Sunday, July 1, 2012

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

I feel like I should whisper this blog post; I've forsaken my family and have snuck away to modernity (otherwise known as Starbucks) to write it.

Yep, that's right.  We're one of the million-plus people who were left without power by Friday night's epic storm.  Around 10:30 pm, as I was watching TV in the basement, I heard the wind whip up and, shortly after, heavy thuds as branches were torn from trees and fell to the ground.  The power blinked several times and then failed completely, and finally Mom and Dad joined me in the basement with battery-powered lanterns for safety.  (Our neighborhood has lots of gorgeous huge old trees, making it a scary place to be during bad storms.)  By 11:30, the wind had more or less died down but was replaced with lashing rain and near-constant flashes of lightening and rumbles of thunder.  We watched from the porch as the sky flickered, illuminating the debris littered over our backyard.


June 29, 2012 [via]

In the morning, we joined our neighbors on damage patrol; we always gather in the street in the aftermath of storms to assess the extent of the disaster.  Apparently, we experienced a derecho, a windstorm that accompanies thunderstorms that tracks a relatively straight path rather than twisting like a tornado and that is identified by gusts of at last 58mph.   Although there was some real damage to a few houses, no one was hurt - though I read that five people in the DC Metro area were killed - and I only saw one crushed car.  But we were essentially trapped by downed trees torn from their roots and toppled across roads and by branches that had snapped and been flung across yards by the wind.  Power cables dangled from poles like fishing line, promising a sweltering weekend with no air conditioning.





So here we are on hour 40 of no electricity (and no guarrantee of restored power until Friday) and day two of 100° heat with ice in short supply.  Mom's promised us surf and turf for dinner tonight because we need to eat the crabcakes and steaks that are in the freezer before they spoil, and last night the house glowed with candles in front of every mirror - you have to find silver linings to these sorts of things, I suppose.

I hope all of you in the DC area are safe and relatively comfortable, and that you've found a way to turn this weekend into an adventure!

12 comments:

  1. Holy cow! My sister in law is in Arlington and is out of power too. I had a friend in town visiting me from DC this weekend and she was flying back this afternoon and hoping her apartment has power! Glad you guys are okay!

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    1. it seems to be coming back to certain areas, so I'll keep my fingers crossed for her!

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  2. I hope you guys are making it alright! I cannot imagine what it's like to be without power. We only had to live without power for about 48 hours once back a few years ago because of an ice storm. Good luck!!

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    1. I take back everything I ever said about wanting to live in the 18th century - haha!

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  3. Man! That downed tree is massive! Hope you guys get power back soon! If not, enjoy the dinner:)

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    1. I know, it is kind of awesome - in the biblical sense of the word!

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  4. my goodness! At least your family is safe. Hope the power gets turned back on real quick

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  5. Good luck babe! It hit pretty badly in south jersey as well, they cancelled work tomorrow because the electricity is still not up. Also those trees look ginormous, I'm so glad everyone is safe.

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  6. Holy Crap!! I haven't experienced a storm like that in a few years and although they are quite dangerous and unfortunate I have real cravings to see storms like that. I think I was meant to be a storm chaser or something cause every time it rains I stare out of the window begging for a massive storm.

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  7. bets that is insane! my sister is in arlington and just got power. hopefully you guys are next. how do you even get to work with all the downed trees!?

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    1. My mom heard a rumour that we might get power back tomorrow, but Pepco's still saying Friday. Yargh. Most of the trees are out of the road by now, so getting into work today was fine. (Actually, I came into the office almost 2 hours earlier than usual today because I was so desperate for A/C!)

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