Hurricane Helene Breaking Points

One week ago, I would be sitting in the dark.  I would have gotten up early, as I always do, and when I made the coffee, I thought, let me make this now, before the power goes out.  But I didn't expect the power to go out so early.  I didn't think it would still be out a week later, at least not back a week ago when the lights first went out.

I had just made this Facebook post at 3:27 a.m., when I got up to check on the progress of the storm:  "Why I could never be a forecaster for the National Hurricane Center. I would say something like, "Hurricane Helene is in Flannery O'Connor country now. Beware of odd men in black cars, Helene. If a Bible salesman tries to seduce you, just keep going. You're in strange territory now, but you'll emerge able to tell stories of grace and salvation in new and terrifying ways."

The power went out, and I sat there for a few minutes.  I went to get a flashlight, and then I assembled our other battery run lights, which are mostly strings of fairy lights.  Happily, we have lots and lots of AA batteries to keep them running:

I've had a few breaking points along the way.  It's surreal to be experiencing a hurricane so far inland.  But we've done this before, and we know what to do and how to endure.  I felt a brief moment of panic the first time that water didn't come out of the tap.  But I reminded myself that other communities aren't impacted, and I can get to them to buy what I need.

My latest gulp/grief moment came last night when I looked up ways to get to Bristol, Tennessee, where I usually preach and preside on Sundays.  I saw a post that said the most direct way, across I 26, would be closed until March of 2025.  I tried to find information on alternate routes.

Not for the first time, I wish I had a paper map.  But even a paper map won't tell me which roads are washed away.  I can't find a website that tells me either--and yes, I've gone to the obvious ones, and they tell me the information might not be accurate because roads may have been washed away.

I will not be making the trip this Sunday.  We are still being asked to stay off those roads, which may or may not be there, so that emergency crews and restoration teams can get to where they are needed.  I will try making the trip next week-end, and then I'll see what the future brings.

Hurricane Helene Aftermath: The Overview

I don't have time to write a long post today.  I'm at a friend's house who has power, water, and internet, which I don't have at my house.  I need to make the most of this time with those things to catch up on seminary work, get some grading done for my online classes, and then I need to do some shopping and banking before heading up the mountain on Friday.

Last Friday, we lost electric at 4:30 a.m.,  as I was writing a blog post about how I didn't expect to suffer many effects from Hurricane Helene beyond some additional rain.  I didn't worry too much until a few hours later when trees started to fall.

Hurricane Helene's Position when the Power Went Out

We are fortunate.  No trees fell on our property or our house, like the 3 that fell on a neighbor's house:

We have spent the last week trying to help our less fortunate neighbors.  

We haven't had much internet access and spotty cell phone service, so it's been good to have a purpose.

Yesterday I headed to a friend's house in Columbia.  I needed to get to a place that had power and enough cell phone service that I could use my phone as a hotspot.  Happily, last night her internet was restored.  Today I plan to write and grade and try to regroup.

Spartanburg Methodist College still doesn't have power, so I don't know if classes will resume on Monday as previously planned.  My friend has offered to have me come back next week, and I may take her up on it if SMC doesn't have power.  I will need to do some additional class work, both for my seminary classes and the online classes that I teach.

I am still stunned by this storm.  I still find it surreal that I moved hundreds of miles inland and still found myself in this situation, and I'm still surprised, as I always am, that a tropical storm strength event can do this amount of damage.  I am hopeful that this will be a once a century storm, and I won't have to see this kind of storm in the mountains again.  But I am also suffering under no delusions that past planetary performance can predict future performance.

But let me once again stress that overall, I am in good spirits.  I know that I am lucky:  I have friends, family, support, a great neighborhood, resources of all kinds.

What I was writing when the power went out on Friday morning, Sept. 27

If there wasn't a huge hurricane to our south, I'd be making last preparations for a trip to Williamsburg, where I'll be leading workshops during my mom's women's group at St. Stephen Lutheran Church.  I'm still hoping to get there today, but I'll wait to leave until later in the morning--or perhaps even noon or 1.

I woke up an hour ago and wondered if I should go ahead and leave.  Now I am very glad that I didn't.  The rain sounds intense.  As I thought about leaving, I reminded myself that I didn't want to be on the road trying to outrun the storm when the storm arrived.

It's been raining steadily since Wednesday night.  I am still thinking we will be O.K. in terms of flooding. We are not near any rivers.  The rain will run down our hill.  I am glad that I am not in charge of Wal-Mart, which is down the hill beneath us, surrounded by non-porous surfaces.

We do have high winds in our forecast, and I do worry about the trees staying upright in the saturated soil.  I don't see that we can do much about that.

Yesterday I went down the mountain to Spartanburg Methodist College.  I had a day of student conferences planned, and the thought of rescheduling 30 students just made my head hurt.  As I was driving down, more than once I thought about the stupidity of my choice.  This morning, I reminded myself of how I felt yesterday, how I resolved not to leave for Williamsburg until full daylight--daylight behind clouds, but daylight.

It was a quiet morning on campus, but most of my students did come for morning interviews.  I sent an e-mail and follow up phone calls to the 8 students with an afternoon conference because I knew that weather conditions would deteriorate.  I was back on the road by 12:45.