I live in Ohio. We do not get hurricanes in Ohio. We get tornados, flash floods, and more than a few people who lose their lives to lightening each year.
But yesterday, Ike showed up for an unexpected visit and he wasn’t a very nice guest.
While we were gone for the afternoon, Ike’s remnant, hurricane-force winds took advantage of our absence and wreaked havoc on our home. He snapped a branch off our 70 foot tall maple tree like a toothpick, which then crashed down on our swing-set, fence, cable wires and electrical line.
We are just one of a half million families in the Buckeye state who may be without power for roughly a week.
We packed up the kids, dog, and all the food we could salvage and drove 20 miles to my Mom’s house. We’ll camp out here, where the kids can get good and spoiled, until things get fixed at home.
On the drive out, it was eerie to see the entire city without power, and every other house with a large limb or an entire tree down in their yard. Roads were closed, shingles were flying, and cars were crushed. I have never seen anything like it.
Despite the hassle, the inevitable death of every fish in our 55 gallon tank, the loss of income because our places of employment are shut down, the wondering if our house will catch fire because there are electrical wires laying on the roof, and the monumental mess we have to clean up…the biggest challenge will be dealing with the fact that my Mom still lives in 1975 and doesn’t have internet access.
I am thankful for so many things right now, but mostly that no one was hurt, that we don’t live in Texas, and that Panera has free Wi-Fi.
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AlisonH
Wow. I’m so glad you’re all okay!
Caffeine Court
Wow, sounds like a huge mess!
Mother nature can sure pack a whallop.
Hope you’re back home soon.
the planet of janet
yay for panera bread!!
glad you all are safe. stay that way, k?
Smart A$$ Mom
Ohh…and they have the Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich yummy!!
Sadia
I’m so glad you’re safe, and feeling more than a little guilty. We do live in Central Texas, but got nothing but a light breeze and some cloud cover … and a husband who was working all weekend to make sure that National Guard helicopters continued to fly.
Misty
i stand firm in my belief that, that part of the country is affected negatively by EVERY weather issue, anywhere…
Twenty Four At Heart
I have so many friends in Ohio and I’m hearing the same thing from all of them. Hope you’re back home safely again soon.
Have the T-Shirt
Dude, that sucks!
I cannot imagine having to move in with my MOM! I’m sure she feels the same way too.
Kat
In Missouri we just got a lot of rain, not so much with the wind thank goodness. Hope your house is back up in running order quicker than you expect.
Ed (zoesdad)
We came through relatively unscathed. I’ll be picking up limbs for quite a while.
What am I saying? I’ve still got limbs I haven’t picked up from the big ice storm last March!
Hope you’re home soon.
Melisa
Wow, I’m sorry to hear about that!
We got hit in Chi-town as well, but sounds like you got it worse; we just got a bunch of flooding.
I’m glad that you are all safe. Maybe you can bring your mom into the 21st century while you’re there? 🙂
Jenny from Mommin' it Up!
amen, sister! it was ka-razy up in here yesterday! we have three huge pine trees in our yard, and were very worried but hallelujah they are all still standing! (one minus a large section of branches but that is a-ok). and we didn’t lose power, which is nuts because 4 blocks down they still got nuttin’. it was definitely the only time i can ever remember such crazy weather here in the buckeye state!
A Buns Life
So glad you all are ok. STL is totally flooded too….luckily we weren’t affected very much. Hope you get home soon!
Lane Boyz Mom
Wow…how scary!!!! Glad you have a place to stay, even if it doesn’t have the internet, you really should tell your Mom that the kids NEED it tho, I know that would work with my Mom:) LOL
Chuck
I’m glad you’re all ok and had someplace to go. We didn’t get much several hours north of you. We did get plenty of rain though and some flooding.
Oh, 1975 wasn’t so bad was it?
Bean
Ok, um … ‘DAYAM’. I saw your back yard today. My mouth was agape (I was eating agrape).
No seriously – thank goodness you weren’t home, but at least I know you would NEVER have let the kids play outside in that wind with all those big trees around.
All the neighborhoods I saw today look like a war zone … except mine. Newer trees throughout most of it, but a couple did fall by the pool. Our big playhouse flipped over several times in a row!
