Storm 3.0
Yesterday, a storm blew up out of nowhere.
Those of you who read this journal know that storms hitting right out of nowhere is NOT a good thing where I live, and it was not good this time, either. The weather went from zero to sixty in two seconds. One minute it was humid, hot and sweltering; the next minute, the windows were being battered by wind and rain so intense that I was afraid that the panes of glass would shatter...along with the walls.
I was already online, so I checked the Weather Channel to see if we were in the middle of a hurricane or tornado warning. (I know, I know. June is not hurricane season. But that's what the storm looked like.) Not only was there no warning or alert, the Weather Channel didn't even seem to know that the not-hurricane was happening. It was predicting mild thunderstorms for around seven or eight.
"Jesus. The sky just opened up. It's POURING," I said to erastes. "It's not hurricane season but it looks like one. I hope that trees don't come down."
And just as I said that, there was a tremendous BANG like something had exploded. Lightning turned the whole world white. For what I suppose was a second or two but felt much longer, I couldn't see. And it was hot, though I didn't understand why.
When the whiteness faded, I was relieved to see that the power was still on. Phew. Okay, no harm done...
...and then, as if on cue, everything went black. And the storm started to calm down.
I discovered in the next few hours that the storm had done a lot of damage in a space of about five minutes. A big tree came down in the middle of the main street that runs horizontally parallel to mine. A second tree crashed at the intersection of a side street and the main street that intersects with the end of mine. The bang was caused by lightning hitting an electrical pole about half a block away; the blast knocked down both pole and transformer and set the wires on fire.
I have never been so close to lightning before and I don't ever want to be again. I suddenly feel great sympathy for Immortals, even K'Immies.
I spent much of the evening panicking, because I didn't know if this was going to be like the Octoberstorm. I also spent a lot of time packing in case I had to evacuate, calling Days Inn, and talking to both the power company (trying to get updates on restoration efforts, and kudos to John, Stephanie and Edwin for being stellar employees) and rikibeth (and kudos to her for suggesting the names of hotels and for offering to come out and get me in the aftermath of the storm).
Power came back on at 8:09 p.m. I cannot say that I was never more relieved--seeing power in my house nine days after the Octoberstorm trumped this--but I was very, VERY relieved. (Quite apart from anything else, my house starts to get dark about four in the afternoon, even in summer. It's one of the penalties of having a shady yard.) I didn't dare post about it until today, however. I wanted to be sure that the power would last.
So that was my little adventure yesterday. How has your weekend been so far?
P.S. (Oh, and I'm using this icon because Alexia Tarabotti is holding a parasol. That's as close as I can get to an umbrella.)
Those of you who read this journal know that storms hitting right out of nowhere is NOT a good thing where I live, and it was not good this time, either. The weather went from zero to sixty in two seconds. One minute it was humid, hot and sweltering; the next minute, the windows were being battered by wind and rain so intense that I was afraid that the panes of glass would shatter...along with the walls.
I was already online, so I checked the Weather Channel to see if we were in the middle of a hurricane or tornado warning. (I know, I know. June is not hurricane season. But that's what the storm looked like.) Not only was there no warning or alert, the Weather Channel didn't even seem to know that the not-hurricane was happening. It was predicting mild thunderstorms for around seven or eight.
"Jesus. The sky just opened up. It's POURING," I said to erastes. "It's not hurricane season but it looks like one. I hope that trees don't come down."
And just as I said that, there was a tremendous BANG like something had exploded. Lightning turned the whole world white. For what I suppose was a second or two but felt much longer, I couldn't see. And it was hot, though I didn't understand why.
When the whiteness faded, I was relieved to see that the power was still on. Phew. Okay, no harm done...
...and then, as if on cue, everything went black. And the storm started to calm down.
I discovered in the next few hours that the storm had done a lot of damage in a space of about five minutes. A big tree came down in the middle of the main street that runs horizontally parallel to mine. A second tree crashed at the intersection of a side street and the main street that intersects with the end of mine. The bang was caused by lightning hitting an electrical pole about half a block away; the blast knocked down both pole and transformer and set the wires on fire.
I have never been so close to lightning before and I don't ever want to be again. I suddenly feel great sympathy for Immortals, even K'Immies.
I spent much of the evening panicking, because I didn't know if this was going to be like the Octoberstorm. I also spent a lot of time packing in case I had to evacuate, calling Days Inn, and talking to both the power company (trying to get updates on restoration efforts, and kudos to John, Stephanie and Edwin for being stellar employees) and rikibeth (and kudos to her for suggesting the names of hotels and for offering to come out and get me in the aftermath of the storm).
Power came back on at 8:09 p.m. I cannot say that I was never more relieved--seeing power in my house nine days after the Octoberstorm trumped this--but I was very, VERY relieved. (Quite apart from anything else, my house starts to get dark about four in the afternoon, even in summer. It's one of the penalties of having a shady yard.) I didn't dare post about it until today, however. I wanted to be sure that the power would last.
So that was my little adventure yesterday. How has your weekend been so far?
P.S. (Oh, and I'm using this icon because Alexia Tarabotti is holding a parasol. That's as close as I can get to an umbrella.)