Shari's Sentiments

So I said I wouldn’t or wasn’t going to do a post about this but..I have to. So I was well (kinda) prepared for this hurricane. Yes, we had a mild earthquake here on Tuesday, August 23rd and we had a Hurricane  Sat/Sun, August 27th/28th. See, we don’t see much around this area in the respect of major weather catastrophes – lots of snow and heavy winds but not Category 4 & 5 Hurricanes. However, our eastern neighbors by the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers see flooding an awful lot and it is serious. So this was a big event for an area that usually sees normal weather patterns.

Anyway, I figured on we’d get heavy winds, rain and some fallen branches but not huge flooding. So we had candles, food, water the normal. I was prepared…

…Okay so I wasn’t totally prepared for what actually happened. I was a little nervous but not so worried. I figured we’d lose power (we lost it a about a year and a half ago during a windy thunderstorm – and we were in the dark for 5/6 hours).  Any way the heavy rains came around 9:30pm, (I think).  So I showered and washed/dried a load of laundry. Why? I don’t know but it was a good thing I did. Because around 12:30am flicker-flicker-dark. Yup we were in the dark. No power – no electric, no hot water cut off.

So we lit the candles – I called and reported the outage, shut off my phone and went to sleep tried to sleep. I slept little until 7:30 am –  we still had no power but the storm had settled to just random rain and wind. I tried to call the power company again for updated and was met with over loaded call volumes and disconnected. So sitting wondering when power would come back we roughed it again… we are fortunate to have a wood stove. So it comes in handy when we need essential things like food and…

...hot water...

...we made coffee....

...eggs...

...and kept water and coffee hot, through the afternoon.

So, we had food and hot water for dishes and stuff. We were just without communications and the cell towers had to be a bit discombobulated because I had a rough time sending texts and making calls.

We decided to take a walk/drive. We walked the block and noticed a local store pitching ice (because they had no power and things were melting) so we scored $1/a bag of ice. We got the car and headed to see the small strip of Chestnut Street in Emmaus. Everything was totally out all the traffic lights running on generators. We headed back home and put all our perishable foods on ice. We were now 12 hours without power.  And wondering when things would be back to normal.

Nearly, the whole 10+ block grid of Emmaus was out of power…this was huge. Surrounding boroughs and townships had power. Grocery stores and Wal-Mart also had power – however, the usually short trip took longer because of winds, downed trees and creek flooding in roadways. My mother, brother and niece took a trip out to Home Depot and then Wal-Mart for supplies – kerosene for lamps and batteries and a much needed…

...car cell phone charger. For updates on news etc.

They came back just as my frustration had peaked…. I was getting so annoyed that my phone was unable to show any of the local news apps and the local AM stations were NOT doing a better job of covering updates on the storm and power outages. I found out from a friend in the next town over that the Gov was going to be speaking and that the local stations were telling folks to go online for updates. UM, HELLO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS ARE WITHOUT POWER. There is no way to get updates other than radio…which by the way did not stop “omega three capsule broadcasting” to let folks hear the Governors news conference. So I left to go to my dad’s who had power to charge my phone in the event that we were again without power. However, out power came on and stayed on YAY!!! (at about 3:15pm). So grateful that we made it through. It could have been worse, MUCH MUCH worse.

Sure we had an exhausting day. We suffered only minor setbacks and annoyances. We had more resources than most in a situation like this…

...very little damage. Just twigs and branches to clean up.

We had some minor water on our porch.

And…..

...these handy, dandy lanterns from the Dollar Tree. 'Cause when you gotta go...

…even in the dark…we managed to improvise. We made it through. I am still thinking and praying for our neighbors and neighboring states who are without power, have damage and flood water damage. Praying that help is on the way and where it is needed.

Stay tuned for Part II as I ventured around yesterday to parts “underwater”. And now I am signing off as I have just received a call from the power company that we will lose power again at 4:30 for two-hours for repair to the local substation this time I am prepared. 🙂

Blessings and Prayers,