Lizzy, I wasn't discouraged by reading your post. I'm encouraged and heartened to read stories of those who've survived. Although caregiving is challenging, I don't think anything compares with power loss for days or weeks (I'm thinking of Puerto Rico), flooding, destruction of houses, and literally completely starting all over while living on less than baseline existence levels.
What depressed me was the repeated photos the Internet and videos on tv of people in desperate situations, of the massive flooding, people crying, animals in distress and more.
While there were some good stories about people helping others, the news was so focused on gloom and doom that eventually I stopped watching b/c it was too heartbreaking.
Send, the videos of the CA wildfires have the same effect, and are equally if not more terrifying.
At this Christmastime, people are struggling. When it hits closer to home, it can be more difficult to maintain a semblance of "normal". The fire storms in the bay area of California are now replaced with the fire storms in So. California, still burning. However, some are at 50% containment. My heart goes out to everyone going through these disasters, and to those who are still recovering from the hurricanes. However, I must limit the intake of news after I have checked on the basics.
Luckily, Papa had just gone into a NH when Irma hit the Tampa area. We would have had a real time taking care of him with no electricity or water - and he would have refused to leave his home. It took a full week after he fell to convince him that he had to go to ER.
The NH evacuated and that caused Parkinson’s hallucinations to kick in. They were sheltered at a high school gymnasium. He was so out of control, they kept calling us in the middle of the night to talk to him, to try to calm him down. He also swore one of the residents there was his deceased wife, which she did not appreciate.
They certainly went above and beyond during that evacuation. When we saw them next, they just kept saying “Oh Boy, it was interesting!”
GA, That’s why I didn’t post too much or anything even on the Whine thread.
There are so many on this Forum struggling...really struggling in their caregiver journey.
I guess no matter where we live across the U.S. most of us risk the threat of natural disasters. Hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, flooding, the list goes on. We all face our risks head on to exist in our corner of paradise. Or to live where our families have called home for generations.
I hope this story didn’t depress anybody!
The donations thru foundations old and new to help individuals who truly need assistance have been enormous!
The inspiration I have seen in our community has been remarkable. Neighbors helping neighbors, the young able bodied helping the elderly. If anyone’s faith in humanity was slipping, it has been restored around here.
And our humor remains!
My daughter lives in town in a tiny historical home surrounded by gorgeous Victorian mansions. A couple days after the storm we left my rural home where my family sheltered to check on her house. As we were winding our way through streets covered with trees the affluent citizens of our fair city could be seen lounging in their yards and on their porches or manning chainsaws. We passed a guy, think Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief, shirtless and in holey shorts, pulling a rolling cooler handing out frosty adult beverages. I thought the whole scene was comical. My 35yr old daughter on the other hand was not impressed seeing an overweight, shirtless, pillar of the community in that state. She launched into a hysterical rant, “I can never unsee that”! “I need to bleach my eyes”! We were laughing so hard! After we passed of course! But hey! The guy was making the best of a bad situation and NO ONE cared!
Yes. The stresses of caregiving are many and sometimes intense regardless if our loved ones are in a facility, fighting to remain in their home, or have moved into our homes.
The last of my elders that I cared for on different levels was my Mom who passed away in October 2015. I like so many others on this site have struggled to find my new normal. To build a new routine. To build structure, discipline, organization in my life that came so naturally to me as a caregiver.
The hurricane, as horrible as it was, has rebooted my “skills”. I have been able to assist my two adult kids with their journey with their insurance claims and wrangle the chaos that are the repairs at my home.
For those still in the trenches of caregiving and having to deal with damages, repairs, insurance, jobs and just life in general...you all have my prayers. I don’t know how you are doing it.
Thank you Send for reaching out to me privately and asking others to publicly share their stories.
I think it's helpful to remember those who were caught in these natural disasters and are struggling just to maintain some semblance of life, let alone care for others.
Yes the cattle are looking good. Two new calves over the long my holiday weekend! So cute! From the looks of things there should be several more calves soon.
Our little city for the most part is up and running. Still buildings that are waiting for repairs though. Roofs are being replaced still along with privacy fences. The towns water supply was down for only about a week. We are rural and have a water well so when our electricity came on we had water which was after about a week when hubby brought home a huge generator that ran our whole house. The power was restored to our rural area after about 12 days.
Lots and lots of clean up. I am still finding pieces of shingles in our yard and flowerbeds. Lots of trees down in pastures but that clean up is on hold for now. Our contractor, well all contractors working on homes are SO busy. Our new roof went on pretty quick. I got insulation removed from attic pretty quickly also so we did not have an extensive mold problem. Still a few things that need repaired to exterior of house. Our large shop/barn that we had built was finished in July. It appeared to have very minor storm damage but as time goes on we are seeing more small things. Contractor met with hubby last week about that.
