Labor day OR "LABOR ON THE DAY?"

It was Fri. Night the start of Labor Day weekend. We received a notice of an emergency meeting to discuss the recent fire. I went with my neighbors Lisa, Sharon, and Cheri. The attendance was minimal, the message was horrifying!! The State Hydrologist opened the meeting by telling us that we were doomed. He flew over the burn scar on our mountain and determined that it was the "worst he had seen!" The guy explained that a burn scar is like a huge sheet of vortex or plastic that repels rain water and with lack of vegetation there is nowhere for it to go but down, (with momentum) He said we are at a high risk for flood damage, debris flow and mudslides. No bedside manor just said it the way he saw it. He was followed by a F.E.M.A. flood insurance specialist who strongly suggested we all add this policy. (doesn't cover mudslide, thats considered earth movement??) We heard from the Fire Chief, and the draper city emergency dude. Our house just happens to be one of the 100 at a high risk, we are in the direct path of a crevasse on the mountain that funnels the water right at us. Did I mention that I had already spent my day with a 3 alarm migraine, (3 prescription pills to get it under control, thats an overdose!) So now with my side effects from the migraine pills, and the info from the hydrologist guy, i wanted to throw up. I imagined riding my house like a skateboard all the way to the copper mine! Why the emergency meeting you ask?? Massive rain storm arriving on Sunday the magnitude of Niagara falls on our little neighborhood. What did this mean you ask??? Labor, sweat, lifting, sand in my toes, shirt, pants, hair, panic, organizing, saving, surviving...........................What did we do?? We pulled together, we organized with the fire chief who arranged to have 10 or more dump trucks full of sand delivered to our street, we brought shovels, and one by one filled thousands of sandbags. We started on Friday night and placed our last one on Sunday, just as the "rain came down and the sun didn't come up" We shored up windows with plywood, and helped out those who were out of town. Just as the weather guys promised a full on downpour. I had the 2 way radios with the NOAA weather channel and alert system in full effect. This is a protection in case there is an evacuation or danger in the middle of the night. My alert was going off like crazy. The panic and lack of feeling organized was heightened. By Saturday my 3 alarm migraine was now 6 alarm. I was in pure survival mode gutting out every min. We got important documents, pictures and John's entire autographed sports collection ready to move at a moments notice. (John's collection took up more space than just about everything else) I still had my jewelry in the "Save" pile.. again, gotta have the accessories to properly survive a disaster! Our neighborhood was like a war zone (again) the fire, police and draper city were in our neighborhood monitoring the mountain, rain fall and debris flow, they set up an emergency command center. Normally when it rains with a bit of lightning and thunder, I cozy up with hot chocolate and a blankie. This time I was in my rain gear, galoshes, and had 2 way radios clipped to my belt buckle. The rain storm was decent, we didn't really sleep well. At the end of it all we survived our labor day weekend. Our house is still sitting on it's foundation, although "Our" foundation has been significantly "Rocked". Danger lurks for the next 2 years. We need to be "Afraid" of rain and "Panic" if there is a thunderstorm. I will just try to be prepared and remember to save the family first and the "Stuff" if we can. And God willing, the vegetation will grow back and the danger will pass. We have great neighbors, we are not alone. I added flood and earthquake insurance, (takes 30 days for flood to kick in)
and after filling and lifting hundreds of DANG HEAVY sandbags, I think by biceps are bigger. See there is always a light at the end of the storm!!! Prayers for our safety are always welcome. Thanks..



In an emergency we need a cheerleader, syd put
on her "Chargers" jersey to cheer us on. "Charge ahead!"




This is one of the 4 window wells in our back yard, We also sandbagged
the neighbor's above us to divert the flow. that took a couple hundred
bags.

The news guy setting up a camera to cover our "Labor"


Now this is what I call "Team work" and community coming
together!!





Its a love hate thing....Love em if the save ya
hate em if you have to fill em, move em, and decorate
with them........