Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and Flooding

Since we've moved we have had our share of natural chaos. An earthquake measuring 5.9 magnitude was the first. We were unaware and thought there was something wrong with the car, ha ha.

Then, Irene. We were prepared with a newly restocked 3 day supply of food, a freshly refilled propane tank for grilling out the goods in the fridge and freezer if necessary, and flashlights and tarps. The wind brought down a limb, but it landed on another tree and is still hanging out there now. We will have it removed soon, but it's pretty wedged in and likely won't come down anytime soon without some major effort.

We saw a lot of animals in the yard just after the hurricane. A large silver fox, many deer, and of course the usual squirrels and birds.

Then, the floods. My understanding is that it was a storm named Lee that brought all the rain, and boy did it rain! Our yard turned into a lake, and our basement walls seeped water. I moved boxes around just in case the floor got wet, and kept a close eye on the walls and the sump pump well in the basement. The power went out, and therefore so did the pump, so we began to bail out the well. It didn't do anything. No matter how many 5 gal buckets of water we took out of the well, the water level stayed the same, so we gave up. Thankfully, even though the well filled just to the top, none of it spilled over into the basement. We were just an inch away from having a flooded basement, but it didn't happen. Whew!

We had candles for light, and it was neither hot nor cold outside,thankfully. The power went out just after dinner and returned just before dinner the next day, so we ate hot dinners, but had to throw out a lot of food. Today, I am researching generators and arborists.