As Hurricane Matthew churned toward the Florida coastline, the WJN chat room was tense with worry for our friends down south. Early Saturday morning, however, it became apparent that the path of the storm would have grim implications for our own Boninikids, as the wind and rain began its assault on the state of North Carolina.
“The winds got really bad and the rain never stopped until the middle of the night on Saturday. We lost power at 3:30 pm that day, and that’s when shit got real.” Boni explained that they had not expected the severity of the weather and hadn’t prepared as well as they should have. She filled one bathtub with water, but is now having to lug pool water from their neighbor’s house just to flush the toilet. “Peanut butter and jelly has become our staple food”.
Basically stuck in the house with 8 dogs, 6 people and 2 snakes, it hasn’t been easy to keep everyone happy. Her 11-year old son, Kyle, wears a flashlight hat and they are able to run a lamp, charge their phones and use the computer (no internet) in her husband’s truck. The sun is shining now, so he’s been able to play outside, but just down the road, the damage is extensive.
The Weather Channel reports that 10 people have lost their lives, with 1500 stranded in North Carolina. Just down the road from Boni, a woman whose car was swept away by floodwaters clung to a tree for almost 3 hours before she was rescued. Good Morning America sent a crew to do a live segment about the situation.
A close friend of hers, AJ, is in the National Guard, and she endured 3 tornadoes in a bomb shelter and has been doing water rescues and evacuations on little to no sleep for several days.
Boni expects school to be out all week, and says that there is so much flooding, they’ve exceeded the damage from the last hurricane 20 years ago. “To see the destruction and water in person blows your mind.”
“If I actually let the reality of this sink in, my heart hurts.”
Thank God my Boni is safe!