Terror in the Sky

The following is what happened to me when I lived along the Suncook River, in Epsom, NH. I have since relocated to the beautiful State of Maine.

Today, I was watching The Weather Channel, watching one of their extreme weather shows. At first I was blocking out the severity of the show, but then started thinking about my recent brush with death(Disaster) and realized that what they were talking about happened to me. I lived in a home, whatever it was, it was my home, my place to live and a storm came through and the aftermath was that my home was destroyed.

When this happens, it's like a certain numbness overtakes you, it's like going into shock, since you can't imagine that what belonged to you has been taken away from you in one way or another. I guess it is so overwhelming that it is hard to comprehend. I guess I am trying to describe how it feels to be struck in such a manner. It is not easy to comprehend. I think I could say you feel like refugee having all your sacred possessions taken away from you. You are stripped of all your possessions except for the clothes on your back.

This is a view of the back yard, the oil tank was tipped over, the oil line kept the tank from floating away. In the background you can see what is left of the screen house that used to sit on the other side of the back yard. Ok, it needed repair, it's now in pretty tough condition. The water is still 10 to 15 feet above normal, so the back yard is still badly flooded.

Ginny is pointing to the water line where the water came up on the trailer. Inside the water measured 18 inches deep. Behind Ginny is where the front stairs used to be. They are just totally gone. Sigh. Very frustrating.

What we didn't know at that time was the muck left by the river was filled with disease organisms. Our dogs were to come down with Giardiasis, a water borne disease spread through contaminated water. If this had not happened, we would of salvaged much more of our belonging. But because of the disease, I have had to abandon most of the stuff we could have saved.

I have brought stuff up to my new place, but will be throwing it out because of the threat of this disease reoccurring.

How did I get from the disaster to this new place. It was mostly due to the efforts of FEMA and other groups, such as Catholic Charities and the Red Cross. What FEMA gave me basically covered what I paid for the trailer, it just worked out that way. The trailer was not worth salvaging or repairing, so I signed it over to the the park manager. He was supposed to destroy it and remove it from it's location. I haven't been back there, so I don't know if that was done to the property.

The new place is high up on a hill. I expect I am safe from future floods, but we do get some pretty strong thunder storms. So am I safe from extreme weather. I hope so, but that is only a guess. Here in Maine the incidence of earthquakes is low, the same for tornadoes, but not for summer thunderstorms. Usually they are not that extreme, unless of course the trailer took a direct hit from lightning. Lightning is a possibility and of course hurricanes are a possibility, too. One thing I am no longer living in a flood plane, I better check that out with the Town of Carmel for the official answer to that question.