We Survived Hurricane Laura

We're back!  We survived Hurricane Laura.  In the next several posts, I'll report on what's been going on.  In the last post before going silent, I reported about the impending storm.  We hunkered down that night, preparing for the arrival of severe tropical weather.  As we walked outside prior to the storm, we noticed an eerie phenomenon of dragonflies swarming.  I've never seen this before.  It was as if they were predicting some bad weather and were taking flight to evacuate.

It became nightfall as the weather deteriorated.  There's something about a bad storm at night that makes it worse.  The sounds of the wind howling, things banging into the house, and then the beeping of electronics as the power goes out.  Tricia and I and Russ and Benjamin rode it out in our room.  We were silent at times and then prayed many times as the storm reached it's crescendo around 2 am.  It seemed as if things didn't begin to settle down until around 4 am. 

I went outside and walked around in the high wind around 5:30.  I quickly realized that was not a good decision and got back inside.  In the morning we walked around and surveyed the damage.  We were blessed.  Our home was spared.  We have many large limbs and branches down and will not have to worry about firewood this year.

The top half of a Chinaberry tree fell across the gate in the back, crushing it.  We quickly bent it back into shape so that the cows, goats, and chickens could not get out.

The powerful storm stripped the leaves off of the trees, leaving (pardon the pun) the ground full of leaves for the goats to devour.

So although we were slightly on the east side of the storm's path, we escaped a lot of the damage that our friends, family and co-workers experienced nearby.  At Our Maker's Acres Family Farm, we've been 'radio silent' for a little over a week for several reasons.  We were without electrical service for a little over a week.  The second reason is that I work for an oil company that distributes fuel, oil, and lubes.  We are required to go to work shortly after the winds stop blowing to return to work and get fuel (mainly diesel) to run generators to begin the rebuilding process.  Recovery doesn't take place unless fuel is delivered and tanks are constantly filled. 

Once the power grid goes down, generators fueled by diesel keeps people and perishables cool, and allows people to work to remove debris and wreckage and then rebuild.  Our recovery is not powered by wind and solar.  After a week, our electrical power was restored, but not in Sulphur, Louisiana, where I work.  My coworkers lost their homes and barns.  They don't have electricity or running water.  We've been working 18 hour days to try to meet an impossibly large demand for fuel.  Tonight I'm home a little early, but the work continues for the foreseeable future without an end in sight.

I'll post as often as my work schedule allows.  Thanks for checking in on us!