The storm

Well it’s not always peaceful and quiet out here in the sticks.

Yesterday morning we lost power almost as soon as the storm hit. With wind speeds in excess of 100 kilometres per hour (10-11 on the Beaufort Scale), it wasn’t surprising that a tree (or several) took down power lines somewhere on the grid. My immediate worry was whether it was a Hydro-owned line or the secondary feeder line on our property which would be our responsibility to fix. A quick trip down the road and I was relieved to confirm that it wasn’t my problem, but with the flying debris, the roar of the wind, and the sound of trees cracking and falling all around, I decided that outside was not the place to be. In fact I would sooner be standing in the middle of a golf course holding a 1-iron overhead in an electrical storm (they say not even God can hit a 1-iron) than be outside yesterday.

So the afternoon and evening were spent indoors, listening to flying tree branches banging off the walls and the roof, worrying that one of those branches would come through the front window or one of several 100-foot pines would come down on the house.

Late in the evening the wind finally died down and relative silence returned with, fortunately, no catastrophe having occurred.

Still no power this morning, so the generator got cranked up for coffee and the damage assessment began. While there was no damage to the house or the vehicles this time, we did lose about a dozen trees around the house including a couple of large spruce, a big cedar and some smaller balsam fir. Most snapped like matchsticks a few feet off the ground, but a couple were torn out right at the roots.

The sound of chainsaws near and far signalled the start of the cleanup which will likely continue for two or three days. A lot of work, but at least we have our power back!