Christmas 2013.....
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| Saturday, Dec 21 - it started to rain....and freeze.... |
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| we lost our power at 8:15....the house was lighting up like those strings of flashing Christmas lights.... and there was the smell of burning.... it was dark....everyone else on the street still had power but in the morning we saw what had happened... |
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| and here was the problem.....our hydro line pole had broken and was at a perilous angle.... |
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| a large branch from one of the willows had straddled the line.. ...all of that extra weight and the pole didn't stand a chance.... |
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| Trees branches had crashed down..... |
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| Fences had being crushed.... |
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| You can see the hydro mast on the house was under a terrific strain.... |
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| and I was a bit worried about the huge pine trees.... that now dwarf our home... |
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| looking closely, there was beauty hidden among the devastation... |
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| and when the sun shone the next day.....it was pretty amazing.... that's when I took the header photo....just before sunset heading home after a trip into town to get water and top up the cell phone! |
By morning, the rest of the street, the neighbourhood and it seems a whole lot of people had lost their power, so we weren't alone.
The power was restored to the street after 5 nights....we survived by heating the house with a wood fireplace insert in the basement....Christmas dinner was a store-bought shepherds pie with carrots - all made/heated on the wood stove....
We didn't have a hydro line, so 5 more nights without power until the cavalry arrived....3 electricians, a contractor who had found us a pole (yeah!) and an Oakville Hydro crew arrived to hook us back up!
A few things were "toasted" with the power surge....like our microwave and stove....but in the big scheme of things, it could have been far worse......
Thank you to everyone who worked on our restoration to get us back to normal. We still have a ways to go, but we are safe and sound...and warm....in our house again!
Thanks to friends who provided us water top ups, cell phone charges and a warm cup of tea!
Thanks to our neighbours who took us in when their hydro came back on.
....like they say, it takes a village.
Oh my, Anne. What an experience! I'm glad things are returning to normal, but five days without power is awful. Now your next nightmare will be sorting it out with the insurance company. The pictures of the ice are so beautiful, in spite of the fact it caused so much damage.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristen.....thank goodness it is over....... You are right, insurance is going to be fun...but they responded when we called and organized the electricians we needed......I am thankful for their assistance in getting us "restored" .
DeleteIt looks so pretty, but it must have been difficult so long without power especially over Christmas.
ReplyDeleteSarah x
Hi Sarah - it was a bit of a challenge to say the least! Fortunately, when the street got power, we moved into our neighbours (who were away) and that at least gave us heat and somewhere to cook....poor hubby still slept at our house to keep the wood stove going..... Frankly, I hope never to go through this again!
DeleteI hope you are ok down there by the sea - any flooding in your area? Take care and thanks for dropping by!