Thank you to all our friends who have called, emailed and expressed
their concern. It has been a tough and scary weekend. We live in the
heart of Cabbagetown and boy were we surprized to find ourselves in
Tornado Alley Friday night. I was actually outside with BART and Loki,
on their leashes, enjoying the spectacular lightening. Brad had just
returned from the store and we were putting out plants to get some
rain, when our neighbor ran out and yelled for us to go inside. That's
when we heard it coming. A large roar was rolling toward us from
downtown, across the park in our backyard. I grabbed up the boys and
we ran inside, struggling to get the front door shut. I threw the boys
into a ferret sleeping bag and held the top closed as we huddled on
the floor in our small hallway (interior, no direct windows). We could
not find our cat and didn't have time to search for him. BART and Loki
currled into small, still balls in the bottom of the bag. The ROAR hit
our house full force, shaking windows, doors and knocking things off
the wall. It was so loud we never heard the spear-like branch come
through the roof. It was over in about 4 minutes. It was unnaturally
quite as we went outside, suddenly all the dogs in the neighborhood
seemed to be barking and howling at once. Sirens began to fill the
air and we searched in the dark for our friends and neighbors. Debris
was everywhere and our giant, old trees were toppled like sticks. We
followed a trail of insulation and roofing tiles to a nearby neighbor's
house. Now without a roof! Crackling hot wires were everywhere. Then I
heard a high pitched little scream. Under roofing tiles, insulation and
aluminum sheeting was a single, soaking wet, screaming baby squirrel.
He was in shock and missing his tail. I picked him up and another baby
from our yard. Friday night was sleepless, filled with a terrified
puking cat, screaming baby squirrels, cage shaking diarreha pooping
ferrets and LOTS of sirens. Saturday morning, it became apparent,
Cabbagetown was devastated. Neighbors formed groups to help each other.
We helped a close friend, who no longer had a home and was LOOTED to
boot, gather her belongings. I got in touch with a wildlife rehab.
lady and dropped the babies at For Pet's Sake, which was the collection
point for the Cabbagetown storm babies. They are doing fine and
drinking from a bottle. Many organizations and groups jumped in to
help. Home Depot passed out free tarps, plywood and 2x4's. The
Salvation Army and Red Cross served us food for 2 days and the firemen
helped people secure their houses. All utility companies were on site
working 24hrs/day. Amazing! Cabbagetown is a sea of blue tarps and
filled with the whine of chainsaws. Disaster has once again brought
this neighborhood together as a "community". People who care about and
help each other. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in Atlanta.

Lesley

[Posted in FML 5915]