My home town, she vanished!

I heard from my father earlier this week, and he tells me that the recent ice storm has left the town my home town without power.

Not neighborhoods in my home town. The town is without power. Upwards of 90% of it, at least. And according to a fellow at the local utility company, likely to stay that way for 2-3 weeks. The governor came through and declared the town a disaster area, so at least that started some relief efforts flowing that way. Apparently one of the gas stations in town was still able to operate its pumps, but they were having to ration everyone to only getting 5 gallons... and a fight broke out over someone allegedly taking more than they were supposed to.

To make matters even more fun, the office where my father and brother have their practice had one branch come in through a window, and a second one (larger) come in through the roof -- large enough to take out four of those 1' x 1' ceiling panels. My brother has managed to get a tarp-and-roofing-tar patch on the hole in the roof, but there's still a lot to be done.

My father has managed to track down a couple of generators (one for the house, and one for the office, or so I suppose)... roughly 300 miles and two states away. Those are the closest ones available.

He'll be receiving them first thing tomorrow morning, and I'll be heading back to the town I grew up in to help with those, and to do whatever else needs doing to make their home and their office usable again.

Fortunately, the worst of the freezing temperatures have passed on, at least temporarily -- the highs this weekend are supposed to be in the 50's, and the lows down into the 30's. Still too cold to go without some sort of heat source, but at least we won't be freezing our asses off too badly while we're working. I hope.

My mother used to say that she could never remember if the old saying went, "There's no rest for the wicked," or "There's no rest for the weary," so either she was the world's biggest bitch, or else she was just really tired. I'll refrain from comment on which one might be more accurate* ;-), but I can relate to the sentiment. ::G::


* don't get me wrong, I do love my mother. Most of the time, I even like her. But there are days...

My home town, she vanished!

I heard from my father earlier this week, and he tells me that the recent ice storm has left the town my home town without power.

Not neighborhoods in my home town. The town is without power. Upwards of 90% of it, at least. And according to a fellow at the local utility company, likely to stay that way for 2-3 weeks. The governor came through and declared the town a disaster area, so at least that started some relief efforts flowing that way. Apparently one of the gas stations in town was still able to operate its pumps, but they were having to ration everyone to only getting 5 gallons... and a fight broke out over someone allegedly taking more than they were supposed to.

To make matters even more fun, the office where my father and brother have their practice had one branch come in through a window, and a second one (larger) come in through the roof -- large enough to take out four of those 1' x 1' ceiling panels. My brother has managed to get a tarp-and-roofing-tar patch on the hole in the roof, but there's still a lot to be done.

My father has managed to track down a couple of generators (one for the house, and one for the office, or so I suppose)... roughly 300 miles and two states away. Those are the closest ones available.

He'll be receiving them first thing tomorrow morning, and I'll be heading back to the town I grew up in to help with those, and to do whatever else needs doing to make their home and their office usable again.

Fortunately, the worst of the freezing temperatures have passed on, at least temporarily -- the highs this weekend are supposed to be in the 50's, and the lows down into the 30's. Still too cold to go without some sort of heat source, but at least we won't be freezing our asses off too badly while we're working. I hope.

My mother used to say that she could never remember if the old saying went, "There's no rest for the wicked," or "There's no rest for the weary," so either she was the world's biggest bitch, or else she was just really tired. I'll refrain from comment on which one might be more accurate* ;-), but I can relate to the sentiment. ::G::


* don't get me wrong, I do love my mother. Most of the time, I even like her. But there are days...