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    Home Β» Home, Garden and Family Adventures

    The Sound and The Fury Life After a Hurricane

    Published: Oct 19, 2016 Β· Modified: Jul 29, 2019 by Marisa Franca Β· 14 Comments

    Life after a hurricane isn't as easy as picking up where you left off. You must dig deep within you and pull up every bit of tolerance, patience, resilience, fortitude, and kindness to get through.  

    Friday night we go to bed with the rain pelting angrily at our windows.

    Hurricane Matthew Life after a hurricane , what will we find. @allourway.com

     

    We wake up on Saturday morning to a room that is dark and soundless as a cave. The storm wore itself out, but in its wake, it left us without power. The question of what we'll find worries us.

    Life after a hurricane challenges tolerance

    Suddenly a cacophony of barking dogs breaks the quiet. Honey gets out of bed and goes to the window. "What the. . . There must be dozens of dogs out there. Sheesh! (I clean up the language) People have two and three dogs. Some look like ponies!"

    "I guess this motel allows pets," I say, which is a dumb thing to say since it's obvious.

    He keeps watching the chaos outside. Then he says in disgust, "When we go to the car, we'd better watch where we step. The owners are not leading the dogs to the grass."

    Not only do people have to tolerate a parking lot obstacle course made up of dog gifts, but also cats and dogs running amok in the hallways. 

    Life after a hurricane shows the power of the storm. @allourway.com

     

    Life after a hurricane demands patience

    We don't have power, but fortunately, we do have water. Caravans of Georgia power trucks, military personnel, County, City, and State Law Enforcement come together to offer assistance.

    George and Debbie, friends from Saint Simons who have a room across the hall from us, come over to ask if we heard anything about Saint Simons Island. Nobody seems to know anything. We are completely in the dark. No radio. No television. We can't even get a station on the car radio. Everything is down.

    Debbie turns to me, "Let's go find something to eat. I hear Publix is open; they have a generator. Maybe they'll have sandwiches."

    Nobody said that life after a hurricane is a breeze or how quickly a person can return to normalcy. 

    Life after a hurricane is a challenge with many closed roads. @allourway.com

     

    Life after a hurricane commands resilience

    Time after time Debbie turns the car around; humongous live oak or pine tree block the street. Finally, we find an open road; we take it only to find a long line of stopped cars impeding our progress. We crane our necks to see the reason for the bottleneck. It's the Georgia State Patrol refusing drivers access into Brunswick and making them turn around.

    A pickup truck pulls up beside us, the driver gets out and walks up to the closest  Police Officer. The man, his arms on his hips, leans forward toward the officer, he's talking a mile a minute. The officer shakes her head no. He turns and storms towards us. As he nears, Debbie asks, "What's going on?"

    "They won't let me get back to my house; they won't let anyone into Brunswick," he says angrily. "I stayed in Brunswick for the whole damn storm. This morning, I needed a power cord for my phone; I went to my friend's house. Now, they," he shoots the officers a dirty look,  "won't let me go back to my house!" He looks down at his wrinkled jeans and t-shirt. "This is all I have with me. What am I supposed to do? I don't have money for a motel!"

    He leaves and gets into his pickup truck.

    Life after a hurricane forces you to pick yourself up and keep trying. 

    Life after a hurricane means food is scarce. @allourway.com

     

    Life after a hurricane requires fortitude

    The four of us sit in our motel room and try to strategize. What are we going to do for food? The window is open, and a cool breeze is blowing. George and Honey sniff once. They sniff again. Debbie and I sniff. Charcoal! Grilled food!

    We look out the open window and see a man with a large barrel grill in a far parking lot. "I think we're back in business," says Honey.

    Debbie and I grab our purses and hot-foot it to the man selling the food. Oh! It smells heavenly. We take our grilled chicken and barbecued ribs back to our rooms to savor. It isn't as good as our chicken and ribs, but we're grateful for food and shelter.

