Hurricane Isabella

I can't sleep tonight, I can still hear her name.
She came with warning but could not be tamed.
We packed our things and stored them tight,
And headed for shelter anticipating this night.
"You will be out of harm's way," the Colonel told us. "Free from the fight."

But she followed us and now we are in her way.
All night she screams, "My name is Isabella and I've come to play!"
Her winds rattle the windows and shake our nerves.
The rain seeps through the cracks of the barracks we serve.
She keeps herself busy and at a steady pace.
Sounds like a freight train winning the race.

All through the night and into the early morning,
She kicked up her heals, laughing and roaring!
When the daylight came and the blue skies were calm,
We could only imagine the damage she had done.
It was far worse than what we had thought.

Age old trees that once reached to the sky,
Scattered the ground like tombstones, no longer alive.
Uprooted, twisted and mangled,
They crashed through houses and left power lines tangled.

Piles of debris littered the streets,
Trapping the flood waters up to our knees.
It covered the ground throughout this town.
Bits of valuables were later found.

But valuables can be replaced and homes can be repaired.
No one was hurt that day in the shelter we shared.
It could have been worse; we were luckier than some.
Some lost loved ones in the destruction she had done.

We go about our lives now, picking up the pieces,
Trying to make sense of the madness and all that it seizes.
Most are without power, their food supply goes sour,
As the day turns to blackness with each passing hour.

But throughout all the chaos brought strangers together.
Despite their own frustration came a need to take care of each other.
By helping one another with necessities we lack,
We see in each other one purpose, one path.