Hurricane Guilt

With the weeks of hurricane coverage, both Harvey and Irma, I am beginning to have hurricane guilt that we are dry. My cousins in Houston, Harry and Meredith, did not get flooded, but lots of their neighborhood and friends did. My mother’s two sisters both live in ground floor places in Naples, and I am told they are not there, but I worry about their homes. I offered my cousin Mary, who lives on the water in Mt. Pleasant, our house as an evacuation site. Thank goodness with the turn of the storm she felt like they could stay, but I am still worried about storm surge.
Watching the coverage on the news when we have beautiful weather seems wrong. So many people are still in the line of the storm that never seems to end. I am exhausted from watching an hour of news tonight, I can only imagine how Floridians feel. Of course the Texans know exactly how they feel.
North Carolina has had our share of hurricanes and the rebuilding takes much longer than anyone expects. Of course it does, the are just not enough people who can fix things, and enough drywall and glass and all the other things it takes to repair homes.
My sister Margaret, who is a decorator with a great crew of workers told me today she was willing to try and go to Florida to help people. She knows how hard it is just to get the insurance adjusters to value your loss correctly.
I hope that all our friends and family are safe. The Elam’s who stayed in Naples, we are praying that your flooded street is from the rain and not a precursor to the surge. If I could transport you back to Durham right now I would. I feel guilty being dry.