Thankful

I don't expect anyone to read this, I just want to remember how I felt today. INCREDIBLY THANKFUL...
For the safety and love of my family.
For all the people that have come to my city to help us. I pray for your safety every day.
For the hard work being done to return utilities to us. (We gradually got back cell service, power, and internet last night).
For the people donating and the ones delivering water to our area.
For all the cooperation between the people who live here.
For all the prayers and donations from people around the country and world.
Truly...Thank you.

*********EXPERIENCE********
I learned some things. You can never prepare enough.
Canned and dry foods are more important that what is stored in the fridge and deep freezer. Never open the fridge or freezers.
Extended power outage will result in a lot of trash. Toss the stuff in the fridge but mark the items in the freezer and leave it in place so that you can discard it as soon as trash services are restored.
Trash cans fill rapidly especially when having to ditch a lot all at once.
Always carry or have cash readily available as being able to withdrawal from the bank is not always an option.
Candles, lighters/matches, flashlights and batteries are a must.
While losing internet, power and cell service is rough...losing water is demoralizing.
The tub is not a good "go to" for storing water for flushing. Drain plugs can have slow leaks that dwindle your supply in mere hours.

Will probably edit this as this event continues to unfold.

EDIT: 10/14/24 We finally got water back tonight. We can't drink it yet. But we have it. A lot of work had to go into getting the water system back on for our county. Words are not enough to thank all the people that have been working on this for over 2 weeks.

EDIT: 11/4/24 Things are improving. We are under a boil water advisory...so now we can consume the water if we boil it for a minute first. And you have to use a second "rinse" with added bleach if we use it for washing dishes. (We are still using bottled water to drink, brush teeth, to cook as the water is still rusty brown.)
They are continuing to remove debris, downed trees, and truck loads of mud. The amount of destruction is heartbreaking.