What a month! No. wait. what a year so far!
Dear friends and family,
We finally have Internet and phone back so I can spend some time to send a more detailed message to you all.
Firstly, I'm sorry we missed so much, anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, so much going on at this time of year!
Sunday, May 22nd, started quietly. We had lost our big old dog Testimony a few weeks before. I had done my skydive two weeks before and we were all involved in a wedding for a dear friend one week before (I was Matron of Honor, Martin filmed it and Arthur and Tristan were ushers), so we were all catching up. Martin had just left to help a friend with some car repairs, Tristan and Arthur were upstairs playing computer games with their friend Luwell, and I had just laid down, feeling a little bleah. Drowsy, not really asleep, I heard this strange, deep roaring sound, getting louder. I recognized it, having missed a tornado by three blocks in 1981, and shot to the bottom of the steps upstairs, screaming for the kids to get to the basement NOW!
As they rounded the corner to come down the steps, they saw an old refrigerator that was out in the alley for recycling lift up and fly down the alley. At the bottom of the steps I was yelling "go, go, go" and they were almost down the steps into the dining room when the tree came through the upstairs window, spraying us all with glass. We sped down to the basement and huddled there for what seemed like an hour, but was really only 2 or 3 minutes, listening to the roaring wind punctuated by bangs and crashes.
Coming up from the basement was like coming up into a whole new world.
If you haven't seen the pictures yet, go to
http://www.facebook.com/search.php?init=srp&sfxp&q=Arthur+Quam&type=users#!/media/set/?set=a.1584081421806.70785.1828888195
It's hard to recognize things, the loss of trees make the neighborhood look so different!
The initial inspection by the insurance adjuster placed repairs at 62,000, but after the trees were removed we found more damage, including cracks in the stucco, so the final estimate is probably going to be about 100,000. Good thing we have insurance!
We are lucky. Over 175 homes are going to be pulled down, as too damaged to repair. Even those that can be repaired, some are uninhabitable while repairs are being done. While most homeowners have insurance, only one in ten renters have renter's insurance. There are families that have lost everything except each other. Only one person was killed in the tornado itself, and of the hundreds injured most were minor. The only injury in our house was a little nick from flying glass that Tristan fixed with a band aid, even though we were all picking glass bits out of our hair and clothes.
While the damage to people is the most important, sad too is the loss of trees. North Minneapolis was mostly built between 1915 and 1925, and lots of the boulevard trees were planted then. The huge old trees gave us shade and a feeling of solidity. So many trees were torn up or blown over, the neighborhood looks so different. Another sad note, as the tornado went over the Mississippi, it hit the Great Blue Heron rookery just north of the Camden bridge, and destroyed it. I haven't been able to bring my self to go see it, but a friend reports hundreds of dead baby herons.
We had been planning to go to WisCon, a Science Fiction convention in Madison we go to every year for Memorial Day weekend, but Martin opted to stay home to deal with things while I went to the convention with Tristan and Arthur. (I organize one of the major events and will be co-chair for the conference next year, so I needed to be there is at all possible) Well, we got to about 12 blocks of the hotel when the car made a very loud knocking noise and died.
Again, we were very lucky. AAA picked us up, took us and our stuff to the hotel and dropped the car off at a highly recommended place just 3 blocks away. Unfortunately the car was not repairable short of putting in a new engine. Thanks to the kindness of other conference attendees, we all got home by riding with others, but the conference planning committee said that if we hadn't found rides, they would have paid for a rental car for us.
People are really thoughtful, kind, caring and giving.
Our friends Teri and Tom gave us a truck, a 1992 Chevy S-10. It's so rusty that the box has been replaced by a wooden box and everything rattles like it's about to fall apart, but it gets us to work, so hey, who cares? It'll last until we can scrape up the funds to get something newer.
It took 5 days to get electricity back, which wasn't surprising considering they had to replace blown over and snapped poles, then replace the wiring from scratch. What made it even more difficult is that there were large areas that were impassable from the downed trees. When the crew came in to tarp our roof, they had to walk in the equipment three blocks because they couldn't get any closer with their trucks. It took until 6/9 to get phone service and Internet back, but the WisCon planning committee lent me one of the extra cell phones for emergency use. Did I mention how kind people are?
