Truley
Posted : 9/16/2008 9:51:47 AM
I really don't blame the city, they never ever saw this coming, even as late as 2pm Sunday they were still expecting it to be a rain event. At the height of the wind, they were still predicting severe thunderstorms. From what I am hearing is this little weather phenom was never ever a thought. It caught everyone off guard.
The biggest isssue is that our pretty little town is host to some really old beautiful oldwood tree's. They line parks, neighborhoods and boulevards all around the city. And alot of these tree's are easily 3 foot around or more, which make them easy pickings for a huge wind storm.
As for gas, ice and things to survive on? We are under EPA regulations for formulated gas, there are only so many stations open, we were told the RF gas was going to be in short supply, so you get panic. Ice, not sure what went on there, but I am sure by the time they needed to kick it up they either had no power or the demand was just to high to keep up.
It did teach my husband and I a lesson. While we did have lanterns, several radio's, non perishable foods, water and cell phones there will still things we could have done better or should have thought of.
For one thing, I did have to find gas, I refused to buy it on Friday when it jumped over $4 a gal, I had just under half a tank, that is enough for almost a week of travel. Longer commute time yesturday really ate into that, I had no choice, I had to buy some, so I filled up.
Batteries, we had enough for the small radio but not for our bigger radio's. One of our lanterns and a tent fan also take batteries, so I will stock up on those as well.
Water, good thing we are not on well water, would have been sunk big time.
Generator, even just a small one, to keep the fridge and freezer going. That is one of the first things we will be looking into when the hubbub dies down.
The biggest problem is keeping traffic moving, and people calm. That is why the national guard was called in. You travel down a road and one light is out, the next is on, so moving traffic around town is hard. Alot of the major intersections near the expressways are still out.
I am a country girl at heart, that loves to go camping, my husband is from rural backwoods country, so neither of us had any issue what so ever. We sat and visited with neighbors and we read. To be honest we didn't miss the t.v. all that much, I did miss my news junkie fix, but even that was just an inconvience.
What I hated the most was the waste. I work hard to budget my money, as I know alot of people do. I spend alot of time planning and stocking food for the winter (yes I might be part chipmonk) to keep costs down. The fact that I had just gone shopping and have since lost that food, just makes me mad, not mad at anyone, just mad at the sheer waste, in a time when prices are climbing.
I feel for the people on fixed budgets that are going to lose stuff they cannot afford to replace.