The hurricane is coming right meow

When it became a Category 4, we had no choice. We had to stay. We wouldn’t have left the cats though. We take in rescued cats and there are too many to pile into a car.

We stayed for Opal. We didn’t think this would be much different. We bought supplies and waited for the storm.
Once the winds start rattling the house, we propped a mattress up against the windows and pushed a dresser up against it to hold it in place.

We watched television with our granddaughter until the power went out. Luckily my daughter had charged her iPad and she was able to play games on that.

My husband, daughter and I watched the trees on our property line bend, sway and eventually snap.
Water starting pouring in from every light fixture. The ceiling in our bedroom fell in.

The wind died down and the eye passed over us. It was eerie and quiet. The cats did ok. They hid or huddled together.

A lot of our cats have health issues. Feline AIDS, leukemia. There is an apartment complex behind our house and most of cats are abandon after people move away. We take them in. One cat, Bashful, has a heart condition. We were afraid the stress from the hurricane would kill him. We made sure he had his medication and he did fine.

The damage after the storm was surreal. We relied on our neighbors to get through those tough days after the storm. We shared food and water. We couldn’t have made it without them.

My granddaughter did well during the hurricane but is now bothered by sound of strong winds. Especially at night.

I feel like the rest of the country has forgotten about us. Once they heard that Panama City Beach, the spring break capital of the world, was up and running they moved on. The East side of Bay County is still in shambles. I hope as we rebuild that restaurants and businesses will come to Callaway. Personally, I would love a Texas Road House or a Longhorn Steak House.

As for us, we will rebuild. We will make the improvements on the house so we can get back to normal. I would love to have a room on the back of the house for the cats. Where they could see outside without having to be outside. We just want to do more for them and show them that people care.