    Sunday dawns and we still don't have power. We're very anxious for news of Saint Simons, no-one is reporting anything. George and Debbie are impatient to get back,  both of them are in the midst of a tragedy. The week before George lost his brother in a car accident, and during the storm, Debbie's mother passed away. They need to make funeral arrangements and are helpless to do so.

    Life after a hurricane is a test on one's nerves. It's a waiting game. 

    Life after a hurricane makes you appreciate the little things. @allourway.com

     

    Life after a hurricane dictates kindness

    Everywhere we turn, we see evidence of charitable and generous acts. Restaurants give away meals. Stores, when they do open,  give away ice and water. So many step up to the plate to help in any way they can.

    We hear stories of evacuees parked in fields and parking lots, stranded with nowhere to go. Good Samaritans seek out these places to deliver meals, baby wipes, water, etc.

    A neighbor helps a neighbor; a stranger helps a stranger. We're all in this together.

    Life after a hurricane squeezes out the best or the worst in people. What we witness is a generosity of spirit.

    Life after a hurricane means there is work to be done. @allourway.com

     

    Life after a hurricane compels gratitude

    Monday morning we finally get power back in our room. We're still on tenterhooks. When are they going to let us return? We worry about the house, the power, and the water. We have quite a few sea trout and flounder fillet packages in the freezer. Before we evacuated, Honey put the frozen fillets in our red dishpan in the case of power failure.

    Later that day, we hear that noon on Tuesday they'll  allow residents onto Saint Simons Island. We are still living on cold meals.

    We're ready by 7:30 Tuesday morning. At 11:15 our car is on the Causeway heading toward Saint Simons Island; we breathe a sigh of relief!

    Life after a hurricane makes us appreciate how fortunate we are. @allourway.com

     

    We drive on King's Way and observe the ancient live oaks that are off the road and cut up. Spanish moss still litters the ground. When we turn onto our street, we hold our breath.

    We see the house and sigh in relief. Except for a few pine cones and small branches, it's as if the storm never existed. We go through all the rooms. It's just like we left it, including the frozen flounder and sea trout fillets.

    We offer up prayers of thanks.

    Honey turns to me, grins, and asks, "What's for dinner?"

    Our life after a hurricane returns to normal.

    Life after the hurricane resumes on Saint Simon Sound. @allourway.com

     

    Usual activity on Saint Simons Sound resumes.

    Now, what do you think we'll have as our first entree back??

     

    A Hot Meal! What Did We Choose?

    Was is beef, pork, chicken, or seafood? 

    London Broil Marinated with Dijon mustard than grilled and sliced cross grain on wood cutting board.
    LONDON BROIL WITH DIJON MARINADE
    Grilled Shrimp is juicy and plump with Garlic and Lemon @allourway.com
    Tender and Juicy shrimp marinated in garlic and lemon
    Honey Soy Baked Garlicky Chicken Thighs Recipe @allourway.com
    Honey Soy garlicky chicken thighs

    Spicy Bourbon Barbecued Chicken Wings at allourway.com
    Tailgate Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings
    Pasta alla Carbonara with Italian Parsley
    Pasta alla Carbonara an Italian treat
    Chipotle Maple Glaze Pork Chops are grilled, plated and ready to serve @allourway.com
    Chipotle Maple Glaze Pork Chops Are Grilled, Plated and Ready to Serve

    Here are more of our adventures.

    Sound and the Fury or How to Survive a Hurricane - our fall vacation takes a turn for the worse as we have to evacuate. We tell of being in the storm. 

    Someone To Watch Over Me -- what happened when we decided to go off on our on in Naples. 

    Maiolica Lost and Found -- we found some beautiful pottery in Italy and ended up finding more almost in our back yard. 

    The Reasons We Return To Saint Simons Island - a beautiful place to visit but we find that it takes more than that to capture our hearts. 

    Arrivederci Venus Florida-- our special home and friends during the winter months.

    We love to travel and we hope you enjoy reading about our trips.

