My New 2 Best Friends

Double wick candle and an emergency crank radio. We had batteries. So no cranking.... this time.



We had a derecho hit our city on Sat. around 2 pm. A derecho is basically a tornado that doesn't swirl, it just goes in a straight line. All the force of the storm at the front line. Well it raised heck here. Trees, hydro poles, roofs all paid the price.

I'll probably ramble, but the word I want to get across is, be prepared.

This was a storm like I've never seen, and we've been flooded twice. Trees down everywhere, taking out lines. Hydro poles "snapped", literally. The power is still out to a lot of neighbourhoods. Traffic lights still down. We got power back after 125 hours. So, hence my 2 new friends.

Power was coming on in different parts of the city, and my wifes friend leant us her generator when she got it. Well, that saved my stuffed to the rim chest freezer. We had just gotten a deal from another farmer friend for a whack of beef, and I was sweating losing it. Didn't lose any. .

Here's the nitty gritty no one thinks of in these situations.

I was planning on picking up a case of beer after the games. Nope. No power to stay open. No beer for the 1st long weekend of the summer. Monday was a holiday here. I mouched a 6 pack from a friend, but drank it warm, because, no power to sell you ice! If you had a generator, hope you got fuel. Can't buy gas, no power. Run your BBQ dry of propane. No power, no propane. No power for the takeout joints. There goes that thought. OH YA! When places open up again, like grocery stores etc, better have cash, no power remember, bank cards are useless. Lineups where crazy and scammers abound. I've heard so many stories of people being ripped off in lines with a promise to put you at the head of the line. Roads closed change your route, hope you got lots of gas in the car.

Now we are getting back to normal, try and find the staples you lost in your fridge. No milk or eggs to be seen. Generators will be a hot commodity around here for 6 months. I plan on getting my own.

Now, I'll tell you how I experienced this storm. I was on a football field refing. One of the officials came and told me he saw lightning. Rules say we delay the game. Wasn't even raining then. Went over and told the coaches. Then went over to get our bags. Then the 1st signs of rain showed up on the dry cement. 5 seconds later it was raining hard. 10 seconds later it was a downpour. 15 seconds later we were running across the field for shelter in a cement sports storage building. I can run pretty good in a normal environment, but this storm was beating on us. Seriously, it felt like I had lead boots on and gravity was 5 times it's normal. I was gaining about 2 feet per stride giving it all I had. I was so out of breath when I made it. We all made it. I ended up in a part of the shelter that was vented to outside. The rain was coming in, hitting the ceiling then dropping down on me. Never been rained on inside before. Just wild. 15 minutes later, it was over. Game was called and I had to zig zag my way home to 125 hours of no power. Can't say I was scared, just doing what had to be done. I've never run so hard and not made ground, it really freaked me out. Everyone at the game, players, crowd etc. all made it out safe.

My experience pails in comparison to other disasters. We never lost running water. So what I want to say is get your pantry stocked with non-perishables and batteries, fuel, power supply and water. You just never know when you will need them.

Stay safe my CCF friends. .






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