hungry when you are that hot.
Before I left with my son, I exchanged phone numbers with my upstairs neighbors. She texted me about four hours after I left and said the power was back on. My daughter and sister did not get power for another day or two, but the guys who came in to assist our City Power Company were amazing. I saw at least 20 trucks with multiple men. I am so thankful to them.
I came home the next day.
I'd like to warn everyone about a potential problem that I saw happen. There are hotels on every corner in Houston, and the central booking systems for most hotels were working. Folks were getting confirmed reservations at hotels that were closed because they had no power.
Buddy was also badly affected by the heat. He slept for several days after the power was restored. This picture is from today. He slept on the cooler tile floor for most of the outage.
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