oyster50: Blog

Hurricane Delta came ashore 12 miles east of where Hurricane Laura made landfall six weeks before.

Fortunately, Delta was only a Category 2. A lot of debris was still in piles from Laura and some of that got blown around. A few more trees went down. Tarps installed to protect homes that lost roofs in Laura didn't fare well in Delta's winds.

Darned tootin' we evacuated, this time to East Texas. Wasn't far enough. The winds were rather feisty, enough to knock out power at the home where we stayed. Was out for almost 24 hours there. Back in Louisiana at the home we left? Two-hour outage.

Worked from home for three days after Delta's winds forced rainwater into our offices again. then things went back to (I hate the term) 'new normal'.

Work's been nuts with various projects jumping off, some storm-related issues, some just put onto odd schedules, driven by COVID restrictions.

Writing goes on - a bit less than I'd like, but believe me, the stories are going to flow.

Just as life was getting back to normal after Hurricane Laura, you know, electricity, water, businesses reopening, leveling out so I could get some writing done, along comes this Hurricane Delta.

The same "meteorologists" who predicted Laura would hit Florida as a Cat. 1 have been steadily moving Delta's path westward, and the latest has it side-swiping us with the eye passing forty miles to the east. They still have twenty-four hours to decide if we're getting a direct hit. Yeah, it's ONLY supposed to be a Cat. 2, but thousands of roofs are still missing from Laura, so this will be fun.

Evacuation happens tomorrow, and I don't know how much writing I'll get done then. I did manage to get a chapter of Benjamanda off to the editor today, so I will dangle that shiny object for us to think about in the short-term future.

While we're on the way to recovery here in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, I feel compelled to do another hurricane aftermath story.

So meet Laura. And John. Unfortunate waif. Nice guy benefactor. And we're off to see what happens, aren't we?

going on the second week of playing 'musical hotels'. We're a mere hour and a half drive from home, just outside the devastated areas, and have been begging to extend a stay in a hotel that's 100% booked, many of whom are like us - refugees.

The office where I work is going back on line. We're supplied electricity an industrial facility fed by a major electrical transmission substation. One of the first steps in power restoration after a hurricane is restoring the transmission system and we're a beneficiary.

As far as living quarters like 'home', the best I'll be able to do is a generator big enough to feed a window AC unit and to run a refrigerator. That, along with running water, makes a 'home' again. That's my plans for the next couple of days.

As far as writing, one - take my own advice. I should've had the house that Dan had when he rescued Nikki. Two - I just posted Chapter 10 of Benjamanda. I'm undecided as to whether or not to end it there. Maybe a couple more chapters? Third - go figure! Another hurricane evacuation and Dorable's telling me that she has another 'waif in trouble' story.

Drove to the house today. It's dry, just a bit of roof damage on one corner, other cosmetic things, but it survived. The cats are disturbed, but they'll get over it.

Me, however... Utility company says 2-3 weeks to get lights back. The storm took out both transmission and distribution systems, so they have to get the transmission system back up first, then they can get to putting lights on in the area.

Between us and East Texas, there are 800,000 customers in the dark, and that includes a lot of heavy industry, including my employer.

To the hundred of you who sent good wishes and prayers, you have my deepest thanks. Thank, friends!

Oyster