Earthquakes & Hurricanes

On August 23 we had an earthquake. I was sleeping on the couch when the phone rang and it was Mommy's best friend, Sandi.

Me:"Hello."
Sandi: "Did you feel that?"
Me: "What?"
Sandi: "You didn't feel that!?"
Me: "Sandi, what are you talking about? Are you talking to me?"
Sandi: "We just had an earthquake!"

Obviously, I didn't feel it. You were with Nana & Opa and they, nor the both of you, weren't aware either until I called to check on you. Daddy was at the dentist and at the time of occurance the dentist thought Daddy was reacting (shaking) in his chair because of the dental work.

The earthquake was a 5.9 on the Richter scale with the epicenter in Virginia but the tremors were widespread. Fortunately there was little damage or injuries.The United States Geological Survey said the quake struck at 1:51 p.m. It preliminarily measured 5.8 and lasted 20 to 30 seconds. It was one of the most powerful to hit the East Coast in decades.


Then 5 days later....
The evening before, Mommy and Daddy didn't get much sleep. I was too nervous debating on where we should sleep, where we would be safest. "What if the window blows in?" "What if a tree falls and hits the house?" Earlier in the day, every time Ry spoke to someone on the phone he would say, "There's a big storm coming." At 5am, Kaitlyn made her usual trek into our room. We turned on the TV to get the weather update. There were tornado warnings and we started to feel effects of the Hurricane. At that point I brought Ryan into our room. Obviously, the hurricane didn't phase you. By mid-morning the rain had subsided but it continued to be very windy. The Hurricane was downgraded to a Tropical Storm. Unlike the 500,000 LIPA customers, we never lost power. As I write this post, there are still around 100 customers, without power. For the first time, NYC transit was completely shut down. Mommy was scheduled to work and being I work in a nursing home, it was very important I made an effort to go. After the rain stopped, I felt it would be safe enought to make the 40 mile drive in. Although I definitely could feel the power of the wind against the car, I went to work and assisted with feeding the resident's and facilitating programs. When a resident stated to me, "Thank you for all you do. Thank you for helping me.", I knew I made a difference in their day.

Let's hope this winter doesn't bring any blizzards our way!