I hope so.
Like a seasoned islander, I prepared for all possibilities, stocking up on water, food, ensuring window shutters work, viewing what outdoor furniture needed securing. I would say "stock up on alcohol" but since I'm still pregnant, I took that off the list. We had flashlights, candles and batteries. The car had gas, the outdoor grill had a full tank.
What I had no control over was what the recent weeks of rain did to our house.
Came upon this in the basement:
Rain water has been soaking through foundation and accumulating in the ceiling. It all came down yesterday in a wet pile of grit and drywall.
To the credit of the landlords, they came out this morning with a crew and immediately cleaned it up. As the owner and the property manager of the complex battle it out with the insurance company, I am reminded that this isn't the first time we've dealt with ceiling collapses.
This happened in 2006, while we were in our home in NJ.
Big chunks of this, soaked through from our attic air conditioning unit, collapsed the ceiling drywall atop our bed.
Debris and reinforced concrete also landed on top of the bassinet, which was located right next to our bed. Luckily, by some strange fluke, I had kept Mina next to me in a different room that evening while I watched tv. Had she been sleeping at her normal time, that concrete would have landed right on top of her.
Flash forward to this morning - thanks to the hard work of the homeowners, the mess is temporarily dealt with. (On a completely unrelated note, I learned that as tenants here, we are referred to as "the occupiers." That just makes me laugh.)
While I await more rain ahead. Hurricane Cristobal is bypassing us to the west for now. Although rain is expected this evening.
I finally got outside long enough to give Oscar a walk and admire the Fairyland Pond. Little ripples drift across the water as the wind breezes through the mangroves and Palmetto trees.
Baby continues to relax as the final day approaches.
