Last Monday July 6th started out to be a regular Monday morning for my wife and I. We enjoyed the 4th of July with fireworks and hot dogs but were unprepared for the excitement that was still to come that very Monday evening and night.
That Monday morning my wife and I picked blueberries and after lunch I drove her car to Ellerbe to get the oil changed.
As I waited for the mechanic to change the oil I heard thunder back toward Rockingham. We all need rain, so I didn’t pay much attention. It never rained in Ellerbe, so when I got the oil changed, I dropped by the local grocery store.
When I got out the door of the grocery store my cell phone rang and it was my wife. I figured she just wanted me to pick up a few things, but I could tell by the excitement in her voice that something was wrong. “You need to come home now,” she said!!!
Not easy to get excited I asked “What’s the problem?” “There was a really bad storm like a tornado and it came through here just a few minutes ago” she said.
Well, I headed home taking the back roads trying to miss beach traffic on I 73. When I got to the stop sign at my hard-top road, I saw trees and power lines as far as I could see looking back toward my driveway. A rescue volunteer stopped me and said that I could not get through.
I turned around and got on Hwy 220 south. Something caught my eye on my left!!! Just over in a neighbor’s yard it looked like a large pine tree had just about flattened his pickup and there were other large trees down in his yard. That was when my adrenaline started to pump a little faster!!!
I was stopped again at the other end of the road, but they let me through to get to my driveway.
I just stopped at the end of my drive and was amazed at the large trees, power lines, power poles and cables across the highway and all along the ground and blocking the road. Although I wanted to check it out, I thought I had best check on my wife.
As I drove down my drive there were two large oak limbs that barely missed my next-door neighbor’s deck. Driving a little farther there was a large oak that had slit in two just missing my carport.
As I went into the house my wife said she was O.K. but our renter who lives by the highway, at my mom’s house, had called and wanted me to come out as soon as possible.
Here I go back out my drive. I knew there were power lines down, so I parked away from Mom’s house. As I carefully investigated the damage, I saw where the electrical service had been ripped from the side of the house and her two large Maple trees in the front had been pushed over by the storm. Why there was even a tree over the wellhouse that I later found.
Won’t long D.O.T. workers arrived but soon left probably because of the down power lines and poles. Then Duke Power trucks arrived and called in their contract workers. Meanwhile I called my friend, who is a licensed electrician, to get the electrical service hooked back to the house. By-the-way, it’s your responsibility to get electrical service hooked back up to your property not the power company. In some cases, you might have to get it inspected before the power company will hook any power to your dwelling.
Well, ten hours of hard work went on before we got power back. Thanks to the linemen and crews for all their work they did that night and for the many D.O.T workers with their large equipment and manpower to get the road clear the next day.
Well, I reckon by the time you read this column my friend, his tractor, and my chain saw and I will try to clean up the rest of the trees and brush left by the mighty storm.
You know when you leave home you don’t ever know if you will get back or what you will find when you get back. I reckon as always, we will leave it in the hands of the Good Lord.