Hi Friends, I hope you all had a great Christmas.
I know that sharing a post about a natural disaster that happened in August, at the end of December, isn’t really a way to fill you with holiday cheer, but this post has been swirling around in my head since we started to get back on our feet after the Derecho. It wasn’t really the right time before. We were in the thick of dealing with our insurance company. I knew that if I shared anything then that it would just come off as me simply complaining about all the waiting, and all the wondering about what was going to happen to our damaged roof.
Somehow this felt like the right time. I mean, is there ever a right time to share a story like this? I suppose not, but, sometimes you just have to jump.
If you’re wondering what the heck a derecho is, here is the gist: It is a straight wind storm that often has heavy rainstorms, or thunderstorms. The winds can have gusts from 58 mph up to 140 mph. On Monday, August 10th, Cedar Rapids/ Marion, Iowa was hit with record breaking winds ranging from 112 mph to 140 mph.
140 mph is the same strength as a category 4 hurricane.
If you want to read my first post talking about the actual storm itself, here it is: “I survived the Derecho land hurricane 2020, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa”. I include a lot of photos that were taken right after we emerged from the shelter of our basement.
When I originally wrote that post the highest number I had read, or heard about, being recorded was winds up to 115 mph. Since then, it has been recorded that the Cedar Rapids derecho storm had record breaking high winds at 140 mph.
If you want a more scientific explanation of what a derecho is, and how it is formed, read this article written for the National Geographic, “What is a derecho, and why is it so destructive?”
This post is going to be more about picking up the pieces after living through a natural disaster. How much the look and feel of a city can change in less then an hour. But, it’s also about hope, and moving forward. It’s about learning to stand up tall again.
Most of these photos have been taken Mid August – the end of September. They are mostly of the city of Marion. Some, are taken at parks and around our neighborhood. A few are of our yard, after our trees were cut down.
Another note, before we begin: Paul and I were physically unharmed from the Derecho. Our cat, Luna is okay. Our friends and family, and anyone we know, hit by this storm are also physically okay. For that, we are thankful.
I think we are lucky that the storm hit on a Monday at 12. If it would have hit us during a weekend so many more people could have been outside hiking, biking, picnicking, etc. We had very little warning to take shelter. If you’re like Paul and I – we love to be amongst nature, there’s a chance we could have been hiking in the middle of woods, not able to find shelter at all.
We had to cut down 4 trees in our yard, our new-ish fence was knocked down and needed repairs, the ridge vent on our roof was torn off, giving us a new “skylight” in are walk-in attic.
When everything was said and done, we were lucky. We had relatively minimal damage compared to other people. That’s me, always doing my best to look on the bright side of situations.
As a friend said to me, “even though you were lucky compared to others, it doesn’t mean that this isn’t hard. It’s okay that it’s hard.”
He’s exactly right, this has been hard.
This thing sucked!!!
And it’s okay that I want to be honest and share that with you.
We started referring to time as “before the storm”, and “after the storm”.
The derecho stole the last few months of our summer.
If you read my previous post about the storm you know that the city of 130,00+ people were without power for over a week, due to the storm. In the August heat they were living without air conditioning, or fans.
We temporarily moved in with Paul’s parents in Dubuque, an hour away. The day that I hit publish on my post about the derecho was the day that our friend, still in town, drove by our house and reported that we had power back!
Our house was without power for 10 days. Some people still were without it for 5 more days after that.
Moving back home wasn’t easy.
We were happy to be home, but it was emotionally draining to see all the heartbreaking destruction. It. Was. Everywhere.
The thing that people may not understand, unless you’ve lived through a natural disaster to this degree, is how long it takes to get things cleaned up. Above is a photo of a street in our neighborhood with tree branches, and brush lining the sidewalks, waiting to be picked up by the city. It was taller then that truck driving down the street.
Almost every street was like this. They stayed that way for weeks, some for over a month.
We couldn’t escape it. Everywhere we looked the reminder of how one single day changed the look of this city for decades.
It was sad.
It was exhausting.
80,000 individual trees were lost. 65% of the city’s tree canopy is gone. Trees that were 100 – 250 years old, were snapped in half like toothpicks.
Paul and I love to be surrounded by nature. We had our first dates hiking in a remote spot outside of Dubuque, he proposed to me there 3 years later. Our theme for our wedding was trees.
I know everyone likes trees, but they have always symbolized something special for us. It was hard to see so many go.
Parks were closed for at least a month or two. We couldn’t escape the devastation.
The only thing we could do was to try to move forward.
But, moving forward, when a city of 130,000+ people are trying to do the same, takes time.
It requires patience.
We spent hours on the phone with the swamped insurance company trying to get them to give us more money to fix our roof. We spent hours trying to call roofing companies, trying to find one that wasn’t already booked solid until August 2021.
The ironic thing, is that the day before the derecho hit, Paul and I had just agreed to make steps to sell our house and to buy a new one.
We’ve been living in this cute, but small, 1910 house for 6 years now. We bought it always knowing it was meant to be a starter house, and we have been wanting to sell for at least a year now. One thing, or another has gotten in the way.
But, the derecho put an even longer pause on that milestone that we were so looking forward to. We couldn’t leave until the roof was under construction, at least. And yes, as I write this post, we still have that hole in our roof.
This year, due to Covid, and now this storm, the song that has been on repeat for me is, “Brave” by Jessi J and Don Diablo. Specifically this verse:
I’ll stand here all the same/ Some things might get in my way / But I’ll know I’ll be okay / I will stand here all the same.
It is the truth. I will be okay.
I am okay.
But, it doesn’t mean that it’s not hard.
