This past Wednesday, the Gulf Coast was hit by yet another hurricane: Hurricane Zeta.

I’m not sure how many readers are aware, but New Orleans was the initial bullseye for almost EVERY SINGLE hurricane to form the last few weeks. We all became immune to this hectic hurricane season. Every storm to come re-routed to another location and only by the grace of God. We, or at least I, learned to avoid the news and wait for outcomes. The media does nothing but promote fear and panic, which does nothing. Every weekend it seemed we had to take off work and shut down life due to storm threats, which all ended up being beautiful weather outside for us and tragic for others.

This past week an actual hurricane hit us. It started as a tropical storm, so none of us were worried. It’s been raining here for the past few months, it seems. Zeta was a fast-moving storm, which was good for us. New Orleans is below sea level, so we could not handle long bouts of torrential rain without severe consequence. It was to hit Wednesday afternoon. Tuesday night, it strengthened to almost a Category 3. We had no warning of this. It all happened so fast. Whatever storm preparations everyone made was all we had.

I’ll be honest and say this last year has been a memorable one; I think we all could agree.

We lost power before the actual storm started, but the winds were howling. I would not like to experience anything higher than a Category 2, but I did stand outside to watch for most of the time it passed by. At one point, the street lamp blew off, and my dad mentioned going to get it. I said, “Right NOW?!!??”. He wanted to keep it from hitting cars. We were watching the peak of the storm!
“RIGHT NOW?!!?” Timing is EVERYTHING.
Not soon after, a piece of metal siding from someone’s house came flying down the street. I said, “That’s why we have hurricane boards up!!” My neighbor across the street had the same thought, and his wife had the same response as I did! A little while later, the eye passed over us. If you’ve never experienced being in the eye of a storm, it’s neat! While things are flying and you’re wondering how much insurance you’ll need in the ER, suddenly it gets calm as if nothing happened, and the sky clears. The weather experts instructed us not to go outside while the eye is passing because as soon as the eyewall hits, the bad weather starts back up again. (But, do you think any of us listened??) It was an eery thing to see. The sky was all kinds of colors: pink, purple, blue, and suddenly the sky went from blue to orange.

My neighbors and I are so thankful to be spared from significant damage. We lost electricity, had a lot of tree debris, and got a few fence boards blown down, but that’s it. The neighbor down the street had their tree knocked down lying in the street. Family members and their neighbors across the highway heard a freight train and had windows blown in, fences blown away, buildings torn apart, and roof damage.

We did not have work the next day. Clean up started. I found out I could survive without electricity, but not coffee! My dad does not drink caffeine and wakes up at Level 10 and ready to tackle the day. I do not understand him, but that is for another post.

With the pandemic, election, and anything else that has happened this year, I believe this storm was a blessing, and that is how I am choosing to see it. Yes, it was dangerous, and we could have gone without it, but God spared us from serious impacts. Yes, there is damage and this is serious. Power lines are down, streets are blocked with trees, and lots of people are still without power or hot water.

I enjoyed not having electricity or internet (for a couple of days!) because it forced people out of our homes. Not only that, but we experienced real mercy because we had a cold front. Typically, storms come during the summer, but this was October!

Overnight, we were all outside talking, helping each other, and enjoying the beautiful weather despite the circumstances. Neighbors came together, people were friendly, and we got to hug.

Social distancing was forgotten. Covid was not a threat. Political differences were put aside. We were just people helping people.

Let me share something else: this was the one storm I did not prepare for. Every other time, when it did not hit us, I filled up my car, bought a few snacks, and was ready. This time, I think we were all burned out and DONE with hurricane season and 2020 in general.

I put $20 worth of gas in my car, decided to live off the few crackers I had with peanut butter and packaged tuna leftover from last time.

My friend in North Carolina laughed and said, “You’re literally in a location DESTROYED by hurricanes and you’re like, eh.” Ha! That’s the truth!

#DONE

“My adrenal glands are shot. However, before the power went out, I went on amazon and bought coffee. In case the power went out, and couldn’t get it this weekend. Priorities.”

I am blessed. I am grateful. I am thankful.

Over 400,000 people are without power, and miraculously ours came on Thursday afternoon after bringing some food to my aunts to store in her freezer. We thought it would be two weeks. A lot of people are still without.

Continue to be kind and continue to be helpful. Praise God in everything you do and in every storm, literal and metaphorical.

Thank Him for little mercies.

(By the way, I finally broke down and purchased Grammarly. This is my first post edited with this app and it turns out I’m horrible at Grammar. This is not an ad, but awareness. 😛 )