The lights flickered once, twice, three times and then they went out entirely. No power, and later into the night, no water. Spring in the Deep South is tornado time and storms were springing up everywhere.
EF5 tornados are a rare thing, but they struck all over the state of Alabama last week, a record number; over 160 in our state alone. Two of them hit within 10 miles of my house but we were blessed to have missed them. The devastation is unbelievable! For me, the only thing we had to contend with was the lack of power.
In the midst of all this we discovered something about us and our neighbors. People are resilient. Throughout the state there were a million people without electrical power to their homes and businesses. While there were thousands hurt and hundreds killed through the path of these storms, many of us were not. Here's how we dealt with the boredom and burden of no electricity.
Out of electric power for five days, we had to survive in a world without the electronic gadgetry that we have come to rely on. Without a household generator to give us some sense of normalcy, we literally were left in the dark 24 hours a day for five days.
In the morning coffee is a necessity, not a luxury. I fired up the charcoal grill with a small mound of briquettes and started a fire. After placing a pan of water over the hot coals, we soon had enough hot water to fill three cups. We placed a coffee filter over each cup and poured in two spoons of coffee. Pouring in the hot water we soon had a delicious cup of coffee.
Like everyone in the Tennessee Valley without electricity, we had no idea of when it would be restored. We did know that food in the refrigerator and freezers was thawing with every passing hour, but there was little that we could do about that problem. Almost everyone in town needed ice. A few stores opened for emergencies that had cash only transactions.
With basically all businesses closed due to no power, it was an excellent time to pick up the debris that had fallen from the sky. Plenty of limbs up and down the street gave us a chance to clean up. Trees had to be sawed and dragged out of the street. Trash from some of the destroyed homes had blown to our street and had to be picked up and set out for the trash man.
Every evening we had a block party. Each family ate food that was in the pantry for lunch, then food from their freezers that was thawing for dinner. Some days we had chicken dishes, with families bring sides and the first couple of days we had hamburgers that had just thawed, cooked on the grill; chili and soups. Whatever was unfrozen was slapped on the grill.
By the fourth day we were eating dried foods like beans, peas, corn and vegetables that had been frozen but were now thawed. Grills were still in action; cooking pots of beans simmered over hot coals and propane gas.
Thankfully the days were warm enough and the nights cool enough so that we didn't need heating or cooling of any kind. The water supply for us was only off for one day. In the midst of our jubilation at having survived, there was always the reminder that we were one of the blessed ones.
When the sun went down, we did something that we rarely do; we talked, played games got out the guitar and sang songs. Even the grandkids joined in the fun. If we had had power, we would have done none of that.
Let's pray for the survivors. While they are all resilient, all of them need help!
EF5 tornados are a rare thing, but they struck all over the state of Alabama last week, a record number; over 160 in our state alone. Two of them hit within 10 miles of my house but we were blessed to have missed them. The devastation is unbelievable! For me, the only thing we had to contend with was the lack of power.
In the midst of all this we discovered something about us and our neighbors. People are resilient. Throughout the state there were a million people without electrical power to their homes and businesses. While there were thousands hurt and hundreds killed through the path of these storms, many of us were not. Here's how we dealt with the boredom and burden of no electricity.
Out of electric power for five days, we had to survive in a world without the electronic gadgetry that we have come to rely on. Without a household generator to give us some sense of normalcy, we literally were left in the dark 24 hours a day for five days.
In the morning coffee is a necessity, not a luxury. I fired up the charcoal grill with a small mound of briquettes and started a fire. After placing a pan of water over the hot coals, we soon had enough hot water to fill three cups. We placed a coffee filter over each cup and poured in two spoons of coffee. Pouring in the hot water we soon had a delicious cup of coffee.
Like everyone in the Tennessee Valley without electricity, we had no idea of when it would be restored. We did know that food in the refrigerator and freezers was thawing with every passing hour, but there was little that we could do about that problem. Almost everyone in town needed ice. A few stores opened for emergencies that had cash only transactions.
With basically all businesses closed due to no power, it was an excellent time to pick up the debris that had fallen from the sky. Plenty of limbs up and down the street gave us a chance to clean up. Trees had to be sawed and dragged out of the street. Trash from some of the destroyed homes had blown to our street and had to be picked up and set out for the trash man.
Every evening we had a block party. Each family ate food that was in the pantry for lunch, then food from their freezers that was thawing for dinner. Some days we had chicken dishes, with families bring sides and the first couple of days we had hamburgers that had just thawed, cooked on the grill; chili and soups. Whatever was unfrozen was slapped on the grill.
By the fourth day we were eating dried foods like beans, peas, corn and vegetables that had been frozen but were now thawed. Grills were still in action; cooking pots of beans simmered over hot coals and propane gas.
Thankfully the days were warm enough and the nights cool enough so that we didn't need heating or cooling of any kind. The water supply for us was only off for one day. In the midst of our jubilation at having survived, there was always the reminder that we were one of the blessed ones.
When the sun went down, we did something that we rarely do; we talked, played games got out the guitar and sang songs. Even the grandkids joined in the fun. If we had had power, we would have done none of that.
Let's pray for the survivors. While they are all resilient, all of them need help!
0 komentar:
Post a Comment