    Un caro saluto e alla prossima.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Joanne

      August 11, 2020 at 5:10 pm

      So fitting! We just lost power last week for 4 1/2 days after tropical storm Isaias (though some local families are still without power a full week later).

      Reply
    2. Marie Renello

      November 01, 2016 at 1:03 am

      Marisa, So sorry you went through that but happy to hear you're getting back to normal and home is one piece, thank goodness! My heart goes out to your friends at this time...

      Reply
      • Marisa Franca

        November 01, 2016 at 8:22 am

        Hi, Marie! Yes it's good to be back home and I am ready to cook and ready to post but I cut two fingers on my left hand and I'm just pecking on the keyboard and cooking is a challenge. Needless to say, Honey has taken over trying to get the pit out of the avocados.

        Reply
    3. Ciao Chow Linda

      October 28, 2016 at 9:49 pm

      Oh my goodness. What a frightening experience. I'm glad you are safe and sound. Now I want to know what DID you eat for that first meal back home?

      Reply
    4. Frank

      October 27, 2016 at 7:41 am

      Glad to hear you made it through, relatively unscathed! Best wishes for getting life back to normal quickly.

      Reply
      • Marisa Franca

        October 27, 2016 at 3:40 pm

        Thank you, Frank. After getting the yard picked up we are ready to start cooking. Have a great weekend.

        Reply
    5. Chiara

      October 21, 2016 at 4:57 pm

      I am happy that the worst is over,Mother Nature is often terrible, a warm hug from Trieste

      Reply
      • Marisa Franca

        October 22, 2016 at 7:22 am

        Grazie, Chiara. Mother Nature isn't kind as we saw with the earthquake in Italy. We were fortunate. Un abbrazzo forte a te.

        Reply
    6. Diane P.

      October 20, 2016 at 2:03 pm

      Wow! What an exciting story!!! Glad everything worked out so well for you two. SSI never lost power during the hurricaine?? But your fish were still frozen? What luck...and the house was all Intact! Hope you don't have to do that again......ever!!!

      Reply
      • Marisa Franca

        October 21, 2016 at 9:04 am

        Hi, Diane! SSI did lose power. There were quite of few neighborhoods that had to go without power for several more days after we returned. Those humongous trees had to be removed before the power lines could be hooked up again. We never want to go through a hurricane again πŸ™ Heading north on Sunday -- time to get cooking πŸ™‚ Abbracci!

        Reply
    7. Elizabeth | Ellie & Elizabeth

      October 20, 2016 at 8:42 am

      Oh my, Marisa! I had no idea you were close to the hurricane! I'm so glad you, your family and house are all ok. Beautiful area and home! Prayers to those who were less fortunate. I'd say you're cooking quite a few hot meals for your honey!
      Enjoy and stay safe!
      Elizabeth

      Reply
      • Marisa Franca

        October 20, 2016 at 9:08 am

        Hi, Elizabeth! We are indeed fortunate. I didn't have the heart to post some of the pictures of huge trees smashing down roofs πŸ™ We certainly were lucky! Have a wonderful day and give Ellie a pat on the head for me.

        Reply
    8. Jovina Coughlin

      October 19, 2016 at 9:41 pm

      Storms like this leave an area devastated for quite a while. I remember the aftermath of Ivan in my area and my son and his family just lived through this one, They were without power for over 3 days and had lots of flooded roads to negotiate. Important thing is that everyone is ok.

      Reply
      • Marisa Franca

        October 20, 2016 at 7:13 am

        Hi, Jovina! Let's put it this way -- we hope we'll never have to go through this again. We are making plans to return next year -- wish we had a crystal ball. I'm glad your son and family are okay. Luckily Matthew headed East as it made its way here and thank goodness it came early because it was low tide. At high tide, the whole Island would have been flooded.

        Reply

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    I’m Marisa Franca, a home chef, food writer, and photographer who believes that you can make gourmet quality food at home with simple seasonal ingredients. I’m passionate about family, food, friends, everything Italian, and happy endings.

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