Chapter 7

When Carley came back she had bought a cedar shavings filled pad, food and water dispensers, a collar and leash and two large bags of dog food. David had an inspection tour of the area when he was let out of the truck. When Carley called him he followed her inside. The dog checked the entire place over then came to the dinet and flopped on the floor. Carley said the dog had been kept inside and slept with two little girls. She said he was house broke and would bark when he needed to go outside. Janet thought David needed a bath and asked if she could use the whirlpool tub in Carley's bath. Carley filled the tub. They had thought they would have to put David in the tub but Labs are water dogs and David jumped in. He liked it and lay down with just his head and back above water. Janet came back from her room with apple smelling shampoo. The dog knew what that was for. He loved them scratching in the soap over his whole body. They dumped the tub and used the shower hose to get rid of the shampoo. It took three large towels to get David dry enough to be let out of the tub.

Carley suggested that they eat something and go to bed early they were both tired. The light of distant lightning could be seen through the windows. The TV was running a storm warning banner. There was a line of severe storms coming from the south west. There was a good chance of Tornados. Very high winds were expected. David had found his new bed in the living room. He was snoring. Carley browned six hot dogs in butter and warmed buns. They each ate two and tossed pieces of the other two to David. He caught them in the air.

The girls had been in bed less than an hour when lightning struck close by, they were wakened by the blinding flash and the thunder. They ran to the windows that looked out at the shore. Rain was pelting down so hard their cars and the truck were barely visible. The wind was pushing the rain sideways.

The power went off, two minutes later they felt and heard the generator in the hull start. They had power again. Carley said "Well I guess we can go to bed again." Janet asked if she could sleep with Carley, she was still scared. They got in Carley's large bed and David jumped on the foot and lay on the covers between them. He grunted and wiggled in. They hugged him and went back to sleep thinking that with David there they were safe. Later when the tornado hit, they slept through it.

The tornado wiped out a two hundred foot wide path south west of them and entered the bay just above Pat and Crystal's home. A beer joint and a pawn shop across Bay Shore Drive were destroyed. Trees hundreds of years old were uprooted. Nothing Pat owned sustained any damage. The tornado ripped into North Bay with such force that hundreds of homes and buildings were damaged.

Carley found out the next day that her town house apartment and the building Janet's apartment had been in were demolished. She, Janet and David had slept through the whole thing.

The generator was still running that morning at five when David woke them, he needed to go out and releive himself. The sky was blue and clear of clouds. Janet and Carley fixed a simple breakfast. David had come in and gone to his bed, he watched his two masters eat but was not interested in grapefruit, toast or strawberry preserves. He was much too young for coffee. Carley and Janet had showers and dressed for the day. Neither spent much time on makeup. As they left Carley closed and locked the door leaving David inside.

They immediately saw the demolished beer hall and pawn shop. A bill board on their side of the four lane was gone. Pat's truck had been turned arounding and it's front bumper was almost touching Crystal's car. A bay fishing boat on it's trailer was parked in the middle of the parking lot. It looked as if it had a nearly new one hundred hp outboard motor on its stern.

Pat came out to them in the parking lot. He said that he had been out ealier and the power and phones were out on their side of the bay. He said the fuel docks were running the fuel islands on power from it's emergency generator. Pat told them that it looked as if every thing but the salvage yard and construction on the new offices would be shut down until power was resumed. He told Carley and Janet that he was going to move a truck mounted generator to the new office site and that would give the contractor enough power to work there.

Carley wanted to check on her plane and see if it had been damaged. She and Janet drove to the seaplane landing and she found her beloved aeroplane was allright.

There was wind damage every where. Trees and debris blocked the roads, power poles had been snapped off and were laying around.

Janet drove them back home, the damage was depressing to see. David was glad to see them.

Carley and Janet spent a while putting their home in order. Kitchen suplies were still in boxes and they were put up. The walk in pantry shelves were covered with shelf paper and canned foods were lined up on them. Paper plates, cups and tissues went on shelves neatly. Janet had brought three cases of bottled sugar free tea, those were put on shelves. Both girls had recently bought large quanitys of toilet tissue and facial tissues. There was space for that. After the kitchen and pantry were in order each girl spent some time putting her clothes and bed room straight. Ellen and her children came over, the children were delighted with David. Ellen visited for a bit and Carley and Janet found out that she and her children had slept through the storm like they did.

Carley had not been able to talk to her parents and find out if they and her brother were alright. She was calling on her cell phone. She thought the land lines were damaged on the other side of the bay. Carley asked Janet if she would drive her over there in the four wheel drive pickup to check on her father, mother and her brother. The roads were near blocked in many places, there was not much other traffic out. Carley directed Janet through a neighborhood of expensive homes and told her to drive up the driveway of one of them. Janet had to drive out on the lawn to go around a fallen tree in two places.

