… the power?
Better late than never, I guess. This would normally have been a Sunday morning post but read on …
I’m writing this offline on my Chromebook, watching it try to attach to the internet. There is none so give it up, computer. When this actually gets posted will be anyone’s guess at this point.
This past Saturday morning, like every morning, Jaimie and I went for our morning constitutional. We were almost at our turnaround point when it really started to rain and get windy. We turned around and headed back. It got even windier.
Now, we live on a concession road with a wide open field and the wind really picks up and howls, particularly in the winter. We’re good walkers; we walk facing the traffic but as we started the last leg of our walk, it got really windy. So windy, in fact, that we were both blown off the road into the gravel.
Then, it happened. We were on the east side of the road and I heard a bang behind me. I turned and saw that a hydro pole, on the west side of the road, had snapped in the middle and the top of it landed almost dead centre of the road. Fortunately, we were on the other side of the road, facing oncoming traffic.
I turned back to see a domino effect as pole after pole snapped the same way and their tops all hit the centre of the road. Sparks were flying everywhere. We figured we’d best be getting home. When we got to the neighbour’s house, the line from the hydro lines to their house was lying across the road.
I remember enough of Elmer the Safety Elephant to not touch it. I might have been lucky enough to step over but I didn’t know about Jaimie. So, we headed cross country to avoid it and got home safely.
All in all, I counted seven hydro poles that had snapped and were lying in the middle of the road. We called 911 and the person answering probably didn’t believe us but said that she’d let everyone who needed to know, know.
Later, I checked Facebook and people throughout town were reporting power outages and priorities. The power to Tim Horton’s was out! Apparently, there was a huge lineup at McDonald’s. I had this urge for a coffee now and I’m out of luck. My mind thought about boiling water on the barbeque but then how do you get it through a Keurig cup? This is starting to get serious.
At last check of Essex Powerlines, there are all kinds of people reporting issues in Amherstburg, River Canard, and LaSalle.
Obviously, access to the internet is out although those newer poles that carry it are standing. You do need a device to connect to it.
By dumb luck, I had charged a couple of portable batteries I got at conferences a few years ago so at least I can keep my phone alive.
We’re not going anywhere soon; the power line to our neighbour’s house is blocking the road heading north and the line to our house is blocking the road heading south.
We even made the news – https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/section-of-concession-road-3-north-in-amherstberg-closed-due-to-downed-hydro-poles-1.6179676?cid=sm%3Atrueanthem%3Actvwindsor%3Apost
That’s our recycling bins in the video and in the pictures.
No heat (I will put the fireplace on at some point) but I’m sitting here under a duvet listening to Jaimie snore and wondering when I’ll get the chance to upload this.
For a Sunday, your thoughts…
- Have you ever been without power?
- Do you own a generator?
- What’s the longest that you’ve been without power?
- Do you have emergency lighting? We have four portable ones and used them all
- If the worst hit, how much food on hand do you have?
- Could you access your BBQ if you had to?
- When do you figure our road will be cleared and power restored? (Answer when this gets posted)
As always, please share your powerful thoughts and more.
This is a regular post on doug … off the record. All the past posts are available here.
And, here’s our answer
We’re back functional 32 hours later. Rather than post this on a Sunday night, I’ll schedule it for tomorrow morning. I’ll tell you, it was a rather cool night’s sleep last night!
doug -- off the record 
Please share your thoughts here. I’d enjoy reading them.