The Wind Storm of 2011

Early Thursday morning we awoke to no power. We did not know that a hurricane strength category 2 wind storm had come and was still blowing. Spence left for work at 6:30 and called about pine trees blown over! Our power was out but we decided to still take the kids to school. It was insane, debris flying around our car until Woods Cross where the wind was mild. This is what we saw on the way to school. 

I had been suffering from a sinus infection and finally had scheduled a dr appt. We raced to it to find the dr taking apointments in the dark! He had awoken at 4:30 that morning with a pine tree branch through his celing in the kitchen. On his office wall he had an office award for Most likely to be on Survivor. Yup.

I got my prescription and headed to Smiths. They had generator power so we shopped around. The wind was so powerful my grocery cart was impossible to push. My car door felt like it would rip off. The power was out until 11 pm that evening. We did not know when it would come back on. Aaron and Wendy housed our family, Adam's and April's families, plus my Parents flew in that night for Ethan's upcoming baby blessing. The kids were so excited to have a sleep over. The women cooked and cleaned and fed each others kids while our husbands helped in our neighborhoods, checked on our homes, and packed up our jammies and sleeping bags for the night.

Neighbors lost fences, siding, shingles and trees.Thursday our Stake President and neighbor used their chainsaws to clear a neighbors driveway of an enormous tree. We only lost the side fence. We now are friends with Carriage Crossing parking lot. We are praying for a nice new fence this spring!

Saturday night another wind was predicted for Sunday. 7am Sunday morning Spence attended a planned Stake Priesthood meeting. They announced Church was canceled as the Governor had asked that all debris be secured for the storm. Bountiful, Centerville, Farmington and Kaysville all organized by Ward and removed trees to assigned dumping spots. It was something I have never seen. Every able man and woman put on their work clothes and worked until their neighborhood was clear. The work went fast. Some were hit harder than others, and our High Priests had cleared branches Friday making our Ward clean by 2pm. The National Guard was assigned to direct traffic and remove large stumps. They are still driving around town removing large tree trunks and stumps.

What amazes me it the time it took to clean up the city. The storm died down around noon on Thursday. By Sunday evening there was little sign of the disaster caused. It did not matter who you were, your home was looked after. Tarps were put on roofs and trees hauled away. At the bottom of our street is a very elderly woman living next door to a non member. The Ward cleared the non member's pine tree away and the non member re shingled the elderly woman's roof before the storm hit. It was so cool to see the love and respect and concern for each other when we seldom have time to visit together. Time stopped for those 3 days while we took care of each other. And really, I do love sensational news. We are grateful to have survived a natural disaster!