The Night of Irene's Visit

I was working on an upcoming blog post when I heard loud popping and booming sounds from far off in the distance. I was typing on the laptop and playing music on my MP3 player. I turned off the music and the lights and listened to the popping sounds. After a few more loud pops, the house went dark. The entire community was dark! I looked at the time on the laptop and it was 1:03 a.m.

I sat still for a moment to gather my thoughts. I used the light from my laptop to find my battery-powered radio-flashlight in the other room. I turned on the radio and all I got was “white-noise.” I thought to myself, “Did the power knock out the power at radio stations?” No internet! No news updates! What am I going to do? I sent a text message to approximately six people; simultaneously asking them to give me an update to what was going on. I waited. I prayed. After waiting for 10 minutes I turned on the radio again and finally listened to news and weather updates! I was so excited! I felt like I had re-connected with the rest of the world!

Over the years, I’ve responded to numerous large-scale weather events and even a terrorist attack, however this was different. This time I was in the midst of a large-scale weather event—Hurricane Irene—and I wasn't responding to it, I was in the midst of it. The sound of the howling wind and pelting rain greatly humbled me. Then being in totally darkness added another element to it!

At 2:42 a.m. I saw bright lights coming into the windows and it startled me. I grabbed my camera and flashlight and ran to the window to see what was going on. A fire truck drove into the community to assess the area. The most aggressive part of the storm had yet to pass over the area, according to a news report.  Admittedly, I was shaken.

Sunday morning when I awakened, the power was still off but I was so thankful for the daylight.

And like the hundreds of thousands of people who are in the same boat, I’m wondering when will the power be restored?!

Until then … keep the faith and think light!

*As of this blog post submission, the power has yet to be restored.

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