thoughts while waiting out a storm and power to return

[destabee]

A heavy storm is moving in. The electricity is going on and off. Thank goodness for battery power.

Of course battery power doesn't give me a way to check for severe weather updates. I wonder where my crank radio is at. I should find it. Based on the way the sky looks, I would say that we are in for a pounding -- green clouds are seldom good. I am gad I ran to campus before physical therapy; otherwise, I would probably be suck in the basement of Schwarz.

I hope the rain clears some of the pollens from the air and I hope that it rains enough to take watering plants off my list of chores to finish before I leave. The storm also heralds a cold front and cooler temperatures will be much appreciated by me.

The number of sirens going off outside can't be good. I don't here civil defense sirens though so I'll assume that I don't need to hide in a closet (the only place in my apartment without windows).

That band of heavy weather seems to have moved through and temperatures have dropped sharply. I would like the power to come back on now. I could do something useful like put away clean dishes and wash the rest but tired doesn't begin to capture how I feel at the moment. I am going to push leaving for Oklahoma back a day; I hope my sister will understand. I just can't do everything that is left this evening.

The power has now been out about 3 hours. I guess I'll go out and see if other parts of Chesterton have power and get something to eat.

It is now 8 p.m. and the power has been out for nearly 5 hours. I didn't realize how serious or widespread the severe weather had been until I drove up to campus thinking there would be power there. Nope. More than 52,000 people lost power in northwest Indiana. Lots of tree and power line damage. It sounds like some places also had structural damage. Several places the road was down to one lane and that only by driving on the shoulder. So now I am sitting here watching a candle flame flicker and trying to think of ways to entertain myself in the dark. I called my sister from my cell phone and told her I couldn't leave until Thursday morning; at least the storm took that decision out of my hands. Traffic lights are out on several main roads in the area and rush hour has been a nightmare.

At least this didn't happen yesterday and spoil graduation for the students.

This had made me realize how sloppy my emergency preparedness has gotten. I need to get fresh batteries in the flashlights and make sure they have consistent homes. I need to make sure there are things that don't require cooking in the house. I need to figure out where the crank radio is. I need to find out where a public storm shelter is located. I need some non-scented candles.

My battery is about to run out so this is it until power is restored.



The power came back after midnight which is good because it makes coffee possible this morning. more about the storm here