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Back from the dark side....literally

15 years ago

So on Sunday, September 14th we woke up and it was pretty windy. The forecast in the paper called for "Breezy." This was on the heels of the decimation in TX and Gulf Coast. As the day progressed, it became apparent that this was not an ordinary breezy day. Winds became extreme, in fact despite being from the Northeast, I'm not sure I have ever seen such extreme winds.

At about 1:00 PM, we lost power. Monday morning they reported 100,000 people without power, but it continued to climb to over 300,000. The fact that it was not predicted was a bit suspicious as the Ryder Cup (Golf and a Big Deal $$$) was beginning the next day. We were without power for NINE days.

Yes, I am thankful that we didn't have the devastation of Texas. But have you ever tried to entertain and care for kids with NINE days of power outage? Needless to say, there was no school. Entire trees were completely uprooted. Only a few broken rose canes, thank you for asking. :-)

We did not get our phone and computer back for SEVENTEEN days. What have I missed?

Hope everyone else fared okay.

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Comments (9)

cincy_city_garden
15 years ago
Wow redsox, I heard a lot of people in the Louisville area didn't have power...I'm glad you came through okay. So I assume you stayed at your house the whole time? I know some people around me that left town because of no power. That Sunday started the same for us here: dry, sunny, and breezy...then gusts to 80 mph..what they're calling a "dry hurricane." We had tree down in our backyard:
{{gwi:327316}}

Eric
bbinpa
15 years ago
Nine days is an eternity to be without my coffee. How ever did you do it? (LOL) I'm not sure what you missed except the bad news about Vintage. Glad to have you back.

Barbara
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dan_keil_cr Keil
15 years ago
We had some wind in our area,but we got the rains! I got 51/2" in a few hours. And areas around our State got as much as 8" There was some flooding but not that bad. During the downpour I had a river going thru my backyard. When the rain stopped the water just soaked right in. The week before Gustave came thru and dumped 4". So we've had our share of the hurricanes!
User
Original Author
15 years ago
Barbara, funny you should say that. When we woke up on Monday morning, my Hubby went in the car to hear the radio about whether there was school. He came in to report 100,000 people without power. Later, it climbed to 300,000.

But the first thing I said is "I hope Starbucks is open." He said I was shameless. I said "easy for you to say, drinking coffee at work while I am home with the kids with a splitting headache." Coffee is a drug!

I went to find a Starbucks that morning on a "Mercy Mission." I spent our entire savings on Soy Lattes. A girl's gotta live.
zeffyrose
15 years ago
We had lots of rain here in Pa.---which was much needed.

I understand what it is to be without power but thank goodness we now have a generator which helps .

Mother Nature can be nasty at times.

Florence
anntn6b
15 years ago
We remain in drought.
Hints for the future:
(If you have city water and it's dependable, your boys won't have the adventure of outdoor toilets). Ice storms can do the same thing and often do in your part of the world. Camping stoves are excellent for necessities. We went with propane just because of winter power losses. Having a cook top that works makes life more civilized. Matches, oil laterns, a working fire place.
Glad you're back, now get a camp stove and a French Press. Just in case.
User
Original Author
15 years ago
Oh Gosh! I forgot that we HAVE a French Press. DH used to make me decaf on the weekends when I was pregnant. I think we are going to get a generator too. We have lived here for 2 years and lost power 4 times so after emptying our fridge a couple of times, it would pay for itself.
bethnorcal9
15 years ago
That's a reeeeeal bummer! We had a 5-day power outage yrs ago when the boys were little and we still lived in the mobile home park. It wasn't exactly fun as I remember. But we got thru it. With the bad winter we had this last time, we lost power for only a couple of days, but we broke down and bought a generator. It's worth it. Saves your refrigerated foods, and keeps everybody entertained til the power comes back on. Now we have it for any future outages.

I'm glad you didn't have any damage to your roses, or your home. I feel so sad for those people in TX and all over who lost their homes or had major damage due to the hurricane. That's got to be so devastating.
karenforroses
15 years ago
A French Press is a life saver. When heavy winter snow storms take down the electric lines, I heat water on our outdoor gas grill and use my French Press. If the woodstove is stoked up, I heat water on the top of that. As days are getting shorter now, I better start thinking about those kinds of things (shucks!). Maybe I should grind a few coffee beans just to be safe. We have our priorities in place, don't we? Coffee, coffee, coffee.

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