The River Green

An interesting thing happened on the way to total and complete destruction: uhhh... nothing, actually. It was named Frankenstorm because it was big, scary and happened to appear around Halloween. When the storm was 500 miles away from Pittsburgh, we started to get the rain. The forecasts called for very high sustained winds (35mph) for a sustained period of time (about 4hrs) and horrific gusts (up to 65mph!). Rainfall would total nearly 5in. before it was all over. Scariest of all, the Governor made an announcement that the entire state should prepare to loose their electricity service and be without power for several days.
Since I am predisposed to prepare for the absolute worst situation imaginable, several measures were taken to assure complete safety for the house and everyone in it. The third floor bathtub was filled with water, I emptied the ice reservoir into a cooler, so that when the power went out, certain perishables could last longer in there. About every hour or so, I would take what the freezer produced and remit it to the cooler. Several tea jugs were filled with water and left in the fridge. Since the stove runs on gas, we weren't too worried about not being able to cook (or have coffee!).
The next concern was the temperature of the house. Thinking that a power outage was imminent and would occur within the hour of getting the high winds, I cranked the furnace to 72F as soon as the high winds came in. Blankets, sweaters, comforters, quilts and anything else we could pile on top of ourselves to keep warm were readied. If the power went out, there would be hot water for only about an hour or two.
Following this is the issue of outside water becoming inside water. During the summer, the back yard hose ruptured and water gushed into the lower yard for about 15 minutes before our kind neighbor came to tell me about it. The result was that water began drifting in from the back basement wall. 5in. of rain in a 24hr period scared the bejeepers out of me. So, Brian and I put plastic sheeting over the square of yard that sits between the air conditioning unit and the back deck, secured with bricks purchased from Construction Junction.
Next, bring in all plants. This was something that we were planning to do anyway, only later in the year, so of course, we didn't have any spots readily available to stash them. Most of them ended up crowded around a third floor window and there was suddenly a large, leafy stand taking up most of the room in the front hallway. I left some of the heartier plants outside, but took them off their hooks for fear they would become flying objects of doom during the storm.
Finally, emergency supplies. We've always talked about a nightlight in the upstairs hallway for middle-of-the-night trips to the WC. Our find was two LED flashlights that would hold their charge for 12 hours, but when plugged in, would become light-sensing nightlights. One went in the outlet in the hall, the other in the bathroom. They were bright enough to accomplish one's goal without turning on the big light. Assuming we would be out of touch with society (read: no internet), we stocked up on C batteries for the boom box. Anything that could hold a charge was charged and the non-essential appliances were unplugged. Our menu would consist of pancakes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, tuna noodle casserole and spaghetti. We bought enough to comfortably last six days.
When our new iPhones came by FedEx the morning just before the storm was to hit, I charged them immediately and downloaded as many weather related apps as I could find. Some news and emergency apps made it on as well.
At last, it was time for the storm to begin. At around 3pm on Monday, October 29, the wind started- it had been raining already since Saturday night. By 9pm, the wind was up to around 20mph. Pittsburgh Public Schools closed, as did several other districts surrounding Swissvale, but Steel Valley was only on a 2hr delay. Pittsburgh City offices closed, but not County offices. Just before bedtime, the lights started flickering and I got a couple Facebook updates from a couple local people that they had lost power. When everyone went to bed, I stood watch out of the third floor panorama of Lower Mon Valley.
At around 1am, I saw that Munhall lost power. A few minutes later, a portion of Homestead went dark, but the lights came back on about 40min later. Munhall was out for a couple more hours. The flag that flies above Swissvale's Borough building was flapping so hard and the lights flickered again. I held my breath as they remained on. The trees across the street, at one point, went completely out of view, bending behind a house. A sort of rain-fog appeared near the Waterfront and another gust of wind knocked something on our street loose and tumbling away down Roslyn. Again the lights flickered and again I held my breath, but they stayed on.
Right through the night, I sat vigil, periodically going outside to broom off the accumulated tarp water and checking the basement for seepage. Around 4:30am, the wind died down enough so that the Borough's flag was at rest more than it was flapping around and I decided to go to bed. I patrolled the perimeter one last time, only to find a dry basement and everything where I left it outside. After a final tarp broom, where I noticed considerably less water accumulation since last I went out, it was to sleep for me.
By morning, the wind advisory that was to have lasted until 5pm Tuesday, was canceled. Brian and Marieke left for work a bit later than normal. And all was well.

When I see the damage reports coming out of New York, New Jersey, Philly and Delaware, I can't be thankful enough that the storm was pretty well on its way to being done by the time it reached us. Here we were in a dry house with power and no damage, while hundreds of thousands of people along the coast were gravely affected. My relief is tempered by the devastation endured by so many others and I feel downright guilty that my chief concern at the moment is how to get rid of all this ice in my cooler.
It's great to have been overly prepared and it's nice to know exactly what we needed and that we're probably more prepared than most to actually endure a prolonged power outage. Hopefully that isn't tested anytime soon. I'm perfectly satisfied to have gone through the motions and been left wondering if it was enough. For now, I'll just say it was and hope that the suffering of others doesn't last too long.

Labels: seasons , weather