[Choir] Fwd: Hurricane Matthew and the Pearsons

[Richard Riley]

G'morning everyone on a beautiful day...

But of course it was not beautiful weather in South Carolina this past
weekend. This email from Brooke Pearson was received by Dave Grundy, and
Dave wanted to pass it along to all of you.

Dick

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <bropear at comcast.net>
Date: Sun, Oct 9, 2016 at 7:12 PM
Subject: Hurricane Matthew and the Pearsons
To: "Pearson, Brooke" <bropear at comcast.net>
Cc: "Pearson, Betty" <epearson at accessus.net>


Good afternoon, friends -

Please forgive the mass email - it is the only way we can manage to get the
word out.

Betty and I (and our loaded 18 foot Penske truck) left Montpelier last
Monday afternoon headed for our new home on Fripp Island off of Beaufort,
SC.  By Wednesday morning, when we were leaving Dublin, NC, an evacuation
had been ordered by Nikki Haley, the SC governor, and all traffic on major
highways and Interstates was outbound only.  Fortunately, former U32
exchange student Nils Fretwurst and his family live outside Greenville, SC
and invited us to stay with them.  (Between foliage season and the
evacuation, there is not a room to be had in the area - over four hours
away from the coast!).  They have a large house, and we have our own room
and bathroom.  We have been here since Wednesday, and they have been
unbelievably kind and gracious hosts.

You have heard about and seen pictures of Hurricane Matthew and its
aftermath.  Its eye wall hit the islands off of Beaufort, SC in the early
hours Saturday morning and did extensive damage.  Power was knocked (and
remains) out in the entire county, and may be out for as much as two more
weeks on Fripp and other outlying islands as the two major transmission
towers at Lady's Island Airport were downed.  Trees are down everywhere,
and there were 3' to 4' of standing water on parts of Fripp.  One of the
bridges needed to get to Fripp was damaged and will not be open for any
traffic until repaired and inspected by the State.  Causeways have been
washed out.  We have no idea of the nature or extent of damage our house
has sustained, but, hopefully, some aerial photos of the island and houses
on it will be taken and shared with owners in the next day or two.  The
Fripp Island Property Owners' Association has done a superb job in
communicating with State and local authorities, arranging for contractors
to start tree and water removal once they can get to the island (by barge,
if necessary), and keeping us informed.

Quite a start to our happy retirement in the Palmetto State!

Not knowing when we may be allowed onto the island or what to expect when
we get there is stressful.  But we are safe and well - and the recipients
of the warmest possible hospitality from Nils and his family.  And when we
consider the plight of the poor people in Haiti, it helps to put our sense
of loss in some perspective.

Thank you for your love and support.  We'll keep you posted as the
situation evolves.

Brooke and Betty
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://unitarianchurchofmontpelier.org/pipermail/choir_unitarianchurchofmontpelier.org/attachments/20161010/97cb04b2/attachment.htm>