Mud Slides and Rock Slides and Floods . . . Oh, My!

Last week the torrential rains caused a mudslide and rock slide on the roads surrounding us.  We were without power for a day and had three inches of water outside our doors, but that was nothing compared to what happened on Howard Gap and I-76 and to "my house" that I love so much.

Saturday the road was partially opened and we went to see if my house was still there.  These are the photos along the way.  Devastation everywhere.  A beautiful road turned to ruin.

This is what used to be the driveway up to my house.

The gardens and porches covered in inches of mud, trees down everywhere.  The waterfall on the hillside behind the house was rushing like never before.

Some of the hardest hit were the houses across the street in the low lying areas where the water rushed down the mountain and flooded their yards and literally knocked houses off of foundations.  What was once a green lawn is now mud.

Boulders everywhere.  Sad to say a lady trying to get to her car was covered in the mud and did not make it.

Today we got an evacuation notice tacked to our gate.  Right now it is voluntary, but they say once the tropical storm rains come, with all the devastation already, that if people get stuck, there will be no help getting to them.

I think our house is in a pretty good spot with the stream down below the pasture and us up on a knoll, but if there was a problem, the roads around us will be under water and no way to get out, as was the case last week.

The church on the left is directly across the street from my house.   Until this storm, we didn't realize how many streams and rivers surrounded us.  Living in the foothills is nice because you get to look up at the mountains, you just don't realize that it all can come crashing down.

Some untouched hydrangeas from my house came home with me.  I guess we'll see what this storm brings pretty soon!