Unexpected Storm

 Well, Tallahassee took a shellacking this week.

For a few days, there had been "possible severe weather" warnings posted.  This is pretty much common for the time period of May through November.  It was a little different this time.

For me, it started at about 6:45 Thursday morning.  Normally on the mornings that I don't go to work I wake up somewhere between 7:30 and 8:00, so I was really annoyed when my phone alert went off at 6:45.  I figured it was an Amber alert and went back to sleep.  Almost - because it went off again 5 minutes later.  It was a severe weather warning.  I looked out the window - early dawn, clear, no clouds, no breeze.  So I snuggled back down again.  Third alert.  This time I swore, and, dammit, I was awake by then so might as well get up.  I went to the bathroom, did my business, washed my hands, reached for the toothbrush - and all hell broke loose.  I hightailed it to the hallway and hunkered there for a very frightening half hour (although the worst was over in about 15 minutes).  The roaring was deafening, and I could see the trees whipping around.

Here's a screen shot of the radar.  You can see that there is no band of gradually worsening weather.  This one came through like a sledge hammer, moving at 60+ miles per hour.

When it was over, I ventured outside.  For me, everything was fine - no trees down, no damage, just the normal amount of yard trash.  My power was out, of course, but I figured it would be back in a few hours.  Then I started checking my phone and seeing pictures.  My God.

I'm not even going to use words.  Here's a link to a drone video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlDk791JCL4

The opening shots make me sad - that's the circus I went to three weeks ago.

I couldn't go anywhere Friday - too many downed trees and power lines in the roads.  But today I could make it in to go help out at the museum, because it got seriously trashed and most of it was without power or water - which makes taking care of the 100 or so animals problematical.  Fortunately there was one side (the farthest from the animal kitchen, of course) that had water, so we just did a lot of hauling.  And rather than trying to haul enough water back to the kitchen to wash the dozens of dishes needed for feeding, we just loaded them up and took them to the hose - which happened to be right beside the pig pen.  We set up a washing station and used the roof of their shelter for a drying rack.  The pigs were amused and kept up a running commentary.

Those "few" hours I thought I would be without power?  It was 30 hours.  Not complaining - thousands of people are still without.  And it gave me some practice for the upcoming storm season, pointing out a few weak spot.]

#1:  Water.  I don't mind living without power; If you keep the freezer and fridge doors closed as much as possible, they're good for a day for the fridge, two for the freezer.  If it's going to be more than that, I move the stuff to ice chests.  I don't keep that much perishable food around anyway.  But water - that's another story.  I keep a supply of bottled water on hand for drinking, and even sponging off myself, but for cleaning up dishes and hand washing laundry and that all-important flushing - one needs water.  This is the first time I've gone more than a few hours without power without having warning (hurricanes give you a week or more warning, so you have time to lay in the water supply).  I did toss my storage jugs into the car and filled them at the museum.  But my lesson from this?  Keep at least a half-dozen of the jugs in the barn filled - enough for a few days of flushing.

#2:  Power.  When I called Mike to tell him about the storm, he said I should be careful of my phone battery.  I said I was fine, because I have my big battery, useful for things like inflating car tires or jumping the car, but it can also be used as a charging station.

That confidence was dashed.  I had charged it to carry in the car when we went to Universal Studios last December.  You know what can happen in 5 months?  The power can leak down.  Fortunately, I have a small battery pack that I use for my little battery powered spinning wheel, and there was enough juice to top off the phone with that.  But now "check the battery charger" will be put on a standard rotation.

#3, Cooking.  I got by for my 30 hours with sandwiches and cereal (needed to drink as much milk before it went warm anyway).  I do have a small camp stove that sits on squat propane bottle - but I was hesitant to break it out because once you breach the propane bottle it leaks out (not supposed to, but it does).  And I thought with my luck that I would set it up, make a cup of tea, and then get my power back and there's a waste of a propane bottle.  So no tea for two days. (I had planned on setting it up when I got home today to cook some of the food in the fridge, but amazingly, I had power).   This afternoon I ordered a small butane camp stove.  

This is a more convenient size.  I have the little one that will hold a teakettle or a small pan, and the really big one that goes on one of the large propane tanks and can hold a big pot, but this one can take a tea kettle or 10" skillet or pan.

So that's my three takeaways from this adventure.  Hopefully now I'm a bit more prepared for the upcoming storm season.

And now to step outside to see if I can see the Northern Lights (a freak system is sending them down this far) and off to bed.  Likely back to the museum tomorrow as they never got the power on today.