Ivan the Terrible

Hurricane Ivan came roaring through this past Thursday with an angry demeanor, leaving destruction and despair in its wake. I believe it was still classified as a category 4 hurricane when it reached landfall near Mobile, Alabama. The eye passed over Mobile, but the areas on the left side of the hurricane received the brunt of Ivan's force. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach suffered large amounts of damage, as 90% or so of the beachfront condo's (including one owned by a cousin of my family) were flattened. Dolphin Island reported 100% decimation. By the time Ivan reached us here in Central Alabama, it had been downgraded to a tropical storm but it still showed fierce intent to wreak havoc where it could. Many old/large trees either lost big limbs or were uprooted completely...crushing whatever had the misfortune to by lying in their paths: cars, buildings, homes, churches. The roof on a local business was peeled back to the ventilation system, and several storefront windows were shattered by flying debris. This is to say nothing of the hundreds of locals without power due to damaged or fallen lines, exploded transformers, and blown fuses. State wide the number of people sitting in the dark reached well over one million. Our power was just restored this morning about 7:45 a.m. The day that Ivan made it's appearance in our town, my husband was working. I packed up my kids, a few pieces of clothing, diapers, water, non-perishables, and flashlights with new batteries and headed for my grandmother's much sturdier brick home where I rode the storm out in comfort with my grandmother and mother. My husband popped in and out when he could to dry off, grab a bite to eat, and report on any damage our town had suffered thus far. Afterwards we returned home to assess the damage and were pleasantly surprised to find only a scattering of small tree limbs and other debris strewn about the yard. The house was fine other than being hot due to the lack of power needed to run the air-conditioning. None of my family had any power, but some friends of ours did and we spent the night and next day with them. Our 95 degree home was just too hot for my babies to stand. Especially "A" as she was running fever as a side-effect of some booster shots she had the previous week. Last night it was cool enough in the house with all of the windows open, to return to our own beds. This morning I awoke to the sound of chainsaws clearing streets and powerlines of fallen limbs...and then I heard it. The wonderful beeping of alarm-clocks and various other electronic devices throughout the house signifying that our power had been restored once more. I glanced up at the ceiling where the bedroom fan was slowly starting to come to life after 4 days of hibernation. Time to get up. There was a refrigerator to be cleaned out and chores to be done. It was going to be a long day.