Sunday, November 6, 2011
photos
The photos of the downed trees by the Blattners house have now been added to my photos (link is on the left hand side of the page), enjoy.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
The freak storm of Oct '11
We made it! OK I guess I should back track a bit for those readers out there who has no idea what we made it through...here goes...
On Saturday sometime in the morning it started snowing (highly unusual for October (even in the North-eastern states) by 2pm the ground was well covered and the snow was falling heavily still. At 4pm the power to my residence hall went down and the battery powered generator managed to last for all of 10-20 mins before we were completely without power or internet. At 6pm we had an emergency meeting and were informed that within the next 20 mins we had to leave our rooms for the night and either camp out in the student center or head off to another hall (and for those who could...go home). I called Tim and was lucky enough to get an invite to come and stay at the Blattners for the night. I trekked out to the student center to get there just as they were shutting down after they lost power again and with it the ability to cook. I grabbed a take-out meal and took a slightly unnerving walk through the woods (the trees were creaking and cracking) over to Tim and Nancys. Theyd lost power at 6pm so we had dinner by candlelight and then sat talking in the dark listening to tree limbs crashing down, a couple hit the house (one earlier on had smashed their patio table) thankfully no limbs ended up in the house but as a precaution we all took a couch and slept downstairs. At 11 or so a tree crash down in the driveway just missing the house and Tims car. At midnight the house alarm started screaming that it was low on battery and it was Tim to the rescue spending about 10 mins getting that sorted out.
Come morning and the whole campus was still without power and we were down to one residence hall with back up power, classes for Monday were cancelled and resident students were being told that if they could go home they should go home. We still had no power, heat, or internet and the landline had officially gone down. We packed the things Nancy wanted saved from the fridge and freezer into ice filled chilly bins. By the afternoon Tim had a generator up and running and one of the guys from the college had hot wired the heating system to the generator so we could get some heat. The snow was melting off the trees but not the ground and the guys came to assess the trees that had come down overnight. Nancy discovered a crack in the ceiling in their room thankfully the only damage that falling tree limbs had caused to the house. That night Tim hooked the laptop (we had internet but the campus server was still down), a couple of lights and TV so we spent the evening with a few of the comforts of a modern life. At midnight the power came back on to the house greeting us with the hall light coming on (we were sleeping upstairs now that the trees were much safer) and the alarm screaming again (Tim to the resuce once more).
Monday morning I settled in to a day of study and Nancy and Tim spent the day going to meetings working out what was going on with the campus and whether we were going to be opening on Tuesday - campus was closed for Tuesday day classes. In the afternoon the tree guys came and cleared the tree in the driveway but not the one propped against the house, and we were still running the heat off the generator has the hot wiring hadnt been undone yet (it was sorted out after dinner). We had dinner over at the student center which was back up and cooking (the day before students had pizza and sandwiches delivered to the dorm because the kitchen was still without power). We had one group of trick or treaters who braved the snow to celebrate Halloween and I watched House for the first time in ages. Very late Monday night I got internet access back but Nancy and Tim still dont have it (thats how Im posting this blog...go figure).
Tuesday the sun is out the snow is melting and the roads are being cleared (there were trees down over the main roads, power lines had come down and things were generally a mess). Im going to Rotary with Tim today and after noon Ill be able to get back into my room and now I have to finish off my readings and assignment because the campus has been opened for evening classes (not that I mind at least now theres no reason why I should have to reschedule my meeting with my practicum advisor so that I can get things sorted out there.
It has been an adventureous weekend and Im so thankful that I was able to come and stay with Tim and Nancy. Nancy is a wonderful cook - we were treated to pork chops, french toast, blueberry pancakes, bacon, turkey tomato and noodle soup, chilli, grilled cheese sandwiches, ham & cheese scrambled eggs...yum. Anyway the power is back and things are back to normal and I have the internet back (which was really the main thing for me...I lost my connection back home and that was probably the hardest part...though it wouldve been a lot worse if Id been staying in the student center or one of the dorms believe me). Photos of the snow and trees will be up soon so that you can all see just how exciting our weekend was.
