Friday, July 21, 2006
Power Out
A second set of strong storms came through this afternoon and knocked my power out again, and I expect my home is now somewhere near the end of a very loooooong list to have power restored. Earlier today I heard estimates that the two sets of storms have knocked out power to over half a million households (which means over 2 million people) on the west side of the Mississippi alone. Our electric company predicts that it may take up to five days to restore power to most customers. And it is still very, very hot.
I am staying the night tonight with my mother-in-law in Imperial. More on horizontal rain, traffic signs pushed flat to the ground, Mad Max driving on unlighted streets, and 30 minute lines for gasoline when I've got the time.
I am very grateful to have a place to stay for tonight with clean water and air conditioning, but many people in my area are not so fortunate. I have heard very little about this situation on the national news, which I find disturbing.
Let me reiterate: there are OVER TWO MILLION people in my community currently without power, and many without drinkable water, in the middle of a serious heat wave, and conditions may not improve significantly for several days. This is a serious situation in need of national attention.
Not that I have much hope after the utterly reprehensible government response last year's hurricanes down south, which damaged a much larger area much more severely, but hey . . .
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12 comments:
Man, that sucks.
I'm glad you've someplace cool to say.
Wish we could say the same for everyone else.
I'm so sorry to hear that. You are welcomed to come to my house. We have a guest bedroom. And lots of trucks and toys for little boys! And air-conditioning! My cousin, Miss Sassy, is going through the same thing. I feel for you both.
Oh and Stephanie and I were trying to get our Lou blogging crew together July 29 for lunch. If you are up for it, let me know. In light of you, Stephanie and a few others who don't have power, we might have to reschedule tho... Let me know on my site. I don't have an e-mail address for you...
I have a really long extension cord maybe we could start a blogger lifeline and plug them in from blogger to blogger from Seattle to St Louis. It's hot here too, but we have power and 20% humidity. good luck
Yes, we very nearly had houseguests of our own, with my sister-in-law and her husband and kids. But when they went home to pack some things, they discovered their power had been restored, a full day and a half before they were promised to have power restored. Maybe everyone will be that lucky, but I'm not so naive to think it will happen.
Our power went out Wednesday afternoon. It came back on today (Saturday) at 3:30. Man, it doesn't look like that long when I type it out, but it seemed like a long time to live through it.
Can I beg an invite to the Lou bloggers luncheon? Or is it Double-X chromosomes only?
I'm so glad to hear that you are safe and wel. But you're right - I've not heard much about this. SHame.
Ah! Ah! Lisa! I have left two different commments on your site regarding the 29th over the past week, but Blogger keeps eating them! *Shakes fist at Blogger* I don't know why, so I will comment here and I hope you'll see it.
I can't come on the 29th because my husband's family is having a get-together of the "must come or be disowned" kind. But I really, really, do want to get together with you guys, and I promise that I haven't been just ignoring your invitations; Blogger just hates me, apparently.
Also:
Lisa, thanks for the offer! We did find a place to stay with relatives, and now my power is BACK ON! YEAH! Don't know for how long, but I'll take what I can get.
Andrea, thank you again for calling and saying I could stay with you!
Bloggers totally rule.
Dwight, I assume boys will be allowed in our club, but you'll have to take it up with Queen Lisa, as she's putting this together.
Blog-o-licious, that is a lovely offer! I believe my mother proposed the same sort of deal (she lives in Spokane). Maybe the two of you could collaborate on finding an extension cord long enough to reach from Washington State to Missouri. Just, you know, stay out of the sun.
2 million? That's awful. Being in MS, I worry all the time about if we lose power. It's ridiculously hot down here.
So glad your power came back! And your comment on my site really warmed my heart to my fellow St. Louisans! There's nothing like seeing people pull together in a time of need.
Glad that you had family with power in the area. My mom started a phone tree with our entire family on Friday and every single person was out of power. That was 11 different households all the way from Collinsville, IL to St. Charles. It just goes to show how far-reaching the damage was.
Also, thanks for the offer of using the nebulizer at your place. Luckily I just tried to call our house and finally there was ringing and an answering machine opposed to the busy signal we've been getting. We're still crashing at the hotel for tonight since we already paid, but we're hoping the power stays and we'll be back home tomorrow. Yay!
Oh, and blog-o-icious, I want to squeeze your cheeks because your comment was so sweet and cute!
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