black…MYstory

I usually don’t talk a whole lot about the weather but, today is no ordinary day.  Part of the reason that I live in Ohio is because, for the most part, we don’t get a lot of tornadoes and we don’t live close enough to a coastal area to get a hurricane.

Well, yesterday, I was just expecting to get some rain as the remnants of Hurricane Ike came rumbling through.  But, I, like hundreds of thousands of others, was caught flat-footed.

Here in the Cincinnati area, a 40 mph wind is a big deal.  Well, what was left of Ike cut a path through the Midwest and I was looking out my window as 70 mph winds blew past for a few hours.  When it was all said and done, communities were dealing with a lot of falling trees and cleanup but, that’s not the worst of it.

Nearly 1,000,000 customers of our local energy company were without power at some point.  Over 24 hours later, about 600,000, including myself, are still without power (I am submitting this post from one of the places in town that still has power).  If I’m lucky, I’ll get my power back tomorrow morning but, some people are being told it may take a week for them to get theirs back.  Schools and businesses are closed.  Good luck finding an open restaraunt, gas station or grocery store.  Ice and gas are premium commodities.  If I can find extras of any of those things, I’ll pass some on to a neighbor.

I have an even deeper respect today for people who have been through a hurricane.  In just dealing with the side effects of one, we are having our lives put on hold.

Hopefully, my posts for tomorrow will be from the comfort of my own home.

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