Hang in there.
wheremytruthlives
Sometimesmother nature has a mean streak. Thank God you are all ok. And thank God for Panera!
meleah rebeccah
Whew. I am soooooo glad that no one in your family was HURT and thankfully Panera Bread has free Wi-Fi for this much needed update.
Here’s one reader hoping NOTHING else happens to your home while you are staying at your moms.
Colleen
So glad to hear you’re OK! Ike passed just to the south of us, thank goodness.
Now, let’s have a moment of silence for those poor fish. 😉
Amy
That is crazy!! Ike did a number on us down here in Texas. We are one of the lucky few that got our power back relatively soon. Although the whole grocery and gas thing is another scary situation in its own right. This storm truly was something else!
Laski Gal
I’m glad you are OK. Those winds were rough.
We didn’t have the power outages . . . we were lucky. Usually a light breeze can take out our power.
I was amazed this morning watching the listings of Ohio school closings. CRAZY!!!
And the wind footage–WOW!
DysFUNctional Mom
That Ike is really being a jerk.
I hope everything is OK when you get back. Sorry about the fish!
Tenakim
We got hit in MO too- it’s freaky, I’m thankful, but never thought we’d have to deal with a tropical storm!
Lisa@verybusymomwith4
My sister in Cleveland called Sunday saying she was a ‘hurricane victim’–same as you–loss of power, trees blown over.
I still can’t believe us here in Dallas got a nice gentle rain for about a day and no wind.
So weird.
Hope it gets better ASAP!
Birdie
oh wow momo, that’s bad bad. I hope they get things squared up fast. that really really stinks. You need some free blueberry butter cream sweetcake. Come get some http://thecrookedmaple.blogspot.com/
Heather
We just got our power back on today. Our fishies made it, due to myself and Tee blowing air into the damn tanks, or it would’ve been a near thing. They were sucking bubbles at the top of the tanks. It went back out for awhile, but came back on again. We did a mad dash to charge cell phones, wash some clothes and dishes etc because we just don’t know. We lost everything in the fridge and half what was in the freezer. No school again tomorrow. Good luck, Momo.
Kori
Well. Aren’t I glad that there only fires here? Whew!
Kimmylyn
I am happy to hear you guys are all okay.. despite everything else you listed..
Hugs to you guys..
Rachel
oh sweetie! I’m so glad y’all are alright and so sorry that Ike crapped on y’all too.
He was a big mean bastard, wasn’t he.
Take care honey. hugs.
Jo Beaufoix
Oh sweet momo, what a blummig nightmare. At least your mum will feed you all, and thank Bob for Wi-Fi. Hugs.
Manager Mom
Yikes…I am glad to hear that you are all [fish aside] relatively OK.
Jaina
Oh wow, that’s scary. At least you weren’t there when it fell. I hope things get taken care of soon.
Mz. Nesbit
that’s awful. but – on the bright side–at least you don’t have to do any of the cooking for awhile thanks to grandma.
((hugs))
LiteralDan
I can just hear the public-service type commercial promoting Panera’s hurricane relief efforts in a warm, sympathetic voice:
“Panera. Come for the Internet, stay for more Internet. …But seriously, 4 hours is pretty much the limit, unless you keep the $5 chocolate-dipped biscottis flowing, cause we make like 80% profit on those things.”
Tara R.
Sorry about the whole hurricane thing. We try to keep them in the south, but they are contrary things. Hope your lives are back to normal very soon.
Jared
Momo, sorry to hear Ike got ya. Luckily we did not take on any major damage, but every other house in our neighborhood had some huge limbs (or entire trees) fall. It was pretty scary stuff!
Glad to hear you are OK…and Panera has fee Wi-Fi! You have power yet? The news said last night that 36000 people were still without power? Hope you are not one of them…
Mrs4444
LOVE Panera. Now, when you get home, please put up a “Followers” button–I want to stalk you publicly!
loveyh
Mmmm, Panera. My folks missed it in Canton, but MIL and BIL/SIL in Columbus and Dayton did not. Glad to see you’re back!
Weaselmomma
Way to keep things in prospective.