The Perfect Storm..

Clinton, Indiana has had it's fair share of natural disasters lately. The flood waters might have receded, but that wasn't the last of the trouble we were to be expecting. Last week, we had a storm come through with eighty mile an hour winds that really caused quite a headache for everyone. The wind ripped down power-lines, overturned semi-trucks, and blew cars into various obstructions throughout town. Full grown trees were torn up by their very roots, or snapped in half like mere twigs. Property was damaged everywhere we looked, and worst of all, our town lost power for quite some time.

Duke energy called in two hundred emergency workers in order to get most of the town back on-line within the first twenty-four hours.. but for my family and myself, we weren't so lucky. As the storm raged, we heard several popping reports that sounded every bit as troublesome as gunshots. We came to find out that the transformer that powered our side of town had blown, and it seemed that we would be without power for many days to come.

It was almost a hundred degrees by noon the day after the storm. There was no air conditioning, no cool drinks, and no fans to soothe a dedicated sun-hater like me, lol. There was no Internet, radio, television or any other entertainment to calm a girl of the twenty-first century, very much dependent on her electricity. There was no stove, no microwave, no refrigerator.. and food was definitely going to be a problem. Nights were pitch black, and candles made a huge come back. I couldn't quite manage to break the habit of flipping a light switch every time I walked into a dark room. I knew the power was out, but some habits run deep.

Every day a new town block or group of blocks would get their power back.. but our side of town stayed virtually unaffected. Electricians worked diligently to get the power-lines back up, but our transformer was giving them headaches of a monumental kind. They told us it would be at least twenty-four hours which quickly became forty-eight hours, and ended up being some fifty-nine hours before we were back up to speed along with the rest of modern society. It was so very frustrating, and we sat just as still as we possibly could in the dark for as long as we could possibly stand. The heat did a terrible number on me because sweating without escape makes me a very cranky girl. The heat did a terrible number on Dave because it completely zaps him of speech, energy, and any normalcy he's usually able to cling to. It was not a good time for anyone.

At one point on the morning after, we were able to drive around town a little bit, just to see what new devastation there was to be dealt with. The sites in the following pictures were just a BIT of the damage caused from the storms of last week.

Entire trees were pulled right out of the ground.

Power lines, (poles and all), were down as far as the eye could see.

I can't even fathom the ferocity of this kind of destruction.

Dozens of cars were completely obliterated and left in ruins.

Homes were no match for the trees that punctured their rooftops.

Some home owners had days of work ahead of them just to find their way out again.

And EVERYwhere you looked there was a disastrous mess to be found.

We were without power for the better part of four days, and consequently, I wasn't able to write a single update during that time. Thank goodness for my cellphone and text messages so that I could keep my friends informed about where I was and what was going all wrong. We survived the worst of it though, and we were able to get our power back JUST in time for me to scramble around and hurriedly prepare for a little vacation to Tulsa for the weekend. But that.. is another story for another day.

Until next time.. Much Love, Many Hugs, and Good Night to You All.