Two of Martin's brothers were all set to come up from Iowa with their chain saws, but we discouraged it, since there were lots of volunteers from the area helping out and with the streets so clogged with downed trees, extra people would not have been a plus. The Red Cross came through every day for 2 weeks, offering food and water, and last weekend a volunteer force of 400 people came around asking what they could do to help clean up. We've been doing our own clean up, but as a graduation present to Arthur and Tristan, I asked the volunteers to clean up the sidewalk that runs from the front to the back yard. The tree had been removed but there was lots of glass and debris left, and that was next on the list of clean up jobs. The volunteers did a great job cleaning it up, to Arthur and Tristan's great relief! (The insurance assessor said "You have about a dozen kinds of shingles in your yard and none of them are yours!")
Oh yes, graduation!
Arthur and Tristan both received their diplomas and yes, they are signed, I checked. We'll have a big combination graduation/house re-warming party when the repairs are done. Maybe next fall! We can have a big fire pit, we'll have lots of wood!
Note: 42nd Avenue Station also took damage from the tornado and are TEMPORARILY closed. As soon as they are open again we need to visit them long and often! Look for more info on their re-opening in 2 to 3 weeks.
One more thing, on the positive side: I was awarded the Everyday Hero Pride Award and got a shiny plaque Friday night and will get to ride in a convertible in the Pride parade in Minneapolis on June 26. Come and cheer, or better yet, come march with the bi contingent as a bi or ally!
Love to all of you who called and emailed and facebooked, especially those 57 messages on the Sunday after the tornado; I'm sorry you were all so scared but there was no way to get word out to everyone. Thanks especially to Teri and Tom for the wheels, Deb and Greg and Cheryl and Randy for the financial aid, Tim and Blake for the offers of chainsaws and demolition help (we may need you yet, how are you on tree removal?), the WisCon concom for the phone and assistance, Elise and Victor and the members of the Access crew and the Carl Brandon Society for their generous contributions (I'm tearing up again as I'm typing this, you guys have my heart!), Holly and David and Tom and Timmi and Betsy and Matt for getting us all home to Minneapolis from Madison, and everyone who has lent an ear as I obsessed about this.
We finally have Internet and phone back so I can spend some time to send a more detailed message to you all.
Firstly, I'm sorry we missed so much, anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, so much going on at this time of year!
Sunday, May 22nd, started quietly. We had lost our big old dog Testimony a few weeks before. I had done my skydive two weeks before and we were all involved in a wedding for a dear friend one week before (I was Matron of Honor, Martin filmed it and Arthur and Tristan were ushers), so we were all catching up. Martin had just left to help a friend with some car repairs, Tristan and Arthur were upstairs playing computer games with their friend Luwell, and I had just laid down, feeling a little bleah. Drowsy, not really asleep, I heard this strange, deep roaring sound, getting louder. I recognized it, having missed a tornado by three blocks in 1981, and shot to the bottom of the steps upstairs, screaming for the kids to get to the basement NOW!
As they rounded the corner to come down the steps, they saw an old refrigerator that was out in the alley for recycling lift up and fly down the alley. At the bottom of the steps I was yelling "go, go, go" and they were almost down the steps into the dining room when the tree came through the upstairs window, spraying us all with glass. We sped down to the basement and huddled there for what seemed like an hour, but was really only 2 or 3 minutes, listening to the roaring wind punctuated by bangs and crashes.
Coming up from the basement was like coming up into a whole new world.
If you haven't seen the pictures yet, go to
http://www.facebook.com/search.php?init=srp&sfxp&q=Arthur+Quam&type=users#!/media/set/?set=a.1584081421806.70785.1828888195
It's hard to recognize things, the loss of trees make the neighborhood look so different!
The initial inspection by the insurance adjuster placed repairs at 62,000, but after the trees were removed we found more damage, including cracks in the stucco, so the final estimate is probably going to be about 100,000. Good thing we have insurance!
We are lucky. Over 175 homes are going to be pulled down, as too damaged to repair. Even those that can be repaired, some are uninhabitable while repairs are being done. While most homeowners have insurance, only one in ten renters have renter's insurance. There are families that have lost everything except each other. Only one person was killed in the tornado itself, and of the hundreds injured most were minor. The only injury in our house was a little nick from flying glass that Tristan fixed with a band aid, even though we were all picking glass bits out of our hair and clothes.
