Good news and bad news.

First the good: Hurricane Matthew has passed us by.
Now the bad: His aftermath has not.

But let’s first start from the beginning. The most concerned I was during the whole Hurricane Matthew episode came late Friday night (technically Saturday morning). I awoke at around 1:30 a.m. to the sound of what seemed like an army of men pounding on the outside of our house. The high speed winds and bands of rain made sleeping tough. Laying in bed, my mind raced about whether or not everything was secure outside. Several times throughout the night I walked back and forth from the bedroom to the living room to look outside the window to make sure all was okay.

Morning finally came and our house was intact. However, we knew the worst part of the storm was still to come. Sidney and I went with my in-laws over to Steph and Jon’s house (sister-in-law/brother-in-law) for the day. It was there that we spent most of the day riding out the storm. We ate a ton of food, played games, watched college football, and celebrated my birthday. We also kept our eye on the storm as the rain came down with more intensity and the wind picked up in speed.

Over time though, the rain started to lessen. By 4 p.m., it had stopped. Although the wind was still whipping, we thought we might be out of the woods. But then the power went out!

With the news that a majority of the city was dealing with no power, Sidney and I decided to venture out into the storm to see the state of our own home. We drove extremely cautiously as we dodged large debris in the road and non-working traffic lights. When we arrived at the house we were ecstatic to see that we still had power. We were less ecstatic to see that the storm had taken out several sections of our fence. But, considering the nature of Hurricane Matthew, suffering a broken fence wasn’t too bad.

The rest of our family came and joined us at our home. As of this afternoon, much of Myrtle Beach, including my in-laws and Steph/Jon, don’t have power. We still have a full house and we are enjoying each other’s company as we wait for the city to do damage control.

Personally, I am busy with work as we communicate to the Coastal Carolina University community about campus operations. Campus will be closed tomorrow, meaning I will have another day out of the office. Horry County Schools also canceled classes tomorrow so Sidney will be at home with me. I am anxious for things to get back to normal.

One final note…today Sidney and I went to church. As mass started, the power was out. The service went along without electricity until we stood up for the Lord’s Prayer. Right before we started, the lights triumphantly turned on! Without missing a beat, Father Norbert Mendonca proclaimed “Praise God!!”

He is right. Although we are still dealing with a few issues from Hurricane Matthew, we are all lucky to be safe thanks to God. Sidney and I appreciate all of the calls and messages we have received over the past few days inquiring about our safety. We have survived Hurricane Matthew! Don’t Blink.