The Goodrums

What a week! I hardly know where to begin…

It’s hard to put into words the impact of Hurricane Katrina. It’s been a tough week. For most people, life has gone on as usual– but for those in areas affected by the storm there is no state of normal and there won’t be for a long time to come.

Overall, we have so much to be thankful for.

The storm was pretty intense in Jackson – although we still don't know the exact measurements (the Jackson office of the National Weather Service has not been operational since the storm hit). We do know that the center of the storm passed about 20 miles to the east of us. We have heard reports that it was at least a Category 1 storm when it passed through this area with 70-80 mph sustained winds and gusts 80-100 mph. We had lots of wind but, for a hurricane, not that much rain (4 inches). We were fortunate to be on the western side of the storm. On a normal day the storm would have qualified as a pretty good beating but on a relative scale the impact to Jackson was minor.
















Hurricane Winds in Jackson – 150 miles inland!















Michael said the trees around the apartment complex remind him of home (Amarillo, Texas)

In the Jackson area, there are lots of downed trees. Our apartment building lost some siding, shingles and trees. Thankfully there wasn’t much serious structural damage in Jackson (although there are some trees through roofs). Most people lost all utilities (power, water, phones, cable, internet, etc.). We lost power for a little over 24 hours (goodbye freezer food) - but we were fortunate to be among the first to have power restored. Several of our friends in Jackson did not get power until this weekend (5 or 6 days without electricity); some still do not have power. Phone service was sporadic all week. My work fax line is still out and September 30th is the estimated repair date. Our internet service was out through last Thursday and we had to boil all drinking water through the weekend. The joys of hurricane aftermath!




















Siding stripped from the eaves now wrapped in someone's doorway















Siding blown loose by the Hurricane

Also impacting Jackson is a massive influx of evacuees (which we are by all means happy to help). Jackson's population is said to have effectively doubled. As a result things like groceries, water, and gas have been hard to come by. Last week, gas station lines were over a mile long! People had to wait 3 or 4 hours to get gas – and even still the stations often ran out before they could fill up. The situation is getting better now – but it’s not yet resolved. Thankfully we filled up both cars prior to the storm and the Saturn gets great gas mileage! (The gas-guzzling jeep will definitely be confined to the garage for a while...).

In all this we have so much to be thankful for. Seeing footage of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast makes us grateful for all that we do have. We found many moments of joy and laughter in the midst of the storm – including:

• We put the Saturn in the garage on Monday so it wouldn’t be exposed to the elements during the hurricane. Well, our little apartment garage has only one way in and one way out – the garage door (see picture below). Michael and I went to put the jeep back into the garage that evening. It wasn’t until we pushed the button to the ELECTRIC garage door opener about three times that we realized that the Saturn and our bikes (yikes! gas shortage) were stuck. Smart one! :)

Car stuck in the garage

• On Tuesday, our power and all other services were out. I had used up the battery on my laptop and it was way too hot to stay inside the oven-like apartment. With the Saturn stuck in the garage and Michael at work in the Jeep, I took to walking along our street to see what was going on. While I was out walking, our friends Kim and Fleetwood drove by on their way to the lake (the Reservoir) that is only a block away. We blew up inflatable rafts and got in the nice, cool (thanks to the rain) water. Great relief from the heat!

• We live less than 10 yards from an electrical substation that powers one of two water treatment facilities for the Jackson area (which was a #1 priority for power restoration). Since we’re literally next door to the substation, as soon as they got the substation running again our power came back on. We were some of the first people in the area to get our power back. We went to dinner Tuesday night with our friends and they gave us quite a hard time about that since Michael works for the power company and we were the only ones who had power. :)