While the damage to people is the most important, sad too is the loss of trees. North Minneapolis was mostly built between 1915 and 1925, and lots of the boulevard trees were planted then. The huge old trees gave us shade and a feeling of solidity. So many trees were torn up or blown over, the neighborhood looks so different. Another sad note, as the tornado went over the Mississippi, it hit the Great Blue Heron rookery just north of the Camden bridge, and destroyed it. I haven't been able to bring my self to go see it, but a friend reports hundreds of dead baby herons.
We had been planning to go to WisCon, a Science Fiction convention in Madison we go to every year for Memorial Day weekend, but Martin opted to stay home to deal with things while I went to the convention with Tristan and Arthur. (I organize one of the major events and will be co-chair for the conference next year, so I needed to be there is at all possible) Well, we got to about 12 blocks of the hotel when the car made a very loud knocking noise and died.
Again, we were very lucky. AAA picked us up, took us and our stuff to the hotel and dropped the car off at a highly recommended place just 3 blocks away. Unfortunately the car was not repairable short of putting in a new engine. Thanks to the kindness of other conference attendees, we all got home by riding with others, but the conference planning committee said that if we hadn't found rides, they would have paid for a rental car for us.
People are really thoughtful, kind, caring and giving.
Our friends Teri and Tom gave us a truck, a 1992 Chevy S-10. It's so rusty that the box has been replaced by a wooden box and everything rattles like it's about to fall apart, but it gets us to work, so hey, who cares? It'll last until we can scrape up the funds to get something newer.
It took 5 days to get electricity back, which wasn't surprising considering they had to replace blown over and snapped poles, then replace the wiring from scratch. What made it even more difficult is that there were large areas that were impassable from the downed trees. When the crew came in to tarp our roof, they had to walk in the equipment three blocks because they couldn't get any closer with their trucks. It took until 6/9 to get phone service and Internet back, but the WisCon planning committee lent me one of the extra cell phones for emergency use. Did I mention how kind people are?
Two of Martin's brothers were all set to come up from Iowa with their chain saws, but we discouraged it, since there were lots of volunteers from the area helping out and with the streets so clogged with downed trees, extra people would not have been a plus. The Red Cross came through every day for 2 weeks, offering food and water, and last weekend a volunteer force of 400 people came around asking what they could do to help clean up. We've been doing our own clean up, but as a graduation present to Arthur and Tristan, I asked the volunteers to clean up the sidewalk that runs from the front to the back yard. The tree had been removed but there was lots of glass and debris left, and that was next on the list of clean up jobs. The volunteers did a great job cleaning it up, to Arthur and Tristan's great relief! (The insurance assessor said "You have about a dozen kinds of shingles in your yard and none of them are yours!")
Oh yes, graduation!
Arthur and Tristan both received their diplomas and yes, they are signed, I checked. We'll have a big combination graduation/house re-warming party when the repairs are done. Maybe next fall! We can have a big fire pit, we'll have lots of wood!
Note: 42nd Avenue Station also took damage from the tornado and are TEMPORARILY closed. As soon as they are open again we need to visit them long and often! Look for more info on their re-opening in 2 to 3 weeks.
One more thing, on the positive side: I was awarded the Everyday Hero Pride Award and got a shiny plaque Friday night and will get to ride in a convertible in the Pride parade in Minneapolis on June 26. Come and cheer, or better yet, come march with the bi contingent as a bi or ally!
Love to all of you who called and emailed and facebooked, especially those 57 messages on the Sunday after the tornado; I'm sorry you were all so scared but there was no way to get word out to everyone. Thanks especially to Teri and Tom for the wheels, Deb and Greg and Cheryl and Randy for the financial aid, Tim and Blake for the offers of chainsaws and demolition help (we may need you yet, how are you on tree removal?), the WisCon concom for the phone and assistance, Elise and Victor and the members of the Access crew and the Carl Brandon Society for their generous contributions (I'm tearing up again as I'm typing this, you guys have my heart!), Holly and David and Tom and Timmi and Betsy and Matt for getting us all home to Minneapolis from Madison, and everyone who has lent an ear as I obsessed about this.