Hurricane Zeta

We were expecting Hurricane Zeta yesterday and today.  The forecast called for rain yesterday morning, a brief clearing in the afternoon, and then heavy rain and high winds all day today.  I used that afternoon clearing to complete a three-mile run up in Town in very mild conditions - you could feel the humidity, as if a little piece of the Gulf of Mexico was being shoved our way ahead of the bulk of the storm.  There was no mistaking that we were directly in its expected path.

We heard rain blowing during the night, that light hurricane rain that waxes and wanes in intensity.  Sometimes it sounded like it was really raining hard.  I awoke at 6:00 to total darkness on the bedside table and knew the power was out.  I have to admit that I was a little surprised; we had expected the power outage later in the day during the heavy rain and wind, but it had come in very swiftly during the night.  We heard later that someone in Cashiers had clocked an 82-mile-an-hour wind, which is high for these mountains that are usually relatively sheltered.

We learned to be resourceful years ago and are equipped for most short power outages.  I survived a power outage of several days with our daughter Katy during the blizzard of 1993.  She was only six years old, and Martha had gone to Raleigh to visit her grandmother, leaving us stranded with a vehicle that did not have four-wheel drive.  We actually enjoyed being resourceful at the time, and I still do.  So I quickly went about filling buckets from the dwindling water supply, lighting the kerosene lantern, and rigging up the small propane burner which we have owned since before 1993 and still works well to heat up a kettle of water for coffee.  I was drinking my second cup out on the back porch - light rain blowing so hard that I was getting a little wet - when I heard that beeping and clicking sound of returning power.  I was almost a little disappointed that it had returned so quickly.  I had already planned a lunch of black bean burgers cooked on the grill.

The rain had mostly faded away by mid-morning, and I realized I had the opportunity to run again, as well as to check out any possible damage in Town.  The conditions were a little surreal when I arrived in Town.  Rain had returned on my drive to Town, but then it looked as if the sun was trying to shine.  Tiny raindrops were blowing around, so light that they almost seemed like snow flurries, and it was a balmy 68 degrees.  I saw several limbs down but no trees on my route; however, damage must have been worse in parts of Town because the power was still out here and there and power trucks had the Dillard Road blocked.  The Main Street traffic light was out and a police officer was directing traffic. There was a lot more flooding than I had expected.  On my usual route through Village Walk I found back yards flooded and a muddy, roaring Mill Creek.

It was the same along Sixth Street, and the little creek that runs beside Trillium Place near Townsite Apartments was almost engulfing the footbridge that crosses it that I sometimes run on.

This house on Laurel Street usually floods during very heavy rains, and this morning was no exception.  Photos taken earlier that Martha later showed me on Facebook showed the front yard completely flooded, but by the time I passed by it had subsided somewhat.

I am grateful that we fared better than most, especially compared to New Orleans which had reportedly taken a direct hit.  By lunch time the sun was out and it was nearly 75 degrees.  We will enjoy it while we can, because cold weather is coming this weekend.