Early this morning at about 4:10 am the eye of the mighty Hurricane Ike passed over FHH. The sudden calm after the storm of high winds and advancing rain bands that knocked out electricity in most of Rugburn and Van Halen Counties, was like the surrender of Germany after Eisenhower's assault on Europe in WWII. Hopefully, as with Germany, economic aid will be coming shortly that will revitalize the area into a one known for its exceptionally well crafted automobiles.
Damage was widespread and seemed to effect everyone in the community. "I was horrified," said longtime resident Martha Delante'. "I didn't know what was going to happen to me. The lights went out. I couldn't get out of my bed and the blinds blew off the window, the rain pouring in on me. It was horrible."Her neighbor Jamie Pulnap ran next door as soon as the storm subsided, "I knew Mrs.Delante' was trapped. She has gained a little weight in the past decade and hasn't been able to move from her bed in over 6 years."
The FHH Fire Department responded quickly, pulling some of it's volunteers from a three car pile-up on Dan Creek Parkway. "They was stupid enough to be joy-riding roller-coaster hill with a 65 mph cross-wind: we can take our time cutting them out," said FHH Fire Chief Skip "Short Order" Chef. "Anyway, we just picked up the blinds off the floor and closed the window. It took six of us to help Mrs. Pulnap change the sheets. Whew, that weren't no pretty sight but, we got 'er done."
Rain poured in sideways and the wind whipped the trees like an illegitimate stepson. Everyone had damage. "They was limbs and leaves everywhere. It took me over an hour to clean off my deck. It's really hard to get them acorns out of the cracks in the deck," said Jimmie Joe Johnson. "I'd had it done sooner but, all I had was a little pink kitchen broom from the Dollar General store."
Power is still out in some areas of FHH. Mike "Big" Johnson (no relation to Jimmie Joe) with Jean Petty Power and Light said it may be this afternoon before all power is back online. "One of our boys, a new guy who started two days ago, got a little over eager and was trying to do a little preventive trimming of large branches near the main transformer. He successfully cut out a large limb that was right over our main power line into FHH. However, the limb took out the line and the power grid spiked. It cut off electricity all the way to the other side of Hillery."
No deaths were reported in the area. The three teenagers in the pile-up at the bottom of roller-coaster hill were examined by 17 local EMTs. They were released to go home and explain the lack of family vehicles to their parents.
The mayor's office is writing a contractor bid sheet to have the branches and leafs removed from the city hall parking lot. "We expect the city to be up and running by the end of next week," said Mayor Adolf Sharing, "FHH is a resilient town. It takes more than a hurricane to knock off our feet."
Hurricane Ike as seen from the top of Sugarbread Mountain.
From the Fairhaven Harbor Harbinger and Highlights (FHHHH), Sept. 14, 2008, page 1, reporter Joe Mamasophat.
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