The television channels had predicted that wild weather would hit us in Northern California on Thursday between 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM. That time came and went. Things were quiet. We thought the storm had passed us by. After we went to bed on Thursday night, all sorts of hell broke loose. Heavy rains rolled in. Violent winds buffeted our house. Fiberglass roof sections from our storage area blew off. I got up during the night and worked on the computer. I then came back to bed. When I got up again there was no power in the house. I immediately activated our emergency plan. I got out battery-powered lanterns and an old-fashioned 1970s style big and bulky short-wave radio receiver. It worked like a charm. I was soon listening to TV stations on radio. I had a good idea of what was going on.
My wife is a doctor. She had to go to work regardless of how bad conditions were. A 45-minute commute ended up taking her almost 1.5 hours. Her car was slipping and sliding around the road. I decided to go out in my vehicle. It was rainy and the winds were high. Power was out everywhere I went. I did get lucky and find Gunther’s Restaurant on El Camino Real open and will full power. They explained to me that they were right next door to the South San Francisco Police Department and never had power outages. I had a hot and a hardy breakfast. I then made my way to a shopping center with an AT&T shop. I charged up my computer with power. I drove home through pounding rain and high winds that made it difficult for me to control my Saturn VUE. I arrived at home and put my vehicle in the garage. I got upstairs. I fired up the lanterns and turned on my short wave radio receiver. I called friends. I fixed myself a bourbon and ginger ale. I was out in the rain and heave winds clearing drains and clearing off tree branches that fell. I later walked the dogs through soaking rains. As bad as it got where I was, I had luck on my side.
Winds hit 110 miles per hour in the Sierra Mountains and in Los Gatos. Flood waters raged in areas like Bay Point. The Bay Bride and the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge were closed to traffic. Many people lost their cars and suffered heavy property damage. One unlucky lady was drowned. Waves went as high as 25 feet.
As I sat through that raging storm, I had a lot of time to think and reflect. This life we call civilization is very fragile. All that we have can be taken away from us at any time. I realized how alone and helpless we can all be. I came to know how vital something we take for granted like electric power is.
No comments:
Post a Comment