Round two

 

So Wednesday we were hanging out all morning, trying to stay cool.  Around lunch time we hear a knock at the door.  Who in the world is at our door?? Neither of us where dressed appropriately to answer the door but after seeing our two young nieghbor girls Justin sent me to the door.  Upon answering the door, they said, "mom just sent us down to make sure you all heard they evacuating our neighborhood."  Say what!?!  Yeah, we are loaded up and leaving shortly.

 

They leave and Justin and I look at each other like what now??  We start searching our phones for information on this last minute evacuation.  We know the weather is still bad north of us, not exactly travel weather.  Phones and text are limited at this point from damaged towers.  Within ten minutes, another knock at the door.  This time we at least had clothes on to open the door.  It's a our friend Joey, who also happens to be a state trooper.  Him and a buddy where going door to door with a school bus following to make sure everyone got out.  This confirmed the need to leave.  He said we could drive out ourselves without problem so that's what we planned to do.  He said we have about an hour.  They were afraid the canal behind our house was going to crest and flood our neighborhood. 

 

I'm thinking to myself, great, we survived this crazy night with no damage and now we are going to flood.  My heart sunk.  We had to put a game plan together though so there was no time to worry.  I packed suitcases for us all in about 10 minutes.  Got the important paper box, a bag of snacks, and a pile of blankets and pillows.  Piled the car full and pulled out not knowing what we'd return to.

 

We found out our local YMCA had just opened as a shelter so we went and parked there to work on a plan.  A friend texted us to check on us and said we could go to their house, they weren't there, there was no power, but it was safe.  I said thanks for the offer but we are good now.   Luke fell asleep in the car so we sat there for quite some time letting him sleep.  It was still raining and strong gusts.  More and more people were showing up and we decided we better head in to have a "spot".  After sitting inside for about an hour it began to sink in we wouldn't be going home tonight.  And the thought of staying overnight in the Y with the kids was not a good one.  Lets just say the mix of people wasn't the greatest.  So, I texted our friend back and asked if the offer was still open to their house.  They graciously said yes, we'll meet you there to open it up for you. 

 

Once there, they pulled in behind us and said hey, the friends we are staying with offered their home, if you want to come over.  They have a generator and lots of kids running around.  We hesitated but they insisted so we went and crashed for the night at a friend of a friend.

The kids had a great time playing, there were 11 kids and 7 adults that night.  It was hot that night, at one point i was ready to run out in the rain, but it wasn't the Y shelter and I knew my kids were sleeping soundly. 

We can't say how greatful we are that these strangers opened their house to us.