So, what do you do when you hear that, in the words of Billy Joel,
“There’s a Storm Front Coming”?
Well… like most communities, you batten down the hatches, pull out the candles, put batteries in all of your flashlights, help your fellow neighbors, and if there’s still time, run to the store to buy milk, bread and eggs—-(unless, like us, you are completely gluten free, pastured and free range, then you contact your local farmers…) and then you sit tight and pray for the best!
People ran to Westlake Kroger or Diamond Hill Food Lion in a panic and cleared the shelves, just like everywhere else in the US that heard [for weeks] that there was impending doom….and rightly so.
Hurricane Florence sent our skies into a lumo-blue-surreal essence that could only be described as a color an astronaut might see from space, then to pitch black, and then… the winds came.
Here at Smith Mountain Lake, despite having no seat of government, no real center of town, no real structure except at the county levels, WE ARE A VERY SMALL COMMUNITY on a VERY LARGE LAKE in Southwest Virginia.
Part-time seasonal owners ran to Smith Mountain Lake to take refuge in the Blue Ridge Mountains from North Carolina, Myrtle Beach South Carolina and Virginia Beach, just to name a few locales with mandatory evacuations…and were welcomed with open arms!
In the video below, here is how HURRICANE FLORENCE
played out…in REAL TIME….
To their credit (yes…I said that out loud) AEP was pro-active with the dam gates on this storm and lake residents knew it. By September 14th, 2018 the lake was down about 4.5 feet in most areas.
That’s in an effort to save homes and lives on both Smith Mountain Lake–(comprised of the Roanoke and Blackwater Rivers), as well as, on Leesville Lake (our lower basin lake)… in case anyone is wondering.
So! Did I get our piece of the lake clean?
Yes! And I’m glad I did because I removed 5 trash bags total of debris from SML. 🙂
And how are things today?
As of the writing of this post, it is now 9/20/2018, and ALL IS WELL here at the lake.
The heavy winds and rain came and went, and for the most part, without consequence.
Thanks to our neighbors, our friends and our community, and it’s “small town charm”, because without it, these days would be much darker.
When all is said and done, as you can see from the photos above, WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER….ESPECIALLY AT SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE!
Stay Safe!
Noreen
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Noreen Hartkern is a well-respected Zillow 5-Star Agent on Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, with over 26+ Years of Real Estate Expertise. Noreen is an Accomplished Realtor, Real Estate Consultant, New Construction Specialist, Blog Writer & Photographer. In Addition to Listings and Sales, Buyers and Sellers Agency, She has Extensive Experience as a Home Renovator, Rehabber and Flipper, and is a Published Author on That Very Topic.
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