Stormy Weather

Well, it's becoming a weekly thing and one I could do without. Last night we had severe thunderstorms. Up until yesterday, I'd had the good fortune to either be at home or at work and not in my car.

The storms were predicted, but nothing severe, so while it was overcast when I left work, I went to the gym. I'd missed Tuesday and was looking forward to a good bike ride and finishing my book (Curiosity Killed the Catsitter). Well, I did both. 35 minute bike ride to finish the book. I looked out the window at the gym to see that it was very dark. I should have left then, but it probably wouldn't have done me much good. I decided to skip the weights and just do sit-ups. Good thing. It was a little sprinkle on the walk to the car. By the time I made it to the main road to get home, it was POURING. I cross a major interstate almost as soon as I turn on that road and I could barely see it was coming down so hard. And, lightening. It was the surround you kind of lightening. Then the interstate intersection lights started flashing red, then they'd turn green. That made it a bit hairy. But, people weren't zipping and zooming like I've seen them do when it's "normal" rain. Then, a tornado warning - where I'm headed. I thought "what an idiot to be driving in this" but decided perseverance was my best option. It did let up after a while, but the water! I'm thinking "where's the flash flood warning?" Then, the radio announced the flash flood warning for my county. My thought was "ya think?" Again, everybody remained careful going through the water, which I was really grateful for. I thought I was home free when the rain let up. I wasn't. I was almost to the neighborhood, when the sky just fell out. Have I mentioned the wind? It was almost white because the rain was being blown completely sideways. I've never driven in anything like that and hope I don't again. Turning into my neighborhood, the trees near the park looked like what you see on TV when there are hurricanes. I probably went about 3 miles an hour because I simply couldn't see; I thought at that point stopping would probably be just as dangerous and just poked my way home. I gotta say I was really, really glad to have a garage to pull into. Home at last.

I ended the evening with no power. The storms had already passed by that time, so I thought it odd as I would have thought to lose power when it was pouring, but I guess it depends on where the power is coming from. At almost 10:00 pm, it flickered about 3 times and then was gone. Thank heavens I have a portable lantern so I was able to wrap things up and go to bed. I thought I'd know when it came back on, but apparently not. I woke up at about 2:00 a.m. and the power was on. I heard on the radio this morning that 300,000 customers lost power last night. The power company said they were finding trees not limbs on the power lines. Some people are still without power and may be for almost a week. It appears it took out a major transformer station (?) as well. They're calling in help from other parts of the state and Oklahoma. And, they said the winds were the equivalent of a category 1 hurricane.

This morning I could see bits and pieces of the storm. One traffic light on my route was still affected and a police officer was directing traffic. Branches and trash and other little signs that nature had really run through last night.