Not only did the storm effect us for 6 hours and 20 minutes but it produced several tornados that ripped through 19 of the Villas I manage, effecting 27 separate families.
If you have never had to wake up your children and carry them into the bathroom and lay them in the tub out of sheer fear, I hope you never have to. At one point I was certain we could die.
It was easily the most terrifying experience of my life! We lost power at 6am and literally were just held prisoner until this powerhouse of a storm moved on.
Our community looks like a war zone. In the aftermath people were walking around in a daze, children crying for their parents and everyone just in shock.
As soon as we were able, my son and I checked on the handicapped woman that lives in the Villa next to ours to make sure she was ok. She was fine , just shook up. We then proceeded to walk around the property to see the extent of the damage and to check on a few more of our elderly.
I manage the property so I was literally bombarded by the residents who just went through the same frightening experience my son and I did. I knew then that we were going to have to act on behalf on many of the residents and do all we can to help whoever we could.
In the next couple of days we spent our time forming BBQ groups in certain sections of the property to try to get residents to combine their food and water. This worked out great and it was very nice to see the residents coming together, it makes all the difference in the world to know that you have neighbors rather than just someone that lives next door to you.
As soon as City Hall opened up [we are adjacent to them] I went to seethe Mayor to ask him what and when he was going to do something to help the people in the community. He invited me to the commissioners meeting and called on me first to speak on behalf of our over 600+ residents. I emplored them to please give permission for the reserve park to be made into a water/food/ice distribution center and to try to get some hot meals delivered to the elderly and the handicapped.
I called the Red Cross and asked if they would please come out to help the residents. Let me tell you that your heart doesnt sink nearly as much as when you have people come up to you and tell you they are on their last day of food or formula for their babies. I cried more in the last week than I probably have my entire life.
On Thursday the Red Cross came out and served 700 hot meals [after giving me only 20 minutes notice of their arrival]. My son and I and a few members of my staff drove all around on what little battery life our golf carts held and alerted as many as we could within our community and the surrounding ones.
On Sunday, the reserve park next door was turned into a distribution center and we helped them pass out food/water/ice from noon till 5:30pm until the very last box was gone.
When I got home, I put my feet up and just sat there in agony. [I am not built for manual labor
] and I wasnt sitting for 5 minutes and BAMM, our electricty came on.
I learned a very important lesson this week, a lesson I hope stays with my son and me for the duration of our lives. No matter how bad things are, or seem, someone else has it worse. And the best way to get through tragety is to put yourself and your needs last and help others.
My son and I try to be good people, we pass out cookies to the elderly in our neighborhood. We visit people we know have no family and very little friends and I try to raise him so he will help the underdog. But we have never been so involved in the community or with helping others as we have been this last week and as we will continue to do until our community is back in shape.
If you have never done charity work, volunteer work, etc, I emplore you to do so. It is without a doubt the most rewarding feeling you could ever have. To know that you really can make a difference.
I hope every one of you has faired safely through these last few storms.
I was shocked when our electricity came on and we had a cable connection. I guess having underground lines helped us through this storm. [they were just buried recently]
So, Ill be around time permitting to harass all my buddies. Just thought Id pop my head in and let you all know that we are safe and to let you all know that we hope all of you are safe.
