And the Storm Lingers On

Sometimes, life is good, just because we get an unexpected opportunity to brew a cup of coffee and check in with the news of the day. And news feels more important, when we wake up to strong wind gusts without even knowing where the main part of the storm is. Oh, the contrast of having electricity, versus not having electricity!

When the power went out around three in the morning, I was mostly expecting it, since local officials have been warning of extended power outages. Even though we're up the coast from where Hurricane Harvey made landfall last night, our area has already received some of the higher rainfall totals. Those intense bands of rain began well before the storm finally made landfall. So after nine inches of rain in 24 hours, I'm grateful for a reprieve, though it may prove short lived. Even though the winds have died down, the flooding is just getting started, plus those lingering strong bands of rain carry the additional threat of "mini" tornadoes.

In 1961, Hurricane Carla was also too slow in "moving on". Carla was the last category 4 storm for Texas prior to Harvey; and oddly, made land landfall close to the same area. Prior to Carla, the last category 4 storm took place in 1886. That long ago storm dashed the hopes of Indianola, a once thriving port of which much had been rebuilt after the devastation of a category 3 storm, only 11 years earlier.

Our lights came back on just after noon, which meant returning food from the ice chests back into the refrigerator, for now. It's one of the local rivers that appears to pose the biggest threat, should it crest at a record level and flood the town. There's broken limbs across the backyard and the TV antenna pole broke from its base, but that's minor compared to what many have already been through. I'm just glad to be getting something done with full lighting, instead of fumbling around in candlelight. The next storm band is approaching, there's a chance this pattern may repeat most of the week. The lights just dimmed again, yikes. All a reminder of the political storms of the day, and how they could linger "too long" as well.