Black out

We just got through 5 1/2 days with no power due to the freak snow storm on Oct. 29. Our power went out on Saturday at 4:15  P.M. and came back on Thursday night. 

Since the trees still had leaves on them the snow made the branches so heavy that the trees and branches were crashing down everywhere in our state.

Our wires are underground so we have rarely lost power in our neighborhood in the past. During the tropical storm Irene we were out for 36 hours, but it was August and it was warm so it wasn't that big an adjustment.

So I expected that this time around, power would be back soon and all would be well. I was very wrong. On Sunday we ventured out and could not believe what we saw. Downed trees and power lines everywhere. Power was out all over town and all the towns adjoining us. That means all traffic lights OUT! Driving was harrowing as some people would drive right through the intersections.

Many gas stations were out of power and closed. So the ones that were open had gas lines longer than I have ever seen before. The cars were lined up right in the streets causing all kinds of traffic jams and heated tempers. 

Many local restaurants were also closed so it was difficult to find places to get food and when we found places open, the lines were very long.

My 90 year old MIL was home alone. When we got to her house we found that she was managing very well with the fireplace and wood stove going. She is a very independent woman and never left anything entirely up to her  husband, so she knew how to light the stove and build a fire. She was able to make coffee and heat up food on the wood stove, so she seemed to be doing better than expected.  

When we visited again on Monday, the wood stove  did not seem to be functioning properly. The house was a bit smokey. MIL insisted the stove was fine and just a little smokey when it was first lit. To make a long story short, my husband ended up turning it off because it did not seem to be getting better and told my MIL that it was unsafe and that we would take her to dinner for a hot meal. She was not happy that her stove was turned off and refused going out to dinner because it was Halloween and she wanted to be home for the trick or treaters. Well, no parent in their right mind would be sending out kids with no street lights to home and power lines down everywhere, but she insisted on staying home. So we decided to bring her a meal from a local restaurant.

We went back to the house later with her meal and she had turned the stove back on again and the entire house was filled with smoke and she was denying that anything was wrong with the stove. It scared the shit out of me to see her in potential danger. 

We called my BIL and he came the next day and took her back to his house out of state so she could be safe and warm. And better still we did not have to worry about her since we had to worry about ourselves. 

I found that sleeping with pajamas, bathrobe, socks, a blanket and 2 quilts we stayed quite comfortably warm during the night. But during the day we could not wait to get out of the house. 

The whole week was exhausting on every level. 

My 86 year old mother lives in Sr. housing. They had a generator for the community room so the residents were down there during the daytime staying warm and cooking food. The management held Bingo and card games to keep them occupied in the evenings, but they all had to return to apartments with no heat. All of my family had lost power so no one could reach out to my mom and take her in and keep her warm at night. When our power finally came back on on Thursday, we went right over there and picked her up and took her home to our house. I hated not being able to help her sooner.

During the day we spent time driving all over creation. It was too cold in our house to stay here so we had to make a plan of where to go to get warm. I started to think about the homeless people and how they have to live like that everyday when the shelters close in the mornings and they get sent out to the streets again. Had the temperatures dropped we would have ended up in a shelter ourselves since everyone was out of power (except for the folks with generators)and no one could take us in. It was a humbling thought.

This situation has caused a great deal of anger across our state since it has taken so long for the power company to restore power. Many homes are still without power today. We had to wait for crews from Canada and Missouri to come and help our electric company. Seems our state didn't pay the out of state workers for their help with storm Irene so they refused to send help at first.

There have been many storm related deaths in our state. People dying from carbon monoxide poisoning from poorly vented generators, bringing gas grills into the house, and some traffic related incidents as well.

Today most of my family has power. MIL back at home with power, and my mom in her apartment with power. I have never been as happy to cook, vacuum, and do laundry as I am today!