This is a frightening. I am sitting here waiting to lose the power; the lights have already flickered. The rain is pounding against the window to my right. I am trying to ignore it, but that seems to be an impossibility.
I can hear the weather report as my husband is listening in our bedroom across the hall. They are speaking of tornado warnings and Trenton, NJ is shutting its water supply down. We just filled the bathtub so we have water to wash with, but this is too weird. The lights just flickered again.
I am fearful the power is going to go out momentarily, so I am saving this document after every sentence. I can feel my anxiety rising, my heart pounding, this is for real. We are going to lose power and it will be off for a looooooong time. I am keeping an eye on the trees, watching them start to sway even though the winds aren’t close to what they will be shortly. It’s going to be a long night.
It’s an hour later, we were warned that tornados were possible in our area and told to go in the basement where we huddled together for close to half an hour; my husband, my daughter, her boyfriend and my Mom. Luckily, the electricity was still on, but, as we played cards to pass the time , each of us trying to make light of the situation, I’m sure everyone was frightened. I know I was. Luckily, the warning time ended without a dreaded tornado making an appearance and we exhaustedly returned upstairs!
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It is now Sunday and hopefully the worst of the storm is over even though the winds are blowing strongly. At 3:15 AM this morning, we lost electricity. The darkness that enveloped us all was unbelievable. You truly could not see your hand in front of your face. Fortunately, we had flashlights at the ready and an AM radio that I had purchased for $4 at the store where I work. My poor little, old, dog, Popcorn, a cute Maltese, was terrified. His bark in the darkness was heartbreaking. I believe he was petrified and could not understand why he could not see. Only when I turned the flashlight on, did his barking stop!
Without power, our sump pump was useless. As the water filled, my husband used large sponges, great for washing the car, and he absorbed the water. (Using 3 sponges at a time!) He then poured the water into buckets, which I picked up and schlepped to the laundry tub to dump. We did this for what seemed like hours, but it was, in reality, about an hour and a half. Then, exhausted, without the strength for one more bucket, we decided to just sit and watch and see if the water rose. We sat in glow of candles, with the inexpensive AM radio whispering storm updates, and watched the water gradually level off, without overflowing. It seemed miraculous! We dragged ourselves upstairs and collapsed into bed.
We woke a few hours later, still in the dark. Disappointed that power had not returned, we went downstairs to check the basement. With great relief, we found it was exactly as we had left it. Cautiously optimistic, we went back upstairs to get dressed. As the worst of the storm was supposidly over, and the rain was not heavy, we decided to take a ride, charge our cell phones, and get some coffee. Easier said than done.
My Mom needed gas in her car so we drove it to fill her tank. Our neighborhood was completely dark. As we continued our trek, we saw that nothing was open, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, even Wawa, the local 24 hour convenience store that never closes, was closed! We finally found one gas station open, but the lines were long and not moving. We decided to keep moving.
All our regular morning stops were closed. The roads were actually fairly dry with only a smattering of small branches strewn across. We drove until we found the local supermarket open along with its gas station. After filling my Mom’s car, we turned to the pressing, vital task of finding caffeine!!
The McDonalds was open! Cars were lined up on the shoulder of the street waiting to turn in and go through the drive-thru. Puzzled as to why the long line when there was plenty of parking, we decided to park and I would run in and buy the coffee. I ran through the heavy drizzle only to see a sign posted on the locked doors…Open, but Drive-Thru Only! YIKES!!
Determined, we drove on. Disappointment after disappointment, we finally decided to head back to the McDonald’s and just wait. On the way, we once again went by our same supermarket and decided to head in and see what they had. Since I shop there regularly, I knew they do not sell coffee normally, but it was worth the chance. Wow, are they smart! They had their employee coffee pots brewing pot after pot! We bought 4 large cups, donuts and muffins and triumphantly drove home, cell phones charged and fully caffeinated!
The rest of the family was awake by this point and we proudly brought in the coffee! Successful morning trip…. but still, no power in the house! We sat around the living room coffee table (appropriately named) and enjoyed the brew and some great conversation.
We decided to stay home and keep an eye on the basement, although the offer to visit my brother, who had power, was tempting and sweet. We read by the light of the window.
About an hour and a half later, as I was reading and dozing, I heard a wonderful hum, the power had returned! Jubilantly, I announced to all that we had power!! Within seconds, we texted the news to all who were waiting to hear! How appreciative and thankful we are! Electricity is GREAT!!
The winds are still howling and I hope the power stays on and the trees remain in the upright position…I also hope this is where this story ends, with gratitude for the health and safety of all our family and friends!
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