(no subject)
I'm sitting at my local Starbucks, which has finally had power restored!
I was supposed to leave Friday morning for my lovely writer's conference in the Midlands (Columbia, SC for those who don't know). However, at 6, the power went out as Helene passed overhead. She changed course in mid-stream and hit Greenville dead on. Somewhere in the first volley, there was a god-awful crash and the back porch caved in. Fortunately it didn't take any of the house with it!
Waited until everything was over and texted the group president to see if Columbia was OK. She said she didn't know because her house had just been destroyed! Yikes! Texted the conference coordinator and she said everything was fine and the conference was a GO.
Tried to get out of the neighborhood at 10 but there was a huge tree blocking the whole highway. I could hear chainsaws in that direction soon, though, so I tried again around 2 and they had cleared one lane so traffic was flowing sporadically. At this point, I had picked up a passenger, though. Another group member lives nearby. Her car was hit by a tree and she desperately needed to get out of Dodge!
Met Adrienne at the corner grocery store and we headed for Columbia. Tons of trees down in the road, including the interstate, though we could see the tree crews out on the highway clearing things up slowly but surely. We even ran over some downed power lines on the interstate! Got to Columbia and it did look OK. The traffic lights were working, unlike in Greenville. But when we got to the hotel, they were running on an emergency generator. No overhead lights, no dinner that we paid for! Adrienne and I met up with Barbara, another Greenville member, and we went to the Cracker Barrel just down the street for dinner. Long wait (45 minutes to get in and seemingly that long for our food to arrive), but our waitress was great so we were OK.
Slept in the dark room with no AC and no way to open the windows for ventilation. When I got up Saturday morning early (the first session was supposed to start at 9), I learned they had canceled the conference at 6am. Really? You couldn't have done that yesterday when you found out the hotel didn't have power??
So the three of us piled back into our respective rides and swung by Cracker Barrel for brunch, then hit the gas station across the street. Had to wait in line for gas - shades of Hugo! - but we were on the road by noon. Adrienne's street is destroyed. Her gigantic oak came down and took the power lines with it, so the whole street is trapped and powerless. I dropped her off at a neighbor's place and made my way back home again.
Our place has no large trees to come down and everything seems fine with the exception of the back porch. Going to file a claim for that and have them inspect the roof and siding for damage I haven't noticed. We're still powerless 4 days later and the power company is estimating Friday at midnight for it to be restored to "most people." We're not sure if we're even included in that category. The main power line to the subdivision is lying across the main entrance and people are driving across it to get in and out! I'm going to use the back entrance just in case the power comes back on as I'm driving across the lines...
We're sitting in the dark with both doors open for ventilation. Drive down to Starbucks every morning to charge up the laptop so I can work on my stories and plot lines during the long days. Thank god Starbucks and Cherrydale Point have power now!
Pip's workplace (Spartanburg Library) has power so they are open limited hours and he gets to go to work. I tried to go back to work as the doctor next door called Sam and said he had power and internet, but when the two of us arrived, the internet wasn't working. Sam closed back up and we went home again. The other pharmacy (Welcome Rx) has power and Sam has rigged the internet to run through his phone somehow. I'd think it would blow the phone up to have that much data running through it!
This reminds me of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, when we were without electricity for weeks and all the trees came down. This isn't quite as bad, thankfully, but it's damned inconvenient - and I'm not going to get my vacation this year!
Maybe I can take a long weekend sometime soon if I save up some $$...
I was supposed to leave Friday morning for my lovely writer's conference in the Midlands (Columbia, SC for those who don't know). However, at 6, the power went out as Helene passed overhead. She changed course in mid-stream and hit Greenville dead on. Somewhere in the first volley, there was a god-awful crash and the back porch caved in. Fortunately it didn't take any of the house with it!
Waited until everything was over and texted the group president to see if Columbia was OK. She said she didn't know because her house had just been destroyed! Yikes! Texted the conference coordinator and she said everything was fine and the conference was a GO.
Tried to get out of the neighborhood at 10 but there was a huge tree blocking the whole highway. I could hear chainsaws in that direction soon, though, so I tried again around 2 and they had cleared one lane so traffic was flowing sporadically. At this point, I had picked up a passenger, though. Another group member lives nearby. Her car was hit by a tree and she desperately needed to get out of Dodge!
Met Adrienne at the corner grocery store and we headed for Columbia. Tons of trees down in the road, including the interstate, though we could see the tree crews out on the highway clearing things up slowly but surely. We even ran over some downed power lines on the interstate! Got to Columbia and it did look OK. The traffic lights were working, unlike in Greenville. But when we got to the hotel, they were running on an emergency generator. No overhead lights, no dinner that we paid for! Adrienne and I met up with Barbara, another Greenville member, and we went to the Cracker Barrel just down the street for dinner. Long wait (45 minutes to get in and seemingly that long for our food to arrive), but our waitress was great so we were OK.
Slept in the dark room with no AC and no way to open the windows for ventilation. When I got up Saturday morning early (the first session was supposed to start at 9), I learned they had canceled the conference at 6am. Really? You couldn't have done that yesterday when you found out the hotel didn't have power??
So the three of us piled back into our respective rides and swung by Cracker Barrel for brunch, then hit the gas station across the street. Had to wait in line for gas - shades of Hugo! - but we were on the road by noon. Adrienne's street is destroyed. Her gigantic oak came down and took the power lines with it, so the whole street is trapped and powerless. I dropped her off at a neighbor's place and made my way back home again.
Our place has no large trees to come down and everything seems fine with the exception of the back porch. Going to file a claim for that and have them inspect the roof and siding for damage I haven't noticed. We're still powerless 4 days later and the power company is estimating Friday at midnight for it to be restored to "most people." We're not sure if we're even included in that category. The main power line to the subdivision is lying across the main entrance and people are driving across it to get in and out! I'm going to use the back entrance just in case the power comes back on as I'm driving across the lines...
We're sitting in the dark with both doors open for ventilation. Drive down to Starbucks every morning to charge up the laptop so I can work on my stories and plot lines during the long days. Thank god Starbucks and Cherrydale Point have power now!
Pip's workplace (Spartanburg Library) has power so they are open limited hours and he gets to go to work. I tried to go back to work as the doctor next door called Sam and said he had power and internet, but when the two of us arrived, the internet wasn't working. Sam closed back up and we went home again. The other pharmacy (Welcome Rx) has power and Sam has rigged the internet to run through his phone somehow. I'd think it would blow the phone up to have that much data running through it!
This reminds me of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, when we were without electricity for weeks and all the trees came down. This isn't quite as bad, thankfully, but it's damned inconvenient - and I'm not going to get my vacation this year!
Maybe I can take a long weekend sometime soon if I save up some $$...