And that’s okay too.
A timeline of the past few months:
- End of August: A tree company removed our 4 trees. We were especially sad to say goodbye to a large oak tree that turned beautiful orange during the fall (pictured a few photos below). Still, it was good to make progress. Many of the traffic lights were down. The ones that got turned back on were blinking yellow or red and were treated like a stop sign. This was in some pretty major intersections. Traffic was moving very slow. It was about 3 weeks before the traffic lights were back to normal.
- September: The city finally got to our block to remove the tree brush we had piled on our sidewalk (pictured just below. Above is the other side of our yard). It was a happy day. These huge trucks could be seen picking up dead tree branches, logs, and tree trimmings all over the city.
- October: My dad visited to helped Paul fix our fence. Yes, insurance covered it, but there was no one available to hire until August 2021, so they dug in and got it done. Another step towards moving on.
- November & December: Most of the city is cleaned up now. It feels like we can breathe. There is not a constant reminder everywhere we look, just a lot of stumps. Things feel bare without the trees. Desolate.
The end of a summer without many birds, or bonfires
Being the nature lovers that we are, we noticed that there weren’t as many birds out chirping during the end of summer, beginning of fall.
It’s not hard to figure out that since so many of the brids’ homes were destroyed. that is why so many birds were missing too.
Due to lack of rain, and all the dead branches and leaves, our city had strict fire bans for the remainder of the summer. We have a really nice fire pit in our back yard, and were sad not to use it.
A fall without color
Since so many trees were lost we didn’t have a very colorful fall. Paul suspects that the ones that remained standing were stressed from the storm, so they didn’t turn very colorful.
They simply turned brown. Only a handful turned a dull yellow.
Our roof situation:
Everyone who wasn’t here for the storm is shocked to hear that we still don’t have our roof fixed.
The thing is, so many companies are booked solid until next summer. We were lucky to find one that can fit us in this winter. On top of that, there is a shingle shortage due to all of the roofs needing repairs and replacements.
We were so excited to hear from our roofing company last week. We will be getting our roof replaced within the next 2 to 3 weeks, weather permitting!!!
There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
A little PTSD:
Don’t worry, nothing REALLY serous. But, I think I have a little PTSD from the derecho.
Today, is a particularly windy day. Wind gusts up to 40 mph. Nothing too unusual, right?
But, somehow there is this feeling of tension in me every time the wind kicks up.
We miss her
Above is a picture of the maple we had to take down. That picture was taken in October 2019. We sure missed seeing that tree show off it’s flare this year.
Below, is a picture of the same spot in the yard, only taken from my office window, in late August 2020.
Such a contrast.
New Blinds to counter the loss of trees
Due to the loss of our maple tree we had to replace our blinds.
There was so much more intense light, and heat let into my office windows, and our living room.
Above are the old blinds.
Below are the new blinds.
The good news is that we much prefer the new ones, to the old ones. An update we always meant to get to.
What now?
Now that most of the city is picked up, all we can do is replant.
The city has already been hard at work planning on where to replant trees. Read this article from National geographic: “How one city plans to recover from losing most of its trees,” to learn more.
The cool thing, is that we have seen people taking their tree stumps and turning them into beautiful pieces of artwork.
Like, this hummingbird below. We spotted this on a walk yesterday near our neighborhood.
Sometimes bad things happen, but there is still beauty to be made from it.
Organizing like a freak!
We didn’t pay to have chainsaw art made out of our trees. Although, I would have if we were planning to live in this house longer.
In the meantime, I have been organizing our house.
If I can’t control the way things look on the outside, I can try to improve things on the inside.
After watching the Netflix show, “The Home Edit”. I bought their book.
I have organized things before, but since reading their book I think about organizing in a more strategic way. They teach you how to create systems that are maintainable.
Our Pantry:
Our pantry before organizing is above.
After organizing is below.
Our kitchen is small, so we have a makeshift pantry upstairs, and a downstairs one where we store back stock items and canned goods.
It was an entire weekend project, but it felt SO GOOD to make space that I use daily a lot more functional. And, it looks so much nicer, too.
Like a breath of fresh air!
The good news. A month later, and it still looks like the picture below.
China hutch cabinet:
I forgot a before picture, but this little cabinet was filled to the brim.
Things fell out whenever I opened the doors.
I got rid of a lot of stuff we weren’t using. I LOVE doing that!
To a Happy New Year
Okay guys, I know that wasn’t a super cheery post to end the new year with. But, it’s the hard truth of what we’ve been dealing with in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
It’s me being honest, and raw. And, I hope it helps someone else who has been through a tough time this year. My heart goes out to anyone who has been affected by the wildfires in California. Or, the Hurricanes in the South and East Coast.💗
Really though, we have been doing oaky. It feels good to be over the hump with our roof getting fixed soon, and most of the city looking back to it’s old self again (well, it’s new old self).
We are so grateful to have had a lot of help and support from our parents.
We are standing tall. We are being brave. We are resilient.
We are believing that good is coming our way
We are laughing. We are finding joy in the small things this year.
I hope you are too.
Here is to a brighter year in 2021!!!
Happy New Year’s Eve, friends. Make it a good one!!!
Much love, 💗
Emily
P.S. below is a picture of our Christmas card this year (more like a New Year’s card). We thought it was a good year for a funny one.
To my family and friends reading this, don’t worry. You are still getting your card. We just haven’t sent them out yet. ha!!!
That’s an example of slowing down to enjoy life. We could have rushed to get these mailed out before Christmas. Instead, we took a little off our busy plates and decided to wait until after Christmas, when things had slowed down.
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