We think we're in charge. We're not
This past Thursday was a hot and sunny day. Rain was in the forecast, but it didn't seem like it was a possibility. At some point after 3, the sun was replaced with an ominous black. I was thinking of my eldest lamblet who was walking home from school. I knew she didn't have an umbrella. Then the sirens went off. I ran for the car hoping I would find her, wondering if I was stupid for leaving. She was a mere house away from home when I went out on the driveway. I hauled her and the dog into the basement when it sounded as if all hell broke loose. Not a more than 5 or so minutes later I went up to see what it was. It had not sounded like a tornado, but stuff was obviously being tossed about. The patio chairs were everywhere, the garbage cans were across the street in the neighbor's yard and trees had been beaten to pieces. Although there were tornadoes in the area, none had touched down. We had been hit with freakish, out of nowhere, 80 mph winds. The 6 inches of rain came throughout the rest of the evening.
Luckily, we were all safe. My eldest lamblet got home, Grizzled made it home many hours later on a train that was still working and was able to go across a bridge that was not yet washed out. Our youngest lamblet spent the worst portion of the storm on school lockdown. After she was finally released she was driven home, along with many other freaked out kids, by a bus driver that had to improvise his route due to the fact that nearly every street was blocked. He got her here though. He looked as if he had seen the face of God.
Again, we were very lucky. We were only without electricity for 20 some hours. Many around us still don't have it. Our cable, phones and internet were back up after about 40. The lamblets and I drove around a little bit on Friday since school was closed. Grizzled had gone out earlier in the morning and reported that tree debris was everywhere. You could not look down a street without seeing massive tree debris or entire uprooted trees. I thought he was exaggerating. He was not. Almost every street I went down looked like it was lined with lovely hedgerows, the hedgerows being 5 ft piles of limbs, leaves, etc. The streets were all covered with wood splinters. It looked like a mulching truck had been driving around with it's back gate open. It was amazing. I've seen tornado damage, I've seen storm damage, but I have never seen so much tree damage... block after block for a couple of miles in any direction of severely damaged trees.
I keep stressing how lucky we were. Unlike many others who experience damage from storms, my family sprang back fairly fast. The day or two though without power, a connection to the outside world, no use of gas stations or stores, was a reminder of how fragile our daily framework is and how so much of our comfort is just smoke and mirrors.
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