Carley's brother opened the front door for them. As soon as he saw that Carley was alright he wanted to know how she had survived the destruction of the apartment she lived in. Carley told of moving Saturday and not living there anymore. She told Paul that she now lived on a house boat on the south bay shore. Paul laughed and asked her why she did something as foolish as that. Carley replied "Because my new place is so quiet Janet and I slept through a tornado that passed less than two hundred feet from us." She went on to say that she and Janet were some of the few people that had lights, hot water and could take a shower.

Paul said the reason he was at their parent's home was that the roof had been blown off of his apartment.

Paul led them through the house to the kitchen.

Carley's mother and father were there, they were relieved that she was allright. When her body was not found in the shattered remains of her apartment they had hopped that she was away on a charter flight or off visiting. Their phones were usless and they had been about to ask Paul to ride his trail bike to the seaplane airport to ask about her.

Carley said she had moved Saturday to a houseboat that had a generator and she had lights, hot water, heat and air and a fully operating kitchen. Carley invited them to move in with her until the utilities were back on to their home. Her mother said they would be crowding her in a little houseboat. Carley told them she could let Janet sleep with her and there would be two bedrooms with baths for them. After assuring them that there was plenty of room they decided to go back with her. Paul had left his soaked apartment with two duffle bags of soaked clothing. He had brought them there after daylight that morning. He had not unpacked and was ready to move again. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson took about an hour to pack their luggage. They locked the house up as they left. Paul had disconnected the incoming power supply so that the power service coming back on would cause no harm. Janet drove, the Andersons rode in the rear seat of the truck.

Paul followed on his bike. The Andersons were amazed at the room in Carley's new home. David welcomed them with wags and licks.

Janet took Paul's wet clothes to run them through the dryer. The Andersons settled in and went to their rooms.

Paul was the President of his father's ship line. He was woried about their docks and warehouses across the bay. Janet told him she could arrainge a crew boat for him to use to go there. Paul called her an Angel. Janet called Tim on his cell phone and asked if he had a crew boat her guest could use. Tim told her he had several tied up at his office. Paul told his father he was going to the ship lines docks by boat and asked if he wanted to go. Janet drove them the short distance to Tim's office. It was nearly dark when they returned.

Mr. Anderson reported that there was not much damaged at their docks and that he had two ships ready to leave port but they could not leave without fuel. Janet told him that Mr. Colson had been by earlier and told her a large generator was being installed at his fuel dock and they would be fueling large ships the next morning. Mr. Anderson asked who he needed to see to open an acount. Janet told him she was one of the ones and he had an open acount now.

Anderson Ship Company loaded two ships with fuel the next morning. Both went to sea from the fuel dock.

Paul and Hardy Anderson had gone across the bay right after breakfast that morning. They had told their ships captains to take on fuel at the Colson fuel dock.

Hardy Anderson drove a beat up pickup to several rental places to try to find a large generator he could rent, nothing doing. He ended up buying a new one larger than he needed from a dealer. His purchase was the last of that dealers stock of generators, he sold Anderson Shipping Company the Generator at cost. After the sale the owner of the generator sales company told Mr. Anderson he was retiring and planning to move to Florida in his Motor Home. His house had been totally destroyed in the storm and he was just renting the building his firm was operating in. He told Mr. Anderson he was sure his one service man and one roving salesman could find another place to work. The salesman was on commission and the service man was on a contract agreement.

Anderson Shipping Company had bought a big generator but getting it installed was another mater. All of the electrical contractors on both sides of the bay were snowed under with work. At supper that night he told of his problem. Janet called Tim and asked him if he could spare a small crew to install a large generator at the Anderson Shipping Company's docks at North Bay the next day. Tim could and Janet assured Hardy Anderson that Colson Contracting could have his offices with power sometime the next day.

Four days after the tornado and wind storm things were getting back to normal. The power and phone companies in South Bay had their services operating fully. North Bay would take four more days. The shipping company was doing business almost as usual.

Carley had made her parents feel so much at home they were reluctant to leave when power was restored at their home in North bay. Paul was without a place of his own to live. He had taken trucks and a few men from the warehouse and scavenged all the things still useable from his apartment. That was still drying in an empty section of the warehouuse.

He had no luck finding another apartment in North Bay. He even tried in South Bay. Paul could find nothing he liked. Carley had told him he could stay with her until he found something he wanted to rent. From Carley's home Paul was having to drive for nearly an hour and a half in rush time trafic to get to and from his office at the Anderson dock.

Pat offered to rent Paul the use of the crew boat he and his father had used until the streets and roads were open after the storm. He could be across the bay in it in fifteen minutes. It had taken him thirty minutes to get from his old place to the office. Paul knew that the house boat marina would be complete in just a few weeks. Paul liked the house boat Carley was living in. He thought that renting one might be his best solution for a new place to live. Paul asked his sister who he should talk to about that. Carley told him to see Crystal.

Crystal rented Paul the first house boat to be parked at the marina. Crystal promised Paul that he could count on moving aboard it by the first of the month. Paul had three weeks to arrange for power, water and propane gas.