Grief and Gratitude, Grok - Shifting

[grok]

Well! This has been quite the week! My Milton story… in parts.

BLUF: We are all safe, only minor damage to property. No power Wed 11:30p - Sun 5:30a. Fuel not available or difficult until this Mon. evening. Early there was only two stations with lines more than a mile long each. Water is still on.

I’ve been through plan, prepare, execute, recover with crises and disasters before. I know how to do this and I think came through very well. I have my little list from my own personal After Action Review (AAR) of things I could do better in the future. Still, came through with only discomfort ongoing. Nothing serious.

Monday:

Some telework done for most of the day. Making sure I have food and water for a week if needed. Camp stove has enough fuel. Flashlights and batteries. Get all laundry done for…once the power goes out.

I’m watching the storm track for consistent trends. I follow a lot of partially processed data and models. And a couple of weather folks I feel play it straight. I check my analysis and start to set my thresholds on what I am comfortable with. I plan on riding it out at my house unless they are passed. I am in an evacuation zone A, but those general purpose zones do not take into account any local features specific to my home. i.e. built on fill to raise the foundation to 11.5ft over sea level, dense trees behind up to our roof level, and houses on either side just 10 feet away. This provide substantial protection from wind and flooding.

XW Messages

”Let’s swap. L’s mom has a master bedroom which is too much for one me. You and the kids go there and I will stay with the animals because I have acquired a cat from a friend who is out of town and MirBay is likely to be slammed. I am going to get the cat after I fill the car. Milton is a beast. The house should be fine. The kids will feel safer with you and the animals will feel safer with me.”

”Fill the car at my RV. I have a full tank of gas. “

”May I drop a small stash of electronics and kids papers at the house?”

I didn’t message back. I let it sit first.

She comes by in the evening before I reply and asks to stash some things. I say sure.

I don’t answer the first part about her staying in my home as she didn’t ask while here. It feels like other reasons are behind it…maybe she obligated herself to care for the cat and now has no place for it. I’ll leave with my kids if I determine it unsafe and I’ll stay if I determine it to be safe.

g