Greetings all - I survived, and as someone that has now been through such a serious storm I can say this I was stupid to stay and if you think you want to "ride one of these out" you are incredibly foolish.

I stayed home and watched a movie while watching the storm out of my window - trees were blowing around but for the most part it just didn't seem like a big deal...at midnight the power went out and I was tired of watching the wind blow so I went to bed. I woke up at 2am to a loud crash there was a huge tree down right in front of the house...I knew in the morning I would have to "climb" it to get out but was just grateful that it had fallen in front of the house not on it. I spent the next few hours listening to windows rattling and feeling my walls shake. It became very clear as I heard trees falling that there was a very real possibility that I might not make it through the storm.

When I woke up the next day there were trees down all around the house, including an oak tree that was so large I could hardly get my arms around it. However the house was untouched. Driving around I saw that sesveral tornados had ripped through the area, damaging all of our hospitals, all of the bridges here have been damaged or were wiped out completely. Gas is a "hot" commodity - people are waiting in line for HOURS to get it. Electricity is scare, they are saying we will be without power for 3-4 weeks. The University has cancelled classes until AT LEAST October 4th.

I am online right now through the grace of a friend in Louisiana who drove all this way to bring me a generator, a window AC unit, a grill, all sorts of other hurricane survival goodies. (Including a 45 with hollow tipped bullets!) So while I have no power I am not quite in as bad a place as many are.

I'm glad to see the board is busy - I hope to be back "for real" soon.

HUGS to you all!
Julie

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I think the mistake a lot of us make is thinking the state-appointed shrink is our friend. - Jack Handy