It was supposed to be a sub-tropical storm for goodness sakes...
But Arthur made his was up the eastern seaboard, and the outer edges of the storm, the most violent winds and rain, hit our part of New Brunswick with full force and stayed stuck there for hours. By the time he left us, fully 90% of the people in our city had no power, including ourselves. And since we are not on the city system, we also had no potable water or sewage.
There were massive lineups at gas stations and shops when they finally opened, everyone came to realize the importance of having some gas in your car, the need for a generator if these weather systems become more frequent (which they appear to be doing) and that if you can't find ice (almost no one could), you cannot eat the contents of your fridge very long.
After 5 days n this situation, we finally gained power last night.
There are still 25,000+ who are going into their 6th day without power.
The damage is everywhere. Fredericton lost over 2000 trees alone, and the damage they created going down was horrible. It is amazing that no one was hurt!
Trees were simply uprooted, as if one was pulling a carrot from the ground:
We lost 4 trees on our property and all of the contents of two fridges and freezers. But thanks to good friends, we showered at others' houses who did have water and were able to eat out.
The biggest pain was that I was working on a small contract that required me to be writing a draft report and continually searched all of the city for WiFi hotspots.
And my back muscles have gotten considerably stronger with picking up the hundreds of huge branches that fell on our property.
I didn't mind a bit not having technology, so it was a nice enforced break!
I have new appreciation for the lives of my grandparents and great-grandparents. And like a good girl scout, I will be getting prepared for the next time..
More cheerful chatter tomorrow! stay safe out there!
xoxo wendy
