Hurricane Matthew

[SweetTeaGal]

Just checking in to make sure everyone's doing OK with the hurricane. Raleigh's been without power for a few hours. Roads are flooded out. Some big trees are blocking roads. But with the grace of God, we'll get through it, as well as any of my fellow cpapers in the path of the storm.

[tuzacat]

Hey, SweetTeaGal, I'm down here in Central Florida and we got hit on Friday. It was pretty scary and I'm inland. I feel sorry for the folks on the coast! I had one leak in the living room and one of my trees lost a limb which partially blocked the road. I feel very blessed that I'm virtually unscathed! One of my neighbors came by with a chainsaw and got the tree out of the road. Three teenage boys helped to do this and wouldn't accept any money. I am trying to think what I can do for them. My back yard is a sea of debris but as I was cleaning up today I was thinking what good exercise it was and that maybe I'd lose a little weight. It will probably take me another week to do it if I do it on my own so I should really be able to lose at least a couple of pounds. The roofer and the tree guy both returned my call right away My power went off on Friday morning at 4:40 and came back on a little before 1 this afternoon. Feel like I dodged a bullet! I will be so glad to be able to get back to sleeping with the ASV machine - two and a half nights without was enough! Wishing you all the best!

[MizLizzie]

I am in the RDU area and we are doing pretty well. Some storm damage, a harrowing night, but didn't lose power. As the storm bore down on us, and the power started blinking, it occurred to me that I had never notified Duke Energy that I required a CPAP. SweetTeaGal, did you? Does it matter? I am not really sure it would be fair to me to ask for priority electrical restoration when there are so many in need.

[SweetTeaGal]

Glad to know you are safe! I live on a dirt road with lots of my relatives having houses around me (big chunk of family land). My parents live across the road from us, and my daddy has severe COPD and is on oxygen 24/7. He uses an oxygen concentrator, and really only has a few days/weeks before he passes away. Since this is life support, he is registered with the power company and is put on priority for getting his power on. Of course we all have generators also. My husband cranked it up last night so I could have my CPAP and we could have ceiling fans!
We need your prayers for an emergency we just discovered. The tallest tree we have (about 100 ft tall) has been uprooted due to the rain and wind. It is leaning toward the house at about a 45 degree angle, and the only thing holding it up is another tree next to it. Please pray that the tree doesn't fall on our house tonight, and that we are able to safely get it to the ground tomorrow. Thank you so much!

[avi123]

emergency we just discovered. The tallest tree we have (about 100 ft tall) has been uprooted due to the rain and wind. It is leaning toward the house at about a 45 degree angle, and the only thing holding it up is another tree next to it. Please pray that the tree doesn't fall on our house tonight, and that we are able to safely get it to the ground tomorrow. Thank you so much!

Reply:
I assume that you have a homeowner insurance. Call them and it is their duty to come and remove the tree overhanging the roof, and pay for all expenses. They might tell you who to call to come and cut the tree piece by piece.

[BlackSpinner]

emergency we just discovered. The tallest tree we have (about 100 ft tall) has been uprooted due to the rain and wind. It is leaning toward the house at about a 45 degree angle, and the only thing holding it up is another tree next to it. Please pray that the tree doesn't fall on our house tonight, and that we are able to safely get it to the ground tomorrow. Thank you so much!

Reply:
I assume that you have a homeowner insurance. Call them and it is their duty to come and remove the tree above the roof, and pay for all expenses.

Get real avie - they just had a hurricane. Do you think they can even get through to the company at this time!

[SweetTeaGal]

Thank you BlackSpinner! Luckily I have this fantastic friend who owns a tree service. The big problem is that there is a good chance the tree could fall on the house tonight. Most of Raleigh is still without power, and many roads are closed due to flooding. They have cancelled school tomorrow due to having no power. As far as the comment about having the insurance company send someone out to remove the tree before it falls: the insurance company only covers it when a tree falls on an insured house or car. Until a tree damages your house, insurance is not responsible for removing the tree. That is up to the homeowner. Thank you all for your concern, and I'll let you know what happens with the tree!

[palerider]

Get real avie - they just had a hurricane. Do you think they can even get through to the company at this time!

no, avi doesn't.

that's been proven over and over.

[SweetTeaGal]

Update: The tree is still standing! Two of the tree companies I left messages for returned my calls and they said that they should be finished getting other customers' trees off their houses by Thursday. Then they could come take down the tree that's threatening our house.

[Julie]

You might get an arborist to check if the tree's healthy - you don't want it coming down the next time a wind blows through.

[BlackSpinner]

You might get an arborist to check if the tree's healthy - you don't want it coming down the next time a wind blows through.

Julie - that is what they are doing - and every arborist in town and out of it is busy cutting trees off roofs. Whether it is healthy or not is irrelevant if it is half out of the ground and leaning.

[Julie]

Yes, but she said it seems to be ok... tho' did not say it had an official health check vs just a visual once-over - it could have been weakened.

[palerider]

Yes, but she said it seems to be ok... tho' did not say it had an official health check vs just a visual once-over - it could have been weakened.

er: "The tallest tree we have (about 100 ft tall) has been uprooted due to the rain and wind. It is leaning toward the house at about a 45 degree angle, and the only thing holding it up is another tree next to it. "

sounds weakened to me.

[Julie]

Obviously misunderstood something...

[SweetTeaGal]

Thank you for all the exciting conversation concerning my tree. Ya'll make me smile-and everyone needs a little giggle now and then! First of all, if any of my fellow CPAPers or their family members work for any of the power companies that have made the journey to help restore power in NC, I so appreciate the sacrifice you have made to leave your families and come help us. I have seen utility truck convoys from NY, NJ, and Ohio. They have been able to restore power to over 950,000 customers in NC in just the last few days. Thank you so very much. Raleigh still has 42,000 homes without power. My oldest son is a sophomore at East Carolina University in Greenville NC. ECU has cancelled classes for the entire week because of the flooding in eastern NC. We were blessed that my son came home before the hurricane hit this past weekend because of Fall Break (ECU is about 90 minutes east of Raleigh). His apartment in Greenville is on the 3rd floor, so his apartment should be safe from flooding. But the river a few blocks away is at its highest flood stage ever. North Carolina (as well as SC, GA, and FL) has so many people who have lost everything: houses, crops, businesses, and even some lives. And the flood levels here won't crest until Wednesday. So please say an extra prayer tonight for those whose lives have been turned upside down in a blink of an eye. And thank you all for your concern about my tree. I'll keep you posted!