Thanks for the worries, guys. You pulled us through.
We got no snow on the Oregon coast but that was one (two actually, back-to-back) buttkicking storm. These were two western Pacific cyclones that landed right on our heads. We had the west coast's first hurricane wind warning since the thing was invented. "Build it and they will come." Indeed! We had sustained winds in excess of 90 mph and gusts in my town of 125 mph.
We were an isolated community for a couple of days. Roads were closed by downed trees and flooding. All power, phones (cells, too), water (to me) were out. All stores except part of one Safeway were closed. No gas stations were open, but one restaurant ran on a generator and drew the crowds. Driving was pretty dicey Saturday night through Monday. Not only was various debris turning into 100 mph missiles, but cars were being pushed around the roads. Saturday was the calmest day of the three, but we got 5 inches of rain...just before my rain gauge broke, lol. So I don't know what we had overall in the storm(s).
My wife works for the local PD. Fortunately she only worked one day (Monday) during the storm. All I'll say is that it was the weirdest day she's ever had there. If you can imagine it, people were stopping in asking for it....phone use (people wanted her to call their relatives to tell them they were okay, lol...duh..."we don't have phones either, bub."), gas, oxygen pumping, housing, food, etc.
General damage to the town was moderate, but ours and 4 other counties were declared Federal disaster areas today. (Politicians, of course, took their photo-ops around the coast today.
) AverageJoe and family had only tree limb problems. We lost some vent caps, a couple of trees, a mess o' food, and a fence. (State Farm claims reps are already trying to get us to settle for about 1/2 the damage replacement costs.
)
I have empathy for you people down in hurricane alley. These are no fun. This is my second huge storm here. I've had fun before...but this is NOT it! My most fun moment was going to the Emergency Shelter and showering with the homeless folks. Cool people....sorta.
I'm sure the worst moment came for our friend, Mrs. AverageJoe who had to deliver mail during the storm. Yikes.
All in all, it was a violent few days. Fortunately, only 2 or 3 souls lost their lives.
I missed you all!
It's good to be back.
