I apologize for not updating you all sooner. Here is what has been going on for the last 3 weeks.
We left the hotel the morning of the last post. It was me, my husband, Chloe (2 years) and Zoe (11 months) my mom, dad, sister, brother in law, their little girl (15 months) my brother, and his girlfriend. We have a small family, so we all stick together. As some of you may remember, my grandfather passed away this past Easter and lived in a small 2 bedroom house (apartment small) so we decided to go stay at his old house. At the time there was no electricity and water. Without getting into too much detail, the living conditions were rough but at least we were all together. We slept on the floor with no blankets, pillows, nothing but the clothes on our backs. We thought this was like any other hurricane evacuation and thought we would be back in a day or two so no one packed any more than you would for a weekend. It was miserable but we managed for the last 3 weeks. They just let people start coming back on the island a few days ago. When we got down here we realized although we lost a lot it could have been worse. Some people lost everything they had.
My husbands mom lost everything because the water was about 10 feet deep in her apartment and she is staying with a friend. The cats are all ok! Can you believe they all made it through 3 weeks of no electricity, food, and very little water? They are a little spooked but were so happy to see us!
My parents house made it out with no water damage and only roof damage. My sisters house had about waist high water, but luckily they live on the second floor and it was only storage underneath. They had roof damage and lost their washer and dryer along with everything in storage.
Our house on the other hand was a complete nightmare. The roof had major damage, the ceiling caved in and our bed was completely covered in mold and was a total loss, we had 4 broken windows and I lost all my scrapbooking stuff, and everything we had stored in our back room upstairs (wedding keepsakes, sentimentals), we had about a foot of water in our house which doesnt sound like a lot, but it ruined the hardwood floors, the kids playroom which kept all of their toys is a complete loss, it happened to be laundry day when we left so all our clothes in the hampers (90% of our day to day clothes) was completely molded and stunk to high heavens, washer, dryer, dishwasher, stove, fridge, treadmill, couches, everything flooded and if not molded, destroyed. glass everywhere, pool busted, siding fell down, window sashes fell, fence blew down, back fence completely down on all sides, bbq pit gone, trees down, the works.
Luckily our car was ok since we brought it with us. My sister's car flooded and so did her husband's. In addition, a tree fell on his truck. My dad's truck flooded, so did my brother's truck and his girlfriend's car, my parents RV was flooded as well.
We have been doing everything we can to recover but it is going to take a loooooong time. We finally have electricity, but the water is still unsafe to drink and there is no gas.
One good thing is that the girls' bedroom came out completely unscathed, so they are able to sleep comfortably in their beds in a familiar place at last. They have taken it the worst. I feel so bad for not being able to make them feel safe. They had not been sleeping or eating well and didn't know from day to day what was going on and why everyone was so sad. My 2 year old was getting very scared of everything and all 3 of the girls were very clingy. I just pray that this does not affect them for the long term. We stayed in our house for the first time last night since the evacuation 3 weeks ago. They all slept straight through the night and woke up so happy this morning! They were so happy to be home.
The Pretty Scrappy design team has been amazing! They all teamed up and sent us gift cards to get things we need, and clothes and toys for the girls! We now have an air-bed to sleep on and we all slept better than we have all month. We now have some clothes, food, diapers, formula, milk even! The kids have toys to play with and they are so excited. I am so amazed at how many people care so much. The mail was held until yesterday so it all came in at once and my husband and I just cried like babies as we opened and read each card and have never been so appreciative of anything in our lives. It's crazy how much we take for granted. This has opened my eyes up to a whole new world and I will never be the same. I thank God for the little things in life that we have come to rely on and the people that have helped us out in a way they will never truly know.
We are living in 2 rooms upstairs and the rest is in the process of being fixed. The hard part is over... it can only get better from here. I see a light at the end of the tunnel and each day we will get closer and closer to "normal." Thank you all so very much for all the uplifting comments and support. You all really mean the world to me in a time like this. Every single one of you. Thank you so much for your prayers. God really pulled through for us.
