Coming Back Home, After Hurricane Matthew

Saturday night, we returned home to N.E. Florida.

Praise GOD, everything was just as we left it. There were a few signs that were lop-sided and a few stoplights that were out; but when that's all the damage, then we were really protected!

We returned to see a neighbor sweeping the debris away in the parking lot. We filled each other in on the past couple of days: she here at home and I away from home.

She said when the hurricane passed by, there was a ton of rain and even more wind. They lost power for a day and a half, and it came back around noon on Saturday. That was basically as serious as it got.

The neighbors got together during the day on Saturday to remove the larger branches and clear up the parking lots and entrance so all the cars can have easy access.

Shew, it already feels like nothing happened at all--but there are others that weren't as fortunate. I'm glad this hurricane is over and gone, but there's work to do in the affected areas.

Now I can say, I really did evacuate from a hurricane. The End.

Getting Away From Hurricane Mathew

Yesterday, Thursday October 6th, my step-mom and I decided to leave before the hurricane arrived. We left around 11:30 am. When we got on to I-10 from Jacksonville, traffic was really backed-up. It took about 20 - 30 minutes to cover 4 miles (6.4 km). I guess I should be happy that we were actually moving.

We arrived at city called Dothan, Alabama. We thought we had arrived at our destination. We were very wrong.

I pulled up to a hotel. He asked for a reservation--which I didn't have. Then he told me they were sold-out. "They" = all the hotels in the city, not just said hotel. Also, the nearest place I might get a room was in Montgomery, which is a 1 hr. 20 min. drive away. It did not hit me that it was going to be this serious. 

I don't have a smartphone, but my step-mother does. I used hers to quickly book a room in Montgomery--only to find out, that Booking.com overbooked that hotel. When we arrived, there were no rooms, but several websites were booking rooms anyway. I was 1 of over 20 in such a position. Shew, as I was looking for a place on Booking.com, it showed there were 178-220 people looking at the same properties I was. Talk about "serious".

They guy at this hotel (Jason, from Alabama Hotel) was really nice and he went beyond what I expected him to do: he booked another place for me. Of course, I had to enter my info and my credit card info as well, but he helped me find that place. It was the Holiday Inn Express Prattville South, about 16 miles (25.8 km) away.

We arrived at said hotel, only to have the same story repeated: their website (not Booking.com) overbooked them. Leaving us out. Again. Ugh.

However, they gave me the number to Country Inn & Suites (just across I-65 and about 5 miles / 8 km from them). I called. They had 1 room left. I took it and gave them the info they required to hold it. When we arrived, the room was truly there--but only for 1 night. That's fine. Let's take it 1 day at a time. We were just so happy to finally get a room at our 4th try.

This morning, before breakfast, I checked with the front desk again to see if any rooms became available during the night. I heard a few people were going to check out, so why not?

The front desk worker checked, and let me know that not only was there room, but we were also able to stay in our current room! Oh, happiness of relief!

It was nice to have a place to stay while Hurricane Matthew bombarded my home with wind and rain--without my family being in our home.

So today, we kept ourselves up to date, got in touch with a few people, let others know we were ok, and actually relaxed. Tomorrow will be a long day: church in the morning, and a long ride back right after. We're moving by faith that everything is ok.

Thanks for your prayers and concerns for this situation and those who may be affected. Take care and GOD bless.

Hurricane Matthew is coming . . .

I don't know if any of you know this, but I live with my parents in Florida. This Hurricane Matthew is on its way up here. It seems like the model is changing every time we tune in to the Weather Channel to see what's going on. 

I'm not going to lie; where we live, this looks scary. I hope it won't be so bad for us. I just hate waiting to know more info; that is, in the case we need to leave, where we could go. I just really don't want to get stuck in evacuation traffic.

Please, pray.