Hubby finally talked me in to taking a ride to the coast a couple weeks ago to see what was left of our summer fun places. I had not wanted to go but finally agreed. It was heartbreaking. The town was heavily damaged but those Coastal folks are so resilient they are well on their way to getting it put back together.
The little town on a barrier island, our summer hang out, had a 4ft tidal surge wash through on over the island. We saw 2 convenience stores open..that was all. All the shops, hotels, and terrific seafood restaurants were damaged but the windows and doors were open and Folks were hard at work doing repairs. They say they will be up and running at 80% by spring break.
The Weather Channel is doing a Special on this summers hurricanes in the next couple of weeks. I am sure it will concentrate heavily on the more populated areas like Houston. So many people in Houston were affected by the flooding there.
Life goes on. We the nuts that stayed for the storm have our War Stories that get retold every few weeks now. The stories always end with “Never Again”!
I read on the site occasionally. I’ve just been busy.
Harvey Update: Clean up, repairs, etc, continue in my area. The hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of downed trees have been cleared and picked up by city and county services. The collection of construction debris continues by county services.
There is a housing shortage here as most apartments sustained some roof damage allowing rain to enter then leading to mold problems.
Our small city, for the most part is up and running. The repairs, reconstruction continues.
Closer to the coast, not so good, but the small tourist towns plan to be running at 80% by Spring Break. Even our beloved Port Aransas that had a 4ft tidal surge wash over the entire island, they say will be back at 80% by Spring Break.
The Nursing Home my Mom was in before she passed away sustained damage. The residents were evacuated prior to the storm. A acquaintance had her Stepdad there. He ended up in a Nursing Home 2 hrs away. The repairs were expected to be completed mid November. I have not heard an update on that.
The good news is all Nursing Homes and Hospitals were evacuated before the storm. The hospitals lost power, generators failed, the city water system failed and was down for a week. The city power was down for the most part for a week also.
I live in a rural area 15 miles from town. We had plenty of supplies. The experience was not pleasant but I can say my family learned a little bit about ourselves...wink...wink.
Now we practice patience as we continue to haggle with Insurance, try to be understanding as repairman, roofers, etc, handle the worst of the damages first.
I might be wrong but I think the only loss of life we had in our county was a young man from a power company from out of state. He was here after the storm repairing power lines. So sad...such a tragedy.
Thank you to all that sent wishes to stay safe and prayers.
Checking in with people after the storms, continuing cleanups, reconstruction, often while continuing caregiving.....some real stories from areas like Texas, Florida, and I have lost track of how many places! Identifying your location is not necessary because the storms were so widespread.
I am on a trip. There’s no tv in the cabins. We’ve been here since Thursday.
Finally, today I reached a point of complete relaxation. I didn’t quite know what to do with myself with nothing to do!
I did hear about the fires in California. Hope Send and Ms Madge are okay.
What depressed me was the repeated photos the Internet and videos on tv of people in desperate situations, of the massive flooding, people crying, animals in distress and more.
While there were some good stories about people helping others, the news was so focused on gloom and doom that eventually I stopped watching b/c it was too heartbreaking.
Send, the videos of the CA wildfires have the same effect, and are equally if not more terrifying.
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The fire storms in the bay area of California are now replaced with the fire storms in So. California, still burning. However, some are at 50% containment.
My heart goes out to everyone going through these disasters, and to those who are still recovering from the hurricanes.
However, I must limit the intake of news after I have checked on the basics.
Have a Christmas or a holiday anyway!
Glad you and your Papa are okay!
The Nursing Home evacuated their residents to a high school gym? Wow! I bet that was interesting but not in a good way.
I hope you and your family were all safe.
I watched the coverage of Irma on the Weather Channel. They were reporting from several places. Wasn’t Tampa hit pretty hard?
The NH evacuated and that caused Parkinson’s hallucinations to kick in. They were sheltered at a high school gymnasium. He was so out of control, they kept calling us in the middle of the night to talk to him, to try to calm him down. He also swore one of the residents there was his deceased wife, which she did not appreciate.
They certainly went above and beyond during that evacuation. When we saw them next, they just kept saying “Oh Boy, it was interesting!”
Your courage and positive outlook is encouraging in the face of this disaster.
Thank you for sharing, thank you so much.
That’s why I didn’t post too much or anything even on the Whine thread.
There are so many on this Forum struggling...really struggling in their caregiver journey.
I guess no matter where we live across the U.S. most of us risk the threat of natural disasters. Hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, flooding, the list goes on. We all face our risks head on to exist in our corner of paradise. Or to live where our families have called home for generations.
I hope this story didn’t depress anybody!
The donations thru foundations old and new to help individuals who truly need assistance have been enormous!
The inspiration I have seen in our community has been remarkable. Neighbors helping neighbors, the young able bodied helping the elderly. If anyone’s faith in humanity was slipping, it has been restored around here.
And our humor remains!