On Saturday sometime in the morning it started snowing (highly unusual for October (even in the North-eastern states) by 2pm the ground was well covered and the snow was falling heavily still. At 4pm the power to my residence hall went down and the battery powered generator managed to last for all of 10-20 mins before we were completely without power or internet. At 6pm we had an emergency meeting and were informed that within the next 20 mins we had to leave our rooms for the night and either camp out in the student center or head off to another hall (and for those who could...go home). I called Tim and was lucky enough to get an invite to come and stay at the Blattners for the night. I trekked out to the student center to get there just as they were shutting down after they lost power again and with it the ability to cook. I grabbed a take-out meal and took a slightly unnerving walk through the woods (the trees were creaking and cracking) over to Tim and Nancys. Theyd lost power at 6pm so we had dinner by candlelight and then sat talking in the dark listening to tree limbs crashing down, a couple hit the house (one earlier on had smashed their patio table) thankfully no limbs ended up in the house but as a precaution we all took a couch and slept downstairs. At 11 or so a tree crash down in the driveway just missing the house and Tims car. At midnight the house alarm started screaming that it was low on battery and it was Tim to the rescue spending about 10 mins getting that sorted out.
Come morning and the whole campus was still without power and we were down to one residence hall with back up power, classes for Monday were cancelled and resident students were being told that if they could go home they should go home. We still had no power, heat, or internet and the landline had officially gone down. We packed the things Nancy wanted saved from the fridge and freezer into ice filled chilly bins. By the afternoon Tim had a generator up and running and one of the guys from the college had hot wired the heating system to the generator so we could get some heat. The snow was melting off the trees but not the ground and the guys came to assess the trees that had come down overnight. Nancy discovered a crack in the ceiling in their room thankfully the only damage that falling tree limbs had caused to the house. That night Tim hooked the laptop (we had internet but the campus server was still down), a couple of lights and TV so we spent the evening with a few of the comforts of a modern life. At midnight the power came back on to the house greeting us with the hall light coming on (we were sleeping upstairs now that the trees were much safer) and the alarm screaming again (Tim to the resuce once more).
Monday morning I settled in to a day of study and Nancy and Tim spent the day going to meetings working out what was going on with the campus and whether we were going to be opening on Tuesday - campus was closed for Tuesday day classes. In the afternoon the tree guys came and cleared the tree in the driveway but not the one propped against the house, and we were still running the heat off the generator has the hot wiring hadnt been undone yet (it was sorted out after dinner). We had dinner over at the student center which was back up and cooking (the day before students had pizza and sandwiches delivered to the dorm because the kitchen was still without power). We had one group of trick or treaters who braved the snow to celebrate Halloween and I watched House for the first time in ages. Very late Monday night I got internet access back but Nancy and Tim still dont have it (thats how Im posting this blog...go figure).
Tuesday the sun is out the snow is melting and the roads are being cleared (there were trees down over the main roads, power lines had come down and things were generally a mess). Im going to Rotary with Tim today and after noon Ill be able to get back into my room and now I have to finish off my readings and assignment because the campus has been opened for evening classes (not that I mind at least now theres no reason why I should have to reschedule my meeting with my practicum advisor so that I can get things sorted out there.
It has been an adventureous weekend and Im so thankful that I was able to come and stay with Tim and Nancy. Nancy is a wonderful cook - we were treated to pork chops, french toast, blueberry pancakes, bacon, turkey tomato and noodle soup, chilli, grilled cheese sandwiches, ham & cheese scrambled eggs...yum. Anyway the power is back and things are back to normal and I have the internet back (which was really the main thing for me...I lost my connection back home and that was probably the hardest part...though it wouldve been a lot worse if Id been staying in the student center or one of the dorms believe me). Photos of the snow and trees will be up soon so that you can all see just how exciting our weekend was.
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