After the Hurricane

On a trip to India a category 5 hurricane hit the town in which I live. The eye of the storm was only about 10 miles away. I came home to the devastation on the first flight I could secure. Here is the aftermath:

Some people got lucky.

The aftermath of the storm is much worse than the storm for many residents. Many were left homeless or living in damaged homes. Some lost animals such as pet of livestock. Other residents, like me, suffered minimal damage but we had to contend with the difficulties of driving to places we needed to go.

Most of us endured the absence of electricity for a month or so. Generators were hard to come by and sold at a premium.

Police diversions after the storm for clean up.

The homes were not the only damage. Entire forests were wiped out:

Trees snapped in two everywhere. This picture was in my neighborhood

Raccoon hiding in a lone tree

One of the saddest results of a hurricane like this is the impact on wildlife. So much of their habitat destroyed. At least we can rebuild.

For months after the hurricane I bought bulk corn to put out for the deer. It was eaten every night.

So much debris to be removed. This took over a year to clean up

But the community pulled together. Many places setting up free meal sites and even free gasoline.

In the end we were just fine.

But these are the worries of extended travel. My typical overseas trips are three to four weeks. During hurricane season this is a risk.