Idalia roared into Florida as a Category 4 hurricane last Tuesday and Wednesday. She was BIG and moved really fast. But, when she got to us here on the Charleston coast, sooner than predicted with the leading edge starting in earnest in the early afternoon Wednesday, she was a tropical storm.
We lucked out. The worst of Idalia, the center, was just to our west. Still, we got lots of bands that were “red” and “yellow”–denoting severe weather. And the local weather people were very wary of tornados developing. She did NOT depart land here at Charleston as predicted, and when we got the last of the bands in the early morning Thursday, her leading edge had reached Virginia Beach.
I have a little rain gauge out front–and the sheets of water filled its five inches in no time at all. So, in total, we got something north of 6 inches at my house. And, yes, the wind was bad, but not, according to son Bryan who lives on Isle of Palms, at hurricane force. He said they actually got a good night’s sleep.
One of the fun things for me, sometime in the mid-afternoon, was hearing local children playing outside. They were riding their bikes in the steady rain and with the wind diminished for that moment. They were whooping and laughing and careening their bikes through the sheet of steady rain. It was a moment of pure joy to see them having such fun.
I had defrosted a soup to have on hand–thinking I could eat it cold if I lost power. Fortunately, I was able to have a nice hot bowl of soup for dinner and supper. I augmented what I had frozen with 4 more chicken thighs I also had frozen. I threw in the handful of organic mixed salad greens I had left in the refrigerator, which included hearty baby greens like spinach, kale, and chard.
Later in the afternoon, my phone started what can only be called a siren. It was a tornado warning, and I was advised to take shelter immediately in an interior room. Later, there were reports and a video of a tornado picking up a car and hurling it off a local freeway.
At 7:30, the power went out for two hours. My little lantern, about which I blogged recently, was wonderful company. And neighbors called to check up on me and offered refuge in their houses. This picture is from the blog. I actually used the more expensive lantern as it is larger, more powerful, has a rechargeable battery that can work also with installed batteries, and can recharge a phone if needed.
When the power returned, everything came back online just fine–unlike the power outage some months back that caused the refrigerator breaker to trip. Fortunately I found it not on fairly quickly.
Basically, I spent the day in my little tv sitting room reading SWIMMING LESSONS, by Mary Alice Monroe. It was a sweet story about a young woman who lives on Isle of Palms and who gets involved with caring for the big loggerhead turtles that nest on these barrier islands each year. She goes on to pioneer the turtle rescue hospital at the Charleston Aquarium–with lots of help of course.
Today, there are many volunteers who work in this turtle arena, and it was fun to read what all they do in this fictional tale. They walk the beaches in the early morning to find turtle tracks and to locate and mark a nest of eggs that is buried around 2-feet deep. When it is time for that nest to hatch, volunteers sit up all night to wait for the eruption of baby turtles from the nest and to make sure they get to the water–which must be done on their own. Beach side houses do not turn on outside lights at this time of year as those lights can make the turtles turn toward the houses and not the water.
It turns out that Mary Alice Monroe, affectionally known as MAM, lives on Isle of Palms and, herself, has helped pioneer these turtle efforts. Today, the Charleston Aquarium is world famous for its turtle hospital.
My new little crape myrtle tree was whipped around in the wind like crazy. Here’s a picture I took a day or so before the storm. Look at all those blooms.
The branches are very pliable and bend easily in the wind, which we all have to do to survive life, right? Some of the blossoms got stripped, but the tree is fine and probably loved all the rain going down to her roots.
Hurricanes that hit this coast mostly develop off the coast of North Africa. There is one the weather people are watching now: Katia. I am holding my breath.
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