My daughter lives in town in a tiny historical home surrounded by gorgeous Victorian mansions. A couple days after the storm we left my rural home where my family sheltered to check on her house. As we were winding our way through streets covered with trees the affluent citizens of our fair city could be seen lounging in their yards and on their porches or manning chainsaws. We passed a guy, think Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief, shirtless and in holey shorts, pulling a rolling cooler handing out frosty adult beverages. I thought the whole scene was comical. My 35yr old daughter on the other hand was not impressed seeing an overweight, shirtless, pillar of the community in that state. She launched into a hysterical rant, “I can never unsee that”! “I need to bleach my eyes”! We were laughing so hard! After we passed of course! But hey! The guy was making the best of a bad situation and NO ONE cared!
The last of my elders that I cared for on different levels was my Mom who passed away in October 2015. I like so many others on this site have struggled to find my new normal. To build a new routine. To build structure, discipline, organization in my life that came so naturally to me as a caregiver.
The hurricane, as horrible as it was, has rebooted my “skills”. I have been able to assist my two adult kids with their journey with their insurance claims and wrangle the chaos that are the repairs at my home.
For those still in the trenches of caregiving and having to deal with damages, repairs, insurance, jobs and just life in general...you all have my prayers. I don’t know how you are doing it.
Thank you Send for reaching out to me privately and asking others to publicly share their stories.
These posts thus far are heartbreaking.
Caregiving is tough enough without a heavy natural disaster.
Yes the cattle are looking good. Two new calves over the long my holiday weekend! So cute! From the looks of things there should be several more calves soon.
Our little city for the most part is up and running. Still buildings that are waiting for repairs though. Roofs are being replaced still along with privacy fences. The towns water supply was down for only about a week. We are rural and have a water well so when our electricity came on we had water which was after about a week when hubby brought home a huge generator that ran our whole house. The power was restored to our rural area after about 12 days.
Lots and lots of clean up. I am still finding pieces of shingles in our yard and flowerbeds. Lots of trees down in pastures but that clean up is on hold for now. Our contractor, well all contractors working on homes are SO busy. Our new roof went on pretty quick. I got insulation removed from attic pretty quickly also so we did not have an extensive mold problem. Still a few things that need repaired to exterior of house. Our large shop/barn that we had built was finished in July. It appeared to have very minor storm damage but as time goes on we are seeing more small things. Contractor met with hubby last week about that.
Hubby finally talked me in to taking a ride to the coast a couple weeks ago to see what was left of our summer fun places. I had not wanted to go but finally agreed. It was heartbreaking. The town was heavily damaged but those Coastal folks are so resilient they are well on their way to getting it put back together.
The little town on a barrier island, our summer hang out, had a 4ft tidal surge wash through on over the island. We saw 2 convenience stores open..that was all. All the shops, hotels, and terrific seafood restaurants were damaged but the windows and doors were open and Folks were hard at work doing repairs. They say they will be up and running at 80% by spring break.
The Weather Channel is doing a Special on this summers hurricanes in the next couple of weeks. I am sure it will concentrate heavily on the more populated areas like Houston. So many people in Houston were affected by the flooding there.
Life goes on. We the nuts that stayed for the storm have our War Stories that get retold every few weeks now. The stories always end with “Never Again”!
I read on the site occasionally. I’ve just been busy.
By Lizzywho
You are too much!
Harvey Update: Clean up, repairs, etc, continue in my area. The hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of downed trees have been cleared and picked up by city and county services. The collection of construction debris continues by county services.
There is a housing shortage here as most apartments sustained some roof damage allowing rain to enter then leading to mold problems.
Our small city, for the most part is up and running. The repairs, reconstruction continues.
Closer to the coast, not so good, but the small tourist towns plan to be running at 80% by Spring Break. Even our beloved Port Aransas that had a 4ft tidal surge wash over the entire island, they say will be back at 80% by Spring Break.
The Nursing Home my Mom was in before she passed away sustained damage. The residents were evacuated prior to the storm. A acquaintance had her Stepdad there. He ended up in a Nursing Home 2 hrs away. The repairs were expected to be completed mid November. I have not heard an update on that.
The good news is all Nursing Homes and Hospitals were evacuated before the storm. The hospitals lost power, generators failed, the city water system failed and was down for a week. The city power was down for the most part for a week also.
I live in a rural area 15 miles from town. We had plenty of supplies. The experience was not pleasant but I can say my family learned a little bit about ourselves...wink...wink.
Now we practice patience as we continue to haggle with Insurance, try to be understanding as repairman, roofers, etc, handle the worst of the damages first.
I might be wrong but I think the only loss of life we had in our county was a young man from a power company from out of state. He was here after the storm repairing power lines. So sad...such a tragedy.
Thank you to all that sent wishes to stay safe and prayers.
Identifying your location is not necessary because the storms were so widespread.
Can we hear from you?