This was an unforgettable Labor Day Weekend this year. Hurricane Hermine came through Tallahassee, the first hurricane to hit this area in 30 years. Hermine was projected to hit at 1:00am Friday morning so schools were closed that Thursday and Friday. Justin was home with the kids that Thursday and since his car was in the shop, he dropped me off at work so he could have the car for the day. Thursday morning, we received word that the state offices were closing at noon which created a traffic nightmare.
Evacuating Tallahassee? Nope, just state offices.
It took us over an hour to get to my house which only takes 20 minutes on a normal day,
At least I had quality time with my chauffeur - dad!
These two cuties were excited to wear their rain jackets and rain boots in anticipation of the hurricane.
Since we were off work Thursday afternoon, Justin and I were able to watch some TV together before the storm hit. One of the perks of a storm.
"Hurricane prep at home = thawing my cupcake for tonight"
Thursday night/Friday morning I didn't sleep much. The power went out around 11pm Thursday night and the wind howled until 2am. The next morning we found a huge tree had fallen on Miccosukee Road and taken a power line down with it (just one of many along that road). We spent the next four days without power and held our breath every time we had to venture out on the road. There were trees and downed power lines everywhere so it took twice as long to get anywhere in town due to road closures.
The kids were perfect all weekend. Hallelujah. We kept the tablets and cell phones charged off of the car batteries and they spent time playing in their rooms, playing outside and watching movies on their tablets. A couple times during the weekend we would ride up to the top of the road to see if any progress had been made on the fallen tree outside our neighborhood.
Some of our activities during the powerless weekend:
"No power = room decluttering"
"FSU nails" - Kate and I did our nails one afternoon.
Thankful for cooler temps one day while we were still without power.
Justin set up fans and an antenna to watch football (after borrowing a generator).
My hurricane hero - he worked so hard that weekend!
On Sunday afternoon, Uncle Jordan came and rescued us while Daddy was up at church helping unload a semi truck of disaster relief supplies (my car refused to start that morning - one more problem to add). We spent the afternoon and early evening at Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie's house - thankfully they never lost power. Gigi and Granddaddy ended up getting power back on Sunday so the kids spent the night at their house that night to enjoy the cool air. After their power returned, we were able to borrow another generator to run our refrigerator.
Overall, we are very thankful that we made it through the storm without any major damages other than the extended power outage. Next time, we will be prepared with generators. Those are well worth the expense!
